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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 13:53:44 GMT
With his distinctive French dress, Pan Habasinski cut a very different dash from the other members of the court. His fine beard and moustache, pointed and coiffured, unlike the popular "Sarmatian" style favoured by many. He had a kindly face, lightly lined around the corners of the eyes and mouth, with a light salting of grey in his perfect moustache, gave the impression of an older man than 34 year old Janusz. But even though the stresses and strains of governance were taking their premature toll on the visage of our eminent hero, his pale grey eyes still sparkled with youthful vigour, and intelligence. Nor did his sword arm lie dormant for its use of the pen.
He was flanked by two, rather younger, gentlemen poring over a map he had had drawn up just days before. He was explaining to the Prince Jakub how their strategy for the Sejm would play out.
"Our aim is simple, and clear. We must make the nobles gathered feel that there is no choice but to assign His Majesty emergency powers. As you can see here on the map, I have identified the areas from where we will have trouble, and the... for lack of a better word, bribes... that we will hand out to those who cause issues. Pan Radziwill, you are certain that your families allies will follow you lead?"
The younger of the two, barely fifteen years old, and struggling to grow a little down on his upper lip declared, "My uncle will demand a concession, from me, or from the King, but he will follow. If he supports the motion, the rest will follow. He has expressed interest in becoming Castellan of Wilno, now that the position is vacant.
"Excellent, that we can do. The Wisniowescy I have already talked to. They will support any measure they see as conducive to the recapture of their lands over the Dniepr, and will cause no problems. Jakub, how fared your dealings with the Zamojscy?"
The Prince, attempting to curl his rudimentary moustache, announced with some pomp, "The Zamojscy are headless. Pan Wladislaw is too weak to maintain his family's bloc, and his sons second guess his every move. They will not provide an obstacle, each can be bought off, leaving the old man alone in opposition."
"That is well", replied Habasinski, sitting down and pulling at his narrow beard, "With the magnates dealt with, the lower nobility will follow the King, for they love him. Just remember, there is to be no talk about emergency powers at first. We wish to levy additional taxes, the nobles will be up in arms, and we offer emergency powers two days in to negotiation as a cheap means of dealing with the crisis."
At this point the Prince gave the chancellor a questioning look, "What crisis?"
"I can't give away all my secrets now, can I?", he replied, before summoning for his supper, "The Sejm begins tomorrow, gentlemen, go get ready."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 19:36:35 GMT
The Sejm began with the usual pomp and ceremony that accompanies these occasions. Carriages and litters, and liveried horsemen jostled and fought for position. No fewer than twelve duels were called out in disagreements over precedence. And everyone waited patiently for the King, who arrived exceedingly late. Following the salute, and oaths of fealty, a few hours given the number of people assembled, the King finally made his statement.
"You are wondering for what reason I called this Sejm. New has reached my advisors of the most troubling kind. The Ottoman Sultan is preparing to march his grand army in to the Commonwealth. Even as we speak, his forces mass in Budjak. We must act swiftly if we are to counter this threat. So, in the name of the nation that we hold dear, and the God we hold dearer, I ask to raise an extraordinary tax to fund the immediate recruitment of fresh troops and mercenaries. If we do not stop these Turks soon, the nation that saved Christendom will collapse."
The King struggled, but managed to stifle his smile at the furore that broke out. Everyone, from lowest to highest, cried out at the "punitive" tax. One man could be heard loudly exclaiming "I'll fight these Turks myself, the King doesn't need this money. Base avarice!"
Now began the long task of negotiation. Pan Habasinski, Prince Jakub, and Pan Radziwill began the public offering of honours and lands already offered in private. Pan Habasinski went to gain the support of the Wisniowescy, while Prince Jakub, and Pan Radziwill began talking to the numerous Zamojscy. The King, meanwhile, talked merrily with the lesser nobles, dazzling them with his stories and charisma. Pan Habasinski's guards watched, and listened intently to the goings on. Theirs was a privileged position, and their quiet attentiveness was unobserved by any of the gentry present...
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Post by The Viceroy (AdminM) on Feb 3, 2015 19:43:42 GMT
After heated discussion many of the northern and central Lords eventually acquiesce to the tax, but those from the frontline who had suffered the most heavily during the Ottoman wars were forced to veto, they simply could not afford to pay additional taxes. Instead, a new proposal comes from the Sejm: the Lords who could afford to pay offered to gather together a large donation to the crown, thus relieving those unable to pay a universal tax.
If the King consents, they agree to begin discussing a sum. (The Golden Liberty National Modifier is invoked.)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 20:02:23 GMT
That evening, the King and Pan Habasinski sat together, discussing how the day had progressed. "It seems we have the Radziwills, young Karol was correct. The Wisniowiescy's anger clouds their judgement, they will support you if you promise to fight. We are making progress on the Zamojscy. We will have to set the proposed tax figure very high, that will turn the smaller nobles against the idea. Then, under pressure from the magnates, they should acquiesce to the true deal."
"Thank you Janusz, this is going well. Tomorrow, I will give my consent, and you will state a figure that is beyond them to raise. Not too far, mind, it must be believable. We can point to the manpower issue, and the cost of mercenaries", replies the King, "And what on the foreign sympathisers? Have you had any luck identifying any?"
"Not definitively, but there was a group, about five or so. My guards heard mention of the cossacks, and Russian protection. It will be clearer tomorrow, and when the vote comes. Rest assured, they will be dealt with. We will not allow these people to hold the nation to ransom again."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2015 20:43:05 GMT
Pan Habasinski took the floor at the beginning of the second day, "The King accepts the terms as laid out, and requests that those willing provide a sum of 150,000 ducats, for the purchase of artillery, horses, and mercenaries". It was a tactic that Janusz adopted, giving bad news, and making demands himself, while allowing the King to be lenient, and announce successes. This had the effect of setting many of the more foolish nobles (and of them there were plenty) at odds with him, leaving the King's reputation free and untarnished. Pan Habasinski had his allies, of course, and he was very generous to his friends. The more astute at the same noted the hallmarks of the chancellor, and could not help but admire his commitment to King and country.
The news left a stunned silence in the room, and many of the lesser nobles, who could not possibly foot a bill of this scale, began muttering. A few shouted that the number was too great, that is was evidently a ploy for the state to line it's coffers. Habasinski had expected a response like this, and had prepared accordingly, "I assure all those gathered here that this is the absolute figure as worked out by the King's council. Allow me to enlighten you...", and so he began a long, immensely detailed, account of where the money would be spent. He had been speaking for three hours, and had tallied up 63,000 ducats, when the the most attentive misers finally stopped paying attention. The plan seemed to be working.
An hour later, following a subtle signal, Pan Radziwill piped up, "This is all well and good, if the figure is correct then so be it. But there is no way that the nobles can summon this kind of wealth. There must be some other way, surely?", to which Pan Wisnioweski, as he had been bidden, replied "Give the King emergency powers. We have not money, but we trust in our monarch to lead us in the hour of darkness. The Lion of Lechistan will save us, not this apologetic clerk counting coppers!", Pan Habasinski himself had fed him that phrase, sure to pique the proud nobles, it was not right to fixate so much on wealth, for someone in his position... or so was the foolish notion.
To this, a handful of Zamojscy, bought off the day before, added their voices. And the Koniecpolscy, whose lands were on the path of the Ottomans. Some of the lesser lords began a rousing chorus of "Long live the King! Long live the Lion of Lechistan!"...
"Order!", shouted the chancellor, stamping upon the podium he stood upon, "Order!", he shouted louder, and the guards crashed their sabres against their breastplates, creating a howling racket. The room came to, and the muttering gradually simmered down. "It is clear that the proposed taxes will not do", he made a show of appearing frustrated, "If it is the will of the Sejm that the King be given emergency powers instead, then so be it. The King serves at the Sejm's pleasure"...
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Post by The Viceroy (AdminM) on Feb 5, 2015 10:43:07 GMT
Some of the more powerful nobles consider resisting, wary of the negative consequences of a quasi-absolute monarchy - the Commanwealth, of course, being incredibly proud of their 'Golden Liberty'. However, due to the overwhelming support for the proposal in the Sejm, they decide against invoking the veto and risk tarnishing relations with their domestic allies. Instead they opt to propose some checks and balances:
1. The tax level be fixed for the duration of the emergency period (Lords can still be called to provide money to the King);
2. The Sejm will be recalled to discuss continuation of the emergency period every three years;
3. The Sejm can recall itself to discuss ending the emergency period if the King is seen to abuse his powers or shirk on his paternal responsibility to his countrymen.
These clauses are fairly pleasing to the other Lords, and the Sejm is in general agreement. The constructive input from these Lords also appease their allies, and they may risk vetoing if the King refuses to accept the amendments.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2015 10:05:39 GMT
The King and his ministers discuss the amendments later that evening in private. "Their offers are very reasonable, your Majesty. The tax rate should fall in their hands, to prevent abuse. Abusing tax raising is something that is guaranteed to foment rebellion and instability, so it is good and proper to ensure prior approval. I would make one alteration to the wording of the second amendment, "...recalled to discuss continuation ... every three years" to "... recalled to discuss ending ... every three years", a very subtle change, most will unlikely notice it, and those who do will hopefully not realise the connotations. If the discussion is on ending the powers, then the veto plays in our favour...
"Finally, we come to the last amendment. This I worry about, it was contrived by some of those my men have been watching, and I fear that the foreign sympathisers will use this to undermine your power during the emergency period. We can point to the fact that every King holds a paternal responsibility to his countrymen, making the clause moot. It does worry me, however. "Seen to abuse his powers" is a very open ended term, and I'm sure that those whom we wish to expunge, for the good of the state, will believe you to be abusing your power.
This could be rendered insignificant if you were to agree to my plan?" the Chancellor finishes, staring intently at the King.
"A no is a no, Janusz. I will not invite the Burghers in to the Sejm. The nobility would be furious!", replies the King, in a melancholic tone.
"The Burghers love you, more so than the nobility, giving them a say, however modest, will lend force to your arguments, and provide additional leverage against noble opposition. And they would not sit in the same house, we would create a separate chamber for them, so the nobility could have no qualms... This is you doing your paternal duty by your subjects, after all." he add, with an inclination of the eyebrows.
"Let's leave this discussion for another time. How will we counter-amend this bill before we have the vote tomorrow?"
"Clause one is agreed, we will not change it. Claus two, swap 'continuation' for 'ending', we will not draw attention to this. Clause three...", Pan Habasinski lent his forehead upon his fingers, muttering almost inaudibly to himself. "I think I have it. 'The Sejm may recall itself to discuss ending the emergency period if he shirks his Royal Responsibilities in the eyes of God.' It is by God's grace that you reign, it is by God's grace alone that they may end your powers (and remember, rule, your majesty), no golden liberty can break the covenant made between man and God upon the anointing of a monarch. We can sell it as their religious duty, they cannot arbitrarily curb the powers of the King if the King is doing God's work (which you will be).
"If needs be, we accept the final clause. The traitors in the realm will be dispatched justly, and carefully, those left will have no reason to question this anyway."
"That is good, Janusz, let us put it to the vote. With Mary's mercy, we may just pull this off".
The amended amendments for the vote go as follows:
1. The tax level be fixed for the duration of the emergency period;
2. The Sejm will be recalled to discuss ending of the emergency period every three years;
3. The Sejm may recall itself to discuss ending the emergency period if he shirks his Royal Responsibilities in the eyes of God. (The King will back down on this amendment if it comes up against concerted opposition)
There is much anticipation as the Sejm goes to vote...
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Post by The Viceroy (AdminM) on Feb 7, 2015 12:17:55 GMT
Some Lords mutter that they cannot recall the Sejm in the name of God, but others point out that if they can recall the Sejm that means God must have consented to the recall. The debate quickly descends into a few hours of amateur theology. To the surprise of the King and his advisers, the vote passes with little drama. It seems that the Lords quite enjoyed the conversations and were pleasantly disposed to the amendments when the vote was (eventually) called.
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Post by The Viceroy (AdminM) on Feb 7, 2015 12:18:00 GMT
Some Lords mutter that they cannot recall the Sejm in the name of God, but others point out that if they can recall the Sejm that means God must have consented to the recall. The debate quickly descends into a few hours of amateur theology. To the surprise of the King and his advisers, the vote passes with little drama. It seems that the Lords quite enjoyed the conversations and were pleasantly disposed to the amendments when the vote was (eventually) called.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 23:26:08 GMT
"So now we have it! Theology! If ever we want anything passed by the Sejm, simply start spouting off theology!" The King cried, safe from prying ears.
"Indeed, your majesty. Knight to F6.", replied the Chancellor.
"Well... what on the foreign sympathisers? We must root them out!", added the King, sliding his bishop across the board.
"My guards are following them. They will be arrested on the road, away from others. We don't want to appear to abuse our power, after all... rook to A1, checkmate", Janusz said, with a slight smile.
"As always Janusz, as always. Anyway, good work."
The foreign sympathisers identified by the guards of Pan Habasinski during the Sejm are arrested, alone, on the roads home. They are to be tried (and found guilty) of treason. Afterwards, they shall be held in captivity until the Sejm is recalled.
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