16th April 1574
"I don't think that finding a proper material will pose any problem. I'm more worried about the insane amount of work necessary to put the thing I have in mind to use…"
Due to the shortage of coal on my lands, the most basic flammable material that was accessible in abundance was wood. While the process of turning it into charcoal that was capable of bringing forth enough heat energy to create some kind of basic steam furnace, unless, establishing the entire production for the charcoal, most of which would sink back into the production of itself, was not a cost I was willing to take.
On the other hand, there was oil. While their reserves located around the modern lesser Poland and current eastern Sandomir province were laughable when compared to what the middle east could produce, for the minimal use that my lands would require, there was far more than enough of it!