Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 159: Waterwheel

In the Royal Palace, Harsha sat on his plush chair, looking over the duel between the royal guards. He had introduced a new training regime for the Royal Guards that included various scouting and stealth techniques along with a lot of endurance training.

He also ordered them to run around the palace knowing each nook and cranny of the palace and marked them with certain code words for easier communication in case of an emergency.

Harsha was very bored, as he was just doing his usual routine and managing the Empire. He didn't think management would be mentally exhausting. He was thinking of something to invent in the back of his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted with a soft thud as Viswa placed some reports on the table.

He looked over at the reports with an uninterested look. His hands brushed on the hoarse paper.

Suddenly an idea popped up in his mind.

"Viswa, how do we procure our paper?" He asked curiously.

Viswa tilted his head in confusion and thought for a while. "We have some paper-making mills but the output is pretty low. Most of it comes from the European merchants that we use for administrative work."

"Why is the output low?"

"Your Majesty, It is mostly done manually so it takes a lot of time to make it."

"Oh… Don't they use waterwheels to speed up the process?"

Waterwheels were a great way to harness energy and power the machinery for the papermaking process.

"Waterwheels? I think they don't." Viswa replied, rubbing his chin.

"I got an incredible idea, Viswa. Paper is a huge cost for the Empire; why not make it in the Empire?"

"As you wish. I can arrange the materials for you. Your Majesty."

Viswa also knew that Paper was a huge cost in the Empire. It was most bought from European merchants at a high price. They needed it regardless of the cost to document and write letters.

He was thinking of making a deal with the Europeans for cheaper prices.

'I am curious about His Majesty's idea.'

"Should we head to the paper mill?, Your Majesty."

"Before we head there. We need to make a better waterwheel." Harsha said with a wry grin.

"Better waterwheel? Isn't the one used right now enough for the idea?"

"No, it doesn't harness the full power of the water."

"Arrange some carpenters and bring a waterwheel to the River Tungabhadra as soon as possible." Harsha said as he got up.

He was excited to make something after a long time. His numb mind from work was finally getting some dopamine hit.

"Understood, Your Majesty. I will arrange it in a few hours."

Viswa left swiftly to arrange the things for him.

A few hours later at the Tungabhadra river. Harsha stood admiring the serene river flowing and occasionally splashing against the rocks. The cool breeze soothed his body.

Meanwhile, the workers put down the waterwheel close to the river and it began operating under the power of the river flow. The normal waterwheel could harness about 50 to 60% of the water power.

That was very inefficient, as the rest of the water power is wasted by the wheel. Harsha wanted to create a solution for this problem and use it in the papermaking mill.

In front of the Harsha stood two carpenters from the capital, named Raghu and Shyam.

"Do you know how to make a water wheel." He asked, eyeing both of them.

"Y- Yes, Your Majesty," said Shyam.

He was pretty nervous to be in the presence of Harsha since it was his first time meeting the Emperor in person.

"I have called you to make some improvements in the waterwheel."

"Improvements?" asked Raghu, an old carpenter from the capital and well known for his craftsmanship.

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"So, this waterwheel is very inefficient."

Both of them were confused, as they saw no inefficiency in the waterwheel. It was a viable way to move heavy machinery with ease. The waterwheel was extensively used.

"I guess you don't understand." Harsha sighed. "Viswa, bring me two pots of water and that huge wooden basket."

Viswa nodded to bring them.

After a while, Viswa came and put down two pots of water on the ground and a basket.

"Pick up a pot of water." Harsha said to Shyam.

Shyam nervously picked up the pot of water.

"Now splash the water against that rock as hard as you can." He said, pointing at the huge rock close to the river bank.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Shyam splashed the water on the rock surface and more than half of the water splashed back, drenching him.

"The water bounced off the rock surface. This energy is wasted in the current waterwheel." He said.

"So how do we solve this?" asked Raghu.

Shyam wiped his face with a cloth given by Viswa as he stared intently to know the answer.

"The solution is rather simple." Harsha said, picking up the wooden basket. "This shall solve it."

Harsha put the wooden basket in the distance and splashed the water at its flat surface. To the surprise of the carpenters, the water didn't splash like the one from the rock.

Instead of suddenly bouncing off, the water was gently redirected, whipping around the curve.

"See, the water power is captured more efficiently this way. Although this is not the ideal shape for the improved waterwheel. " Harsha began. "With a bit of testing with this shape, you can come up with an ideal shape for the wheel."

The waterwheel Harsha had introduced was the pelton water wheel. It greatly increases efficiency from 50–60% of the normal waterwheel to 90%. This allowed the wheel to harness more power by power at lower speeds.

He had already made a preliminary design for the Pelton waterwheel.

Raghu and Shyam looked astonished at the discovery. They were itching to work on this new improvement in the waterwheel

"I trust you to improve on the designs that my Butler will provide you." Harsha smirked at them.

"We will do our best, Your Majesty," said both of them in unison.

"How long will it take you to make a new water wheel with these improvements?"

"We need a day or two to test out the design and make improvements." Raghu said, rubbing his grey beard. "Another two days to make the wheel itself. It can be completed in 4 to 5 days, Your Majesty."

"Complete it by next week. I want you to do your best on it." He said as he turned to leave back to the palace.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

'Now we can improve the paper making process.'