June 8th, 1657


    The hidden operations of the Vian Republic have not been detected by the rest of the European countries, while most European countries know that Russia is stockpiling grain and preparing for war.


    Despite this, there is not actually any panic among European countries because this situation is not out of the ordinary for Europe, which witnesses the Russo-Ottoman War approximately once every 50 years or so.


    Both the Ottoman and Russian empires were established in the 13th and 14th centuries respectively, and they had already fought three major wars so far, with the minor wars being too numerous to count. The Europeans already know that the feud between the Russians and the Ottomans is irreconcble.


    Hence, they wouldn’t be surprised if these tworge nations went to war another ten times; after all, both of them could afford it.


    If anything, if the Russians did not mobilize their troops once in a while to fight a war against the Ottomans, the Europeans would be in a panic. Who knows what the bear, which has nothing to do, would do to their western neighbours? Fortunately, once Russian mobilization started, various nobles of Europe breathed a sigh of relief.


    ( One thing to note is that, in the same period in thest timeline, Russia was not yet established and was only a principality surrounding Moscow. It was Peter the Great who established Russia as an empire after the Great Northern War. In this timeline, however, Russia was already an empire due to major changes in history.)


    ---


    Veliky Novgorod, Tsarist Russian Empire


    Arge tower was built in one of the oldest cities in Russia, Novgorod. The tower is 60 meters tall, towering over the trees and buildings next to it. A crowd had gathered around the tower, their voices kept to a mute.


    "Do you think His Highness’s n will work?" Ivan Petrovich, intently looking at the top of the tower, said to hispanion, his face filled with doubt.


    "I don’t know, but in theory, it should work," Boris Aleksandrov responded. Just then, Mikhail Vasiliev joined the conversation.


    "I heard that thismunication technology was already put into use in the Bharatiya empire. So if this device does not work, it can only be med on our ipetence."


    "How can that be? We have followed the design meticulously, and we have also used the mirror that His Royal Highness imported. Speaking of the mirror, I must say it is very beautiful and marvellous. If it weren’t needed for the experiment, I would have bought it myself."


    "Come to the point, old man," Boris Aleksandrov reminded Ivan, his expression annoyed.


    "Oh, yes. We have meticulously followed all the instructions provided by the Bharatiya schrs, and I have personally made sure that everything is set up properly," Ivan Petrovich replied.


    Hispanions, Mikhail and Boris, looked at him with a hint of doubt, as if they did not believe him, but just then an exmation rang out.


    "Oh Lord! Look, the tower in the distance lit up!"


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The three old men immediately diverted their gaze to a signal tower located a few kilometres away. Seeing the flickering sunlight through the mirror, their eyes lit up.


    It was the initiation signal. The signal was soon seen on their tower too. Then, as if a seizure had urred, the lights kept flickering nonstop for 20 minutes straight, after which the flickering stopped immediately.


    The three men jumped around in joy as they loudly proimed, "The connection is established! Haha, the connection is established! Themunication channel really works! Haha!"


    500 kilometres away in Moscow


    Peter watched the flickering towers with an unreal expression on his face. Although he had witnessed and used the Archa Drishtimunication channel back in the Bharatiya Empire, the feeling waspletely different when he was back home.


    It had been a month since he returned home, and ever since then, he had focused on building a demo version of the Archa Drishtimunication channel in his empire. First, he requested his father’s support, but seeing as how the investment was too much, his father denied it. For this reason, he did not even try to request support from his brother.


    As ast resort, Peter used his personal funds and some help from minor nobles who were looking to curry favour with him to establish a demomunication channel between Moscow and Novgorod, 500 kilometres away. For this to happen,munication towers had to be built every 4 kilometres, costing him a hefty sum and a total of 125 signal towers.


    Even though he was sure that themunication channel would work, he had invested all of his private property, took a lot of loans and borrowed a lot of money from his mother, so he was a bit nervous. However, now, looking at the flickering lights, he was overwhelmed. He was one step closer to sess.


    Beside him, the minor nobles who had supported him in the investment were cheering with joy. They felt that the inadvertent investment they had made had turned out to be a gold mine. However, unlike the nobles, Peter did not allow himself to getcent; the final step was still remaining.


    He quieted everyone down, looked at a man with an obvious schrly temperament, and asked, "Mr. Dante Ro, could you please encrypt the message for me?"


    The Italian schr, who had been living in Moscow, nodded, with a hint of expectation in his eyes. "Please state the words, Your Highness."


    Peter thought for a while and stated the first telegraphed message in Europe.


    500 kilometres away, the three Russian men were excited as the signal tower started to transmit the message.


    The light was shing in a seemingly random sequence, but the three men knew that this was a sign that the message was being transmitted, so they each took up a pen and started to decipher the message.


    Ivan Petrovich: "Long."


    Boris Aleksandrov : "Live."


    Mikhail Vasiliev " Mother Russia."


    "Long live Mother Russia"


    The pens fell down, and there was a momentary silence among the crowd.


    "HAHAHAHAHA, it worked!"


    "Hey old man Ivan, it really worked!"


    "Hurry Hurry, Mikhail, Hurry! send a reply! Send a reply!"


    Peter, who received the reply message, finally let out a heartyugh. Themunication channel between Moscow and Novgorod was established.


    The news soon spread throughout the Russian Empire. The nobles who were previously not too keen on this newmunication device of Peter, started to change their opinions.


    ---


    Boyar Alexei Korsakov, from the House of Korsakov, receiving the news, immediately set off to meet with His Highness the Prince. Being from a family focused on trade, he knew what almost instantaneousmunication between Novgorod and Moscow meant. ’Even if I cannot buy the technology, I should at least get the right to use it,’ he thought.


    Mikhail Zaretsky had an ugly expression on his face. ’If the royal family had this means ofmunication, would they still need nobles like us to help them rule?’ He thought, his heart beating fast. Being from a political family, Mikhail Zaretsky immediately saw the huge potential of this newmunicationwork in governance.


    Patriarch Boyar Dmitry Yaropolskiy had an excited expression on his face. "I should request His Majesty to install this on the battlefield. If I canmunicate with my subordinates, the battlefield will be in my grasp." Thinking of this, he became more impatient. ’No matter what, I should convince His Majesty,’ he thought.


    With one move from Peter, a lot of factions in the Russian Empire had been affected, some overjoyed, some disgusted, and some unmoved. But overall, Peter managed to muddy the waters of the Russian Empire, which had been stagnant for far too long, starting a chain of modernization efforts in the 17th century.


    Alexis I, who had suddenly received multiple intelligence reports from Michael, was taken aback by why so many old figures in the noble families moved at the same time. But after receiving a letter from Peter, his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.


    "This bastard really did it," he thought. Then, as if in sudden realization, he realised the importance of the matter, ’No, this newmunication channel should be firmly controlled by the royal family.’


    "Michael, prepare a carriage immediately."


    "I’m going to meet with Peter."


    During his travel, Alexis saw numerous luxurious carriages going to the outskirts of Moscow, the ce where his son had installed the Archa Drishtimunication channel. Seeing this, he could not help but worry. ’I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing.’


    ---


    Peter, looking at the multiple noble carriages that suddenly arrived near the base station, was not really surprised, because he had already expected something like this to happen. He also knew that there were some informants among the minor nobles who were with him. Despite knowing this, he had taken them under his wing mainly for the purpose of investment and to make some people restless.


    He had seen too much in the Bharatiya Empire and did not want his empire to remain a feudal country.


    He wanted to see if he could reduce the influence of the noble families in the empire by introducing some modernization efforts,


    Seeing his father, Peter put on a smiling expression and weed him. "Wee, Father. I have been waiting for you."


    Alexis, looking at Peter’s expression, immediately figured out that this bastard did it intentionally. "YOU!" He was about to scold him, but seeing the resolute expression on Peter’s face, he gave up.


    The father and son went into the temporarily built base station and discussed something for a very long time. The nobles outside, no matter how high up in the ranks they were, had no choice but to wait. Just when the old men were getting impatient, the door was opened, and His Majesty came out.


    "The Moscow to Novgorod Archa Drishti Communication Channel has been bought by the Romanov royal family from Prince Pyotr Alekseyevich Romanov for a price of 57,000 ducats. The usage of themunication channel and further development of suchmunication channels will be discussed in the future."


    Saying that, Alexis along with Peter left for the Royal Pce. The old nobles looked at each other, their expressions looking a little lost, but what could they do? This era in Russia was still one where the monarch had the final say, and they could at most cause some trouble for the royal family if they used all their tricks.


    If they wanted to fight against the royal family, they would need to unite all the major noble families to fight against the Romanov family. And is such a thing possible?


    Well, let’s not talk about it.


    P.S. Thank you Yashwant_Reddy, for the IceC


    P.S. Thank you Vatsal_Sharma_9849, for the IceC