From the merchants from Crimea who came to Jazłowiec, I learned that the Ottomans and Persians had made peace, but the more important information for me was that Khan's foster son survived and even gained some fame... I hoped he would die somewhere, but I was not lucky.
One of the disadvantages of living in Podolia was the circulation of news, rumors and information, something that was news in Jazłowiec, in Warsaw was already a thing of the past, and one of such news was the defeat of the Austrian general Matthias Gallas in the fight against the Ottomans, out of the 15,000 army that was stationed in the Balkans, no more than 6,000 soldiers survived, many were also wounded... and the territories they had occupied were taken over by the Turks again. However, this was not the only bad news that fell on the empire, in the Battle of Nördlingen the Austrian-Spanish army was crushed by the combined Swedish and Saxon forces.
In the original timeline, the Austrians won that battle, but then one of the commanders was General Matthias Gallas, who was now defeated by the Turks... it meant several things, Austraia was weakened, but the Swedes and Protestants strengthened their positions in the north of the empire, which would probably prolong the war... and I was also not sure how the Kingdom of Denmark, whose main rival was Sweden, would react to this situation.
Time did not stand still, the next days and weeks passed... and the scale of changes that I was going to introduce was not limited only to taxes.
"Lord?" (Secretary Kowalski)
"I have looked through the list of things that were brought to Jazłowiec from the Ottoman Empire, mostly all these things are worthless to me, sell everything through local merchants... when you deal with it I will have more tasks for you." (MC)
"Understood, I also sent a messenger to Lesser Poland as Lord ordered. They are to select the 500 worst horses, castrate them and transport them to Moldova, along with 500 muskets and twenty cannons... isn't it too much?" (Secretary Kowalski)
Kowalski looked at everything through the prism of losses and gains... but he did not understand the simple thing, if one day another war with the Ottomans breaks out, the Ottoman troops will first have to pass through Moldova... and the stronger Moldova becomes, the more difficult the task will be for the Turks. Of course, I did not intend to make Moldova a military power, I wanted a strong vassal, not another enemy.
"I have no heir, I will not take the gold to the grave, but I intend to leave a legacy that will last for centuries." (MC)
"Lord, there is Piotr and Katarzyna..."
"You are a fool... get out of my sight and come back when you have finished your task!" (MC)
I knew that Kowalski had good intentions, but road hell is paved with them. Piotr and Katarzyna, it was my blood... but also Sveta's blood. I can forge documents, have witness testimony, but if the truth was revealed that they are not real nobility, they would suffer severe consequences... I gave up these thoughts and went back to work, unfolded the map of Podolia and chose a place, it was a fragment of the forest a few kilometers from the city.
"A bit of work and it will be a good place, there is water nearby, the terrain is varied. Do you think it's a good idea too?" (MC)
I looked at the four gold skulls on my shelf.
"I think so too, it will not be a perfect solution, but the cost of maintaining a professional army, I will save a lot on it... What did you say, prince?... I would give you a high five, but you have no hands and it would look stupid." (MC)
With the fall of autumn, the time has come to send Piotra to Rome, a few weeks earlier I sent a letter to the Cardinal informing him of the arrival of my friend's son and that he would be treated there as if he were of my blood.
"Father" (Piotr)
"Remember you are going to study there, to become someone significant in the future, you have to take care of yourself and not trust anyone, also do not tell anyone that I am your father. I have many enemies and someone would want to take revenge on me by using you." (MC)
"I've never traveled this far and for so long, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it... my mother and sister were always with me. Even you, when you weren't in the war, I always knew you were around." (Piotr)
Maybe I wasn't such a bad father, I never shouted at my children, never beat them, and when they wanted to talk I always found time... maybe I didn't remember their date of birth, but I remembered how they were conceived... so not too bad.
"When I was little my mother died, when I was not much older than you my father died. I was left alone, not counting Kowalski. The first thing I did was I went to war... I was afraid, but I knew that I had to do it, because in life there are more important things than we... Maybe you've heard the term God, Honor, Homeland?" (MC)
Piotr nodded, he probably read that sentence in one of my articles.
"God and Honor, that sounds nice, but remember, Family and Homeland matter more." (MC)
When I was telling Piotr about God, Honor and Homeland. I suddenly remembered another slogan "I suppprt LGBTQ - Liberty, Guns, Boobs, Trump, BBQ"... my mind works strangely... but that I won't teach him. Despite all the atrocities of the 17th century, it was still the age of innocence compared to the 21st century.
"Go and spend some time with your mother and sister, you won't see each other for a few years. There will still be an opportunity to talk before you leave." (MC)