Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

'Gulp!' Its value was nearly 4500 Varaha, a wealth equivalent to half his yearly salary. Not to mention, the same 4500 Varaha could buy a lot more in the Bharatiya Empire than in Europe, making it even more valuable. He suddenly became very excited, as he was recently running low on money, but being a diplomat, he knew that this situation was not normal.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching, dug into the bread, and found a small letter. He quickly stuffed the letter into his pocket and gulped down the bread to avoid leaving any evidence behind.

Jan Kowalski did not want to alert anyone by breaking his normal routine, so he stayed at the beverage house a few more hours before eventually returning to his residence. Throughout the time he stayed at the beverage house, his heart was beating like a drum, and various chaotic thoughts lingered in his mind. Fortunately, upon arriving at his residence and reading the letter, he finally understood the reason someone inexplicably gave him such a large amount of wealth. It was a bribe.

He was hesitant and conflicted, not knowing whether he should follow the demand in the letter to receive another 50 grams of gold or go against it and make the Bharatiya Empire his enemy, as well as the enemy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the end, after much consideration, he decided to take a safe route and reject both options, choosing to stay neutral. He was content with the 100 grams of gold he had already received.

---

In such a way, Roshan, cooperating with Selvan, used the best agents in the Bharatiya Internal Pragya to run espionage operations on the European diplomats whose weaknesses had been uncovered.

The targets were deliberately concentrated on neutral European countries, who had the biggest opportunity to support the Bharatiya Empire or its enemies. The aim was to ensure that these countries remained neutral.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

---

While this was happening, Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar had completed negotiating with all the European diplomats about their positions in the upcoming battle, and thankfully, he was largely successful.

In fact, this was not only because Roshan had worked overtime behind the scenes but also because of the conditions put forward by Jaishankar.

"If your nation promises to remain neutral, then the Bharatiya Empire is willing to allow more access for your nation's goods to flow unhindered into the Southeast Asian market, even to countries traditionally controlled by larger powers like the British, the Spanish, the Portuguese, or the Dutch."

"Not only that, the Bharatiya Empire could sign an agreement with your nation to allow merchant ships from your nation to dock in our western ports like Mangalore, Mumbai, Karachi, Jamnagar, Ormara, Gwadar and trade. The scale of trade with your nation could be further improved."

The majority of neutral European countries were immediately moved by this condition put forward by the Bharatiya Empire, and almost all of them agreed.

In fact, if not for the relative inexperience of Jaishankar, he would have already concluded that there was no need to put so much effort into the negotiation. This is because the failure of the Bharatiya Empire was actually disadvantageous to the smaller European countries, which formed the majority of those remaining neutral.

If the Bharatiya Empire were to lose, the neutral countries wouldn't gain significant benefits from their loss. Instead, the larger countries with bigger navies would reap all the rewards, making them even more powerful. Since these neutral countries shared the same continent with the stronger powers, their living space would inevitably become more dangerous.

On the other hand, in a scenario where the Bharatiya Empire wins, not only would it weaken the countries that fought against it, but the neutral nations would also gain some benefits from maintaining their neutrality. Additionally, they would have a larger chance of development back home, as the stronger nations would be fully cut off from the Asian region via the naval route.

---

Simhasana Bhawana

Six days after the military briefing

"So what is the result?" Vijay asked Jaishankar as he was just about to board a carriage heading to Mangalore.

"The matter was a great success, Your Majesty, but..." Jaishankar hesitated a little. His expression was filled with shame and regret, but he still found the courage to answer truthfully. "But I couldn't dissuade the French diplomat from forming an alliance with the British and the Dutch."

"Since we do not have direct diplomatic connections with the Dutch and the British, I had no control over them. More importantly, I just got to know that the Holy Roman Empire has suddenly joined the Anti-Bharat Alliance."

Vijay immediately frowned. "Why? Maximilian V doesn't look like an irrational person. How could it happen?"

Jaishankar immediately lowered his head. "I do not know, Your Majesty. When I had negotiations with him a few days ago, he did agree to our request to stay neutral, but suddenly, just this morning, the ministry received a message from the Holy Roman Empire Embassy about their decision to join the Alliance headed by the Dutch." He was very confused about this phenomenon. "The ministry has no idea what happened in this time span, but I received the news that Maximilian V vacated his residence this morning and has just left the empire through the Port of Mangalore."

Vijay was confused, then he looked at Roshan who had just arrived. "Do you know anything about it?" he asked. Find your next adventure on empire

Roshan nodded his head. "Your Majesty, from what I got to know, Maximilian V does not actually have a lot of control over the military vessels of the Holy Roman Empire stationed on the island of Mauritius. So, even though Maximilian is reasonable and is very likely to agree to our request to stay neutral, I just found out that the person who actually controls the Navy of the Holy Roman Empire in Mauritius is a man called Deacon Francis. This man is a devout Christian and a person of the Catholic Church, the Orthodox religion of the Holy Roman Empire.

When Martin Luther started his Protestant Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire in the early 16th century, the empire suffered a lot of setbacks, and the recent Thirty Years' War only made it worse. From my sources within both the island of Mauritius and the Holy Roman Empire, we know that Deacon Francis is a powerful priest who had been exiled in order to stop him from making trouble in the empire."

"Unfortunately, this guy, who sees everyone who is not a white Christian as a subhuman species, has always rejected our Bharatiya Empire. For this reason, he has taken his own decision, taking advantage of the fact that no one would be there to stop him, along with his subordinate, who is actually the general of the Navy, to join the anti-Bharatiya Alliance."

Vijay felt a little disappointed, but not for too long, since the naval strength of the Holy Roman Empire was not too large. In fact, even the Navy of Sweden was bigger than the Holy Roman Empire's Navy.

"Oh well, we did do our best. The rest could only be decided on the battlefield," Vijay said as he ordered his driver to move forward.

---

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and under the expectant gazes of thousands of citizens all over the empire, the battleships departed from various ports of the Empire.

"Husband, make sure to teach our enemies a lesson and return back home safely. I will be waiting for you with our son," a wife said to her husband without much sadness on her face.

"Son, you don't have to worry. Keep your heart calm. I will take care of everything back home, waiting for you to return," a proud father declared.

"Sister, you are the pride of our village. Always remember it," a teenage girl, whose left hand was paralyzed, said proudly to her twin sister, who was assigned the position of a medical officer aboard the Delhi-class battleship.

Whether it was the Port of Mumbai, the Port of Kochi, the Port of Colombo, the Port of Chennai, or the Port of Vishakapatnam, families from different walks of life sent off their loved ones with pride, sadness, and unwillingness on their faces. Except for the family members, people who supported the naval operation gathered at the dockyards holding banners, wishing the warriors of Bharat all the best for their expedition.

Commanders Gautam, Akhil and Prasanna Nair looking at the expectant and excited gazes of the citizens who had come to send them off, felt very excited and emboldened.

---

Almost immediately, this news, through the various naval vessels of the Europeans, quickly reached Mauritius and Jakarta.

A middle-aged man, dressed in luxurious European noble attire, sat on his large throne with a proud expression on his face. However, when he received the news about the Bharatiya Navy setting off from various ports of the empire, his face became livid and furious.

"Send the signal to the British and the French. The time to unite is finally here. Let's beat back these lowly infidels and show them their place in this world."