August 1538, Royal Palace, Capital city, Dharanikota.
"Is the Council ready, Vasekar?" Rudra asked his assistant after he finished dressing up. He spent the last few days training staff for the currently under-construction brewery and chemical factories and had to clean up for the court properly.
"Of course, Your Majesty. All the members of the council and other relevant staff are waiting. Shall I inform them that you are coming, so that they maintain appropriate procedure?" Vaseker asked, despite knowing the answer.
"You know how I feel about all that, Vasekar," Rudra said, as he checked his notes. It was on the usual treated palm leaves.
"It is my duty, sir, and despite what you feel about the royal protocol, it is necessary to maintain appropriate respect for it," the assistant explained, briefly entering into lecture mode.
It was like that from the beginning. Vasekar used to teach young Rudra about finance and management, with added lessons of Royal protocol. He was not his main teacher, as he taught only those subjects, with his main job in Royal asset management.
Half an hour later, Rudra was sitting in front of a small crowd of people. The Royal courtroom, he ordered a few months ago was now full of people. It was initially for only the council members, and some copywriters to note down what was happening in the room, but gradually people working for his ministers, also started coming to the meetings.
Usually, when kings conduct court meetings, they conduct it in a throne room, like his father used to do. It allowed for people to network with each other, and often led to influence politics. That was why court influence is such a big deal in a normally functioning Royal palace.
Rudra used to hate that whenever it happened. So much of a king's time was consumed in unnecessary court banter, that it was extremely inefficient. To combat it, one of the first things he did was to Dissolve the old court and establish a new 'Council' which takes over the functions of the old one.
But his mistake was thinking that people will change, just because the name of institutions change. These officials were slowly reverting to the old habits, of the regular Royal court, and were trying to join in on these meetings.
'The Kings are leisurely most of the time, Rudra. These people are meant to serve as regular banter for you!' He chastised himself. He delegated most of the tasks to his council members, reducing the number of times such meetings needed to take place. But by doing that, he also reduced the opportunity for these people to meet and Network.
"I think we have wasted enough time on chit-chat. Let us begin. Acharya, we will get to the main topic today. Have your men tallied up all the gurukuls and schools? I specifically remember tasking your department with it." Rudra questioned.
Gyaanapetha Acharya, who was the Advisor on education and also the previous teacher of Rudra Deva, stood up and projected his voice so that, everybody in the room could hear it.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. My men, under my leadership of course, after months of inquiry, have concluded that there are currently 1300 gurukuls that teach at least five students, each. At least these are the ones that matter anyway."
"What was that?" Rudra asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There are … 1300 gurukuls?" Acharya replied, a bit of doubt creeping into his voice.
"The last part. Something about not mattering?"
"You don't have to worry about those other gurukuls, Rudra. They are your usual filth. They make due by teaching every other nobody. Some of them don't even focus on teaching kids the Vedas. While some pride themselves on teaching Girls and casteless untouchables. There is no reason to consider these. I say we remove them entirely. I am sure a few of your soldiers will do."
Gyaanapetha Acharya continued, thinking that Rudra was agreeing with him. Hearing what his old teacher was saying, Rudra's anger began to rise. 'Who does he think he is?'
The entire reason he gave Acharya the role was based on his previous role as his teacher. It was common for kings to appoint, brahmin nobles/zamindars to teach their kids, and Acharya was a similar appointee by his father. Using his role as Rudra's teacher, he gained close connections with his supporters.
Unfortunately, some of his followers were very conservative, and Acharya was the very example of that. He also hired him, in part to assure his followers that he was not casting them away.
"Acharya, that is not for you to decide. I never asked for you to judge whether they are eligible or not. They are just as much a citizen of the kingdom as you are."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I will make sure to count these 'people' the next time." the Education advisor answered.
"What do you mean the next time? Don't tell me you have not even collected them. "
After hearing what Rudra had said, Acharya scrambled to check his palm leave documents to re-examine the data. But, no matter how much he turned them, he could not find them. So, he ordered his entourage of officials, to find the data. However, the officials who were seated in the first two rows could not find the data.
"What were you doing, these last few months Acharya? I have tasked you with something, and you have failed your first task. And what of your staff? Why are they having a problem? You, I can excuse, as you are only supposed to manage them, But even your men are incompetent."
"I am sure, they are capable Rudra. This was their first task after all. It is not like something catastrophic has gone wrong. I am sure they will find and fix the data in a few days." Acharya tried to calm down the rapidly escalating situation.
"Refer to me by my proper Title! I am not your student anymore and do not think for one moment that, I will not punish you, just because you were once my teacher." Rudra interrupted the older man, putting an end to the de-escalation. After saying that, he turned his attention to Education Department officials.
"You lot! What are each of your qualifications?" he questioned men, who were a lot older than him.
"I am the son of ramapuram zamindar, Your Majesty."
"I am the nephew of cherukupatnam zamindar, Your Majesty."
"I am the grandson of son kiratal zamindar, Your Majesty."
"Wait, how many of you, are from this sort of background?" Rudra asked as the officials were turning out exactly as he expected. Nearly 70% of the officials, who accompanied Acharya, had some sort of background.
"OK, before we go down the rabbit hole of how you got selected, answer this question, How many of you handled the whole data?"
Out of the fifteen that were present, only 4 raised their hands. He asked those four to step aside. "All the remaining, get out. Acharya consider yourself, suspended indefinitely. Nyayapala, you will lead an investigation into what is going on here." he instructed the law advisor, who saluted and stood up to accompany the departing people.
"Rudra you are making a mistake. Me and my supporters are the reason you are KIng. It stands to reason that we give them some positions for their continuous backing. Don't forget that we can just as easily remove you from there, as we helped you gain it." Acharya lightly threatened.
"Are you threatening me? Me? Do you think I conducted that purge for no reason? I have had enough of this. Bashir, throw this man away. I don't want to see him again until Nyayapala's investigation is complete." Rudra ordered and stood there as Gyaanapetha Acharya, the education advisor, and his former teacher, was dragged out of the courtroom, kicking and screaming.
The room went quiet as they processed what happened. Many other officials were belonging to other departments, who were in the room. Currently, Nyayapala and Acharya's people were absent.
"The meeting has gone off the rails, so excuse me. Let us take a break, and when we come back, I only want to see the essential staff from each department, accompanying their Advisory Council heads. I hope I made myself clear?"