23rd March 1672
Mahadevapuram, Kakatiya Puri State, Akhand Bharatiya Empire
It was like any other day for Vidyut. He got up early in the morning, took a warm and comfortable bath, completed his daily pooja rituals, dressed up in a fresh set of uniform which was prepared by his lovely wife, had his breakfast, and finally bid farewell to his wife as he set off to work.
On his way to work, Vidyut ca across many people wearing the sa uniform as himself, but it was not surprising because the village of Mahadevapuram, which he lived in, is a military cordoned-off area. Only the employees of one of the three military conglorates are allowed to live here, so most of the people in the village are in so way related to the three conglorates of the Bharatiya Empire.
Vidyut ca across a close friend. His expression did not change; instead, he flicked his eyebrows and gestured with his hands. His friend of several years, Jala Deva, imdiately understood what he ant. As a response, he shook his head with so disappointnt and shrugged.
Jala Deva was actually a few years older than Vidyut. He even had a son who was almost 16. He had completed his college studies and should have gotten into a university, but unfortunately, his ranking in the college examinations was not too good. So the good universities wouldn't admit him unless Jala Deva splurged vast amounts of money to get him admitted into a private first- or second-tier university.
Jala Deva might be well off, as he is an operator of the power departnt in the Mahabali Enterprises, but he is not rich enough to the point of buying seats in first- or second-tier universities. So, as a try, he wanted to see if he could help his son get employed in one of the three military conglorates. But unfortunately, all three organisations refused.
Vidyut and Jala Deva were walking side by side. More groups just like them walked beside them, randomly chatting about work and life. The farther they went, the more crowded it beca. The sounds of bells ringing on the bicycles constantly echoed, attracting the enviable gazes of many.
In fact, most of the workers working for the three conglorates can afford a bicycle, especially with how cheap they have gotten. But it's like how any middle-class man can afford a fairly good bike—they just don't buy it. It's the sa situation here. Unless people try the bicycle, they don't even know they want it. This is even more so for employees like Jala Deva and Vidyut, who are within walking distance of the factory.
"So you'll be sending your son to a university?" Vidyut enquired.
Jala Deva slowly nodded, "There's no other way. The ranking of my brat is too bad to be accepted into the three military conglorates. The recruitnt has beco much stricter since the ti we joined the workforce. We only needed to have the ability to read, write, and do so arithtic. But now, not only do they want college students, but they also want college students with good rankings, especially in the subjects of arithtic, physics, and chemistry. Unfortunately, my son doesn't seem to be cut out for it."
"Hmm, then why don't you join him in a business school? Maybe he can take the route of an accountant, manager, or a civil servant."
"Sigh!"
"It can only be that."
The conversation was mundane, but it was one of the rituals factory workers like them had to participate in for the peace of their own minds.
Bidding farewell to the other group of colleagues who had walked along with them, Vidyut and Jala Deva entered the manufacturing plant after being searched by the soldiers at the periter.
Looking towards the flowing river to the right, Vidyut smiled, "The tide is very strong today. Looks like a lot more work can be finished, and maybe we'll get a few days off." Jala Deva looked towards the raging Godavari River, which was flowing several tis faster than usual. "Maybe so."
They went into the manufacturing plant, walked to their workstations, and started work after signing in at the desk. A few hours after they started to work, sothing bizarre happened.
Vidyut, as well as Jala Deva, were both invited by the factory manager, along with so other high-performing workers, to a eting.
Vidyut looked around and asked his fellow colleague what was happening, but his colleague shrugged, saying that he did not know. A few people asked him, and he asked more people, but no one knew why they were being called.
However, Vidyut noticed that the people who were called were mostly those responsible for operating the power generation unit of the factory—more specifically, operating the water wheels.
Getting into the office, which he thought was ridiculously massive before but now could barely fit so many people, he saw Manager Raghu tying his hands behind his back and looking through the window.
Before he even turned back, the secretary of the manager started to distribute papers to each and every person who had co. Reading what was in the paper, Vidyut was taken aback, as it was a confidentiality agreent, and the penalty for the breach of contract was monstrous.
Still, he signed the agreent, as he had no interest in spreading information about the company to anyone, not even to his wife.
It was only after everyone had signed the confidentiality agreent that the manager turned around.
"I've gotten direct orders from the executive team of the company. They have sent four engineers from Sriranga Industrial Tools. Apparently, a new invention has been made that is capable of powering our existing machine tools without relying on the water wheels."
"As so of the best water wheel operators in this branch, all of you have gotten the opportunity to learn how to operate this new machine. And if you learn the new machine quickly enough and you get the approval of the engineers, your position will be elevated by a level, becoming G-grade employees in a single step. Naturally, the salary will mirror that of a G-grade employee, which is quite a kick up from your current salary."
The manager opened the drawer and took out a bunch of contracts.
"Anyone who is interested in learning this new machine, you have to sign this contract," he said as he had the security pass the contract to everyone. "It is similar to the confidentiality agreent, but this one is a more serious version where breaking its contents would make you a traitor of the state, punishable by the military court."
"So, read the contract carefully and sign it. If you pass the test put forward by the engineers, I will have the new G-level employnt contracts ready for you."
Vidyut carefully read through the contract. Soon, he understood that the contract, like the confidentiality agreent, was there only to stop them from publicising what working with the new machine is like or how it is serviced and repaired. It's basically no different from the contract signed by the Gen5.5 machine tool operators.
Apart from the extrely strict no-publicity condition, it didn't put any restrictions on them. Although the punishnts for the breach of contract were a little scary, he also beca excited because if the confidentiality for this new machine was so strict, it ant that it was very important. He was not the only one with this realisation. Working in the power generation unit of the manufacturing plant under one of the three military conglorates ant that all the workers were educated and knew how to read and write. Most of them read the newspapers every day. None of them were idiots. So, none of the workers got intimidated by the punishnt for the breach of contract; instead, everyone signed it and waited for further direction from the manager.
The manager had them board the carriages, setting off to a different location. On the way, people started gossiping amongst themselves, speculating about where they were going. Vidyut t up with Jala Deva. Overall, everyone was filled with anticipation and excitent.
Similar things were happening all over the empire in the production plants of the military conglorates, giving rise to the first batch of steam engine operators who, in the future, would go on to achieve many things due to their familiarity with the machine. For example, Vidyut went on to beco a steam engine consultant for other small companies that were looking to buy the steam engine but could not find anyone to train their employees. As for Jala Deva, he started a small coaching centre called Elephant, responsible for training college students for examinations in a targeted manner after he made a boatload of money operating the steam engine and later bringing in new employees for several years.
But that is all in the future.
---
Private organisations were not the only institutions doing pre-preparations for accepting the steam engine into their life; the governnt was doing the sa. Vinod held a eting with the Cabinet ministers and proposed the establishnt of a departnt under both the state and central governnt, which would be responsible for managing all the special economic zones in the empire. The central governnt's departnt would take charge of managing all the special economic zones currently functioning in the empire, while state branches would act as inspection units.
There were so doubts among the Cabinet ministers as to why suddenly such a departnt was being established, but when the ministers learned that it was His Majesty himself who proposed the establishnt, no one objected, and everyone agreed.
However, before the eting ended, the Minister of Transportation put forward a suggestion which Vinod felt could be considered.
"Pri Minister, don't we already have a similar departnt responsible for managing the large-scale public infrastructure developnt projects in the empire at both the central and state levels?"
"Why don't we add that departnt and the new special economic zone managent departnt that is about to be created under a new ministry? Wouldn't it be more convenient? This ministry would not have to have any fixed roles; it could be made flexible, taking on any tasks that a normal governnt ministry cannot handle."
The suggestion made a lot of sense to many ministers, and several of them agreed that such a ministry would improve the efficiency of the governnt significantly.
Vinod was among these people as well. "It's a good idea. I will write a report to His Majesty and ask for his opinion."
The eting was soon dismissed.
To be Continued...
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