Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Roaring sounds of the splashes of water echoed through the riverbanks of Tungabhadra. The day was cool but bright. Children played near the bank of the serene Tungabhadra and in the distance was a workshop set up.

The waterwheel moves gracefully with the force of the river. Faint noises of machinery could be heard from a distance as the water occasionally splashed against the rocks.

The workshop was the rebuilt papermill of Ishant. It used the latest improved waterwheel and the machinery detailed by the Emperor. It just took a few days to set up the papermill, thanks to the efficient working of the butler.

Ishant was quite satisfied working with the butler. He was quiet and reserved but did his work with utmost precision. He had never seen such an individual in his life.

The prejudice of him being of lower caste immediately faded after witnessing the truth that he rose to his position with his skill rather than the mercy of the Emperor.

He looked inside the workshop to see everything neat and tidy. There was a charcoal filtration system for the water in place.

The new papermaking method emphasized the use of clean water. Ishant learned the new paper-making process and tested it in his old workshop while they were relocating the workshop to the banks of the river.

He found that using the charcoal-filtered water would greatly improve the quality of the paper. It could be further supplemented by boiling the water after the charcoal filtration to remove the bacteria.

Ishant figured it was best to use the cooled off boiled water to make the highest quality paper.

The Emperor ordered him to make two types of paper. One of lower quality and the other of highest quality.

He got some of the paper bought from the European papers to do a quality test and compare it to the paper that he would be making.

'The lower-quality paper must be better than the European paper.' Your adventure continues at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

The workers started to gather as the new workshop started to brim with activity. Ishant was taught how to properly supervise and test the quality of the paper.

The butler of the Emperor explained how to do a quality test on a sheet of paper.

"The quality testing has few phases." Viswa began. "The first test is visual, checking the surface, texture, and transparency of the paper."

High-quality paper was transparent and had a very smooth surface.

"That is the normal one; we do it to test our paper every time." Ishant said.

"There are more tests."

Viswa explained the other tests. These tests were tactile testing to see if the paper folded and didn't tear. The burn test was to check if paper left clumpy ash instead of fine ash, implying there are impurities in the paper.

Then comes the absorption test to see if the paper could hold a lot of ink without bleeding or spreading too much. Lastly was the writing test to check the durability of the paper while using a quill.

"Oh!! So these many tests for a single sheet of paper?" He pondered. "This would be time-consuming."

Viswa chuckled. "No need to test every sheet. Just do one sheet of paper per batch." He explained. "That way you can ensure it stays the highest quality."

"I see."

"Plus, do the least amount of tests for the lower-quality papers and focus more on the quality testing on the highest-quality papers."

"I still don't understand why we are making the lower quality stuff instead of just making the higher quality paper."

"There are certain reasons for that." Viswa turned serious. "We will be distributing the lower-quality method to the other paper mills."

"Oh…"

"We will not be providing them with a beater for now since the lower quality paper would be better than European paper."

"So the beater is solely limited to our workshop?"

"Not really, since some other mills would also have them to make high-quality paper."

"Few?"

"Yes, but you are responsible to supply the Royal Palace." He declared. "The others are to sell to the Europeans."

The gears quickly shifted in his mind. It became clear why the Emperor asked him to create two different kinds of paper.

The lower-quality papers would be mass produced and sold within the Empire and to other kingdoms and the high-quality ones would be sold to the nobles and wealthy merchants outside the Empire for a huge profit.

High-quality paper was definitely easier to make in the subcontinent due to the abundance of cotton and other high-quality fibers.

His thought got interrupted by the noise of the workers beginning the first batch of paper.

They used two separate batches, one for wood pieces and the other for high-quality fiber.

The beater was used to beat the watery fiber and wood to a pulp in two separate batches.

Rice starch was added to the higher-quality paper to ensure it's durability and was run through a silk mesh screen.

The water wheel moved the lever to press the paper down and push the excess water out. Lastly, roller stones were used to smoothen it further.

The paper was left near a Klin in the dry loft made for the workshop to dry under controlled conditions.

It took a few hours but the very first batch of the paper was made.

Ishant waited for it to dry and began the quality inspection, taking a sheet from each batch and testing them as Viswa instructed him.

This time along with testing. He compared both batches of paper to the European paper that he obtained from Viswa.

After comparing, he found that the lower-quality paper was on par, if not better than the European paper.

Meanwhile, the higher-quality fiber-based paper was of the best quality among the three.

He quickly contacted a person that was assigned to him to deliver the first batch of paper to the Royal Palace for inspection.

He handed two batches of paper to the person dressed in all black.

"This is the first batch of both types of paper. Deliver it to His Majesty; we have tried our best."

The man nodded and quickly went away to deliver the paper.

After a while, the workers and Ishant were anxiously waiting for the approval from the palace to begin production.

"Don't worry, we tried our best." A worker said as he patted the shoulder of Ishant.

A man entered the workshop, appearing like a shadow.

"You have been given approval to begin production."

All the workers jumped up in joy at the news.

Ishant also cheered alongside the workers.

"We did it!!"