King of German Mercenaries

In Paris, France, Charles VIII was furious in the palace. Because, Marin's "great achievements" have been spread from the Holy Roman Empire to France.

Different from the reaction of the citizens of the Holy Roman Empire, the citizens of the Holy Roman Empire naturally feel and proud because they are the victors. However, France, as the defeated party, was very unhappy...

In particular, Charles VIII, who personally led 8,000 French knights to be defeated, became a laughing stock. The French did not dare to laugh at him openly, but the Germans, Spaniards, English and Italians did not. As a result, Charles VIII is now the laughing stock of all Europe.

What humiliated Charles VIII in particular was that the person who defeated him was not a famous general on the battlefield, but a 17-year-old boy who led an army to the battlefield for the first time...

After losing to a famous player on the battlefield, Charles VIII can still find excuses. But when he lost to a 17-year-old boy, Charles VIII was embarrassed...

Although, the French were defeated by a sneak attack. However, no matter what, you shouldn't lose to a 17-year-old child...

Therefore, now Charles VIII is very taboo about people talking about Italy. Whoever dares to say it will make him furious and draw his sword.

In my heart, after hearing that Marin was named Baron of Texel in the north of the Netherlands, Charles VIII wanted to send troops to the island of Texel to capture Marin to Paris and inflict various tortures.

However, Europe is different from Asia. If an Asian emperor loses face, he can easily send his subordinates to openly hunt down the person who made the emperor lose face.

However, in the Middle Ages, Europeans paid special attention to aristocratic demeanor. In Europe, it's a common practice - it is forbidden to kill any aristocrat without a valid reason. If a noble surrendered on the battlefield, he must be treated preferentially and wait for the other party to pay the ransom.

The reason for this "hidden-rule-rule" is that the nobles in Europe are worried that they will be captured on the battlefield one day and will be hacked. Therefore, generally no one dares to trample this rule.

Because, as long as anyone who tramples on this rule, and their family members, once captured on the battlefield, the other party can kill you regardless of grace...

If Marin was still an apprentice knight and did not belong to the noble class, Charles VIII could openly send someone to arrest and kill him. Because, nobility does not apply to the commoner class. However, Marin is now an imperial baron conferred by the Holy Roman Empire, joining the class of nobles. If Charles VIII sent men to besiege Marin, it would be "breaking the rules".

Moreover, Marin defeated the French army on the battlefield. Although there was a sneak attack factor, he also did it with the French.

If Charles VIII couldn't defeat Marin on the battlefield, but killed Marin in an almost shameful way, it is estimated that he would be despised and spurned by nobles all over Europe.

And precisely, Charles VIII was a man who wanted to be the hegemon of Europe. As a hegemon, the first thing is to have a good reputation and not do things that the nobles despise.

More specifically, you can't break the rules...

King Richard III of England, in order to usurp the throne, imprisoned his two nephews and murdered them. In order to prevent others from finding evidence, he brutally asked his subordinates to nail the two young princes to the wall (this is similar to what Wan Zhenshan did in "Liancheng Jue". In fact, Jin Yong imitated this plot).

Although, he left no evidence. However, because he became the biggest suspect in the murder of his nephew, he was cast aside by the whole of Europe. Even because Richard III broke the rules, his subordinates refused to obey him. When Henry VII raised the flag of rebellion, many powerful nobles of the original York Dynasty defected to support Henry VII and betrayed Richard III.

Charles VIII wanted to send troops to kill Marin, but he didn't want to break the rules and lead to his betrayal and separation - the lessons of Richard III are not long ago...

However, Charles VIII couldn't swallow this bad breath.

I can't see Marlin doing well. At the suggestion of his subordinate dog-head military division, Charles VIII decided to use other methods to punish Marin...

After some thought, Charles VIII ordered—

All French merchants, as well as foreign merchants who want to do business in France, are not allowed to have any trade relations with the Baron Texel. If you violate it, once verified, you will be deported from France and prohibited from re-entry...

This sanction may not be harsh, but it is also very lethal...

Because France is the most important wine-producing region in Europe. In the Middle Ages, most Europeans did not drink plain water. Whether it is aristocrats or commoners, they like to take wine or beer as their daily drinks. Only the serfs with very low status would drink plain water, and it was raw water.

The wines produced in the southwestern region of France, which are of high quality and low price, have always been one of the best-selling commodities in Europe. Many countries, including France's sworn enemy Britain, import wine from France in large quantities.

If those businessmen still want to import wine from France, they must draw a clear line with Marin...

This move is not cruel. Charles VIII also learned from the tip that a lighthouse and a wharf were being built on Texel Island, and it was clear that they wanted to develop maritime trade. What he did was to cut off Marin's momentum of making a fortune...

However, Marin was greatly relieved when he learned of the sanctions imposed by Charles VIII...

How powerful was Charles VIII as a French king? If he was as shameless as Richard III and sent a large army to attack Texel Island, he really couldn't stop it.

The reason why Marin brought his 400 men to Texel to settle down was because he wanted to guard against retaliation by the French.

After all, Texel Island is at sea. If France sends a fleet to besiege Texel Island, Marin can only resist.

Moreover, because Malin is the emperor's person, and those traditional princes are naturally not the same. If he was besieged by the French, no nearby lord would come to rescue him. Even the Netherlands under the emperor's name was unwilling to save him. Because, the native aristocrats of the Netherlands are still a little against the emperor (at the beginning, Maximilian I was under house arrest by the Dutch nobles in the palace, or Frederick III sent troops to rescue him)...

Therefore, during this time, Marin was actually trembling...

However, when Charles VIII announced the sanctions, Marin was greatly relieved.

Because, if Charles VIII used this way to rectify himself, it basically means that he would not send the army to deal with him.

Although, this kind of economic sanctions is indeed a big blow to Marin. However, it's still much better than taking your own life.

Moreover, Marin's main trading partner, the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce, has nothing to do with France. Moreover, the trade between the two sides is also carried out in a low-key manner, and outsiders are not very clear. Therefore, the ban of Charles VIII is actually limited in lethality.

Because, the French ban, at most affected Dutch merchants in Flanders - there are many trade links with France, as well as the British, Spaniards and Italians.

Among the three countries of Britain, Spain and Italy, Spain itself is an important wine producing area. Therefore, Spain is not greatly affected by the French ban. Italy also has many wine producing regions. Only the United Kingdom has to import a large number of wines from abroad because of the continuous rain and lack of sunshine and temperature required for grape growth. The largest source of wine imports in the UK is the Bordeaux region...

As for the Holy Roman Empire, some merchants will be threatened. Because the border between the Shinra Empire and France is very long, many people have close trade ties with France. But there are also many businessmen, accounting for more than half of the total, who have nothing to do with the French.

In particular, the Hanseatic League, which dominated Northwest Europe and Northern European trade, had less close trade relations with France. And now, what Marin is thinking about is to build a relationship with the Hanseatic League and make a fortune by this way. Therefore, although the French sanctions will make many people who should be customers draw a line with Marin, it will not delay the rise of Marin's fortune. At most, the degree of enrichment is suppressed, not destroyed.

Another important reason is that Germans prefer to drink beer rather than wine. Although the wine production in the German region is low, it is sufficient to consume. Because, in the German region, drinking wine, often only nobles and priests. Because of the small number of people who drink it, the local wine production in Germany is low, but it is barely enough to consume. Therefore, the amount of wine imported from France in the German region is not very large.

Therefore, in the case of many people looking down on Marin, Marin still goes his own way and makes every effort to develop Texel Island...

However, in order not to anger Charles VIII, make him tear his face, and send people to surround and suppress himself, Marin decided to be soft on the surface, so that Charles VIII would feel better... It is to learn to practice "hard work", as a A modern traveler, Marin doesn't think face is more important than life...

Therefore, Marin sent someone to present an "apology letter" to Charles VIII, and emphasized the huge harm and coping strategies of "syphilis".

The reason why Marin is like this is that in addition to stepping down the steps for Charles VIII, there is also hope that France can curb the spread of syphilis. Because, if syphilis spreads in France, it can easily spread to neighboring countries, forming a pandemic throughout Europe (this is indeed the case in history. Even syphilis was brought to the East by Portuguese sailors.).

Charles VIII did not accept Marin's "apology", but took some seriously Marin's reference to "syphilis." Because syphilis is also an important reason for the French to flee Italy. More strictly speaking, without the ravages of syphilis, Charles VIII would not have had to flee north at all, nor would he have been defeated by Marin...

Moreover, Marin's "apology" behavior also made Charles VIII feel a little better, and the urgency to kill Marin has faded a lot...

Of course, this also at best shows that Charles VIII will not blatantly send someone to kill Marin. If we meet on the battlefield, Charles VIII will definitely offer a reward for the French army to kill Marin. Moreover, it is not excluded that Charles VIII will send assassins to assassinate Marin. However, these two dangers are not unsolvable, as long as you pay attention, they are relatively safe. You must know that the assassins of these years basically still use daggers and bows to assassinate, so it is better to take targeted precautions. Even the assassination of King Henry IV of France in the early 17th century was stabbed to death with a sharp blade. As for muskets, at least the currently popular arquebuses are not very suitable for assassination. Because the arquebus ignited by the arquebus is easy to be discovered early by the guards. It was only when the flintlock pistol appeared that assassination with the flintlock pistol was possible. However, flintlocks (smoothbore flintlocks) have low power, poor accuracy, and are not very good weapons. Only a rifled gun with very high accuracy is a good weapon for assassination. In other words, even if Marin encounters an assassination, he can avoid it if he takes precautions...

However, it is not very likely that Charles VIII sent someone to assassinate Marin. Because he was a dignified king of France and sent someone to assassinate such a small baron as Marin, it is estimated that he would be ridiculed by the whole of Europe, and it would be even more embarrassing than defeat. Only by sending someone to defeat or even kill Marin on the battlefield can wash away his shame...

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