Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Somewhere in Hengyang, Hunan, Qing Dynasty

Zhu Yu Lang crumpled a piece of paper into a ball and threw it into the flames. The bonfire immediately engulfed the paper and let out a few crackling sounds, letting out embers that flew like fireflies under the star-lit night. In the end, the paper turned into black dust scattered by the breeze. Zhu Yu Lang let out a sigh of relief and leaned back. A smile of contentment adorned his face as his body felt extremely relaxed.

Li Dingguo was extremely confused by the actions of his king, so he couldn't help but inquire what was going on.

Normally, he should not be questioning the monarch, as it could be considered a grave mistake and crossing the line, but he and Zhu Yu Lang, having fought in so many battles and having so many life and death moments together, have long passed caring about the cumbersome politics.

As he expected, Zhu Yu Lang did not take any offence; instead, he chuckled and spoke out, "The Bharatiyas have replied, they have indeed shown interest in accepting the refugees."

Li Dingguo's eyes brightened, but he hesitated momentarily, "Brother Zhu, why do we have to send away so many people? We can obviously afford to feed them, especially since we are now able to trade with ASEAN?"

"They are very eager to earn our silver, wouldn't it be more profitable to keep the population in the kingdom and make use of them?"

Zhu Yu Lang laughed bitterly and shook his head, "If only it were that easy."

"I can feel that the Bharatiyas have some reservations about supporting us, and even the supply of weapons we are obtaining has been reduced, even though the reasons they give appear very reasonable, I know they are simply bluffing."

Li Dingguo became silent. He noticed the situation as well, "But why is that? We obviously have no enmity with the Bharatiya Empire, and the Bharatiyas have no enmity with us." He looked troubled as he really couldn't figure this out.

Zhu Yu Lang looked at his trusted general with a complicated expression, "Because we are their neighbours, because just like them we have more than 5000 years of history, hundreds of millions of population, a superior geographic condition, large coastline, and most importantly because they know that if we are left alone, we will rise up as the second superpower of Asia."

"Obviously, the Bharatiyas don't want this to happen; they want to see us divided. I have to say I cannot blame Emperor Vijay in this matter, because if I were in a similar situation, I would do the same thing, or even more drastic."

"But,"

"Understanding is one thing, and following through with the ideas of the Bharatiya is one thing."

Li Dingguo was shocked, "Then why did you want to send all the refugees into the territory of the Bharatiya Empire? You do know that these people will be used to strengthen the Bharatiyas even more, don't you?" A hint of anger could be perceived from his tone.

Zhu Yu Lang looked at his friend and shook his head. He was very bitter in his heart, "Don't you see, Ding, we're left with no other choice?"

"If we are not able to obtain the advanced weapons of the Bharatiya Empire, the chance of us winning against Warlord Wu is slim to none, especially considering the number of troops he has amassed from the last few years."

"That old monster has probably spent the last decade, or even longer, preparing for this day. Who knows, he might have thought of this the moment he opened the gates to the Manchurians, while we? We had been fighting with our lives on the line, constantly fighting with tooth and nail just to stay alive, how can we compare to him without any external help?"

In hindsight, Zhu Yu Lang understands that if he simply admits defeat and negotiates some sort of a deal with Warlord Wu, not only can he maintain some of his power, but he can also destroy the plans of the Bharatiya Empire to keep the Chinese divided. But he is also a human after all, he has his own ambitions, and he has his own greed. He wouldn't give up the chance to reach the Supreme Throne now that he has the opportunity, and he knows Li Dingguo is the same type of person.

He came back to his senses and continued,

"I bet it was the old monster Wu that poisoned Emperor Fulin, took advantage of the weakening imperial power, and amassed his troops without anyone stopping him. Now, he already has over 400,000 troops under his command, maybe in a few months he will have 500,000 or even more. What about us? We might have thousands of rifles supplied from the Bharatiya Empire, as well as the artillery, but the difference in armies is too big. We will simply be overrun. Not to mention, even though the enemy's weapons are not as good as ours, they still possess the fire guns and old fire-breathing dragon artillery, which can still pose a lot of damage to our armies when used in large quantities."

Remembering something, Zhu Yu Lang's eyes turned wary. "Also, didn't you personally report to me that the White Devils in the north are making unusual movements, and the Barbarians are acting up as well? What if they decide to participate in this war?"

Li Dingguo's pupils immediately dilated as soon as he heard the words.

Zhu Yu Lang's voice was soft and cold, "If they really did, then I can bid goodbye to the restoration of the united Ming Dynasty."

"I guess we will not have another chance until the Bharatiya Empire weakens, or until Emperor Vijay dies."

Li Dingguo was feeling suffocated, and a feeling of desperation arose in his mind as well. He thought that he would get a chance to become the greatest general the mainland has ever seen, but he did not expect so many intricacies to be blocking his path.

"So we are now going to exchange people for weapons?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

Zhu Yu Lang nodded with determination, his eyes ruthless and his heart heavy. "Yes, we are going to exchange people for weapons; this is the only chance we have for unification in this lifetime. The Bharatiya Empire is in a special situation where they need a lot of population for all construction projects they have declared, and we need more weapons to defeat the enemy, and we need them now. In a way, even the fate is favouring the Bharatiyas."

Li Dingguo was reluctant, but he still nodded and did not continue to comment further.

Looking at his friend's depressed look, Zhu Yu Lang smiled, "Don't worry, look at the bright side, by sending so many people into the arms of the Bharatiya Empire we can more deeply understand how their society works, and it will be more easy for us to copy their technologies."

"The might of the Bharatiya Empire currently is incomprehensible. They are the only power in the world to have taken full control of an entire ocean; utterly powerful, with the capability of not letting even a single fishing ship enter their waters without their knowledge. They are the largest power, with territory spread all over Southeast Asia and the new continent discovered by them, which is as large as our own mainland. Even thinking about challenging them makes my heart palpitate."

"But if we... if we fail now, maybe in the future, when this behemoth weakens, we will have a chance to rise, and the descendants of Yan and Huang who have gone into the Bharatiya Empire will definitely come back to the Motherland when it needs them the most."

Li Dingguo looked at the bright eyes of Zhu Yu Lang, which contained ambition and foresight like he had never seen. He could only stay silent in acknowledgement, kindling a sliver of hope for the rise of the Chinese, but all of this was too far away from him.

---

Zhu Yu Lang left the army, returned to Kunming, and quickly negotiated a deal with the External Affairs Minister of the Bharatiya Empire, S. Jaishankar.

The negotiations were brutal, as both nations wanted to get the most out of the resources they were exchanging, but unfortunately for Zhu Yu Lang, he was handicapped in the negotiations from the beginning, since he had no time to waste while the Bharatiyas had all the time in the world.

In the end of the three-day negotiation session, he finally signed an agreement where the Bharatiya could employ and resettle a complete family consisting of one male, one female, and up to four children for a price of 15 Shakti rifles, or three Shikari rifles, or one 20-kilogramme cannon. Individually, the rates were fixed as follows: a single male aged 30 or below for three Shakti rifles, a single female of the same age group for six Shakti rifles, a child under 10 for two Shakti rifles, and a skilled worker with expertise in fields such as carpentry, woodworking, or blacksmithing for 20 Shakti rifles.

There was no cap on the number of guns and people that could be traded.

The deal was highly in favour of the Bharatiya Empire, but Zhu Yu Lang, no longer having any choice, reluctantly signed the deal, arranged for people to mobilise the refugees and send them towards the port, and he left to join with the army once again.

---

In the outskirts of Kunming, large camps had been formed, sort of like the campsites made by the army who had gone on an expedition. But unlike the camps of the army, the camps here did not look either professional or functional, because the camps were built all over the place in a messy manner. There was no granary in sight, there were no lookouts, there were no patrolling soldiers, and so on.

Instead, people who looked malnourished walked out of the tents with lifeless eyes, all of them squatted on the ground, looking towards the city with hope.

"Maybe they will provide some porridge today," an old man muttered, his eyes already blurry.

Li Jian was one of these people. He held a little boy in his arms, it was his son Li Bai, his three-year-old son. He had just fallen asleep after crying for a long time. Neither Li Jian nor his son had eaten properly for a long time. He was a simple craftsman from Chenzhou. Life was not good, but it was not bad either; it was satisfactory and fulfilling. But everything changed when the war started. The Manchu loyalists in the city occupied all the granaries and looted all the houses for the grain, and he, as well as hundreds of other people, had to move south in the hopes of getting a bite to eat.

Although he did get a bite to eat, it was still only barely enough. His wife, Qin Ning, unfortunately, passed away due to the sickness that relapsed due to hunger and constant travel.

In recent days, he wakes up every day with the only goal of living for a day longer and hoping that his son will live a few more days.

"Brother, I heard that Changdi has been conquered. It looks like more refugees will come. Will we still have a bite to eat when they come?"

The people around him were discussing. Li Jian was startled and a little panicked.

To Be Continued...