Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

May 1659

The Duchy of Württemberg, a German Dukedom in the Holy Roman Empire

The butler of the Oppenheimer family, Edmund Hersch, had a smile on his face as he hurriedly got down from the carriage and entered the luxurious German-style manor.

All the maids and slaves working in the manor were extremely surprised to see their always-rigid butler in such an upbeat mood. Their eyebrows were raised, as seeing a smile on the butler's face only happened once in a blue moon. Despite such an event being a juicy topic for gossip, no one added a single word and went back to their duties, since they knew what would be waiting for them if they even dared to act out of line. However, unfortunately, not everyone had this knowledge.

A maid who was cleaning a painting looked at the butler with surprise. "What do you think happened to make the old man so happy?" the maid asked.

"Who knows? Maybe he found a mistress," her colleague, who was wiping the floor, looked up at the butler as she spoke with a chuckle.

Unfortunately, however, their gossip was heard by someone who produced dread in the hearts of the maids.

Suddenly, a gothic woman who was the visual representation of a strict headmaster stood behind the maids who had only recently joined. "Both of you, you are immediately shifted from working in the manor to cleaning the bathroom. Get lost," the head maid said, scolding without mercy, all the while somehow remaining elegant and noble.

Edmund Hersch did not know what had happened when he entered the manor, but even if he did, he wouldn't care, since he had finally received a letter from the second young master Ezekiel Oppenheimer after so many months.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

If he had to say who in the Oppenheimer family had the closest relationship with him, it would have to be the second young master, Ezekiel Oppenheimer. When the first young master was born, Master Joseph was there to take care of him since his business had not gotten too big yet, but by the time the second young master was born, Master Joseph was embroiled in troubles with the local nobles and the problems of expansion. So the growth of Ezekiel Oppenheimer was greatly ignored by Master Joseph.

Thus, Edmund was tasked with taking care of the second young master. Edmund Hersch watched the second young master grow up right in front of his eyes, and it is not too much to say that if Master Joseph is the biological father of Ezekiel, then he would be the second father who raised him.

When Master Joseph wanted to send the second young master on a long trip to the southeastern nation, the Bharatiya Empire, although Ezekiel was willing to make the travel, Edmund was highly unwilling because he had a lot of life experience and knew the dangers of ocean travel. Unfortunately, despite his unwillingness, he was still at the end of the day, a loyal servant of the Oppenheimer family, and he couldn't go against the decision of his master.

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Joseph Süß Oppenheimer sat in the main hall of the manor, with his brows wrinkled like a dried-up leaf, looking very worried. His family business had encountered a huge trouble that seemed almost unsolvable. In order to discuss the matter, he had even called his son, but he was really surprised by the sudden appearance of the butler.

"What happened, Edmund? You look so excited," Joseph asked.

The middle-aged man sitting opposite Joseph looked at Butler Edmund with a doubtful expression on his face. 'Is he excited? Why can't I tell?' he thought.

Edmund Hersch was a little disappointed in his heart that his emotions were discovered by the master, but not for long because that was expected, considering how long he had served Master Joseph Oppenheimer.

"Master, I have received a letter from the second young master," Edmund Hersch said as he elegantly handed over the letter to Joseph with both hands.

Joseph was immediately excited. He hurriedly tore open the letter with an eager expression on his face. This was very uncharacteristic of him as he was always stable in the way he did things, but no one complained since they knew that the letter from the second young master meant a lot to Master Joseph.

The middle-aged man, who was none other than the first son of Joseph Oppenheimer, Reuben Oppenheimer, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He did not have too close of a relationship with his brother like typical brothers, since he had spent most of his childhood in noble schools as he was trained to take over the business of Oppenheimer Bank from his father. So he did not have much contact with his brother until he returned after completing his studies when he was 23 years old. In total, he had only spent eight years with his brother, starting from when he was 12.

However, not having a deep connection with him doesn't mean he doesn't care. The moment he understood Ezekiel was not a person who wanted to challenge his right of inheritance, he immediately softened his treatment of his younger brother. Moreover, Ezekiel's determination to venture into a foreign land for the family moved him a lot.

Out of curiosity and a little worry, temporarily forgetting the etiquette he had learned since childhood—which was most similar to German nobles, he stood behind his father to read the letter.

Joseph did not notice Reuben getting behind him because he was taken aback by the contents of the letter.

In the letter, Ezekiel mentioned in detail how the Jewish people were finally appointed to various government jobs in the Bharatiya Empire, as well as allocating them the land that was promised. He also mentioned some of the rules and regulations of the Bharatiya Empire, some interesting phenomena, and most importantly, he repeatedly mentioned the huge prospects for wealth in the Bharatiya Empire.

Although all these points did catch Joseph's attention and made him quite satisfied, it was not the news he wanted to know. So he flipped the letter to see if there was anything written on the back, and thankfully there was.

Reuben, standing behind his father, was a little taken aback by everything his little brother had mentioned. Unknowingly, he, who only had a little interest in the Bharatiya Empire since his family was responsible for helping out down-and-out Jewish and Romani people with immigration, grew more and more interested in the Eastern Elephant. However, he couldn't continue reading the first page since his father flipped it over. He was a little unhappy but he did not complain, as he decided to once again read the letter after his father.

"Father, I have met with His Majesty, the Emperor of the Bharatiya Empire, Rajyapati Vijay Devaraya."

"The meeting was about His Majesty providing some proof to the condition he put forward, which is helping us establish our own nation."

"However, unfortunately, His Majesty couldn't provide the proof, since he mentioned that currently, the Bharatiya Empire is conducting an operation which will eventually lead to them getting control of the region. After that, they will help us build our nation there."

"Additionally, when I asked His Majesty if he could just reveal the area where he would help the Jewish people build a nation, he denied my request."

"With two continuous refusals, I had suspected His Majesty Vijay would allocate a large peninsula in the Southeast to us, as most of the Southeast is directly or indirectly controlled by the Bharatiya Empire. But after I conducted a thorough investigation, I think it is very unlikely. The Bharatiya Empire is constantly strengthening relations with all the tribes and countries in the Southeast and is investing a lot of resources in developing it. His Majesty is very unlikely to directly allow us to build our nation there after Bharat has expended so many resources, and most importantly, I suspect that His Majesty has bigger plans for the Bharatiya Empire in the Southeast."

"With the Southeast out of the question, I looked for any other place where the Bharatiya Empire was actively expending huge resources, and by chance, I found out about the excess amounts of supplies going into the Persian Gulf. Although through various channels, I was able to confirm that the Bharatiya Empire was not actively engaged in a war against any nation, the move of the Bharatiya empire is still highly suspicious, since after the civil war in the Safavid Empire, a new power called Atashban has risen out of nowhere."

"According to the rumours I have heard, this new power shows very high similarity to the Bharatiya Army in its infancy along with speculations of utilising outdated Bharatiya weapons."

"I have no actual proof for this statement, but after piecing together everything I know, I believe that the Bharatiya Empire is fighting for control of the Safavid Empire through a proxy, and the promise he made to us is very likely to be true. The region in which he will help us build the nation could be somewhere in Arabia."

"And most importantly, Father, His Majesty did promise to include our family in this operation for the establishment of the Jewish nation on the condition that our family shows enough sincerity and actually emigrates any of its core members to the Bharatiya Empire."

"Along with making this request, as a form of showing his sincerity and to give the Jews more reassurance, His Majesty also publicized his declaration of his promise to support the Jewish people build their own nation throughout the empire in the most popular Bharatham Daily newspaper, which had sold nearly 596,000 copies in a day. With word of mouth, this information has already reached the ears of millions in the Bharatiya Empire."

"He suggested that you directly emigrate to the Bharatiya Empire since he put forward a condition that, if our family wants to fight for the power to be its leader in the new Jewish nation, it can only be from a person who has Bharatiya Empire citizenship."

"If not, the best His Majesty can promise is for our family to have a prominent position in the Jewish nation, and His Majesty will appoint a Jew with enough capability and Bharatiya Empire citizenship as the leader of the Jewish nation. I personally think Uncle Moshe Goldstein would take this role."

"So, Father, I'm writing this letter not only to inform you of everything that has happened in the Bharatiya Empire over the last few months but also to ask your permission for me to permanently become a Bharatiya citizen and cooperate with His Majesty to learn more about what His Majesty has in store for us."

"Although I suspect that His Majesty would not allow me to disclose this information to you, you can trust me to reassure you of what is going on."

Thank you,

Your loving son,

Ezekiel Süß Oppenheimer

To be continued...