Chapter 1196: A Chaotic World
To the Austrian government's surprise, however, their decision to increase the redemption payments by fifteen years failed to satisfy the Polish nobility.
These landowners wanted to preserve serfdom entirely. Even if they had to accept a redemption policy, they insisted on following the example of neighboring Prussia—a thirty-year redemption period, with one-third of the serfs' land being ceded directly to the landlord.
Consequently, in the Polish territories recently acquired by Austria, a tide of nobles staged constant protest marches, even threatening to withhold their taxes.
At the same time, the Polish serfs were equally consumed by fury.
The Polish Great Sejm had already promised them land for free, yet these cursed Austrian invaders were now demanding fifteen years of redemption payments!
The serfs knew little of formal protests, but when Polish resistance organizations arrived to recruit, they joined with fervent enthusiasm. If they could drive out the invaders, the decrees of the Great Sejm could be restored.
This was the "trap" Joseph had set for the invaders. Such a radical serfdom reform policy was bound to incite massive upheaval wherever it was introduced.
Of course, an occupying army could decisively declare the Polish parliament's previous emancipation acts null and void. The Russians had done exactly that.
But that only drove the serfs into a murderous rage.
Anyone who dared to extinguish that spark of hope would find them fighting with their lives on the line.
Thus, although the Russian-occupied zone in eastern Poland was home to an Eastern Orthodox population, the riots there were far more severe than in the areas held by Prussia or Austria.
In Minsk alone, the Russians had been present for barely a month before four major serf uprisings erupted.
Prussia fared no better. They applied their domestic serf redemption policies directly to western Poland, leading to frequent riots even in places like Poznan, which they had occupied years prior.
In the church square of Mielec, Governor Prossno was still trying tirelessly to persuade the Polish landowners. "Look, a redemption payment of just fifteen years of taxes has already sparked riots among the serfs. We truly cannot increase it any further..."
An elderly man in the crowd shouted back in fluent French, "Then let His Majesty send the army to crush these rebels!
"Our taxes are meant to support the military. If His Majesty refuses to act, then we have no choice but to keep our money for ourselves."
Immediately, voices rose in agreement. "Exactly! No crackdown, no taxes!"
"If this continues, we won't have any money to pay even if we wanted to."
"Or let the government provide compensation to everyone..."
The fact they all spoke French marked them as established members of the high nobility.
The Austrian Governor wiped sweat from his brow. The serf revolts were already giving him a massive headache; the last thing he wanted was to offend the aristocracy.
He raised his hands to signal for silence. "Very well, I shall convey your demands to His Majesty. Please, wait just one more month..."
"That is too long! Two weeks at most!" someone yelled.
"Fine, fine, I will be as quick as possible," he conceded.
...
Near the Juozapines Hill, south of Vilnius.
Over a hundred Lithuanian serfs were gathered in the woods at the foot of the mountain, listening intently as their "colonel" outlined their battle plan. "First, we go to the town of Salcininkai to seize bread. Baron Vaiciunas there is incredibly wealthy. Many more serfs will surely join us there, and then we will march together to storm Vilnius!"
The serfs immediately raised their pitchforks and hunting rifles, shouting in unison, "Attack Vilnius!"
"Drive out the Russians!"
"No, kill them!"
The "colonel" swung himself onto a packhorse and waved his hand. "Follow me—"
He had barely spoken two words before he suddenly froze.
His father had appeared before him, standing beside a well-dressed man.
"Why are you here? Who is this?" the colonel asked.
"This is Master Hofmannatsky, all the way from Warsaw," the old man said, gesturing respectfully to the man beside him.
Hofmannatsky didn't wait for the rebel group to react. He immediately pulled his credentials from his coat pocket. "I was sent by the Military Committee.
"Please, do not act impulsively. That will only lead to your deaths."
"You Russian lapdog! Get lost!" one of the rebels snarled.
Hofmannatsky hurried to explain. "You misunderstand. What I mean is that we must wait for the right moment so we can all deal with the Russian invaders together.
"I will come to the village regularly to stay in contact. What we need is a strike that will truly defeat the enemy!"
Hofmannatsky spent the better part of the day arguing, and it wasn't until he swore he would provide the rebels with flintlock muskets in the future that he finally persuaded the serfs to return to their village.
He then rushed to the town of Salcininkai. The next day, he delivered a public speech outside the town, clarifying that rioting now would never drive out the Russians. They had to wait for the opportune moment, and the government would lead them in a counterattack.
The speech was effective. Many serfs who had intended to join the uprising returned home as instructed.
However, by noon, Hofmannatsky was arrested by the Russian army.
A few hours later, a Polish "liaison officer" stationed in Vilnius hurried to the Russian military camp. He handed a document issued by the Warsaw government to the Major in charge, offering a forced smile. "You see, this is a strategy implemented by His Highness the Prince Regent at the request of Count Vorontsov to reduce the frequency of riots."
The Russian pointed at the bruised and battered Hofmannatsky. "Do you have any idea what he was doing?"
"I do, sir. He was telling those serfs not to cause trouble. Naturally, to be effective, one must tell a few lies," the liaison officer explained. "There won't be any 'unified counterattack.' You know as well as I do that the gentlemen in Warsaw are scared out of their wits.
"As long as no trouble breaks out for the next six months, those serfs will gradually accept the Governor's rule."
The officer checked with the Governor-General's office. Once the story was confirmed, Hofmannatsky was released.
Of course, the Major did not yet know that Prince Poniatowski had secured the condition for Warsaw officials to move freely within the occupied zones in exchange for helping the Russians quell the uprisings.
This allowed the Poles to openly coordinate with the resistance and synchronize their movements.
As for the talk of a counterattack, not only the Russians but even many Polish serfs believed the Warsaw government was simply deceiving them.
But one day, they would realize that all of it was actually going to happen.
...
Time moved into July.
Prince Regent Poniatowski's carriage procession rolled slowly into the city of Warsaw. He had just signed a transit agreement with Prussia—henceforth, all of Poland's import and export goods would be handled by Prussia. Since the port of Gdańsk was controlled by the Prussians, they were in a position to force such terms regardless.
However, the Polish Regent had used this agreement to secure conditions allowing Polish ships to continue using the port and ensuring that all Polish dockworkers kept their jobs.
Just as the carriage was less than two hundred meters from the Tin-Roofed Palace, an old woman suddenly rushed out from the roadside, collapsing in front of the horses.
Poniatowski felt the carriage jerk to a halt. Just as he was about to lean out to investigate, two young men deftly squeezed past the guards from either side. They raised pistols and fired directly into the carriage.
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