The "Master Inch" had solved the weight of the stone, but a new crisis of the earth had emerged. To protect the temple's summit from lightning and to bind the massive granite blocks with sacred conductivity, the design required miles of copper wiring and thousands of decorative plates.
But the royal storehouses were empty.
The Vanishing Ore
"The price has tripled in a single moon," Krishnan Raman reported, his face grim in the lantern light. "The merchant guilds of the Magadha and the Chalukyas have formed a blockade. They aren't just raising prices; they are refusing to sell to the Cholas altogether. They know that without copper, the Vimana cannot be consecrated."
Arulmozhi paced the map room. "It is not just greed. It is a leash. They want to see the King of the South beg for metal."
"There is another way," a junior minister suggested hesitantly. "The old temples in the conquered Pandya territories... their roofs are plated in ancient copper. We could 'borrow' it for the Great Temple."
Arulmozhi stopped. The room went silent. To strip the temples of the defeated was a common act of war, but Arulmozhi was trying to build a unified empire, not a kingdom of resentment.
"If I steal from their gods to build mine, I am not a King," Arulmozhi said, his voice cold. "I am a thief with a crown. We do not touch the Pandya copper. We find our own."
The Ghost Fleet
Information arrived from the docks of Nagapattinam. A massive "neutral" merchant fleet from the Yavanas (Greeks/Romans) and Arab traders was anchored three days' sail away, waiting for a Srivijayan escort. Their hulls were heavy with raw copper ingots intended for the Northern kings.
"They are in our waters, but they fly the flags of trade," Raman noted. "If we seize them, we start a war with five different nations."
"Then we won't seize them as a King," Arulmozhi replied, a dangerous glint in his eye. "We will meet them as the sea meets the shore."
The Midnight Requisition
Arulmozhi took the Kadal-Puli, the prototype ship from Chapter 7, and four other fast-moving galleys. They carried no royal banners. The sailors wore no armor. To any observer, they looked like the very pirates that plagued the Palk Strait.
Under the cover of a thick sea mist, the Chola ships surrounded the merchant fleet. Arulmozhi didn't use fire; he didn't want to sink the copper. Instead, he used the "Tiger's Leap"—a tactical maneuver where Chola marines used long bamboo poles to vault onto the enemy decks simultaneously from multiple sides.
The battle was swift and silent. The merchant guards, used to the slow-moving ships of the North, were no match for the speed of the Kadal-Puli.
Arulmozhi stood on the deck of the lead merchant vessel, his sword at the throat of the captain. "I am not here for your silk, your gold, or your lives. I am here for the red metal."
"This is theft!" the captain sputtered.
"No," Arulmozhi said, signaling his men to bring forward chests of Chola gold coins. "This is a forced sale. I am paying you twice the market rate in gold. But the copper stays in the South. You will tell your masters that the sea claimed your cargo, and the gods gave you gold in return."
The Red Glow of Thanjavur
The fleet returned to the coast under the cover of the morning fog. By noon, the copper was being melted in the great furnaces of Thanjavur. The city glowed with a strange, red light as the smiths began casting the lightning rods and the decorative sheets that would cover the upper tiers.
When the junior minister who had suggested stealing from the Pandya temples saw the crates of copper, he bowed his head in shame.
"You were right, Sire," the minister whispered. "The foundation of this temple is not just stone. It is honor."
The Hidden Price
But as the copper was being laid, Arulmozhi received a private message from Kundavai. She had been tracking the gold they used to pay the merchants.
"The gold we paid them," she said, her voice worried. "It was tracked. The Srivijayan spies noticed the sudden influx of Chola-minted coins in the Arab markets. They know it was us, Arulmozhi. They won't use a blockade next time. They are moving their warships toward our pearl fisheries."
Arulmozhi looked up at the temple, where the copper was catching the first light of the sun. "Let them come. We have the metal. Now, we forge the shields."
Next Chapter Preview: In Chapter 12: The Pearl Siege, the Srivijayan Navy attacks the Chola's economic heart—the pearl banks of Mannar. Arulmozhi must lead his first major naval battle, but he is outnumbered ten to one.