Road to the Crown

Chapter 251: We have terms

19th July 1574

"I think I like your idea. Yet the question stands, are you willing to fully put yourself under the judgment and protection of the senate, while abandoning the right to decide of your fate with your own personal force? Are you that bold, naive, scheming or just stupid to put so much trust in the justice of the high nobles?"

For some reason, as I talked with Peter, I couldn't help but notice how he appeared to be worried about me, even when he was supposed to take me, prisoner. Yet just as I agreed with the point of how naive it was to surrender my fate to a bunch of random high nobles, in the current situation, it was simply the best course of action that I would take.

"Sir, with all due respect, but I already passed the news about everything that's going on to Jan Bone, the governor of the Sandomir province and city itself. With your approval, I would like him to take my lands and production into his custody, so that the chain of production that can generate an insane amount of supplies that we will need for war, won't be broken. Is that all right with you?"

This was the most crucial point about my entire plan. As long as I could put Bone on the governing seat of both southern lands with Tarnow as their crown and the entirety of my mining town, then as long as Jan wouldn't betray me himself, I could freely focus on dealing with other matters like the invasion from the east, or scheming traitors from the eastern south!

"I think that's a fair proposition. I already heard the news that you two barely managed to avoid clashing with each other. I guess now I can guess the full story behind what happened during that chanced meeting."

Nodding his head to his own thoughts, Peter looked like he lost himself in his thoughts, before suddenly raising his head and sending a deadly, inspecting stare at my face before opening his mouth and speaking up.

"The question is, are you willing to surrender your weapons whilst in the camp? If your words about the invasion will turn out to be true, I will make sure that every single piece will be returned to your soldiers!"

Hearing this part, I was so overwhelmed by the naivety of this simple scheme that I couldn't stop myself from openly smirking at this proposition.

"Sir, with all due respect, but if you want to prevent us from causing trouble while in the camp, then all I can do is to surrender my stock of ammunition so that while my soldiers will be able to protect themselves in case of any sneaky troublemakers, they won't be able to pose a threat to the integrity of the entire army. Is that okay with you, sir?"

Rather than allowing anybody to touch my rifles before the news about the invasion would be finally confirmed, giving up on the ammunition was the greatest concession I was willing to make. After all, even if the fight were to break out, just the magazine in the weapon plus the additional spare one that every single soldier of mine was forced to carry around would be far more than enough to get out of the potential pinch of being surrounded by an army of people considering me to be a traitor!

"Well While that's not what I wanted, I think I will be able to make do with it. So, what are you going to do now, with the terms more or less settled?"

Finally changing the topic from my rifles to something more concrete and actually important, I couldn't help but look at Peter with silent thank you expressed by my eyes. After all, with how simple and intuitive the design of my rifles was, as long as someone else would get their hand on it, the secret of its productions would become common knowledge in a matter of days!

And what was the better way to make some crazy amount of money if not war?

Being the sole producer of my semi-automatic rifles, as long as I was willing to make a huge deal with the country itself, all my financial troubles caused both by the Ostros attack, break in the chain of the supply along with the costs of rebuilding everything that was either destroyed or altered during our fighting, would be gone!

Even without overpricing those rifles of mine, just by following the basic costs on the market, and doubling the end price of my rifle in order to keep it as a luxury innovative rather than a common weapon, I could elevate all my lands to unimaginable heights! 

And to be completely honest, I didn't doubt that as soon as the decision-makers would see what my rifle could achieve, making a deal with me and supplying those weapons to the front line, would become their greatest priority!

"For now, let's all get back to our respective camps. I will pass the message to my officers and prepare to pack up, while I hope you can confirm with everyone else in that army of yours to acknowledge the terms we agreed upon. If everything ends up going smoothly, then as soon as I receive a message that the terms were commonly accepted, I will march my troops out of the marketplace, give up on the remaining stockpile of my amuniotion outside of the basics that my people need to fend for themselves, and garrison them in the part of the campsite that you guys will pick for me. Sounds like a plan?"

Moving two steps closer, I extended my arm towards the high noble, only for him to hesitate for a short moment before repeating my actions and grabbing my hand in his tight grasp.

"It does. Let's not waste the time then, as I'm sadly worried that your information might end up being truthful. And we both know the importance of time in that sad situation."

After shaking our hands and nodding to each other, the two of us finally got back on our horses before once again nodding our heads and riding off to our respective escorts.

"Sir, how did it go? Are we going to fight the punitive army?"

As soon as my men surrounded me in order to make sure no stray shot would be capable of harming me, the highest officer that happened to join us on this trip, asked.

"It doesn't seem like it. While I don't want to raise any flags, it seems that rather than fighting with them, we will fight alongside the punitive army!"