Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The infrastructure in the Yadava kingdom had been building at a record pace thanks to the new reigning queen. The scales of the Empire have been in prevalent use by the merchants of the kingdom. So they had to adapt to the change. The weight system regulation in the Yadavas was controlled by them themselves, unlike the Marathas ones.

The newly annexed areas were getting integrated slowly into the kingdom. The charity programs held by the Royals worked in their favor to gain some traction within the regions and allowed them to integrate those regions into their kingdom.

Gauri was headed to the study after training. She missed Harsha a lot but they were both royals and had their own responsibilities. The Empire was much bigger and the management of such a big place needed some sacrifice.

'I miss him... I want to see him…. Damn it.'

Despite the urge to see Harsha, she had problems to deal with. There were some problems with the nobles and the Kasim Sultanate recently. The rebellion in the area was spilling into their territory. The refugees were fleeing the Sultanate in hopes of settling in the Yadava Kingdom.

The army was sent to quell the rebellion, according to her spies in the Sultanate. Many villages were razed to the ground and hundreds of men and women killed; many fled the Sultanate to the neighboring nations.

That was quite a headache, as their borders with the Kasim Sultanate were one of the places where the rebellion was strong. The influx wasn't as huge but nevertheless took a bit of a toll on their treasury.

Gauri was forced to close down their borders in the wake of this refugee crisis as they couldn't afford to take more refugees and create instability in the demographics of the bordering regions.

She met Naiki on the way to her study room.

Smiling, she asked. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Any urgent news?"

Naiki walked along with Gauri. "We have some news."

"And? What is it?"

"A delegation from the Amir Sultanate was dispatched to the kingdom." She said. "It's probably to gain some favor."

"The neutral ones, eh."

Amir was the neutral player in the region and one of the nations that played their political game very well.

"Their main targets are probably the Empire. It's the most powerful one in the region."

"Hm... Are they just sending us one out of obligation due to our alliance with the Empire?" Naiki asked.

"Perhaps, but they have been in touch with us for a while now. I don't see anything bad with associating with the Amirs, unlike the Kasim Sultanate."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I see, and General Bhishma wanted an audience."

Gauri raised her brow and nodded. "You can show him in later."

After a while, General Bhishma made his way into the study room of the queen. He was wearing his casual attire after training with the Royal Army in the nearby facility. The army of the Yadavas was fairly strong despite their small landmass.

Bhishma looked at Gauri with a serious look. "Your Majesty, I have something to share."

"What is it, general?"

He took a deep breath. "We need to reform the military like the Empire." He declared.

Gauri raised her brow in surprise. "What? Reform the military?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I feel like the current military structure is not robust and up to par with similar armies from the Empire."

"Empire? Are you sure about it?" Gauri said. "I know the Empire's army is strong, but there should not be much difference."

"That's what I thought as well, after seeing the Empire's army." Bhishma sighed. "Unfortunately, we were wrong."

"I see…If you say so. There must be something going on." Gauri agreed. "The emperor likely made some important changes."

Gauri leaned back into the chair. She knew that Harsha was exceptional. She was also trying her best to match his standard.

'How far…'

"I get your concern but what is the difference?"

"The soldiers are much younger and stronger than ours." He said, scratching his chin. "Their training seems much different since the stamina of the soldiers was astounding despite carrying loads of supplies on their shoulders."

"Tactical and hierarchy-wise?" Gauri asked. "Administration must have changed a lot."

"There seems to be some change in that region." Bhishma said. "The communication has been quick."

"Naiki, do you have any information about their recruitment process?" She turned to Naiki.

"Yes, the recruitment process is much different and open to all strata of society." Naiki explained. "There has been an increase in the utilization of lower castes in the army."

"This seems to be the reason for a younger army."

"Hm... If we follow, how much backlash can we expect?"

"A lot, Your Majesty." Bhishma replied.

"I see, so how do we even implement it?"

Naiki interrupted. "The problem lies with the old ones in the army. If we weed them out first."

"We can control the backlash."

"Weed them out?" Bhishma thought. "A physical test for the current personnel?"

"Yes," Gauri nodded. "Then we roll out recruitments based on physical prowess for all strata of the society."

Since the Yadava population and army were much smaller, they would be able to control it much more smoothly.

"For ranks, I think we should split out ranks and create a new structure of command." Gauri suggested. "The current one is too cluttered. Make smaller units of command."

"Smaller units... Hm..." Bhishma thought. "That can be done, I guess."

"Your Majesty, do you think we should contact the Empire for some help?"

"For this?"

"Unless you don't involve them directly in the process, just ask them for some suggestions." She recommended. "Ally or not, army stuff is high-level information."

"Understood, Your Majesty, we will take caution."

Bhishma looked determined to implement the reform.

"I shall arrange the funding for the reform soon, Bhishma." Gauri declared. "Focus on weeding out the troublemakers."

"Understood."

She turned to Naiki. "Inform the spy unit to gather information on the troublemakers actions after they are expelled from the army."

"We don't need them to gather up a private army and start a rebellion."

Naiki nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."