The ownership of such a large piece of private land from another angle shows that although the princely states of India have disappeared into history, they have never truly left this ancient land.
For instance, while elections in India boast one person, one vote, the landowner of an area essentially holds the votes of all those living on that land.
In other words, although Mr. Verma’s family is no longer officially recognized as princes, their control over this land hasn't changed much from the princely era.
Though they no longer have the right to collect taxes, considering that the Indian lower-class farmers rent land from landlords and then pay rent, even working as agricultural laborers for wages, the Verma family’s situation hasn't changed much from the past.
From another perspective, the Verma family and the farmers here are almost like people from two different worlds, but in India's unique classification, both the landlord Verma family and the laborers who own nothing but their labor are considered farmers.
This is why you can see news about entire Indian farmer families traveling around the world, because these farmers are actually large landowners.
The Verma family’s 3,000 square kilometers of land is indeed vast, but it’s still not a large number compared to the world’s largest private landholdings. The largest is in Australia, with nearly 100,000 square kilometers.
Of course, the environment of that land is vastly different from this one, mostly barren deserts, so its per-unit area value can't compare to this fertile land.
Thanks to this unique natural environment, the Verma family has enough capital to work on reducing rent and interest, allowing farmers working on their land to have their own wealth.
Yes, that’s right, their own private wealth. If you visit many villages in northern India, you’ll find that farmers need to borrow pocket money from landlords or work for them during the off-season.
As for those who can work in cities, their numbers are not large because the economic pressure is significant. They even have to borrow travel expenses from the landlords, otherwise, they can't leave.
This is why the ancient feudal dependency is so deeply rooted in Indian villages. For those extremely poor farmers, directly severing this dependency is almost like suicide.
Liang En speculated that the Verma family probably managed this area through an ancient feudal system, given the high population density here, averaging 400 people per square kilometer, totaling over a million people.
Managing a 3,000 square kilometer ranch and a 3,000 square kilometer densely populated area are completely different concepts. The only way to manage such a vast land and population at low cost here is through an ancient feudal system.
Of course, this system is slow to respond, wasteful, and inefficient, but it’s sufficient for this agricultural society.
After turning a corner, a huge estate, or rather, a Victorian-style castle with a large garden, appeared before everyone.
“This shouldn’t be newly built.” Walking on the garden path after getting out of the car, Liang En softly said to Joan of Arc and Fan Meng beside him. “This is a colonial-era building.”
This old house piqued Liang En’s interest. Compared to new houses, such old houses often contain very valuable items.
Entering the building, Liang En found that although the exterior looked like a European castle, various details reflected Indian characteristics.
Inside, the Indian style was even more pronounced. Many rooms were purely Indian in style, appearing lavish to the point of being somewhat exaggerated.
The entire castle had more than two hundred rooms, over thirty of which were guest rooms. Additionally, more than fifty servants regularly maintained the castle.
After all, running such a large building requires enough manpower, especially when people live inside. Fortunately, labor costs in India are low, so this aspect doesn't require much expense.
Like European noble residences, the entrance hall of this castle displayed a large collection of traditional Indian weapons, including some unique items like chakras with edges sharpened into blades.
After a brief look, Liang En confirmed that although most items were purely decorative, there were quite a few authentic pieces used on the battlefield.
Liang En even saw clear signs of wear on a scimitar, likely a weapon used by the Verma family in battle.
“This was used by my ancestors on the battlefield.” Seeing Liang En staring at the scimitar, Mr. Verma proudly introduced, “They fought against the Mughal Empire and won.”
“Your ancestors were indeed warriors. After all, almost all of India was under Mughal rule then. Facing such a strong enemy and still resisting was truly courageous,” Liang En complimented.
Of course, this compliment wasn’t entirely just for formality. Given the situation at that time, those who dared to resist could indeed be called true warriors.
Next, under Mr. Verma’s guidance, Liang En met Mr. Verma’s father, Old Mr. Verma, and his mother, Old Mrs. Verma, and presented them with gifts.
These gifts were not expensive but very exquisite. For Old Mr. Verma, it was a small stained glass painting of flowers that Liang En designed himself. For Old Mrs. Verma, it was several pieces of top-quality silk from China.
The stained glass painting was one of a series of works Liang En created before the trip, about 40×60 in size, intended for gifts on such occasions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean these items have low artistic value. The simple designs made them easier to produce.
As for the silk, since Indian women prefer wearing traditional sarees on formal occasions, they also appreciate fine textiles for making clothes.
Thanks to the relationship with China, Liang En received many gifts, including this top-quality silk suitable for state gifts. However, these silks were not very useful to Liang En usually, so this was a perfect opportunity to give them as gifts.
Understanding what the two gifts were, the Verma family genuinely admired them, knowing their value.
After all, the stained glass technique was inspired by the artist Mucha, and the silk was a state gift from China. Both were top-quality items.
Ordinary people might not distinguish these from ordinary goods, but as descendants of princely states, the Verma family had the discerning eye to recognize the rarity of these items and thanked Liang En accordingly.
Thank you for reading this far! You can access more chapters from HERE by joining my Patreon community. You'll gain exclusive early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
As a member of my Patreon community, here is what you'll get:
- Early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
- You also get access to all the novels I'm translating, you can find them here HERE.
- You Get Ad-free Chapters.
- Plus, you can Cancel your membership at any time.
