108 To Smoleńsk

On the same day I started cleaning the Tsar's treasury, apart from the rubles, there were Swedish riksdalers, Polish thalers and ducats, and money from several other countries... and converting it into Polish currency was painful ... Swedish money from different years had a different silver content, the older the coin, the more it had ... coins from the times of Gustav I Vasa contained almost 30 grams of silver, modern ones had 14 grams... fortunately, there were no Swedish copper ten-thalers coins in the treasury ... which weighed 20 kilograms.

The next day the Cossacks left Moscow ... I decided to send the Lisowczyków with them and throw this problem onto Hetman Radziwiłł.. and I took care of the cleaning up in the city myself.

On my order, the property of the Orthodox Church was confiscated, just like the property of the inhabitants who were prisoners of the Tatars... the women and children I was supposed to relocate to Poland, could take their valuables with them... Of course, it was not without rebellion attempts by the inhabitants of Moscow, but these attempts were bloody suppressed... only after 5 days we managed to get the situation under our control. It cost the lives of several dozen Tatars and several thousand Muscovites... to avoid major problems in the future, I also ordered the killing of priests, officials, judges and teachers ... it was another lesson drawn from history, if you deprive a nation of the intellectual elite, it is easier to manage such a nation.

"Efendi, It will not be easy to guard 100,000 prisoners. It's a long way from Moscow to the Crimea." (Selim)

"You lead the slaves, not the wedding procession... Deprive the them of their clothes, feed them only enough to let them survive and have the strength to march. If one starts to rebel, kill the five who stand next to him ... you also have whips and sabers, don't be afraid to use them." (MC)

Selim was one of the Tatar commanders sent by Khan, and although he was young, his judgment of the situation was reliable. It was the same this time... this whole venture was a logistical nightmare, which forced me to modify my plans. The first to leave Moscow was the Selim with Tatars who led the prisoners into the Crimea, they also took with them 30 carts with weapons, mainly muskets and pistols... but there were also rohatines, spears, and some other melee weapons.

Two days after Selim, Saddat left Moscow, accompanied by 5,000 Tatars, 20,000 women and children, 150 cannons and over 40 carts with valuables. I was hoping that Saddat would reach Jazłowiec without any problems... After another two days, I left Moscow accompanied by 25,000 Tatars and honorary guests, Boyars and foreign diplomats.

"Why do we have to go with the Prince to Smolensk?" (Boyar)

"Because your army is there ... and they might not believe me if I tell them Moscow has been captured." (MC)

"We can send a letter ..." (Boyar)

"The letter may be forged, I doubt whether Mikhail Shein, Semyon Prozorovsky and your other commanders are naive, and secondly you have to go to Warsaw and meet the Polish King." (MC)

"What are we going to tell them?" (Boyar)

"Of course the truth. The Tsar is gone, his family is gone ... the Duchy of Moscow is gone. They must surrender, lay down arms..." (MC)

"And you will let these soldiers free?" (Boyar)

"Of course we let them go." (MC)

And it was not a lie, if the army surrendered, I was going to let them go slowly, except maybe for the officers ... but I couldn't guarantee that they would not face any misfortune on the way back.

In the evening, during the night stop, I summoned several Tatar commanders to my tent.

"When we get to Smolensk, all your people will wait a few kilometers from the city, if the enemy army surrenders and lay down their weapons, we will let them go ... Then you can attack them, they will have no horses, no weapons ... easy target and additional 30,000 or 40,000 slaves to Khan." (MC)

It was a dirty play, but as they say in love and in war all tricks are allowed ... of course I wasn't just about getting rid of a large army that might be a threat in the future. My goal was the Ottoman Empire. The sudden arrival of 130,000 or 140,000 slaves in the country could cause food problems and revolts, and the Sultan would be forced to use additional troops to suppress them... and they all have to be transported to Egypt ... nothing but problems.

After giving orders to the Tatars, I invited diplomats to the tent.

"Please sit down, I hope these few days have given you the opportunity to rethink this situation ..." (MC)

"Prince, this is more like blackmail than negotiation." (Johana Müllera)

"Semantics, blackmail and diplomacy are the obverse and the reverse of the coin. They cannot exist without each other. It gives you the opportunity for the Kingdom of Sweden to come out of this war unscathed. Soldiers who are near Smolensk, and whom you say are not there, will return home not with a shield, but also not on a shield. One seal and one signature ... for the lives of 2000 people. I also promise that we will not seek revenge on Sweden for breaking the peace. We can even sell you grain that you used to buy from Moscow... I extend my hand to you in a gesture of friendship, only a fool would reject it. (MC)

In the end, with the help of a diplomat from France, I managed to convince diplomats from Sweden, Denmark and England to approve the peace treaty ... when I return to Warsaw, diplomats from Austria, Spain and the Papal State will also sign this document ... does it matter? No, but it will look nicer.

The only real guarantee of the state's borders is a strong military.