216 210 Back to Moscow

From Warsaw, we went to Zamość, Jan's hometown, to meet my aunt and his mother and talk about a possible candidate for a wife for my cousin... However, my aunt decided that he was still too young for it, and although she did not forbid us to look, I could not do anything without her consent.

After a few days of rest from the cold and snow, we continued our journey, this time north to Grodno, from which we were to set off towards Vilnius... but traveling in winter was not one of my ideas that I could be proud of. My ass and balls were frozen to my pants, and the pants to the saddle, but it was comforting that Jan and Prince Jerzy Rakoczy felt this journey more than I did.

"Big country... a lot of land." ( Prince Jerzy II Rakoczy)

Another brilliant observation of my future son-in-law... 300 kilometers from Warsaw to Zamosc. Another 450 kilometers to Grodno... and I haven't counted the route to Vilnius, Smolensk and Moscow yet.

"Yes, big, wide and maybe, as God permits, you will someday rule it... and as for God, the Polish king must be a Catholic." (MC)

I had to remind him about it, because although Poland avoided religious wars to a large extent, the king's faith mattered, and Rakoczy was a Calvinist... The young prince's face showed that the future prospect of a change of faith did not please him, but every ambition has its price.

"In Vilnius we will meet the Sapieha and Radziwiłł family, they are powerful magnate families, rich and influential... The Sapieha are my friends, but you will have to win over the Radziwiłł yourself... with them on your side, almost all Lithuania will be yours." (MC)

Of course, it was until Janusz and Bogusław Radziwiłł did not show their own ambitions and allied with the Swedes... although I was not sure whether the present Sweden, weakened by war and entangled in a conflict with Catholics, would be as difficult an opponent as it was in history... well, time will tell.

In every major town and city, young Rakoczy did not spare money to win the sympathy of the Polish nobility, although he knew that it would be years before he could sit on the throne, but nevertheless he followed my advice and already began to build foundations for this throne. Rakoczy even managed to win the favor of the Radziwiłł family, or at least that part of it which were Calvinists. Although my relationship with them was cool, they welcomed me with due honors, perhaps they did it to improve our relationship, but more likely that they did not want to be inferior to the Sapieha... the conflict of these two families was even amusing at times. After a few days in Vilnius and countless banquets and a sea of ​​drunk alcohol, the time has come to move further east.

We reached Moscow at the beginning of May... the first thing that caught my eye was the surrounding villages, which in the past I had left deserted, now teeming with life and new settlers. The second thing that caught my attention were the city walls, Prince Wiśniowiecki wasted no time or effort and rebuilt what I had destroyed... although it was not difficult, especially when I sent him so many prisoners and convicts, he was not short of hands to work.

Before our retinue reached the gates, a dozen or so riders left the city and headed towards us... a moment later they cut our way and one of the men moved ahead.

"Stop! Who's going?" (Józef Bychowiec)

"Greeting, and who are we? Field Hetman of the Crown, Wilkomir Jazłowiecki, accompanied by the Prince of Transylvania, Jerzy Rakoczy and Jan Zamoyski, brother of Lady Gryzelda. Who are we dealing with?" (MC)

In front of me there was a man about forty years old, with a severe face, his demeanor and manner indicated that he had been a soldier all his life. The man took the hubcap off his head and bowed.

"Greetings Hetman, my name is Józef Bychowiec, coat of arms of the Mogiła with three crosses. I am a dragoons colonel in the service of Prince Wiśniowiecki." (Józef Bychowiec)

After short presentations and greetings, we were escorted by the prince's dragoons to Moscow. The city itself has not changed much visually, but on the streets you could see more Poles and Jews, and also Armenians. Most of the Orthodox temples were transformed into Catholic churches, a Jesuit congregation was also established... compared to the Time of Troubles from thirty years ago, now it was much worse, at least for the Russians... I looked at my work with pride, two of the three future Polish enemys no longer existed... only treacherous Austria remained.

From the information Bychowiec told us, it turned out that we were lucky, one day later and we would not find Prince Wiśniowiecki in the city... on the next day, Prince Wiśniowiecki was supposed to go east to deal with the Orthodox rebels who had seized several villages and a small town.

"Bychowiec, tell me more about these rebels? A lot of them?" (MC)

"Most of them are peasants and incited by priests, some nobles, former soldiers and prisoners who they managed to free joined them as well. The prince wanted to solve it peacefully... but he changed his mind." (Józef Bychowiec)

The threat did not seem to be high, and Wiśniowiecki made the right decision, if you give them a finger, they will want the whole hand... now they will get a fist.

"You don't talk to rebels, you shoot the rebels." (MC)

"So we are unlikely to rest." (Jan Sobiepan Zamoyski)

...and he was right, since Prince was going to deal with the rebels, it was the perfect opportunity for me to test Jan in combat and see if the lessons he was learning were worth the gold I spent on them.