128 Conflict

The next weeks passed and I hardly left my office, but for the sake of my psychological balance, Sveta and Galina helped me as secretaries when I needed to relax... luckily the desk was large and they both fit underneath it.

So far, four issues of Polish Mercury Ordinary have been published in total. In them I described, among other things, Newton's simplified laws of universal gravitation, although I did not mention him by name.

And now I could say that the newspaper was successful, I got letters every day, even from other cities where the newspaper had somehow reached. The letters concerned most of my novels, people, and mostly women, asked me to spare Danusia and care about the fate of other book heroes... it was nice and it tickled my vanity, but in fact I was hoping for something more... A knock broke the silence, and after a while the door was opened by Wroński.

"Lord, a messenger came from Jazłowiec from Rotmistrz Czarniecki." (Wroński)

He handed me the letter and immediately left the room... I broke the seal... it was a report of winning the battle with the army of Abaza Pasha. I put the report on the side, leaned back in my chair... looked under the desk.

"I don't know if you know, but in Japan, slurping while eating is a sign of good manners... so put more heart and manners into what you do." (MC)

(Jan Heweliusz / Abraham Heweliusz POV)

"Sit down son, I know that my letter must have surprised you, but it's time for you to come home." (Abraham Heweliusz)

"Father, what are these newspapers?" (Jan Heweliusz)

"I asked Graf Ferber for them, it is published by Hetman Jazłowiecki. I know that you like science and maybe you will find something interesting in the articles... but enough about it. Forgive my son for calling you back to Gdańsk, but I am no longer young and you must take my place, someone has to run a brewery, and this is a job for young people. I also found a good candidate for a wife for you, Katarzyna née Rebeschke, her father has several breweries and tenement houses." (Abraham Heweliusz)

"I can run a brewery, I can marry the woman you chose for me... but I won't give up astronomy or other sciences." (Jan Heweliusz)

"You don't have to do this, but our family has always been associated with brewing and now it's your turn to continue this tradition." (Abraham Heweliusz)

(End POV)

In one of the chambers of the royal palace, a meeting was held, King Władysław, Tomasz Zamoyski, Hetman Potocki, Jakub Zadzik, Mikołaj Wolski, Łukasz Opaliński, Jan Mikołaj Daniłowicz, Stanislaw Warszczycki and I met to discuss matters concerning the Ottoman attack. I was surprised by the presence of Warszczycki, because comparing his rank to rest of us, he was nothing in this company... The king, five most important ministers, two Hetmans and he... Voivode of Mazovia. Who invited this pig to the table?

Hetman Potocki spoke first.

"Today Hetman Jazłowiecki... re vera informed me about the victory in the battle with the troops of Abaza Pasha, but if you want more... re vera information, you have to ask him." (Hetman Potocki)

All eyes turned to me... but before I could say anything, Warszczycki took the floor.

"I wonder why the Hetman is in Warsaw, and not in Podolia, where he should fulfill his obligations towards the crown." (Stanisław Warszczycki)

"I knew about this attack for several months, the defense was prepared, I entrusted the command of the army to Rotmistrz Czarniecki... and as you can see I was right." (MC)

Warszczycki said nothing, but I saw that it was the King who stopped him with his eyes from trying to cause an argument.

"Wilkomir, tell us more about this attack." (Tomasz Zamoyski)

"No more than 10,000 enemy soldiers, mainly small Tatar hordes, Moldovan, Wallachian and Bulgarians troops and people from the Balkans, they did not pose a major threat for us. From the information I got, it appears that it was an attack that tested our combat capabilities. If this attack were successful, the Ottoman Empire would declare war on us." (MC)

"Where did you get this information from?" (Stanisła Warszczycki)

I chose to ignore this question. In general, I chose to ignore him as much as possible... but knowing my temperament.

"We must now consult what we are doing, do we consider the matter a mere border conflict or declare war on the Turks?" (King Władysław)

"Your Majesty, neither one nor the other. Let's wait what the Ottoman Empire does, we can send an ambassador to them to protest... but without making any binding decisions... and next year we will attack the Ottomans. I am now in talks with a few potential allies, but it's too early to speak about it officially." (MC)

Warszczycki took the floor again, I was already a bit irritated by his presence.

"Since when can Hetman lead the country's foreign policy? Hetman Jazłowiecki you forget yourself, fame has struck you... Your duty is to kill people, not to rule the country." (Stanisław Warszczycki)

Technically, he was right, but taking into account how Polish politics worked... acting myself, I was more effective.

"In Podolia, we say... It is never worth wrestling with a pig, because we will get dirty in shit and the pig will have fun." (MC)

Warszczycki rose sharply from his chair.

"You called me a pig?" (Stanisław Warszczycki)

"No, I was talking about the pig and you took it personally." (MC)

I picked up the wine glasses and started sipping the drink slowly, watching the faces of the people... to know where the division was. Tomasz Zamoyski, Hetman Potocki, Jakub Zadzik, Mikołaj Wolski and Łukasz Opaliński looked amused... The same could not be said about Warszczycki, King Władysław and Jan Daniłowicz.

It seems that more people is on my side or they are neutral... or they don't like Warszczycki... and each of these options satisfies me at this moment.