Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

In a village close to the city of Vellore, some workers were beginning some work. The villagers came to watch the construction. It was headed by a relatively young man dressed quite well. He was supervising the workers to measure and mark the boundaries of the plot.

They just reached the village today. They showed the village of Sarpanch the order from the royal palace and set up camp. They sourced some workers from the village and the rest were from the neighbouring villages.

A curious farmer, Rakesh, approached them. He was a small-time farmer taking care of his old father's field and the village's food producer. The others worked on his farm and other jobs to make their living.

"What is this construction for?" asked Rakesh to the supervisor. The rest of the villagers just watched from afar. Even the Sarpanch was scared after seeing the royal order in the hands of the man.

"Hmm…" turned the supervisor. "Oh, this is a police station." The supervisor was surprisingly calm and friendly, unlike his demeanour during the work.

"Police?" Rakesh tilted his head in confusion. "What is that?"

"Oh..the royal edict hasn't issued yet." The supervisor shrugged. "It's a force controlled by the Empire to prevent and detect crimes."

"It is controlled by the Empire." He smiled and answered the curious Rakesh.

"Hmm…I see." Rakesh said with a skeptical look.

"Don't worry, everything will be in the edict soon. We are just here to construct the quarters of the police officers here."

"Right!." Rakesh Shrugged.

The crime is his village was close to none since they always had a bountiful harvest and the Sarpanch was a nice man as well. So he didn't understand the use of the police stations in his village. He heard the big village, a little far away from here, had a lot of crimes in the last year.

"Umm..So what about the big village? I heard the situation is bad there."

"Don't you worry. We have some army personnel with us." The supervisor assured him.

The sun rays were bright and the warmth of the afternoon was settling. The sowing season was quickly approaching. They just finished the harvest festival. They were getting ready to begin sowing for the new season. Rakesh gave the workers an extra day off to spend with their family before they begin tilling the fields and sowing the seeds.

"It's bright."

"Oh yeah, sowing season is here after all." Laughed the supervisor. "My father is also a farmer."

"Is that so?"

"I got this job after managing some road projects in our area." He shrugged.

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"Roads! I have used it to go to the city. It's made nicely." Rakesh smiled. "It's nice to see the Empire taking care of them."

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"There is good news for the farmers also."

"What good news?"

"You will know tomorrow." He smiled and waved as he headed back to work.

The man was quite efficient. It was the first time Rakesh saw the work being completed very quickly. Usually construction would take a lot of time and planning. But the man seemed to have planned it beforehand. He also didn't overwork the labourers. He gave the rest in the afternoon heat and ensured there was enough water for everyone to drink.

Rakesh was curious about the "good" news mentioned by the supervisor.

'Did the Empire do something for us?'

Small villages like Rakesh's relied on their own farming methods to survive. A bad harvest usually causes many problems in the village, deaths, and higher crime rates. Rakesh had witnessed the famine-ridden villages in the past while travelling. Fortunately, they were always blessed with a good harvest.

He wanted to help them but in his land, he could only grow enough for the whole village. There wasn't enough to sell it in the city or to other villages. Yield had been becoming lower each year due to the declining fertility of Rakesh's land.

Rakesh began to search for ways to improve the fertility of the land. He wasn't an experienced farmer either to know all the methods. He learned a little from his father's method but nothing seemed to be useful.

The next day, Rakesh woke up and strolled through his fields. There were some weeds growing in the soil. He looked around; he had to till and sow tomorrow. Unlike last time, this time he wasn't sure of an excellent harvest.

A young kid quickly came running to him.

"Rakesh-baba, The Sarpanch is calling you." said the kid in heavy breaths. He was the young son of the Sarpanch

"What happened?" as he quickly turned around.

"Some people from the capital came by." Huffed the kid.

"Capital?"

He quickly rushed to the Sarpanch's house. Upon reaching, he found two well-dressed people seated in the house. They were sipping tea served by the wife of the Sarpanch.

"You called?" asked Rakesh with a ragged breath.

"This is the village farmer, Rakesh, sirs." The Sarpanch introduced him to the two people.

"These people are here to talk about your farm."

"What about it?" Rakesh asked with a suspicious look.

One of them got up. He had a droopy posture and sharp eyes. "We are here on Royal orders. There was an edict issued recently for the farmers."

'Is this what he was referring to.'

Rakesh thought.

The man noticed the look on Rakesh's face and laughed. "Don't worry. We are here to help you."

"Help?"

"Isn't the field's fertility going down?"

"Yes."

"The Emperor researched a new method of farming. The results increased the yield significantly."

'Emperor? And farming?'

He thought. It was unlikely for a royal to take part in farming activities. He was quite astonished the Emperor even took interest in the field. He was curious to listen and see the new method of farming.

"Results? So someone used it!"

"I don't know if you are familiar with Gopalakrishnan. He was the one to test this method first." The man shrugged.

Rakesh didn't know the man but he figured there was no harm in listening to the method.

"Let's go to the fields. I can explain it better there."

"What about that man?" Rakesh pointed to the burly man.

"He is my guard. He will be coming as well."

"Ok,"

They reached his field. It was a vast field with signs of the recent harvest. The small weeds were growing on the surface of the field. The tilling was yet to begin.

"You haven't begun," exclaimed the man.

"Yes, Sir."

"So, let me explain," said the man, turning to the field. "So you will be dividing the field into 4 equal parts."

"4 parts? Why is that?"

"So according to the method."

The main explained the main points of the crop rotation method. The plot would be divided into 4 parts.

One plot would have grains, and the second would have some legumes that fix the nitrogen in the soil, increasing the fertility. The third one would be root or leafy vegetables. The last field would be left fallow and used as pastures for the cattle. These fields are rotated for the course of 4 years.

"This experiment was conducted by the Empire before the harvest festival," explained the man. "It showed a great increase in yield for the crops."

"The fields also retained much more fertility compared to the other methods."

"Interesting, but how do I tell apart the crops to the workers?"

"Oh, about that." The man handed a paper to the Rakesh. "It contains all the vegetables."

"Do you know how to read?" asked the man.

"Yes, I do. The sarpanch was kind enough to teach it to me." Rakesh smiled. "So you are telling me this method would increase the yield?"

"What if I fail?"

"If there is a problem with the harvest in the next season?"

"We have a solution for that!" The man shrugged off his concern.

"What is the solution?"

"The Empire will insure you and supply grains in case of a failure."

It was Viswa's plan to include the insurance incentive to get more farmers to willingly try the new method. The insurance plan would last for 2 harvests. An incentive was the best way to get people to try out something new.

"Insurance? Are you saying the truth?"

The man laughed. "Of course. It is in the edict issued by the Royal Council."

"How do I avail this?"

"You can go to the nearest city or town to the administration office." The man explained. "You will give your details, including your village name."

"Then what happens?"

"An official is dispatched to check if you are indeed using the method."

"Oh so they check." Rakesh exclaimed. He did like the way they ensured that corrupt people wouldn't take advantage of the method.

"They do checks routinely." The man smiled.

"I see,"

"Once it's confirmed. You will be insured by the Empire." The man smiled. "So what will be your choice?"

Rakesh felt the effort that went into experimenting with the method. The Emperor took the time and effort to care about the farmers. He was willing to risk trying the new method.

He smiled.

"I shall use it."