King of German Mercenaries

While Marin was immersed in development on Texel Island, many major events occurred in Western Europe. After arduous negotiations like a tug-of-war, Maximilian I finally got the coveted ransom of more than one million gold coins from the hapless Charles VIII. In order to pay the exorbitant ransom, Charles VIII emptied his treasury savings and borrowed a large sum of money from the great Jewish merchants and the Genoa merchants.

But Charles VIII had to pay the ransom, because if he didn't care about the life and death of the captured soldiers, no one would be willing to die for him in the future.

Looking at the mountains of gold and silver coins, the poor and mad Maximilian I woke up many times with laughter from a dream. Then, Maximilian I decided to expand the standing army under the Habsburg family from 16,500 to 25,000.

In addition, Maximilian I also spent a lot of money to establish a number of military factories in Innsbruck, Austria. As a knight control, Maximilian I began to personally participate in the development of the later famous Maximilian armor. Originally, this was developed by the emperor around 1500 in order to adapt to the needs of war. Now, with sufficient funds, of course he started R\u0026D ahead of schedule.

Moreover, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the army, Maximilian I also purchased a batch of artillery and equipped the army. Maximilian I was a man who understood military affairs, and the centuries-long Anglo-French war gave him great inspiration. The French began to be defeated frequently in front of the British longbowmen, but later, the French not only equipped with stronger plate armor, but also began to use a lot of artillery against the longbowmen, and gradually won the victory and drove the British from France. go out.

When the French fought, they often used hundreds of artillery pieces. If they were bombarded together, it was easy to open a big hole on the frontal battlefield. In the last battle in Italy, the coalition was actually very lucky to win. In addition to being affected by syphilis and eager to run away, the French abandoned their artillery before, which is also an important reason for their failure. If Charles VIII brought hundreds of artillery pieces and bombarded the Italian coalition together, the French would probably be able to defeat the Italian coalition. So, inspired by Maximilian I, he purchased 50 light bronze cannons for his army. In addition to the original dozens of artillery pieces, the emperor's army also had more than one hundred pieces of artillery pieces.

However, the artillery of this era did not have a suitable gun mount and no gun lugs. To carry the artillery on the road, it is necessary to carry a large number of heavy carriages to transport the artillery. At this time, the artillery is generally a thick barrel. Every time they fought, they had to send someone to carry the gun barrels from the carriage to the front of the battle and put them on the ground. Therefore, infantry artillery is generally not heavy, and the caliber is not large. Because if the gun body is too heavy, the soldiers can't lift it at all. In order to place the artillery, the sappers also need to dig holes to block the recoil of the artillery. In short, the use of artillery is very troublesome these days. Unlike later, a light cannon with wheels pulled by a haul horse can travel quickly.

The artillery is transported in a wagon, which is very susceptible to terrain. Because of the mountainous terrain, the carriage could not pass through, and the artillery could not be transported there.

In the Swabian War of 1499, it was difficult for the emperor's army to transport artillery to the Swiss plateau. As a result, the emperor's coalition was severely taught by the Swiss spearmen.

...

However, for the emperor, he had a huge benefit, and others were jealous...

Moreover, it is not the outsiders who are jealous, but the insiders of the Habsburg family...

So, when Maximilian I was complacent, the members of the close and collateral branches of the Habsburg family, what Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Upper Tyrol, Lower Tyrol, Sti Leah's... wait, wait, a bunch of dukes and counts of the family came to Innsbruck, where Maximilian I lived, to catch the autumn wind...

Maximilian I was very fiery,

In his vision, these more than 1 million gold coins are the key to the re-emergence of the Habsburg family. If it is given to these guys, what will he take to rise? Originally, he planned to strengthen the army again after the new plate armor was developed, and defeat his biggest competitor Hungary first. Then, clean up the princes who disobeyed themselves one by one, and finally let the Habsburg family truly become the masters of the German region, not the nominal owners.

However, his long-term vision does not mean that his relatives have a long-term vision...

Like many relatives who came to borrow money after someone in Huaxia broke out later, the various branches of the Habsburgs also came to "borrow" money...

In this era, due to the underdeveloped agriculture and the beginning of great voyages, most of the aristocrats had very poor finances. It was normal for nobles to owe money to the Hanseatic League. Therefore, the Hanseatic League obtained a lot of trade privileges in Germany by lending it to the nobles.

Just like the emperor himself, he also owed a debt of hundreds of thousands of gold coins before. But after getting the ransom, the emperor's finances suddenly improved. However, relatives who are staring at the money also came to the door...

Moreover, the emperor is different from ordinary civilians. The ordinary civilians can take care of themselves. They can choose not to lend money to relatives, and at most they will be scolded a few times. However, the emperor could not ignore relatives. Because, his relatives are not simple things.

The Habsburg sidekicks, not to mention a baron or something, are also a bunch of dukes and earls. As a nominal monarch, Maximilian I needed the support of these noble relatives. Without this group of people, he would not even have the confidence to quarrel with the princes at the Imperial Council. After all, there are hundreds of princes and only one emperor. If you quarrel with hundreds of princes by yourself, you will definitely lose. Therefore, he had to win over his relatives, as well as the nobles of the Swabian Union, to help him quarrel and fight...

Therefore, the emperor could not ignore the demands of these noble relatives, especially his important supporters.

Of course, the emperor can't follow the meaning of these guys. According to the meaning of these guys, it would be good for everyone to divide the million gold coins together.

After many wrangling and even quarreling, the emperor took out 200,000 gold coins very sadly and blocked the mouths of his relatives. That's it, a lot of people aren't happy about it. If the emperor hadn't moved out of the family's future, the relatives would even have to divide up all the ransom.

Unexpectedly, then, the Dukes and Earls of the Swabian Union also came to "borrow money"...

The Swabian Alliance is now the emperor's biggest military reliance, and it can't be offended even more than the emperor's relatives. Otherwise, no one would support the emperor. Those relatives in my family, let them go to the Imperial Council to help quarrel, but in terms of combat power, they are all scumbags. To fight, you have to rely on the Swabian coalition and your own mercenaries (most of the officers are also large and small nobles from the Swabian coalition).

To this end, the emperor endured the reluctance and pain in his heart, and "borrowed" 200,000 gold coins to the great nobles of Swabian. Moreover, it is said that it is "borrowed", God knows when these guys will pay it back. According to the virtues of the nobles of this era, that is "not bad for a thousand years, but not for 10,000 years"... Anyway, Maximilian I felt that when he was alive, he couldn't see these guys paying back the money...

He was knocked out of 400,000 gold coins by his own people one after another, which made the emperor's heart bleed, but he couldn't say anything. Politics is all about the exchange of interests. You are rich, you don't play with friends, and you don't want to have allies in the future. In order to demonstrate the prestige of the country, the emperor advertised that he had acquired 2,000 high-ranking French prisoners, which was well known to the whole country. Everyone knows that with these captives, the emperor will definitely receive a large amount of ransom money. Therefore, these guys have already made plans to knock the emperor for a long time, which can be said to have been planned for a long time. Moreover, the emperor couldn't help but say something, he was really aggrieved...

Afterwards, the emperor was alone, hiding in bed and crying for a long time. It's not that the emperor cares about the money, but that Maximilian I's great dream of revitalizing the Habsburg family and integrating Germany was destroyed by nearly half of his relatives and allies. However, the emperor still can not attack. So, he had to hide and cry by himself...

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