Chapter 505: The Treaty of Bengaluru: Bharat-Spanish Trade Deal 2
January 9th, 1658
Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Imperial Capital Bengaluru
The journey of the Spanish delegation lasted an entire day because the spanish gallion arrived at the port of Mangalore in the evening of January 8th, 1658, around 5:00 PM. Hence, even though they departed for the capital as soon as they arrived, they had to stop midway at a large town to rest for the night.
Eventually, the Spanish delegation reached the capital the next day, promptly at 9:00 AM. Don Álvaro de Mendoza, ashamed by his lack of understanding about the nation, had not been idle throughout the journey. He had been busy learning about the Bharatiya Empire ever since the trip began.
Except for a few hours of sleep, the rest of his time was spent studying various details pertaining to the Bharatiya Empire.
Due to this, Ambassador Pedro Santiago couldn’t help but become desperate, as he hadn’t slept well for the past few days.
The reason? It was naturally because he was the person responsible for educating His Excellency Álvaro about the Bharatiya Empire. Initially, this would not have been a problem, since a few hours of lost sleep wasn’t really a big deal. However, he had a major issue: he was someone who couldn’t sleep well during a voyage.
Due to this, his fatigue began to accumulate, bringing him to the brink of collapse. His eyes were bloodshot, his emotions chaotic, and he was desperate for rest. Nevertheless, he ultimately managed to endure the hardship and proceeded to explain everything he knew about the Bharatiya Empire.
Not aware of the ambassadors emotions, the heartless Don Álvaro de Mendoza was like a sponge, absorbing everything he learned with incredible efficiency.
By the time the Spanish delegation arrived at the outskirts of Bengaluru, Don Álvaro de Mendoza was almost a completely different person compared to when he just arrived in the empire. He now understood quite a bit about the systems and other aspects of the Bharatiya Empire, which made it unique among the empires of this era.
Traveling through the King’s Avenue Road of Bengaluru, the entourage of the Spanish was like a flame lit up during the night.
It attracted the attention of everyone in the vicinity, especially because the carriages used were easily recognizable as those built by the Raya Mobility Company, which in the current Bharatiya Empire is equivalent to the most exclusive edition of Rolls Royce in the 21st century. Seeing five carriages being used at once, the people were certain that someone important was traveling.
Additionally, instead of the police providing the escort, it was the military—something that had never happened before. These factors combined created the impression that a king and his people from another country were traveling in the carriages, which is why the reaction was so intense.
Count Don Álvaro de Mendoza noticed the unusual attention his entourage was receiving but chose to ignore it. What truly caught his attention was the architecture, infrastructure, and everything else in the city of Bengaluru.
He was traveling in the third lane at a considerable pace when he noticed a fourth lane separated by a barrier in the middle of the highway, between the two sets of three-lane roads, and it was completely empty. "Pedro, what is the purpose of that lane, and why is no one using it?"
Pedro looked at the place where His Excellency the Count was pointing. "It’s a lane dedicated for emergency purposes or special services only, Your Excellency."
"That means this lane could only be used for medical emergencies, police emergencies, military emergencies, or for the post office."
Álvaro was immediatly enlightened, "Ahh, I see," He quickly understood the intention behind the design of this road. "I must say, it’s a clever and simple way to improve the logistics capabilities of various departments during emergencies. Perhaps Madrid should consider installing something like this, but I suspect if anyone would agree with me due to the sheer amount of resources it would require."
Pedro immediately had a complicated expression on his face. "The Bharatiya Empire is building its infrastructure with this road as a standard. Your Excellency, almost all main roads follow this design: two three-lane roads and one emergency lane road.
I heard they’ve already laid down thousands of kilometers of such roads, capable of connecting any major part of the empire by carriage without difficulty."
Don Álvaro immediately felt grateful for His Majesty’s decision to negotiate a trade deal with the Bharatiya Empire on this matter, for after just one day in the Bharatiya Empire, he realized this was not a nation to be underestimated.
He had the impression that even if all of Europe were to unite and send a million troops, this nation would be able to eat right through their troops with the efficiency of its logistics alone capable of manufacturing and sending goods to any part of the empire within a day.
*Phew*
The journey continued smoothly for the next few minutes, and Don Álvaro observed many things he liked: the large drainage channels that could even fit a man, the neat and wide streets, beautiful greenery along the way, the unique towers running throughout the city, and other aspects.
Suddenly, without prior warning, Don Álvaro slipped from his seat and leaned forward, almost falling and hitting his head. Fortunately, he caught himself at the last moment. The Spanish entourage was suddenly stopped and there was a large commotion within the carriages. Don Álvaro’s forehead wrinkled. "What happened? Why did we stop?"
Pedro Santiago got down from the carriage and inquired with the traffic police officer who had stopped them. "Your Excellency, they said there has been an accident at a nearby construction site. A carriage carrying the injured people is coming through the emergency lane, so we will have to temporarily stop until the carriage passes by."
"How can they stop my carri—" Don Álvaro paused. "Forget it, get on. It doesn’t matter if we’re delayed for a few minutes."
He wanted to express how could a noble’s time be compared to that of an injured worker, but suddenly he remembered that he was not in Europe, where nobility was respected everywhere, but in the Bharatiya Empire, where in theory—and as he now realized—there were no nobles in this empire, so his life was no more valuable than that of a street sweeper.
Don Álvaro obviously felt uncomfortable with this system, but there was nothing he could do. If this Bharatiya nation were closer to Europe, he could have rallied the European nobles to attack the Bharatiya Empire.
But India was far from Europe, so no matter how much he protested, no one would pay attention to him, especially now since most European countries were making a lot of money by trading with Bharat.
While he was stationed at the intersection, something caught his eye: a bookstore selling newspapers. He was surprised that this empire had a newspaper and that it was being sold so openly to civilians.
Álvaro immediately got annoyed. "Idiot, how did you forget to mention that this empire had a newspaper? What have you been doing all these months? I was holding out hope for you, thinking that the situation in the Philippines was an unfortunate coincidence on your part, But now, looking at your behavior, I might have to consider that you are really incompetent."
"Now, go get a newspaper," he growled in a low voice. Then he remembered something. "Get the newspapers from previous days as well, if possible."
Pedro did not have many emotions in his heart, as he felt like the world was out to get him for some random reason. So in the end, he decided to give up trying to defend himself altogether. The truth was, Santiago was confused as well. He had left the Bharatiya Empire believing there was no newspaper, but when he came back, there was one.
He did not understand how this empire was able to innovate so quickly.
Álvaro looked through the window and saw Pedro going to the bookstore, but after talking with the bookstore owner for a few minutes, he returned with a few newspapers under his arm.
"Your Excellency, I was only able to get today’s newspaper. The shopkeeper mentioned that newspapers are a commodity in high demand, so he usually sells out all the copies of the day."
Don Álvaro de Mendoza was a little disappointed by this news since he wanted to read the old newspapers and understand what had happened in the Bharatiya Empire since the empire attacked their Philippine colony. "Oh well, there is nothing that can be done then. Get on; it seems like the carriage carrying the injured people has left."
Pedro Santiago got into the carriage, but he suddenly thought of something. "I don’t think we will have to worry about this, Your Excellency. We are currently heading to the embassy where all the embassies of different nations are located. Once we get there, we can ask our colleagues for the newspapers; they should have them in stock."
Don Álvaro de Mendoza stroked his chin in realization. "Alright then, that’s good."
"Pedro, read this newspaper for me; it’s in Bharati."
Pedro obliged as he took the newspaper and immediately felt the difference between this newspaper and the one he was familiar with back home. If he had to describe it, he would say that the newspaper from the Bharatiya Empire was much thinner and more delicate than the one he was used to in his own empire.
But considering that this newspaper cost only a single Varaha, he understood the reason for its delicateness was due to the cheapness of the material. He soon opened the newspaper and proceeded to read it.
However, the first line completely shocked him:
"The Spanish delegation arrives in the Bharatiya Empire for negotiations." Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Don Álvaro de Mendoza was also shocked, as he did not expect the people of the Bharatiya Empire to actually circulate news so quickly. They had only reached the Bharatiya Empire yesterday at 5:00 PM, and by 9:00 AM this morning, their arrival was already known to most of the people in the Imperial Capital.
"So fast!" Don Álvaro de Mendoza couldn’t help but exclaim. He knew that the Arkha Dristhi communication channel of the Bharatiya Empire was an excellent and world-class communication network, primarily for military purposes. However, this was the first time he had seen the benefits of such an excellent communication infrastructure for a nation and its people in the commercial sector.
He fully understood how the news spread to the newspaper company so quickly, even without Pedro or anyone else explaining it.
"The Newspaper company probably had reporters in Mangaluru and they probably sent the news of our arrival from the Mangaluru Port to Bengaluru through the Arkha Drishti communication network, and then, the newspaper company located in the capital immediately added it to today’s news and got it into printing overnight."
"I have to say, I am a little impressed. Go on, then; let’s see what other interesting things can be found in the newspaper."
Pedro nodded in acknowledgment. "Finance Minister Jagannath Mohan says that a war between the Bharatiya Empire and the Spanish Emperor would be disastrous. Read more about his ideas in our interview."
Pedro then continued to read the interview, which left Don Álvaro continuously impressed by the way the Finance Minister of the Bharatiya Empire considered the financial and economic burden the war would bring to the nation.
This was completely different from the treasurer the Spanish empire had, where his only duty was to ensure that all the accounts and numbers checked out; he had no other rights or obligations.
"If we had such a financial advisor who would clarify how much trouble the economy would get into with a certain war, why would we have to bitterly endure this 30-year war, a war that we won and lost at the same time? Sigh."
"Also, this person is right: except for our two empires’ common interests in Southeast Asia, the interests of the Spanish people do not actually coincide with those of the Bharatiya. As mentioned in his interview, there is actually a very big chance for cooperation."
The carriage eventually reached the embassy street, where the ambassadors and entourages of different European nations were located. Don Álvaro de Mendoza was disappointed that the journey ended quickly, as he was learning a lot of interesting things from the newspaper. However, he knew what was expected of him, so he immediately attended to his colleagues, engaging in socializing.
But Pedro, who felt like he could finally get a good night’s sleep, was desperate and disappointed since his Excellency had kept him awake all night long reading newspapers from the past days.
P.S. Thank you Lucifer_6671 for the Inspiration capsule