22nd September 1657


    Colombo


    "Commander Akhil, congrattions on your promotion to the Mahamantri of Lower House."


    Local politicians and naval officers who had gathered together to wee the arrival of one of the three navalmanders of the empire swarmed Akhil Mukherjee, who was wearing the ceremonial military uniform and had just set foot on the port.


    Akhil Mukherjee, the newly promoted Lower House Mahamantri of the Empire, now holds the highest and most prestigious title normally achievable by anyone at a state level. For reference, Lower House Mahamantri is the same title that His Excellency, the Chief Minister of Anuradha Puri (Sri Lanka), holds.


    Akhil, looking at the crowd, was a little overwhelmed, as he had no experience dealing with fame and had never paid attention to bing famous. Nheless, he was amander leading a fleet of thousands of tons of ships, so he quickly recovered hisposure.


    "Everyone, thank you for your help. I am very honoured to receive this title, and I am grateful for your kind greetings. Now, Please step inside and do not block the dock."


    As Akhil moved through the crowd, there was a look of admiration in the eyes of many people. ’Themander is not only capable enough to liberate the Philippines from the Spanish, but is also humble and magnanimous; no wonder he has won such honours,’ the sailors and naval officers were greatly inspired. Watching his receding back, they were secretly clenching their fists in determination.


    Somewhere in Hampi


    The generals of the Bharatiya Commandos, Dinesh and Lingesh, who had just received their titles as Mahamantri of the Higher House, were heading back to the head office when they were swarmed by a group of people. Dinesh and Lingesh immediately took up a defensive posture, pulling out the daggers from their holsters and putting up their guard.


    Noticing the actions of the general, the people who had swarmed them were taken aback and retreated a few steps in panic. It was only then that Dinesh and Lingesh realized that these people were actually new recruits of themandos.


    Whew!


    The tense muscles of Dinesh Reddy and Lingash rxed as they slowly put their daggers back. The new recruits, knowing they had startled their generals, were a little embarrassed, but it was only for a while until they eventually started to congratte their generals.


    "Congrattions on your promotions, Generals!"


    "Yes, His Majesty truly recognized your contributions. Congrattions, Generals!"


    "Just one more step, and you might achieve the rank of king. Keep up the hard work, Generals."


    "From now on, we will follow your everymand. I will stand with you, Generals, to share in the glory."


    Dinesh Reddy and Lingash were helpless, but in their hearts, they were very proud and also very happy that with their new titles, their reputation and respect in society had immensely increased.


    Ahom


    "Lachit, Congrattions on your promotion to Mahamantri of the Lower House."


    Lachit Borphukan was surprised when he was actually greeted by the King of Ahom, Jaya Dhwaj Singha, and his entourage.


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    "Thank you, Your Highness. It’s very kind of you to greet me personally."


    Jaya Dhwaj Singha had a happy expression on his face. "Haha, ording to the rules of the Bhartiya Empire, anyone achieving such results is of great benefit to our state and consequently to me. So, of course, I woulde personally to greet you."


    Lachit Borphukanughed happily, but he was secretly thankful for His Majesty’s decision to integrate the kingdom with the empire. With this, he had at least been given a chance to contribute to the war efforts in theter stages of the Bharat-Mughal War. Otherwise, it would have been embarrassing for him to be amander in the Bharatiya Army without having a high enough title.


    It is not that he could not be amander without receiving this title; the system of military employment and entitlement waspletely separate and not directly rted to each other.


    However, it does not mean there is no connection between military rank and nobility rank, as they are interconnected. Title holders in the military could be considered the elite, the cream of the crop, and the best of the best. For such people, talented soldiers were easier to gather, and respect and obedience were easier to gain.


    In contrast, those with lower or no titles could not recruit people of the same calibre as the highest legions, and even to gain the respect of the soldiers, one had to work hard.


    Lachit Borphukan is fortunate in a way that, his help was instrumental in gaining freedom for Bengal and some of the northernmost states of the empire, giving him a chance to contribute significantly and earn the title of Lower House Mahamantri.


    Just then, a discordant voice came from the entourage of Raja Jaya Dhwaj Singha. "If you ask me, the contribution of General Borphukan is no less than that of Bharatiya generals like Ramayya Senapati, Narasimha Nayak, or Yogendra Singh. If the merit contributions of General Lachit were really counted without any bias; he should have already been awarded the title of a king."


    Lachit Borphukan immediately wrinkled his eyebrows; he felt very angry and wanted to scold the man who made thement. However, he realized that the man was among the entourage of His Highness Jaya Dhwaj Singhha, so he calmed down and decided to refrain from cussing him out.


    Instead, he wanted to refute the man, even though it would mean questioning the authority of His Highness Jaya Dhwaj Singhha. Surprisingly, before he could take any action, Jaya Dhwaj Singhha acted first. He red at the man who voiced theint, scolded him a few words, and sent him away, causing the man to go back with a sad expression on his face.


    The rest of the entourage started to distance themselves from him, not willing to share his bad luck; who knows what would happen once His Highness went home.


    This was only a small episode that started and ended quickly.


    Mangaluru


    "Teacher Boswell, congrattions on achieving the title of Mahamantri."


    "Haha, congrattions to you too, Vishesh, for achieving the title of ss 3 Mantri yourself."


    "Where can Ipare with you, Teacher Boswell? I still have a long way to go."


    "Don’t worry, you will eventually get there. You’re more talented than me, after all."


    Academy of Sciences


    "Congrattions, Mr Venu Das Kumar, on your title of ss Three Mantri."


    "Your contribution to encryption, decryption,nguage transmission, and your work with the Kumar code has finally been recognized."


    "Please tell us, how do you feel?"


    Venu Das Kumar, who had not yet recovered from the scare he got at the promotion ceremony, was immediately overwhelmed by the swarm of his colleagues asking him question after question. Hence, he did what any person would do; he gave an excuse for needing the toilet and ran away decisively.


    The crowd was disappointed as they did not get any answer from Mr Kumar. Just then, someone yelled out, "Hey, isn’t that Professor Chaitanya, who also got the rank of ss Three Mantri for his contribution to fluid mechanics and the invention of multiple bridges?"


    "Oh, it is! Let’s go greet him."


    Cheranadu (Ker)


    "You did a good job, my son. You have made our family proud."


    Patriarch Prasanna Pii looked at his son Ganapatra Pii with a warm smile on his face and pride in his eyes. Patriarch Pii had been originally very unwilling to mass-produce his family’s specialty Aranm Kannadi on arge scale, but he had to sumb to the threat of His Majesty and eventually agree.


    Although he hadn’t voiced his thoughts out loud to avoid bringing disaster upon himself and his family, he was always very unhappy and disgusted by the actions of His Majesty for threatening him. But now, after so many days, his unhappiness had long since disappeared.


    He began to see things in a more open-minded way after constantly hearing about his son’s exploits and how sessful thepany he ran had be.


    When he was informed that his son had achieved the title of ss Two Mantri, he first did not know what this title was, as Prasanna was not up to date with the new developmentsing out of the capital. However, once he understood that it was a title of nobility, and a higher-ss one at that, he was overwhelmed with joy. He couldn’t help but tear up knowing that their family had be nobles.


    This joy only dimmed slightly when he was informed that the nobility title would not be passed on to descendants. Still, for the Pii family, which was only a prominent family in the vige, the current recognition and achievement were no different from those of high-ranking nobles.


    Ganapatra Pii finally couldn’t help but get emotional seeing the joy and pride in his father’s eyes. Even though he did not have any shortage in hispany back at Pii Optics, there was always a shortage of family affection, and he had missed it a lot.


    In various ces of the empire


    "Sister Nithya, your promotion to ss 3 Mantri is a remarkable achievement. You are a great example and a leading figure for us women."


    "Vajra Karma, from now on, you will be our leader. You have demonstrated to us and to the people that even as architects, we can contribute to the empire and earn the honours and respect of the people, just as you have."


    "Mr Ambani, your life experience greatly motivates businessmen like us. Please let us follow you from now on."


    "General Deepak, congrattions on achieving the rank of ss 3 Yodha."


    "General Vijay Prakash, congrattions on achieving the rank of ss 1 Yodha."


    "…"


    In a simr fashion, all 625 Nobles are being celebrated across the empire. The motivation of the people to work for a better tomorrow has never been so firm before.


    The work enthusiasm and efficiency of all professionals in the empire increased by 110%.


    ---


    Vijay was pretty satisfied with the results achieved by the nobility promotion ceremony. He had been receiving positive feedback ever since the ceremony ended and had not gotten anyints about people being unhappy with their titles. Although there were discordant voices trying to create trouble, these voices were too small and too irrelevant for Vijay to care about.


    Vijay picked up the newly printed newspaper and started to read it.


    "Impact of Nobility Promotion Ceremony on Capital’s Economy: Insights from Minister of Finance Jagannath Mohan"


    "Rear Admiral Sergeant John Ramdev Elevated to Mantri: A Personal Story of His Daughter"


    "Public Opinions on the Culinary Experience at the Nobility Promotion Ceremony"


    Vijay read through one headline after another consecutively and also read through the content, which left him satisfied. The information was clear and easy to understand, and the topics chosen were interesting.


    Then he saw something that made him frown.


    "City Traffic Dys Medical Attention for Child: Who is Responsible?"


    "Fire Hazard at Banashankari Temple: No Deaths, 16 Injuries—Details Inside"


    Vijay was not angry at the newspaper for writing such things; if anything, he was satisfied. However, he was upset about how such an issue had urred. By reading, he understood that the child was among the adults invited to the nobility promotion ceremony, which led to the child not being able to get out of the parliament grounds on time.


    This is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately, but the fix is quite simple so he is not worried too much.


    It is the second issue that is more serious. ording to the newspaper, "It has been reported that the food for the guests at the ceremony was being prepared at Banashankari Temple. Due to the carelessness of the cooks, a burning log was not fully extinguished and was ced onto an unburned log forter use. This resulted in the embers spreading and igniting arge pile of logs.


    Fortunately, no one was in the immediate area at the time, so there were no fatalities. However, during the efforts to extinguish the fire, 16 individuals sustained varying degrees of burn injuries."


    "Ganesh!"


    "Yes, Your Majesty?"


    "Look at this. What is this?" Vijay pointed at the two headlines, which made his eyebrows raise.


    Ganesh did not have much of a reaction because he was the one who gave the newspaper to His Majesty after receiving the manuscript from Meera Nair.


    "It is my mistake, Your Majesty. Please forgive me. I have already taken measures to correct these issues."


    Vijay was curious. "Oh, what are those?"


    "For the first incident, we have decided to add an emergency exit to every event held by the Emperor’s office from now on."


    "For the second incident, we havee up with a solution that could also solve the first problem nationwide. We n to stipte safety standards in the catering industry with the help of the Ministry of Standards."


    "With the involvement of the Ministry of Standards, we can also address the first problem by making it mandatory for all events held in the empire to have hazard mitigation and emergency features."


    Vijay fell into deep thought as he sped his hands and supported his chin.


    Ganesh did not speak anymore as he nervously waited for the verdict.


    "All right, let’s do it. Prepare the document; I will sign it."


    Ganesh was relieved. "Thank you, Your Majesty."


    At the end of the day, Vijay was very satisfied with the three people Selvan had rmended. Vijay decided to employ all three of them, as each one had unique talents. Meera Nair, who was the most outstanding, was selected as the Editor-in-Chief of the Bharatam Daily newspaper and also as the Director of Raya Media Corporation.


    Kabir Mehta, whose talent is no weaker than Mira’s but whose intuition for news is not as strong, was appointed as Deputy Managing Editor, the person responsible for managing all the editors under the Editor-in-Chief.


    And finally, Aarav Sharma, who is the best among the three for news-gathering and fieldwork, was chosen as the Managing Journalist, the person who would be teaching and managing all the new journalists joining thepany.