8th May 1574"This town lies within the province that I"m the governor off. As you ruled over it previously, you should know that getting crown"s approval is just an annoying formality, left after the ancient times!"
In an instant, Jan took over the entire discussion sending hate-filled looks towards Peter. Since I had no idea what they were talking about as the details of governing the province wasn"t something that I could learn from history books or games I played, I could only sit and watch as they argued amongst each other.
"But it"s still a requirement! Now, are you going to play tough, or should I revoke all the decisions made in this doc.u.ment?"
Hearing those words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned tense. If Bart"s name got cleaned of infamy and his banishment revoked, that would basically mean war! And not one between him and my like it happened before, but between me and the entire Zboros family!
"Sir Peter, I don"t think you want to make me go for the extra length of a.s.suring that this doc.u.ment will remain legit. Bart, whose name is written in this doc.u.ment, lost over a hundred elite cavalry while trying to kidnap my wife and kill me and my people. I would like to remind everyone gathered that while I gave up the weapons that proved capable of giving me this victory, I have more means than necessary to make quite a lot more of them."
While my words were clearly threatening, I made sure to form them in a way that would make it impossible for anyone to accuse me of making any actual threats. Thanks to this, while the message was pa.s.sed, I should be safe from any possible repercussions of using such an aggressive tone towards the commonwealth official.
"Miracle weapon? Now you are making me curious. Especially with how are you going to use them against the representative of the commonwealth!"
Sadly, Peter"s words proved that it wasn"t that easy to force him into obedience. But I would never be able to save my face if a modern man like me couldn"t overcome such a puny obstacle!
"Use them against our dear commonwealth representative? Sir brother, accusing someone of treason and banditry fitting the name of the man you are willing to spare is more than enough for me to give you a field right now!"
While I started on a high horse by mentioning my duel, rather than firing myself up even more and insisting on it, I simply smiled and continued.
"But I will let it pa.s.s, taking it as a poorly used means of warning me. Yet, I can"t help but think about what would happen in a certain n.o.ble family were to get their hands on such an effective weapon… After all, when I heard what happened at the royal tournament right after our king"s coronation, I couldn"t help but sympathise with their cause!"
What I mentioned right now was one of the greatest feuds that started the entire downfall of the Zboros family. With Peter"s brother receiving the honour of the first challenge during the said tournament, he was unlucky to the point where no other n.o.ble wanted to pick up his glove after he threw it.
Only when a commoner knight decided to accept the challenge did the duel started, leading to a disgraceful defeat of the Samuel. In a fit of rage after losing to a commoner, small fighting ensued, leading to the injury of the n.o.ble that attempted to mediate the conflict, who would die only ten years later from the wound he received from Samuel"s hand.
While this matter was simply too small to be remembered by me with how fragmented my knowledge about the entire period was, while I was back in Tarnow, preparing to deal with Bart, I received the news about the entire event.
"Okay, okay. Let"s drop this matter. I won"t meddle in this topic, but there is still another matter to discuss. And while it might make you even angrier, it is the main reason as to why you were summoned to the palace. I heard that you started brewing some luxury beer?"
Seeing that Peter wanted to stop the conflict from escalating and discuss the matter that sooner or later would be put to the royal attention, I decided it would be the best to calm myself down and use this opportunity to strike a deal while hiring some people to spread the rumours about our earlier clash.
"Yes, since I found a recipe allowing me to produce a quality drink, I"m investing most of the money I have into expanding its production. But why does it require royal attention? As a landed n.o.ble I do have the right to brew and distribute my own alcohol, don"t I?"
Outside of jews that managed most of the taverns in the entire country, a limited amount of citizens and a great majority of the n.o.bles had the right to brew alcoholic drinks. That"s why while I knew that capital would try to find some way to tax it, I already prepared a few ways to avoid wasting my money on the lavish life of the king!
"It came to my attention that rather than selling those beers in your own lands, you are putting quite a lot of effort into spreading them all around the country. And as you might know, the crown has the right to tax such endeavours. That"s why, from now on, you will have to pay thirty parts out of a hundred for every barrel that will be sold outside of your lands!"
Hearing those words, I had some troubles stopping myself from breathing out in relief. Using such an ordinary way in an attempt to force me to pay to the crown? There was no way this poor guy would succeed!
"I"m sorry, but I think you have one thing wrong. So far, I never sold a single barrel in a place other than Tarnow!"