Chapter 691: 600: The Song of Poland - Conclusion

Chapter 691: Chapter 600: The Song of Poland – Conclusion

The Patriot Party had received 200,000 zlotys from the funds, so they momentarily ceased to raise the issue of their “religious freedom” ideology.

Prince Poniatowski nodded in satisfaction and continued, “Regarding the estates of the nobility, as long as they possess virtue and are defenders of freedom and the constitution, we should acknowledge their legality and ensure the safety of their lands and all other properties.”

His words immediately received unanimous praise from the conservative noble faction, the Getman Party.

A Getman Party leader from Ukraine reminded him, “Your Highness, there are also noble privileges…”

“Yes, privileges.” Prince Poniatowski gestured with his eyes for the members of the Patriotic Party to be patient, then said, “Those harmless privileges, I believe, can be retained. As for which privileges are harmful to other citizens, that should be decided by the Sejm through voting.”

This approach was exactly what Sais had taught him. First, he needed to secure the conservative nobles, otherwise, the Constitutional Alliance might break apart—the conservatives held more than a quarter of the seats in the Sejm.

In reality, the constitutional protection promises for noble privileges were almost useless.

As long as the Sejm later passed a bill identifying a privilege as “harmful,” it could then be abolished by the constitutional clause.

The high-level members of the Getman Party exchanged glances; no one objected, which meant they accepted the clause.

The Prince then looked at the next item in the document, “Mr. Kewengtai has proposed ‘all Polish citizens enjoy equal status.’ I suggest we avoid addressing this in the current legislation…”

The Patriotic Party immediately raised objections, “How is this possible?”

“If we can’t even achieve equality, then what is the purpose of the constitution?!”

“You are stripping the rights of those people whom the constitution should protect the most…”

The Prince lowered his hand to calm them, “We should avoid causing too much upheaval to the country. Moreover, this is just a conceptual proposal. The clauses that ensure the citizens’ security of life and property, freedom to purchase land, and the right of any citizen to hold military or governmental offices will all be preserved.”

The Patriotic Party, also aiming to foster unity and cooperation, fell silent again.

Essentially, if ordinary citizens could be guaranteed personal safety, property rights, and public office pported by servants, were loudly wailing, but soon an official from the Police Headquarters approached the Baroness, saying, “I’m sorry, but according to our findings, it appears the Baron accidentally fell from the balcony…”

A special agent from the Freedom and Security Committee, having overheard the policeman, pulled his hood closer and turned away.

He was a member of the Bar Confederation, a fervent patriot, who had personally assassinated four Russian nobles over a decade ago.

After receiving a pardon from the King, he had become a part of the Polish intelligence structure.

Baron Ossiskovic, whom he had killed the previous night, was a staunch pro-Russian delegate. Today he would undoubtedly have cast a detrimental vote against the constitution in the Sejm.

So, he had to die.

Similar to Ossiskovic, pro-Russian factions had seen over a dozen members “eliminated” in recent months. These former Bar Confederation members did not fear death; over a decade ago, they even dared to kidnap the King. Several pro-Russian deputies were replaced at the cost of their lives.

However, two soldiers suddenly smashed the wheels of his carriage.