Reincarnated as an Imperial Prince

As the cheering went on, Alexander approached the special committee again. The special committee who sees him approaching immediately shut themselves up and sit straight.

“Hello, I would like to express my gratitude for coming here at this momentous time,” Alexander said politely as he bowed lightly at them.

His main priority is to get funding from the government as his company can’t shoulder the cost and he had hoped that this rocket launch would earn them the confidence of giving funds to the military to further the space program.

“It was a pleasure, Your Majesty. I’m stoked, to be honest. I never expected that our technology would reach space. This will surely reach Witte’s ears,” the chairman said as he grabbed Alexander’s both hand and envelope it to his and shook it lightly.

“Your Majesty, I do have a question. We launched a rocket into space, what is the benefit of it to our country?” one of the chairmen asked.

Alexander looked at the middle-aged man and answered. “Well, sir, first of all, we will have a technological edge on space where no countries haven’t reached yet. Second, we can use it to spy on our enemy from above indefinitely without them having the chance to take it down, saving the lives of our agents deployed abroad. Third, satellites can be used to study the Earth itself. As we all know, Earth has a lot of mysteries, and satellites can help us unveil them. Fourth, it can be used to monitor the weather which will provide precise forecasts that our old warning times for hurricanes will be quadrupled, potentially saving tens of thousands of Ruthenian lives and hundreds of millions of rubles in disaster relief. And lastly, it can be used for navigation in the land, in the air, and in the sea, bringing another advantage for our armed forces who are working to ensure the security of our nation.”

When Alexander concluded his statements, the chairman let out a gasp.

“That sounds wonderful. To think that satellites have a variety of applications and use beneficial to our country. I will do my best to push this space program forward, Your Majesty.”

Alexander smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you very much, chairman.”

After finishing his talks with the special committee, the guards escorted them out of the control room. Alexander looked behind him and noticed Sevastian standing before him as if waiting for him to finish chatting with the committee.

“Your Majesty, this is twice in a row. A bomb that could potentially destroy a city and a rocket that can go to space, this is fascinating. Now I know where the money is being spent,” Sevastian said.

“As long as I’m overseeing the development of the programs I initiated, everything will progress smoothly. Now I plan to expand our space program for civilian and military use.”

“And that means a lot of money, right Your Majesty?” Sevastian asked jokingly.

“Money has been a primary concern for me, so yes, we need a lot of it,” Alexander sighed, pondering for something. To initiate more projects, Alexander would need to find a way to raise a lot of money. He can do so by transitioning from a gold standard to fiat currency.

Tying the value of a currency to a fixed resource such as gold is inherently dangerous because it doesn’t allow the government to control the value of the currency. Like the government can only print more money if gold is added to the treasury, which is bad when a severe economic downturn happens such as inflation. Switching to a system where the money itself is fiat allows a government to print money as needed, and allows the strength of a nation’s economy to increase its value rather than relying on the extraction of a metal from the ground.

This is going to be a lot of technical work on the financial side. Alexander doesn’t have much knowledge in finance as he has in science and engineering. So this is going to be a lot of consultation with financial experts of the Ruthenia Empire or possibly from another country and helping them by providing insights into the future of finance that is still used in the 21st century.

Of course, there is a possibility that other countries won’t like the idea, making rubles useless in global trade. But that won’t be a problem as the ruble is beginning to become the strongest currency next to dollars and pounds.

Contemplating something which he is not an expert on really aches his head. This is going to be another topic to discuss with the Minister of Finance along with the credit cards he plans to implement.

“Your Majesty,” Wegener called, derailing his train of thoughts. “I believe that you and I have something to discuss a new satellite?”

“Ah, that’s right!” Alexander replied, remembering their conversation from not long ago. His gaze flickered to Sevastian and spoke. “I have something to discuss with Mr. Wegener here so you know what happens.”

“I will dismiss myself, Your Majesty,” Sevastian said and bowed before walking out the control room, leaving Alexander alone with the chief scientist of the space program. “Let me ask you this, Wegener. How do we travel long distances?”

“Uhm…” Wegener scratched his face, surprised at the question unrelated to rocketry. “We pull out a map and use a compass, I guess.”

“That’s correct. But you know not every person on this planet knows how to read a map, never mind using a compass or other measuring devices. So what if there is this thing that can figure out your exact location at any given time no matter where you are?”

“Your Majesty…I’m still confused…” Wegener said, feeling embarrassed that he can’t determine what Alexander is pointing out.

“Let’s go over here to this station,” Alexander walked towards the station. He handed him the headphone.

Wegener wore the headphones and began hearing a beeping sound. “This sound…”

“That’s the sound produced by the satellite we call,” Alexander hasn’t named the satellite yet. Well, he guesses is going to credit the Russians for it. “For now I’ll call it Sputnik.”

“Sputnik?”

“It literally means ‘fellow-traveler’ in Ruthenian,” Alexander said and continued. “Now focus on that sound. By measuring the changes in the frequency of Sputnik’s beeps as it passes overhead, we can pinpoint exactly where the satellite is.”

“I see,” Wegener hummed.

Alexander explained further. “So we have the capability to track where the Sputnik is using its frequency and known trajectory. The bigger question is if we can locate the satellite by its beeps, can the satellite also locate us by pinpointing the location of a receiver? Because you know, to hear the beeps, we had to have a receiver.”

With his words, Wegener felt enlightened, as if something had just unlocked in his mind. “I think I get it now, Your Majesty!”

“Well, that’s my idea. I already have a name for it too,” Alexander said.

“May I know what it is, Your Majesty?” Wegener asked.

“I call it the Global Positioning System. I already did the math. We are going to need 24 satellites with each one circling the planet twice a day in one of six fixed orbits to achieve 24/7 global coverage…” Alexander trailed off when he noticed something off with Wegener’s face.

“You already did the math? Your Majesty…you’re a genius!” Wegener exclaimed.

“I am true,” Alexander proudly grinned and then started chuckling a bit. He looks around him before continuing. “With the global positioning system, the military will have a navigational edge in the water, in the air, and on land. Not only for navigation but to guide missiles as well. I already have the blueprint for the satellites and the rockets that we are going to use to send it to space.”

“Another rocket again, Your Majesty?” Wegener stammered.

“Yes, its name is Atlas,” Alexander revealed.