The Rise of the European Emperor

Although he promised to discuss the matter of Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Mariinton's plans for the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg would not waver.

Frederick III proposed that most of the land in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg could be ceded, but the capital city of Lüneburg should be retained as the last self-made territory of the Welf family, which is also a fig leaf. Similarly, it is also a fig leaf for Frederick III himself.

But Marin directly rejected the proposal, why? Because the most valuable thing in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg is the salt mines of Lüneburg. If you don't get the city of Lüneburg, the salt-producing capital, it will be half a failure.

Therefore, Marin proposed to choose another city as the place of relocation for the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Marin can recognize its autonomy, but not so large that it threatens Marin.

After that, the two sides had a heated debate over where to place them. Frederick III proposed that the Henry family, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, should be placed in the city of Brunswick, the "Land of Dragons" of the Welf family.

Originally, the Welf family started in Brunswick. Later, two powerful branches of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg were divided.

However, the profits of the salt mines in Lüneburg are too great, which makes others uneasy. So, a duke later took the capital to Lüneburg, where "white gold" salt was produced. In this way, the wealthy salt mine was controlled by the duke himself, so as not to be greedy for ink.

Then, the original ancestral land of the Welf family was abandoned. However, the two branches of the Welf family began with the title of Brunswick as a knighthood, indicating their provenance.

Therefore, Brunswick City is very important to the Welf family. This is like Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown of Fengyang. Although the Ming Dynasty never used Fengyang as the capital, Fengyang was the spiritual capital of the Ming Empire and had a very special status. When Zhang Xianzhong attacked Fengyang and dug the ancestral tomb of the Zhu family, Emperor Chongzhen almost cried to death. And the Ming Dynasty was also considered to be "exhausted"...

Because of this, Marin did not want to give up Brunswick, the spiritual capital of the Welf family, to Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, for fear that the Welf family would still want to start all over again.

Moreover, according to the report of the engineers of the Chamber of Commerce, there are potash mines near the city of Brunswick. That thing is the lifeblood of agriculture. It is very important to Beihai Kingdom. How can it be handed over to the Welf family?

Then, Marin started thinking about Hannover City. Hanover is very famous in later generations, because it is the "land of dragons" for the Hanoverian dynasty that once dominated the world. Hannover is unremarkable now, but as the Welf family moved to Hannover in the 17th century and became electors, Hanover became the Welf family name. Later, George of the Hanoverian family inherited the British throne after the death of Queen Anne, and then the United Kingdom and the Electoral State of Hanover maintained a communist confederation for a hundred years until Queen Victoria came to the throne. Because the Germans rejected women as kings, the two countries officially "parted"...

However, after checking the map, Marin didn't want to give Hanover to Duke Henry - because Hanover was located at the intersection of the North German Plain and the Central German Mountains. South of Hanover is the Harz Mountains.

If Hannover is given to Duke Henry, it will not only be given to one city, but it will definitely bring hundreds of square kilometers of land. In this way, the Harz Mountains will inevitably be surrounded by many places. If we encircle some important mines...

Marin thought about it and rejected the plan...

But where to place Duke Henry? Marin flipped through the map and suddenly turned his attention to the west side of the map...

"Yes, I know where to put Duke Henry!" Marin said happily.

"Oh, where?" Frederick III also came up to look at the picture curiously.

Marin pointed to the west of the map and said:

"Here, it's here!"

"Country of Galden..." Frederick III frowned.

"Very good! Gelden was, after all, the capital of the Principality of Gerd,

It's a small city. Moreover, there are also six or seven hundred square kilometers in the Upper Geddes area around the Earl of Galden..." Marin suddenly remembered that it seemed that Frederick III did not understand the concept of "square kilometers". So he changed his words:

"After all, the Upper Gedes area used to be the core area of ​​the Geddes Principality. Agriculture is very developed and there is enough food. Moreover, because Gelden City is on the banks of the Maas River, the shipping industry is developed..."

Frederick III frowned and looked at the map, tangled:

"This place is not bad, but the Geldon area is an earl after all. Could it be that Henry should be downgraded to an earl? The person I covered not only lost the whole country, but was also downgraded from a duke to an earl... It was a huge blow to my prestige. so big……"

Hearing Frederick III say this, Marin laughed:

"You don't have to worry about this, the duel book makes it clear - even if they lose, the original title of nobility will remain, but they will lose control of their own fiefs, like the Duke of France. In the future, Lord Henry will not The Duke of Lunwick-Lüneburg. However, he is no longer an independent duke, but the duke of the Grand Duchy of the North Sea."

"So, in the future, Duke Henry will not only have direct jurisdiction over the entire Counties of Gelden, but also retain the title of Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Of course, he will have no jurisdiction over the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. , he can only keep the palace in Lüneburg as a private residence. When he has nothing to do, he can also live in the palace in Lüneburg..."

Frederick III nodded and said:

"That's fortunate, I have an actual fief of the country, and still retain the title of the original duke... Well, so I can be considered worthy of my sister... However, if I only protect the interests of my brother-in-law and ignore the other seven princes, I will also It's easy to be criticized..." He was the leader of the feudal lords, so he couldn't just care about his own family. Otherwise, you will be accused of being unfair...

Marin looked at him speechlessly, but he also had to admit that Frederick III was right. He came to negotiate with him alone, but only reserved a certain area of ​​autonomy for his brother-in-law. It would indeed be criticized unfairly...

After thinking about it, Marin suggested:

"Well, my plan to annex 8 vassal kingdoms remains unchanged. Then, you publicly stated that you would buy the Earl of Geldon for 300,000 gold coins to place your sister and brother-in-law..."

"I'm out of money..." Frederick III waved his hands again and again. A few years ago, he was extorted millions of gold coins by Marin, and was looted by Marin's army. And this time he sent troops to fight against the Habsburg family. He also invested a lot of money. The treasury was empty early. Where can I get 300,000 gold coins?

Marin laughed:

"I'll just say that, I don't really want you to spend 300,000 gold coins. You advertise this to the outside world, but you don't have to give money. In this way, the outside world will not question your fairness. After all, the Earl of Geldon is your money. 'Buy it' for your sister and brother-in-law, you can't ask you to buy land for the other seven princes, right?"

Frederick III thought for a while and said:

"Pretend to spend money to buy territory for my sister and brother-in-law. This is a way to make people unable to accuse me of being unfair. However, without helping the other seven princes, I can't show the loyalty of my leader..."

Marin was like scolding him - where did you get all this shit? But when I thought of asking him to help contain the emperor, I had to calm down and find a way...

"In this way, when you negotiate collectively, you pretend to fight for it. Then, I agree to give the seven captured princes a large sum of money every year for their daily expenses..."

In fact, this money was originally intended to be given by Marin. After all, he couldn't bear the notoriety of abusing the big nobles. But Frederick III wanted to keep his prestige, Marin simply acted as a favor, pretended to be harsh first, and let Frederick III fight for it before giving it. In this way, Frederick III can also save some face. With face, we can continue to lead everyone to trouble the Habsburg family as a "leader brother"...

In this way, the two sides finally negotiated the terms. However, there is still one last step, and a play is needed...

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