Chapter 689: Chapter 598: The Song of Poland IV

In the follow-up agreement with the Paris Mining Development Company, Poland promised to ensure an adequate number of workers for the mines and to purchase 20 LJ52 Steam Engines, along with accompanying maintenance services.

According to the assessment by the geologist Mr. Peche, the silver mine had been developed to less than 10%–essentially, it was Joseph’s assessment.

As more mines were excavated, the demand for pumping machines would increase rapidly, so placing orders in advance was quite necessary.

And the mining development company would provide technical support for surveying, pumping, and mine safety.

Just the day after the agreement was signed, more than 500 miners from the Krakow area flocked to Tarnovsk Mountain in search of job opportunities.

Their families had depended on the silver mines for generations, and now with news of mine expansion, they were all very excited, hoping to earn more wages.

These people also had highly adept skills in mining; even children in their early teens could dig four to five meters deep each day, let alone the adults.

In this way, the entire Tarnovsk Mountain became a hive of activity.

…

Polish Royal Palace, Warsaw Royal Castle.

Stanislaw II sat in his chair, allowing Mr. Virein, the French makeup artist, to work freely on his face.

Prince Poniatowski, watching the thick powder on Mr. Virein’s face and his cherry-red lips, couldn’t help feeling anxious, finding it hard to imagine how his uncle would look after being made up by the artist.

He awkwardly turned his face away and continued to report, “Count Mawahovski has just sent news that a new vein has been successfully unearthed at Tarnovsk Mountain, and it’s a thick one. He estimates that this year’s silver mine output will rise to 8.4 million zlotys.”

Stanislaw II immediately gasped, turning his head toward the Prince, causing the makeup artist to draw a slanted line at the corner of his mouth.

No wonder he was so excited; Poland’s financial revenue from last year was only 20 million zlotys.

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This mine alone was providing more than one-third of the financial income!

8.4 million zlotys was roughly equivalent to 13 million francs. In other words, the output of the Tarnovsk Mountain Silver Mine had increased by more than sixfold in just over a month!

Prince Poniatowski seemed to think that wasn’t shocking enough for the King of Poland, adding, “Count Mawahovski also says that if the excavation of the new mine in the southern mountain range goes smoothly, next year’s production could well exceed 10 million zlotys.”

10 million zlotys was 15 million francs.

The Paris Mining Development Company, with its 40% stake, could take in more than 6 million!

Joseph estimated that due to the limited mining technology of the era, it wouldn’t be possible to fully exploit the mine’s capacity, but an annual revenue of 20 million francs should still be attainable.

Prince Poniatowski continued, “Your Majesty, thanks to the profits from the silver mines, we could double the size of the army.”

He did not shy away from the makeup artist; after all, he was the exclusive servant of the Crown Prince of France.

Stanislaw II nodded repeatedly, “You’re the gaetman, the military expansion is all in your hands.”

The Prince nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty. Oh, and about military training, Mr. Sais has made a very unique suggestion.”

“Please, continue.”

“He suggested that we could assist Austria in suppressing the insurrection in Slavonia. Although this might lead to some casualties, actual combat would allow soldiers to grow rapidly, and His Majesty Leopold II should be willing to provide us with some supplies, which would also help us save on military expenses.”

Slavonia is a southern province of Austria, inhabited mainly by Serbians, and Serbia to the south has repeatedly claimed this territory as theirs–it was indeed taken from them by Austria.

Supported and incited by Belgrade, the insurrection in Slavonia has been almost incessant. Lately, due to the Prussian-Austrian conflict in Silesia, Austria has been too preoccupied to pay attention, leading to an increasingly fierce uprising that has nearly become uncontrollable.

The nearby Hungarian nobility do not want to provoke these fierce Serbian barbarians; they would rather expand towards Wallachia. As long as the Serbians don’t cross the Danube River, they couldn’t care less.

Thus, Vienna has had to constantly beg the Hungarians to send troops to Slavonia, while also offering them significant benefits.

If Poland suddenly expressed willingness to send an expeditionary force to help suppress the rebellion, Leopold II would surely be ecstatic. Whether they could actually defeat the Serbians was irrelevant; at least it would show the Hungarian nobility that the Emperor had means to deal with rebellious forces without them.

Of course, Joseph was actually more concerned about how this matter would promote relations between Austria and Poland. Perhaps, after “the two melons” began, Poland could have one less enemy.

King Stanislaw August Poniatowski nodded again, “Then you and Kewengtai should make a trip to Vienna.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The King of Poland’s face was soon painted in the most fashionable style of the time, and Mr. Virein looked at his work with satisfaction, starting to arrange the wig.

Once he arrived in Saint Petersburg, he would wear this preset makeup to meet his “ex-girlfriend” Catherine II.

King Stanislaw August Poniatowski looked at himself in the mirror and couldn’t help but sigh. Finally, he said to his nephew, “Once you and His Majesty Leopold II have agreed upon the details of suppressing the rebellion, you must return to Warsaw quickly. The vote at the Sejm at the end of the year is the most critical matter.”

He and Poland’s patriotic nobles had been working for a long time, preparing to initiate the action to establish Poland’s first constitution by the end of the year.

This was already more than half a year later than the historically famous May 3rd Constitution, and the content had also removed clauses that would provoke the nobility, such as “the abolition of serfdom” and “the abolition of noble privileges”.

Subsequently, King Stanislaw August Poniatowski rose and walked towards the gates of the Royal Castle. He was to board his carriage and head to Saint Petersburg, where he would buy time for Poland in his own way.

…

November 2, 1791.

Admiral Kosciuszko led over 13,000 soldiers of the King’s Third Division of Poland into Slavonia.

This force was mixed with half new recruits, and logistical support was provided by Austria.

They would engage in three months of combat here, before being replaced by the Lithuanian legion led by Juditsky. Afterwards, Kosciuszko would bring another division to “train.”

——–

Slavonia was historically part of the Roman Empire’s Pannonia Province. In the 7th century, a Slavic group settled in, and at the beginning of the 9th century, the Kingdom of Pannonia Croatia was established. From 1102 to 1527, the kingdom formed a union with Hungary, and during the 13th century, the area between the Sava and Delaware Rivers began to be called “Slavonia,” which means “Land of the Slavs” in Latin. In the 16th century, it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire until 1693 when, according to the Treaty of Karlowitz, it was ceded to Austria.