09 The Evil That Men Do

The next day, Secretary Kowalski brought a tailor to me, and he himself went to Kamieniec Podolski and Bar to recruit my first army, these were the two largest cities in Podolia, and Kamieniec Podolski also served as the main point of defense and the place where the garrison of the Crown Army was located.

"I have a commission for you, I would like you to sew two outfits for me. One is a kontusz (type of coat), żupan (robe worn under kontusz), szarawary (pants), kołpak (cap), all in black and a silver belt. They don't have to be richly decorated, I'm not a peacock." (MC)

"I understand, Lord ... and the other outfit?" (Tailor)

Explaining what dress I mean was more difficult, but after a dozen or so minutes I was able to roughly explain what I was talking about... clothes were to be ready before Christmas. I said goodbye to the tailor and was now able to focus my attention on matters related to property and finances.

Of course, I had to carefully calculate the budget to be allocated to my army. The annual salary of one light cavalryman was 124 ducats, while recruiting four hundred soldiers, I had to spend almost 50 thousand ducats on the salaries alone. Of course, there was also the cost of feeding people and horses, but it was always harder to count ... the army could feed itself for some time by plundering hostile lands. I have 270,000 ducats from my father and an annual income of 25,000 ducats, I could keep such an army for about nine years ... luckily I only needed them for a year, maybe two if things went wrong.

My calculations of army costs brought me down to earth ... I needed money to make a difference. My main income was from grain sales, rent and taxes. Peasants and craftsmen, who were not numerous, paid the lowest rents, but were also forced to do serfdom. The townspeople and merchants paid more, but serfdom did not apply to them, the last category were Jews and Armenians who paid the most taxes.

The only thing that came to mind was the land reform, lowering taxes, developing trade and industry ... The bald sheep will not give wool. To get rich, I have to make my people rich, the more they earn, the more I will earn.

I decided that each peasant family in my estate would receive 5 hectares of land, would still have to work off serfdom and pay a rent of 10% per year on the earned income. This land cannot be sold, only inherited.

Craftsmen will receive 3 hectares of land, but only on the condition that their children will continue the family's crafts. Their rent will also be 10% of their annual income. They will not be bound by serfdom. This land cannot be sold, only inherited.

The townspeople will be obligated to pay 15% of the annual income.

Merchants will be required to pay 20% of the annual income.

Jews and Armenians will be obligated to pay 35% of the annual income.

Until now, peasants and artisans paid 20% of the tax, townspeople 25%, merchants 35%, and Jews and Armenians 50%. I was hoping that such a tax reduction would revive the economy of Podolia and encourage the settlement of new people. Giving the land to the peasants and the craftsman was also meant to increase their loyalty to me ... of course, the reduction of taxes alone will not do anything if the infrastructure is poor, so I have to strongly invest in the roads, especially to stimulate trade... for those times, such changes were revolutionary.

My calculations were interrupted by a knock on the door and the office.

"Enter" (MC)

I sat at the desk and tried to look serious and dignified ... but it was not easy because I had an object of my fantasies in front of me, I was also physically fifteen years old, which did not give me credibility.

"Please sit down. I wanted to talk to you about your work in the castle. You've served my family since I was born and it's time to change things." (MC)

"Lord, are you going to throw me out of the castle?" (Sveta)

"No, none of that. From today on, you will be my personal maid. Your responsibilities will change. You will no longer have to deal with cleaning the castle and other things." (MC)

Sveta looked surprised, but took the news rather calmly.

"I understand Lord, but why this sudden change?" (Sveta)

"This is the way things are, good work deserves a reward. You will be responsible for cleaning my private chambers and office, for serving me meals, you will be completely at my disposal and only I can give you orders." (MC)

"Thank you, Lord" (Sveta)

Of course, I could have forced her to have s.e.x with me, but I wanted to do it differently, more subtly ... I made a whole plan in my head. Promotion and higher salary at the beginning. Her husband is a carpenter and earns 24 pennys a day, Sveta as my private maid deserves more ... maybe 35 pennys a day. She will earn more than her husband, which may cause conflicts at home. Then a dress, an occasional gift or compliment ... and then the husband will have an accident... then another misfortune will fall on her and her house will burn down ... I will offer her to live in the castle. She would have to be grateful ...

"It's not over yet, you will also get a higher salary, 35 pennys a day ..." (MC)

When she heard this, her surprise was even greater, as was her joy. She ran up to me, throws herself on my neck and starts thanking me ... of course, I grabbed her buttock quite by accident.

"You don't have to thank me. Bring me something to drink, I have other things to do." (MC)

I watched as she left my office ... not only her tits are cool. Now I had to deal with more serious matters, Sveta can wait, the war cannot.