Chapter 55 - Kidnapping complete (1/2)

Aariv returned to the city in his ripped clothes. One of the guards at the gate was going to shoo him away but luckily another one recognized him. Aariv was in a very good mood as he finally could start working on his plans.

He went back to his room and put the small fusion reactor aside. He was going to make another small fusion reactor and jump start it with the existing one but that would not be the end. His main goal was to make a medium-sized reactor that could power the city and its needs. He quickly started to make it.

He decided to create a new underground base to house the bigger reactor, as he knew that it was going to be one of the most important facilities in the city and it would require a very high level of security.

He spent another month being very busy. He wished that he had someone to help him build all that but people were dumb. He had so many things to worry about that he started to feel a bit down. He needed to also improve his own strength while doing all these things and what annoyed him was that he didn't know how to improve his strength. Continuously using his abilities was not helping much. He tried to get hit by lightning once again but this time nothing happened to him.

”Grrr”

Aariv suddenly heard a noise and felt something pulling the corner of his pants. He looked down and saw Aslan. Aariv felt guilty seeing him. Because he was so busy these days that he had no time to play with him.

”Come here little guy,” he lovingly said and picked him up.

”Grrr groo”

”Yes yes... I am sorry, I will give you more attention from now on” He said and stroked Aslan's back.

Seeing that Aslan had calmed down, Aariv wore the baby carrier and put him in it.

”Let's go out for a walk, it will probably ease my mind”

...

He didn't want unwanted attention so he dressed in normal civilian clothes. While leaving the palace he saw Satya and brought him along and obviously, Black followed him. Black was his assistant after all.

He went into the city and saw many new changes happening. The city looked a bit more crowded as the people living in the slums outside were allowed to enter the city to work or buy stuff. But this also increased the cases of pickpocketing. Due to that, the guards patrolled more.

He decided to go to a nice place to have some lunch. He walked to the main city market. There were many shops that sold nearly everything. He walked along the streets but he felt that the streets were a bit empty. Not many people could be seen in the shops.

He quickly found a nice shop and headed to it. Just as he was about to enter, the shopkeeper loudly shouted and stopped him.

”Hay stop... tell me which caste you belong to” the shopkeeper rudely asked.

Aariv was shocked when he heard that question. He had abolished the caste system.

”Why are you asking me for my caste?” Aariv said.

”Did you come out of a cave or something?... except Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, no one is allowed to enter the shop,” he said grumpily.

Aariv looked at Black's face and then looked at the shopkeeper.

”Who told you to do this?” He asked.

”If you are not going to buy anything then go away, I don't have time for your stupid answers” shopkeeper said and busied himself.

There were some more people sitting in the shop eating, they looked at Aariv with disgust. Aariv felt really angry, he went close to the shopkeeper and grabbed his collar.

”You don't have time to talk to me?” Aariv said while showing him his identity token.

shopkeeper's eyes nearly popped out when he noticed the token, he hurriedly fell down on his knees.

”I am sorry, your highness, please forgive me, I... I didn't know it was you”

”I don't kneed your pathetic apology... answer my question... who told you to do this?... don't you know that discrimination against someone is a criminal offense,” Aariv said.

”I...I don't know who started this but every shop in the market only caters to the people from Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya caste. If a shop sells to Shudra or untouchables then others will boycott it,” the shopkeeper fearfully said.

He went back to the palace and also told Kautilya about everything.

”Baldy, tell me the truth... you knew that this was happening? after all, you run the goddamn spy network.” Aariv asked angrily.

”Yes, your highness... I knew about this but we have already changed so many big things so I thought that this was not the right time to take action”

”You are wrong... these things should be dealt with in their initial stage. And who the hell is passing these orders, who is trying to control the public?”

”There are some rich people who have joined hands, we have also found that they are being funded by King Malayketu and his prime minister Amatya Rakshasa. We have started to intercept their spies.” Kautilya said.

”damnit... How many things do I need to personally do?... You have 300 catapults and 50,000 longbow archers now. You can just send the whole army and take over the Himalayan kingdom yourself and kill those two fools,” Aariv said.

”Now, to solve the current problem we just have to do a simple thing. Tell every shop that if they deny selling to anyone then their shop will be sealed. Then we will open our own shops and will only cater to the people of upper castes, but the price will be 5 times the normal. They will either have to buy from us at a high price or just buy from where everyone buys. With time, everyone will change,” Aariv suggested.

...

Things went on as usual. Many problems arose and were dealt with. 1 year passed by, and most of the people had started to accept the constitution wholeheartedly. One of the reasons for this was the social advancements.

Aariv had invented new ways of agriculture that resulted in greater yield, better clothes making methods and machines. Due to the huge construction projects going on in the whole empire, many people had jobs. New buildings and roads were built. Buses were introduced. There were no personal vehicles though. Only the royal family had a personal vehicle.

The population of Patliputra increased to 3 million due to so many job opportunities. However, Patliputra was not the only city that had improved. Every city in the empire changed beyond belief. The public was happy and loved the Mauryan royal family. Aariv also created many big orphanages for homeless kids. 90% of the young population was now going to schools.

Electricity was introduced to everyone and now the whole city was lit up with lights. Not only that, plumbing was also introduced. Now people don't have to go out and fill water from wells or rivers.

He had also introduced the new currency called Rupee and paisa.

100 Rupee note = 1 gold pana

50 Rupee note = 50 silver pana