Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Finally, everything was in place.

Bala Gangadhar quickly poured all the Sambrani into a container and lit them all at the same time. He kept the container on a table, and behind the container, he placed the hand-operated fan.

"I figured out this trick during my university days. This is how I used to pinpoint the placement of the fins."

As he said that, smoke started to rise in large quantities from the container. Bala Gangadhar realized that this was the right time and quickly turned the hand-operated fan.

The smoke got sucked into the fan and was immediately directed into the cupboard where the firework was placed.

The paper strips began to react in different ways to the airflow, and the smoke, white in color, was cut into precise shapes as it curved around the firework.

The mouths of all the scientists were open—this was the first time they had seen a flow being visualized in such a direct and hands-on way.

Although the concept was extremely simple, it was a groundbreaking innovation for them, who had until now only dabbled in theoretical research due to being worried about wasting the budget allocated to them by manufacturing some nonsensical designs.

In the Bharatiya Empire, all the scientists followed the philosophy of being fully prepared before doing anything. In the early stages of human scientific development in Vijay's past life, the whole approach was to make enough mistakes and learn from them. However, the philosophy of the Bharatiya Empire was to figure out as many variables as possible in the project, research, or invention before even starting. This way, the cost of research had come down significantly, but the time required had increased. It did not seem like an issue because Vijay consistently provided inspiration seeds to major research projects, benefiting the entire scientific community of the Bharatiya Empire. However, after Vijay's passing, he did not know whether his scientific research approach would be beneficial or harmful to the community.

In the beginning, when he was drawing out the scientific philosophy for the Bharatiya Empire, he simply applied the philosophy he had used in his last life in the Indian Space Research Organization, where any mistake during a live test could be a death sentence for a researcher. Because of this, all variables, no matter how minute, had to be accounted for.

Bala Gangadhar turned the fan until he couldn't turn it anymore. His hands became numb. Only then did the scientists wake up and quickly tell him to stop.

Bala Gangadhar was patted on the back and thanked profusely. He didn't know how to accept such compliments all of a sudden, and his face turned red.

Fortunately, he remembered a question he had not answered and finally addressed it in order to divert everyone's attention. "As for whether I can design a larger firework, I definitely can. But if it can achieve flight, then I'm not too sure."

"Hah? Why!!!" all five scientists asked simultaneously.

"Um!!" He was a little intimidated looking at those eyes. "I heard His Excellency Manoj Reddy mention that if the firework were any larger, the weight-to-performance ratio would decrease, and the danger of explosion would increase."

"And I don't find it feasible either. Gunpowder holds a lot of mass, but the energy it produces is not enough to propel the firework a very long distance."

The scientists all had enlightened expressions on their faces, but knowing that, their moods immediately dropped to rock bottom.

Looking at this, Bala Gangadhar made up his mind to mention the bizarre idea he had in mind.

"Um, I have an idea for a rocket, but I don't know if it will work."

All the researchers suddenly looked up. Homi Jehangir smiled.

"Kid, just tell us your idea. You don't have to hide it from us. You are one of us from now on, not to mention you are the only one who has had any sort of achievements among us."

Bala Gangadhar was embarrassed by the praise, but taking a big gulp, he said it out loud.

"The idea is, Instead of using gunpowder, why don't we use liquid fuel? We have different types of oils—we can choose an oil that has more energy potential than gunpowder when burned."

"Also, I had a thought. In order to oxidize and burn the fuel faster, what if we mix the fuel with oxygen during combustion? Wouldn't the fuel burn faster, and the energy release be higher?"

"I cannot figure out the science behind it, but from what I can tell, using this method, the rocket surely can fly to a higher altitude, fly faster, and it is bound to have more prospects than using solid fuel like gunpowder."

The whole laboratory fell into silence—even the flapping of a bird's wings near the window could be heard.

Bala Gangadhar became depressed, thinking that his idea was not appreciated, but suddenly, deafening applause erupted from the five scientists.

"Hahaha! It's an amazing idea, kid! Haha, it's worth researching," Jagdish Chandra Bose praised.

"As expected from a person who sent a man-made object over a kilometre vertically," Chandra Shekhar Venkataraman said, very impressed.

"The logic is very sound, little brother. Don't worry about the science. We five guys are very proficient in this—we will help you achieve it," Homi Jehangir Bhabha patted his chest.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Are youngsters these days so amazing?" Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai lamented.

"It's decided! This is our new project—we can finally put those funds to good use now that we have a direction to work on," Meghnad Saha laughed.

Bala Gangadhar was stunned for a few seconds before breaking out into laughter.

Everyone quickly went in front of a blackboard, wiped off whatever rubbish was written on it, and established a new project.

"Bala Gangadhar, tell us what the new goal is. How high should the rocket reach?"

Bala Gangadhar did not hesitate and answered readily, "Liquid rockets have never been tried, so it is better to be conservative. 1.5 kilometres should do."

Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman quickly wrote 1.5 on the board, then asked,

"Is there any goal for the speed?"

"The firework I designed for Sri Manjunatha Research Firm had reached at least 700 kilometres per hour, but now that we are going with a more advanced fuel delivery system, it is not too ambitious to expect the speeds to reach subsonic at 800 kilometres per hour."

Raman wrote down 0.8 right next to the 1.5.

"It's decided! Our project will now be called 1.5.0.8 Liquid. Does anyone have any opinions?"

Bala Gangadhar shook his head. It was easy to understand, and he quite liked the name, but he knew from his college experience that he had a very bad naming sense. So he looked around at the other scientists to see if anyone objected, but to his surprise, no one did.

"It's neat and simple. It's perfect," Homi Bhabha voiced out while everyone nodded in agreement.

Bala Gangadhar was a little taken aback, but then he smiled, 'As I expected, these are my kind of people.'

The humble beginnings of a space organization that pushed humans to become a multi-planetary species started off with the six people in this room—who, in the future, would be called the pioneers of space flight and aviation and hailed as the fathers of BSRO and Gagana Aerospace.

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A few days later, the 1.5.0.8 Liquid project was in front of Vijay. It was an application to use the funds allocated to the Flight Research Firm. At first, Vijay did not quite understand the meaning of the name, but after reading its abbreviation on the next page, he couldn't help but smile.

"It's quite pragmatic of them. Maybe it's fate—ISRO was also known to be the most pragmatic space organization in the world."

Most vehicles invented by ISRO were named in a pragmatic way, like GSLV (Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle), PSLV (Polar Synchronous Launch Vehicle), and the like. They didn't have any fancy names, but their names were straight to the point, much like the 1.5.0.8 Liquid project.

Vijay did not hesitate and immediately approved over 400,000 Varaha of funds for the research of 1.5.0.8 Liquid.

Signing the application, Vijay leaned back, falling into deep thought.

"Should the petroleum industry be started?" Vijay asked himself.

"Not only will I be able to manufacture kerosene in large quantities, which will be useful as fuel for the rocket, but it can also be used for lighting in millions of houses. Beyond that, street lighting could be achieved with kerosene—maybe the Bharatiya Empire could become the first nation with cities that never sleep.

"Additionally, with the byproducts from crude oil, various chemicals could be manufactured, and even the solids could be used to make asphalt roads instead of cement roads, saving a lot of resources."

The usage of crude oil started in human civilization more than 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. The Chinese and Bharatiya civilizations both utilized petroleum in different forms dating back 2,000 or even 3,000 years.

However, the modern usage of crude oil was developed by Abraham Pineo Gesner, a Canadian geologist who developed a process to refine a liquid fuel from coal, bitumen, and oil shale, which he named kerosene. Kerosene burned more cleanly and was less expensive than the competing products of its time, around 1850, which were mostly whale oil. The Kerosene Gaslight Company began installing lighting in the streets of Halifax and other cities. By 1854, he had expanded to the United States, where he created the North American Kerosene Gaslight Company at Long Island, New York.

But there was a problem. The refining process Gesner invented was very limiting since it originated from rare coal mines that contained bitumen and small reserves of oil shale. This was solved by Ignacy Łukasiewicz, who improved Gesner's method by developing a means of refining kerosene from more readily available petroleum in 1852.

The first oil mine was built in Bóbrka, near Krosno in Central European Galicia, Poland, in 1854, which led to the first modern refinery in Russia at Baku in 1861. At that time, Baku produced about 90% of the world's oil.

"Fuck it!!"

Vijay finally decided to develop the petroleum industry firmly.