The Rise of the European Emperor

Seeing the thoughtful expression of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, Marin sneered and said:

"Understood? Lord Frederick. It's not that I, Marin, have been fighting against the princes, but that you have been fighting against me and refusing to recognize the status of my princes!"

"In fact, since I became the Count of East Frisia, I have been a member of the nobles. At that time, I thought about integrating into the circle of princes. But, have you given me a chance? You have always treated me As a dog of His Majesty the Emperor, he refused to accept me. I was also forced to continue to hang out with His Majesty the Emperor. Otherwise, no one in the world would accept me!"

Frederick III thought about it—it seems that this is indeed the case. Since Marin became the Earl of East Frisia, he has never taken the initiative to attack anyone. out of choice)...

Therefore, Marin said that the princes forced Marin to stand on the side of the Habsburg family, and he was really right...

What are the princes of Germany? Frederick III was actually quite clear in his heart. In this era, most of the princes are idiots who only know how to enjoy and domineering.

Moreover, most of the German princes are stubborn and conservative in their thinking, refuse to accept new things and ideas, and hold on to the old.

In this era, apart from Marin who was a traverser, in fact the two most capable monarchs in Germany were Frederick III and Maximilian I.

It is a pity that Maximilian I was born in the Habsburg family and was the emperor, so he naturally stood on the opposite side of the princes.

And another powerful native prince, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, also naturally stood on the opposite side of Emperor Maximilian I because of his status.

...

It stands to reason that although Maximilian I was capable, because he was born in the sinkhole family of the Habsburg family, he was full of enemies. In addition, when he was young because of his youthful vigor, after he expressed his ambition to unify Germany, he was naturally resisted by the German princes. Therefore, even if His Majesty the Emperor is very capable, a hero can't hold back (the enemy) has too many people. Facing the princes who hugged each other to keep warm, Maximilian I had nothing to do...

As for the Elector Frederick III of Saxony, who is as famous as Maximilian I, he also knows himself - although the princes are united in the D with him as the core...

However, he has a large group of teammates, but not many are sincere. If Frederick III stayed in later generations, he would definitely evaluate his allies—pig teammates...

Although this group of princes knew that the Habsburg family was holding a group against the emperor, they also elected the most discerning Frederick III as the leader of the princes. However, they often do things that hold back. The most classic is that these princes have always refused to accept Marin into the circle of German princes on the grounds that their blood background is too low...

Because of the joint boycott of the veteran nobles, Marin basically had few secular friends in the Imperial House of Lords, and was often isolated.

Every time they see Marin, many secular princes open their mouths and say "the emperor's running dog" to describe Marin...

In this way, it would be strange if Marin was not angry. And the cooperation with the Habsburg family is a matter of course-the enemy of the enemy is a friend. What's more, Marin is still old with the Habsburg family...

...

Of course, these are superficial phenomena. After all, no one would have thought that Marin was actually an ambitious traveler. Even if those princes accepted him, Marin would not really be with them. After all, Marin's ambition is to learn from Prussia of later generations, occupy Little Germany, and become a German overlord...

Therefore, even if those princes are friendly to him, he will find a way to turn against them. However, in that way, after all, it will not be able to keep up with passively fighting against the princes. After all, if you are passive and hostile to others, the fault is no longer your own.

At this moment, Frederick III understood why Marin continued to stand on the side of the emperor.

But understanding is understanding, but his goal has not been achieved yet.

So, Frederick III said to Marin:

"It's the fault of the princes who treat you like this. But, Grand Duke Marin, you are also a prince, and you are a relatively powerful member of the princes. What good will it do you if we defeat our alliance of princes? Once we collapse, Habu The Fortress family is likely to take the opportunity to launch a comprehensive war of unified will. If we are all finished, the Habsburg family will become extremely powerful. At that time, the only remaining North Sea country, do you think the Habsburg family Will we let it go? At that time, we will all be wiped out. The best result is to lose authority like the dukes and earls of France. Whether it is good or bad is all in the emperor's mind..."

"So, as a member of the princes, you should not help the Habsburg family to deal with us, but you should help us deal with the Habsburg family."

After hearing Frederick III's words, Marin sneered and said:

"Help you? You used to treat me so badly. Why should I help you because of your shame? You are right, helping His Majesty the Emperor, I may end badly in the future. But, just help you end? Most of you hate me and wish to destroy me. If you win, can you still accommodate the existence of the Beihai Kingdom?"

After a pause, Marin continued:

"Just like this time, I was in danger and almost couldn't come back. But, what did you princes do to me? The 8 princes around the Beihai Kingdom took advantage of my 'death' to join forces and plan to bully me 10 The year-old son wants to destroy the Beihai Kingdom and remove my Hoffman family from the list of vassals!"

"I reckon that if it wasn't for the fact that the coalition forces of the vassals are going to interfere in Swiss affairs, maybe, upon hearing the news of my 'death', your armies will be more active in destroying my Beihai country than those 8 vassal states!"

Frederick III was a little embarrassed, because after hearing the news of Marin's death, the princes of the alliance of princes really had the idea of ​​destroying the North Sea Kingdom, including Frederick III himself. Now, being told by Marin all of a sudden made him a little embarrassed.

But Frederick III is Frederick III, and his face has long been experienced. He argues:

"How come? I am a reasonable person, and most of the princes are also reasonable. Those who are unreasonable are only a small group of people. The behavior of the eight princes does not represent the thoughts of most princes..."

Marin took a sip of tea and said seriously:

"Oh, so, then, Lord Frederick also thinks that the eight princes are to blame for themselves?"

Frederick III suddenly didn't know what to say. If his brother-in-law Henry was not among the eight princes, he would definitely make a statement immediately and draw a clear line with them. However, because of his brother-in-law, it was difficult for him to draw a clear line. Therefore, he murmured:

"Should, or, probably, maybe..."

Marin deliberately pretended not to see the other party's entanglement, and continued:

"Since the eight vassals are the evil party, and they signed a duel letter with my son before, then, according to the agreement in the duel book, now that our Beihai Kingdom defeats the other party, we can reasonably occupy the entire eight vassal states. It's over, Lord Frederick, what do you think?"

After finishing speaking, Marin looked at Frederick III with piercing eyes, waiting for the other party to express his position.

After hearing this, Frederick III was surprised and said:

"You can't do this. The eight vassal states are all old German vassal states. You can't say that they will be destroyed. Or, according to the old rules, these defeated countries will cede part of their territory to Beihai State?"

Frederick III decided to let the eight princes cede land and pay compensation in accordance with the old practice. For example, when he lost to the Beihai country before, he ceded a land the size of an uncle country. He intends to repeat the old trick and let the eight countries also cede land and pay compensation to resolve the matter.

Especially his brother-in-law's Brunswick-Lüneburg Principality, he planned to let his brother-in-law cede a large piece of land to Marin to solve the problem of defeat. For example, Frederick III felt good about the Lüneburg Wasteland near Lüneburg. That place looks huge, but the degree of development is relatively low. Even if it is ceded out, it will not hurt the foundation of the Principality of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

But Marin shook his head and said:

"No, I plan to completely annex these 8 countries according to the agreement in the duel book!"

"you……"

So, the first meeting between the two broke up unhappy...