187 Political talk

24th June 1574

"Yeah. The city itself won't have that many defences, so I need a place where all the workers can run away to in case of danger while deterring any possible invasion from ever reaching for this place. As for more mundane reasons… While it's only a matter of time before I will get all the nobles in the country to buy the cement mix off me to lay down the roads across the entire Commonwealth, for the time being, I simply need another way to use it all up, especially with how I aim to expand its production."

Initially, the main limiting factor behind the scale of production for the cement was not the availability of the raw deposit of the resources in the area, but the horsepower that could be provided with the limited amount of the steam horses. 

Yet with the increasing rate of production of those wonder-machines, not to speak about how much stronger they could be from the moment the steel production would increase to the point where I could produce both the weapons and the steel steam horses at once, there was simply no reason for me to refrain from expanding this particular plant!

"Okay, while I get the reason behind it, that forces me to ask you a rather sensitive question. Can we find a place where we could speak in private?"

Despite the loud noise of the guns erupting every few seconds along with the shouts of the veteran soldier of mine that assumed the position of the recruits' teacher, this area was still open for everyone to visit. If we were going to talk about some crucial topic that should not reach the ears of anyone else, it was understandable that Jan preferred to do so in a place where no one would dare to interrupt us.

"Sure, follow me."

With how our relationship was developing, upon arriving here just this morning, Governor requested me to drop the formalities and stop calling him sir. Be it because he realised that it was a matter of time when my power would exceed his, both in economic and military sense or because the way in which he could trust me allowed him to consider me as a loyal and valuable ally… It didn't matter.

As the escape of the king was bound to push this country off its tracks, it was necessary to assess one's situation and tighten up the bound of any alliance that one would have. If Jan's intention was to bring me over to his faction, I would have to find a way to convince him that backing up Sobieski from Transylvania would be the best choice!

After all, with what was currently going on in the country, I could easily guess what Governor wanted to talk about, especially with how he didn't forget to inform me that the length of his visit was limited by the gathering of the Senate back in the capital!

"Okay, then. Just like I said, I won't be surprised if you find this question insensitive, but I still have to ask it. How many soldiers are you going to train?"

Only after thinking about the situation did I realise that what I expected and what Jan asked for didn't really differ that much. Rather than asking me about my opinion directly, he just wanted to gauge it by the moves I was making rather than the words that I would say!

"Well, it's not that easy of a question, I will give you that."

Rather than attempting to hide the answer, I openly admitted to the fact that I had no idea myself, before bursting out in a hearty laugh. After a moment that I had to take to calm myself down, I grabbed my chin and started thinking out loud.

"Five people squads for every ship travelling between border to Tarnow, at least a hundred people in Tarnow and the city we are building here, two hundred for the fortress and its outposts… If we ignore the ships' protectors, I think the total number would round up to five or six hundred."

While for someone from the modern times that didn't sound as much, when taking the current era into consideration, the number I came up was devastating.

Obviously, there were many great nobles that housed even bigger forces, but the size of their estate was often as big as many german princedoms combined! And even with that, outside of war times or when they bolstered their numbers in order to flaunt their strength, not many people held more than two or three hundred men as a stationary force!

"Huh…"

Hearing the answer to his question, Jan was given to be flabbergasted. If I were to be completely honest, I doubted that he himself held such a huge force when all garrisons and personal bodyguards combined!

Yet this situation was given. Most of the armed forces that nobles kept consisted of extremely expensive hussars or another cavalry if they couldn't afford the most famed Commonwealthian unit. On the other hand, my men would be all from either commoner birth or the lowest nobles without any land. 

Outside of the rifle and ammunition, both produced locally by my own investments, all they really required was a stable wage and food. When added up, even if I were to pay them in the exact same scheme as I paid my workers, with the wage doubling during any form of fighting, then the cost would still be reasonably small!

"Well, I don't really know what to say… Are you sure you can afford such a massive force?"

Hearing Jan's doubt, I could only thank myself internally for excluding the ship protection units from the calculation. With how I intended to push enough ships on the Dunaj river to turn them from mobile units into basically a floating bridge, threw at the length of the river rather than its width, the number of the protectors could easily grow greater than all of my stationary forces combined! 

But while this would pose quite a huge challenge for my treasury to handle such expense, as long as I included the cost of maintaining those troops in the cost that all sorts of merchants would have to pay in order to transport their goods to the customs-free market near Tarnow…

"We have the Russian empire chugging down our throat to the east, always ready to steal the access point to the Baltic sea from us. With the Germans to the west and Ottomans to the south… And don't even get me started at the brewing internal struggle. Unless one is powerful enough to fend for themselves, he will only be eaten by others stronger than him! With how quickly my lands are developing, slowly putting me on par with other great nobles, I don't have any doubts that in due time, more than a single household will turn their eyes to my wealth!"

In fact, it was only a matter of time before some of the less wealthy nobles would attempt to coerce my gold from my pockets for their own use. Be it by blocking the routes that my ships would use, accusing me of breaking the law or outright raiding my lands, all those elements of friendly, neighbours life were common in Commonwealth. That's why, instead of making the common saying that "Pole is smart after the harm" I preferred to prepare beforehand!