Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Li Jian woke up startled as the loud sound of someone banging the bell reverberated throughout the camp.

Little Bai woke up as well, and as always, he started to cry, giving him a big headache. But what could he do? Bai was his only child after all, and given the sensitive situation, he could neither scold him nor beat him.

Not to mention, he was only three, and he had just lost his mother.

He pushed aside the tent cover and looked outside to see what was going on. It was all right if he did not look, but once he did, he was shocked.

Who would have thought that the camp would be placed on a hill that was right next to the sea? The bright blue water, shimmering like pearls under the morning light, was clearly visible from his tent.

If it were any other time, he would take his sweet time and enjoy the view, as he had only been to the sea once when he was a child, but unfortunately, his situation was unlucky to say the least, and even the sound of the bell was still impacting his ears.

"No wonder the night was so windy," he muttered as he looked around, trying to figure out what was making the sound, and a well-dressed man who looked to be in his 30s caught his eye. The man was holding an iron plate in his hand, much like the pans one would use for cooking, and was hitting it constantly with a wooden stick.

Li Jian figured out that this was a way of calling them out of their tents, so he carried his son in one hand, his Cloth bag in the other, and slowly walked towards the man. People around him were doing something similar as well.

"Breakfast will be provided. Everyone, clean yourself up, brush your teeth, and line up," he spoke in standard Mandarin, so it was easy enough to understand. But what does brushing the teeth mean? Was it using the chewing stick?

Li Jian looked around and he couldn't see such sticks on the ground anywhere, but still, he didn't voice out his doubts. Instead, he quickly washed his hands, legs, and face, did the same to his son, and waited to see what would happen.

A few minutes later, he was handed a wooden stick on which some sort of black cream was applied. He did not know what to do, but thankfully, the Bharatiya explained,

"You brush your teeth with this. This is called toothpaste. It will clean your mouth, but remember not to swallow the paste. After brushing your teeth, all the paste must be spit out, and the mouth must be cleansed with water."

Li Jian did as instructed and brushed his teeth. The paste was weird; it was very salty, and he could even sense the texture and taste of coal. There were some other spices as well, which he was very unaccustomed to. However, after he spat out all the paste and cleaned his mouth, he felt refreshed. Even his breath smelled good.

He didn't ask his son to brush his teeth because he was both worried that there was something wrong with it and whether he would swallow it. But now that he knew it was safe, he quickly took the paste in his own fingers and started to rub it all over the teeth. He was worried his brat would poke himself or do something naughty with the wooden stick, so he brushed his teeth himself.

After doing everything as he was told, the food was finally provided. The meal was luxurious because there were actually a few pieces of meat in the broth. The broth was very flavorful as well, and he had never tasted so many spices. Also, the rice was long and thin, and it was very flaky. It was the tastiest meal he had ever had.

"Maybe the royal cuisines taste like this as well," Li Jian couldn't help but salivate.

In a few mouthfuls, he finished all his food and was left wanting more. Even his son showed a happy smile after a long time.

The overall atmosphere in the camp was very positive due to the delicious food. The restless atmosphere they had was alleviated a lot.

A few people even went forward with eagerness to ask if they could be served more of the rice and chicken broth. Noticing this, Li Jian looked towards the middle-aged man who had made the announcement with some hope. He was left unfulfilled as well.

The middle-aged man seemed to be talking with a tall brown man, whom he could only think of as a Bharatiya, and finally spoke out,

"The captain said no more food will be provided until the evening because all of you are malnourished, and overeating can cause you to get sick."

Li Jian was disappointed. He did not know if the reason was valid or not, but since the man said that food would be provided in the evening, he calmed down.

Soon they were taken towards the sea to the port. Li Jian's heart began to palpitate. He knew what was about to come next. They were going to board a boat and go to the Bharatiya Empire.

Everyone had the same realisation as well, so on the way to the port, they were all unusually silent.

Getting to the port, a group of six gigantic ships were docked, and before the ships, a group of Bharatiya soldiers were guarding the entrance with guns similar to the ones used by the soldiers of the Southern Ming dynasty. In fact, the guns looked newer, without scratches here and there, and also a bit more advanced.

"Choose one of the six ships and slowly move towards its platform."

This time, a Bharatiya man spoke out. His Mandarin was a little weird, but still, Li Jian could understand it.

Looking at the six ships, he could not make up his mind, so he simply left his son to choose.

His son pointed at the one in the middle, fourth in the order from left to right.

Holding the backpack in one arm and his son in the other, he slowly climbed up the platform with his heart palpitating.

He looked back at the mountains, the peaks, and the land for the last time and turned around. "Please look over me, ancestor, if possible, I will come back to burn incense," he prayed in his heart and went inside, where he was shown to his seat.

Li Jian thought that it would be a long journey, several days on the sea, but he was pleasantly surprised when the ship stopped at Manila only a few hours after setting off.

He was not allowed to roam around, but still, looking at the port of Manila from the deck of the ship left him mesmerised. It was the first time he had seen such a big port. What's more, the people he saw at the port were of all kinds. There were the brown people who carried themselves with pride, with their heads raised high, whom he thought were the Bharatiya; he saw the people of the Philippines, and there were even White Devils, the higher-ups in his town talked about. However, instead of being arrogant and conceited like the town leaders said, the White Devils at the port were all acting respectfully. They were not causing any trouble. He even saw a few White Devils acting cordially and laughing along with the Bharatiyas like they were equals; it was all harmonious.

The ship once again began to move, but this time the journey was really for several days until they reached a port called Jayapura in a land called Nagapura (Papua New Guinea.)

Li Jian observed that the port wasn't as big or as lively as the Manila port, but what stood out was that it was filled almost entirely with Bharatiyas. They were coming and going in large sailing ships, which were their own, something he couldn't quite comprehend, as he had assumed such vessels would only be used by the military. Although for some reason, most of the Bharatiyas he saw in Nagapura looked like they were from China or Southeast Asia, from their darker complexion, dressing style, and unique clothes, he understood that these people were Bharatiyas, and he realised that there were barely any Southeast Asians in sight. After some inquiry, he learned that Nagapura was one of the many overseas territories of the Bharatiya Empire.

This greatly shocked him, and it was not over yet, since he further learnt that Nagapura alone was larger than the island kingdom (Nippon) in the east. In his mind, the island kingdom had always been the biggest island in the world—who would have thought that just one territory under the Bharatiya Empire would surpass it in size?

Li Jian understood now—he had stepped into a world completely controlled by the Bharatiya Empire.

After staying for a few days, the ship finally moved. This time, he was told that the next port they would be landing at would be, for the foreseeable future, their home.

Li Jian was looking forward to it.

Finally, a week later, they came to Surya Nagari (Queensland), to the port of Bhanu Bhavana (Brisbane).

Li Jian got down from the ship, no longer with a gloomy expression or uncertainty, but with hope and expectation, because he had seen enough along his Travels to understand that if he followed the conditions set by the Bharatiya Empire, then he could make it big for himself. Unlike back home, where no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move away from his lowly position.

To Be Continued...