64 Home At Last

I stayed in Warsaw for two more days, made a few purchases, mainly books and things less accessible in Podolia. I said goodbye to Hetman Sapieha and Aleksander Gosiewski, the latter persuaded me to a farewell feast ... in fact, he did not have to persuade me for a long time.

"Wilkomir, maybe we will celebrate your success with a cup of mead?" (Aleksander Gosiewski)

"Only one cup?" (MC)

The next day, with a heavy head, I woke up next to Gosiewski on the bank of the Vistula ... I do not remember exactly what we were doing there ... but I remember that Gosiewski threw the idea that we should go to Sweden to complete the work, and I suggested that we should get on a barge and sail to Gdańsk because I have in it the ships that will take us to Sweden ... the rest of the memories were blurry... Alcohol is a powerful weapon, not only makes ugly women beautiful, but a few more mead cups and Gosiewski and I would go and take Moscow.

After a few hours, I got back to working condition and then went on my way to Jazłowiec ... I gave up visiting brothels, I didn't need such scandals. Especially since I had enemies who would take advantage of my mistakes. My name became quite famous, not only did I capture the King of Sweden, but at the age of 21 I became a voivode, which seemed unthinkable... After my return, I will have to use my new position to obtain even more lands, one of my ambitions was to own all Podolia, I also had similar intentions towards Volhynia, but it was not very realistic. Podolia had a smaller population of nobility and it was easier to deal with them.

On September 15, I got to Jazłowiec, after 6 months of absence. A lot has changed in the area itself, large chunks of forest have been cut down and new farmlands have been created, and a settlement for the Cossacks has also been established. The roads were in good condition. Secretary Kowalski was not idle in my absence.

I decided to visit the Cossack settlement. I had to send Ilya to Sich to recruit new people. I also wanted to find out what happened to the Swedish soldiers. The settlement was quite large, with several dozen houses and a few barracks, and farm buildings, mainly stables. It did not take long to find my colonels, they both trained with sabers in a nearby clearing.

"Ilya, I hope you rested, because I have a job for you. You will go to Sich to recruit new soldiers." (MC)

"But no one died in the fight against the Swedes. There are some slightly injured." (Ilya)

"I got permission to recruit 2,000 new soldiers, after winter we go to the Empire for war. You have a letter with the King's seal here, you will leave as soon as possible." (MC)

"Should I recruit someone specific?" (Ilya)

I pondered Ilyia's question. There was no one specific I wanted to recruit, but this was an opportunity to get rid of a few people.

Taras Fedorowicz and Iwan Sulima, these were two names that came to my mind. The first of them was the leader of the Cossack Uprising in 1630, the second was the leader of the Cossack Uprising in 1635 ... of course their death will not solve the Polish-Cossack problems, but perhaps a delayed uprising. I was also thinking about finding Ivan Bohun, but now he was probably no more than 17 years old, so he could still wait for his turn. Another name on my list was Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki, but in his case one thing stood in my way. I was not sure if my interference so early would be worse in results. I could have eliminated the lesser leaders of the uprisings, but in his case ... the future could have become less predictable... I told Ilya these two first names and that I had heard that they were good soldiers and that if he had the opportunity, he should recruit them.

"What happened to the Swedes?" (MC)

"Lord, we tried to lead them to Jazłowiec, but one of them fell ill, got a high fever, had spots on his face ... we buried everyone in Volhynia for fear of the plague." (Ivan)

"You did well, sometimes it's better to be careful than to bring misfortune..." (MC)

I was hoping that he would give them to Khan, but on the other hand, if it was really a plague or other disease and if it did break out in Jazłowiec ... nobody would cry after the Swedes. Recently, 12,000 Swedes died in the Baltic Sea, another 1,500 makes no difference. I am not trying to make my subject live better and more prosperous ... so that some Swedish plague will kill them.

"If anyone ever asked, some disease killed them, and for their safety, their bodies were burned." (MC)

I preferred not to ask if they buried them alive or killed them first, actually I wasn't interested and it didn't matter for me.

"We sent all the loot to Jazłowiec, secretary Kowalski did the entire inventory, he also paid us money for these few months of service." (Ivan)

Well, one less bureaucratic thing on my to-do list, Kowalski, despite his age, fulfilled his duties very well.

After settling this matter, I went to Jazłowiec. The city itself hasn't changed, it just seemed more crowded. I walki into the castle courtyard, and the Secretary Kowalski was waiting in the door.

"Greetings Lord, I would like ..." (Secretary Kowalski)

"Greetings... and not now, my ass hurts from sitting in the saddle, I need a cold beer and get the servants out of the kitchen, I have to cook something." (MC)

Of course, I wanted to clean the head of Count Axel Oxenstierna from meat, in my first life when I was collecting stamps, I had no such problems.

"Lord, I have to tell you ... it's important Sveta ..." (Secretary Kowalski)