The Rise of the European Emperor

While Frenzberg was busy looking for a suitable ambush location, the seven-nation coalition against the North Sea was basically in place and gathered in Bielefeld, the capital of Ravensburg, which is closest to the Münster area. .

Bielefeld is a very strange city. It is not a member city of the Hanseatic League, but it is closely related to the Hanseatic League and is also a famous commercial city.

However, Bielefeld's main trade offering is a bit peculiar. Its main trade commodity is neither hot-selling salt, nor grain, nor wine, nor wool... Its main product is flax...

In fact, flax is not a rare commodity in Europe, and many cities have flax trading projects. But the problem is, it is really rare for an entire commercial city to concentrate on making flax. Because the profit of the flax business is actually not high. After all, in Europe, linen is worn by the lower class, lower than wool. Therefore, the price of flax cannot be sold, and the profit is naturally not high.

But a derivative of flax, linseed oil, is a very popular commodity in Europe. Because linseed oil is a drying oil, it is an important raw material for shipbuilding. Because tung oil is not available in Europe, linseed oil is the preferred drying oil for European boats.

In addition, linseed oil is a very healthy vegetable oil that is respected in later generations. It is rich in linolenic acid and belongs to the top grade of vegetable oil.

However, in this day and age, very few people eat linseed oil, and only a few poor people are willing to eat it. Because linseed oil has an unpleasant smell and tastes weird.

Therefore, nobles still tend to eat olive oil, and only poor people are willing to eat linseed oil with a strange taste. Moreover, the current main use of linseed oil is to build ships, not to eat.

Bielefeld is now a "specialized" trading town specializing in flax-related business. It has a flax textile industry, produces linen cloth and sells it everywhere, and also produces by-product linseed oil, which is sold to shipyards. Even, in order to cooperate with the flax industry of Bielefeld, the county of Ravensburg grows a lot of flax.

Of course, today the seven princes gathered in Bielefeld, not to buy linen or linseed oil, but to join the alliance to attack the North Sea Kingdom.

Today, an army of 40,000 people, led by seven princes, has gathered outside Bielefeld to discuss how to attack the North Sea Kingdom and where to start.

Speaking of the Earl of Ravensburg, in fact, it originally belonged to Duke William IV of the Duchy of Lich-Berger, that is, the prince who bought the town of Mülheim in the Ruhr region from Marin before, and is also an ally of Marin. In-law of John II, Duke of River.

Duke William IV had only one daughter, Maria, and married John III, the eldest son of John II, Duke of Clive, in 1509 after Marin set off for Ming.

However, because William IV was accustomed to spending money and was fond of wine and food, the treasury was empty. Then, when marrying a daughter, the dowry can't afford it...

The great nobles, especially the princes, marrying their daughters are not like the later generations who do not want a betrothal gift. As a prince with only one daughter, the bride price must not be shabby.

Then, William IV, the prodigal son, took out the county of Ravensburg and sold it for 250,000 gold coins...

The buyer, by coincidence, was Antonios, Earl of Schaumburg, the original owner of Recklinghausen, which was bought by Marin.

At the beginning, Marin spent 200,000 gold coins to forcefully buy the Recklinghausen area, which made Count Antonios very upset, but there was nothing he could do.

Next, Marin spent another 50,000 gold coins to buy all the properties and mines of Count Antonios in the Recklinghausen area. Then, Count Antonios had to get out of the way with the money.

But by chance, when Marin left Beihai for Daming, William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berger, was busy marrying his daughter. William IV was such an only daughter, and naturally he refused to wrong his daughter. But he had no money and no dowry.

It happened that Count Antonios came to visit him. Then, the two agreed - William IV mortgaged the most inconspicuous county of Ravensburg under William IV to Antonios, Earl of Schaumburg at the price of 250,000 Gulden gold coins.

Then, William IV, who took 250,000 gold coins, bought a very generous dowry, and married his daughter Maria to John III, the eldest son of John II.

John II wondered why he was poorer than his in-laws had so much money to pay for a dowry. When he heard that he had sold the county of Ravensburg, he was so depressed that he almost vomited blood - it was his grandson's country... …

However, before John II persuaded William IV to redeem the Earl of Ravensburg, William IV died. Then, the deal became a hard truth.

Moreover, because the Duchy of Clifford occupied the fertile Lower Geddes region, even the princes of the Imperial House of Lords refused to support John II in redeeming the Earl of Ravensburg - the benefits are all for you, others What are you doing?

You know, John III, the son of John II, got the two duchies of Jülich and Berg after he married Maria. If he redeemed the Counties of Ravensburg again, he would have swallowed three vassal kingdoms in one go. How could he not be jealous?

In addition, John II's previous act of colluding with Marin to annex the Lower Geddes region also aroused strong dissatisfaction among the princes. Seeing him suffer this time, the princes were also very happy. Then, Antonios' purchase of the Earl of Ravensburg was affirmed by the House of Lords of the Empire and confirmed him as the new Earl of Ravensburg.

...

In fact, this scene did not exist in the original history. why? Because in history, the Earl of Schaumburg was never forced to buy Recklinghausen. If they didn't sell Recklinghausen, they wouldn't have 250,000 gold coins in their hands, and naturally they couldn't afford Ravensburg County.

It can be said that Marin's strong purchase of Recklinghausen caused a chain reaction, which led to Antonios, Count of Schaumburg, having a lot of money. I happened to meet William IV, the poorer, and took the opportunity to spend money to buy the Earl of Ravensburg, together with the title of this Earl.

Even if William IV was short of money, Marin had to take the blame. why? Because William IV liked to eat and drink, and Marin recommended a variety of Chinese delicacies to him, and also recommended the high-priced wine "Royal Salute". In the days that followed, William IV ate and drank and spent countless money, resulting in a huge financial deficit. I ran out of money when I married my daughter, so I had to think about selling the country of Ravensburg. Therefore, Marin has no problem carrying the pot. If John II knew this, he might have turned against Marin. After all, it was a country!

Moreover, after Marin found out, he almost vomited blood because of depression. If he knew that William IV was going to sell the county of Ravensburg, he might as well sell it to himself. After all, the country of Ravensburg is not small, about one or two thousand square kilometers...

...

The 73-year-old Earl of Ravensburg, Antonios, is content, but even in his domain, facing the two Dukes of Brunswick of the Welf family, he can only sit below.

Seeing that 40,000 troops from the seven vassal states gathered in Bielefeld, the capital of the Counties of Ravensburg, Count Antonios was not happy.

Because, counting more than 30,000 strong people, a total of more than 70,000 people eat horse chews. In Bielefeld, most of the food and grass have to be produced by yourself, and it is strange if you are willing.

Therefore, Count Antonios hopes to start the fight sooner. In this way, when the army leaves the country of Ravensburg, he does not need to spend food and grass...

So Count Antonios asked:

"Lord Henry, when will we send troops?" Reading Net