"Our only military alliance was with our sister nation, Lithuania (Litwa). Perhaps a little should be said about them before I go further. From my first researches into politics, I could see at once that security on Poland's eastern borders was a prime concern. The dynastic union of Poland and Litwa had been a success, so far, but its continuance was not by any means assured. Litwa was a vast country, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Seas, and the area occupied by people whom one would call proper Lithuanians was very small. It was a Catholic country, in a manner of speaking, but its conversion to what the peasants called "The German religion" was recent, and as yet insecure. The sacred groves of their thunder god - Perkun - had been felled near Vilnius, but were still flourishing elsewhere. What is more, where the peasantry were Christian they followed the Greek schismatics rather than the one true church of Rome. All things taken together, Litwa was a country with immense potential for turmoil. Yet at the same time it was our best friend and our closest ally. I wondered then what wars and conflicts Litwa's fluid eastern borderlands would drag us into, and as you know from your reading of history, and will see during this story, our relationship with our sister nation was far from peaceful.
"While the preservation of the Lithuanian alliance (and hence of our eastern security) was vital to us, the other countries around us were generally friendly or at least neutral. I suspected then that some of the richer provinces to our west - two of which were unquestionably Polish of right - should need to be fought over for the greater good of the nation. I saw no profit in those days in pursuing gains to the east, where the land was poor and the peasants resentful - but looking across the border to the lands of the Empire: there was an order, a wealth that the administrator of any land would envy. And I certainly did envy it.
"Our neighbours were, going clockwise from the southern tip of Litwa:
Moldavia (neutral relationship)
Magyarország (friendly)
Böhmen (friendly)
Brandenburg (neutral)
Pommern (neutral)
Deutschen Orden (strong dislike for us)
Preußen (a vassal of the Deutschen Orden, and neutral)
"Two of our neighbours owned land that was rightfully Polish, and therefore we had what was then called a casus belli on them. Böhmen held Sląsk (which they called Schleisen), while Deutschen Orden - most gallingly - held Gdańsk (which they called Danzig).
"In terms of religion I was pleased to see that there was no trace or suspicion of heresy throughout the Kingdom. That said, we had in the past put in place strict decrees against orthodoxy, while being more welcoming to those of a Moslem faith. I thought that - given the Orthodoxy of some provinces of Litwa, it might be best to neutralise the legal stigmas that applied to orthodoxy in our land. I therefore decided to propose the relaxation of the decree forbidding the orthodox from being members of the noble class.
"Technologically we were weak - the reflection of many years of aristocratic disdain for change, I now suspect. Our land technology was more advanced than primitive, but all our other technological advances were of the most simplistic nature. I realised how much this hampered our development early on, when I asked a well-connected nobleman what presence Polish merchants had in Danzig. From the look on his face I might as well have asked him how many haddock served the King of France his dinner! Not only were the richest men in my country entirely unaware of the benefits of external trade, they were positively hostile to it. This was another issue I wanted to tackle at once.
"On happier matters, all our provinces were well-fortified, and our King Władysław Jagiełło was a fine diplomat and a better soldier - as one might expect from someone trained in the hard school of Lithuanian campaigns.
"After finding out all I could, I sat down and tried to set out our nation's position on paper. It was then that I came up with the idea of ranking our key policy positions on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most effective, and none being the least effective.
"My first analysis was as follows:
On issues of noble rights, we granted nobles vast rights at the expense of the town. I rated Aristocracy as 9/10;
On issues of centralised government, we were highly decentralised. I rated centralisation at 1/10;
When it came to innovation, we tended to be broad minded about new ideas. I rated innovation at 7/10;
On trade issues - as I mentioned a moment ago - we were mercantilist in the extreme. I rated mercantilism at 9/10;
Militarily, we adopted an offensive doctrine, which I rated at 8/10;
We were also a land rather than a naval power, which I rated at 8/10 for land;
We took no position on the quality or quantity of our troops, which I rated as neutral - 5/10 for quality;
Finally, we ensured that the peasants were ground thoroughly under the heels of the nobles, so I rated us 9/10 for serfdom."
Niemiec paused, and took another sip of vodka.
"Now, those were the facts as I saw them, Pan Anderson. I had read all the authorities on government, and I knew what the costs and benefits of each different set of policies was. But what could I recommend putting into practice?
"It was clear that there was no stomach amongst the nobility for large-scale change. Perhaps I might be able to get away with one major policy shift, but I suspected that for the moment that would be all that I would be allowed. This was frustrating, for there was much in our arrangements at that time that I wished to change.
"Our focus on aristocratic, decentralised Government, for example, was increasingly an anachronism. It had served us well in the age of campaigning knights and squires, but I looked across the border at the well-ordered German statelets, and knew that the Polish state had to exert more power from the centre in order to match the achievements of our rivals. Ideally, I would have liked to curb the power of the aristocrats at once, and bring the King's government more to the fore. But such moves could not be accomplised overnight - they required planning and preparation.
"So I had to decide on a policy to adopt - a policy that would lay the foundations for the changes I wanted to bring about. So - and this may seem strange to you, Pan Anderson - I extinguished the final rights of the serfs, and made them entirely the possessions of their lords."
Niemiec smiled at my reaction.
"I see you are surprised, Pan Anderson. But look at it from my point of view at that time. I was a relatively new man in politics (more so that anyone suspected, indeed!). I could not start my term in office by offending the very people I had to work with every day. At the same time, I wanted to ensure that the serfs provided no source of opposition to any reforms I was making. Grinding them down further would make stability easier to achieve, whatever the aristocrats did. And it would certainly be a popular policy with the nobles themselves, who would see me as a protector of their rights. Well, that impression that would fade with time - but it was useful to me for that juncture.
"So that, in short, is what I did. I went to the Senate a few days later, and proposed a wide range of measures, including new restrictions on serfs. I suggested we sent a royal bride to Hungary, to cement our friendship with them. I suggested the repeal of the laws restricting Orthodoxy. I proposed the reduction of our monthly tax take to zero, in order to keep investment in technology high and inflation low. I also recommended the discontinuation of naval technology research, at least for the time being.
"And, I must say, my entire proposal was accepted - with particular rejoicing at the changes to the laws of serfdom. It was as I had hoped - but merely the first stage of great changes to come. And after that triumph, I was able to get down to the real business of steering the Kingdom."
