"I'm sorry, but those steam horses of mine… Are not for sale."

All the way back in times when I was only starting to think about the means on industrialising the country, I could think about selling the engines to someone else in order to obtain more money for my other projects. Yet right now, the situation changed.

From the beer business that was already bringing me close to the level of grand n.o.ble households in terms of income, through the Tarnowian marketplace that outside increasing the outflow of the beer to an unimaginable degree while allowing me to easily and cheaply obtain all sorts of resources, all the way to those rifles of mine that could bring me even more profit than both of those projects alone, I had absolutely no need to earn even more.

Rather than that, what I had to aim for, was the influence.

"But you just said…"

Hearing how quickly and decisively I refused to even consider the price for the steam engines, Kristina could only widen her eyes and attempt to protest, yet before she could even finish her sentence, I already cut her off.

"I know what I said. I'm willing to rent those steam engines or even permanently locate them in any place I will consider profitable. From the sulfur and blackstone mines, through the possible forms of industry or even projects that you would create yourself, I won't have anything against supporting you guys with those steam machines of mine, yet rather than exchanging them for gold that is already of no value for me, I will keep the owners.h.i.+p of them, while receiving a percentage of the profits from those projects as my remuneration for renting them to you."

If I were to just sell the engines off, while the amount of gold that I could ask for would be immense and most likely big enough for me to rent enough mercenaries to carve out a small country for myself, doing so would only prove to be a pain in the a.s.s. That's why, rather than selling them off, I would rather bind the powers that I would decide to cooperate with me!

After all, industrialization didn't end on the steam engines alone. From how I was already going out of my way to set the fertile ground for the sake of building a proper train, and with the loose thoughts of using the steel to make a completely new type of steam horses in the first place, as long as I managed to bound a single powerful household to my cause, by keeping them at the receiving end of all the benefits of industrialization, creating a proper and modern conglomerate would be only a matter of time!

"Renting you say… Well, given how novel those machines are, I can only say that it's given… But are you sure you don't want to sell us even a single one? To be honest, when I saw this moving carriage… I couldn't help but think about turning it into a mobile cannon! That's was the main reason why I wanted to get my hands on at least a single one. After all, while I'm a part of the Zamoyski family, I can't help but worry when I hear about those news coming from the east!"

While initially quite happy with Kristina coming up with what could be said to be the idea if not for the tank then for the armoured car at the very least, it was the other part of her sentence that got me thinking.

So far during our meeting, as I spoke with her or her retainers, I only considered them to be the representatives of the Zamoyski family. As I currently faced the issue of the brewing conflict with Ostros, I was fully focused on binding the fate of my household with the future powerhouse of the country, yet by focusing my sight like that, I failed to take Kristina original family into account!

"I'm sorry, I forgot to account for that. What would you say if I were to gift your father, Nicolaus the Black a set of let's say… A thousand of my rifles? Creating bullets for them is fairly easy, so as long as he employs several tens of people to do so, he could easily create a considerable stockpile of them. While I know that it might sound like a bribe, please, treat it as my personal investment in the security of our eastern borders."

Giving such a huge statement and gift at the same time could be considered reckless for some, yet with how my actions influenced the history, I couldn't rule out the possibility that Muscovites wouldn't wait with their attack for the war where the future king would have to deal with the rebellious city of Gdansk. 

"That would be much appreciated… As for the rest of what we spoke about, while I can't make the decision by myself, I would like to draft a letter to my dear husband, detailing the content of our negotiations here. As long as he would agree with my opinion, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't cooperate!"

As if a great boulder was finally taken off my soul, I could release all the air that I acc.u.mulated in my lungs during the span of those strange negotiations. With what Kristina said, as long as I could convince Jan Zamoyski himself to accept the deal, no matter what Ostros would want to do against me, they wouldn't dare to go against their rival just for the sake of a single, punny town!

But as I was about to rejoice in my head, I saw someone bursting through the doors of the mansion and instantly falling onto his knee when he saw his lady.

"My lady! They attacked!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, this clearly exhausted to the limit man staggered before falling to the side. 

"They attacked… As many as droplets of water in the sea… No one has seen such an apocalypse before…"