The Rise of the European Emperor

Before, in the war with the coalition forces of the princes of the eight countries, Marin captured a total of 70,000 prisoners of war, including 30,000 civilian husbands. In addition, there are more than 20,000 conscripts.

But in addition to these more than 50,000 people, there are about 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war. Originally, the coalition forces of the princes of the eight countries had recruited more than 21,000 mercenaries. Later, 5,000 people were lost in the war, and the remaining 16,000 healthy prisoners of war became Marin's prisoners of war.

Right now, it is already late February of 1513. Seeing that it is about to enter March, and then April. Once it enters April, spring plowing will be in full swing. At that time, all the captured civilian husbands and conscripts will be sent back to participate in spring plowing. After all, the eight vassal states have now become Marin's territory, so there is no reason not to engage in spring plowing.

However, the remaining 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war were different. They are all professional soldiers, and they have long been out of production and not farming. In other words, these people are surplus labor.

It stands to reason that after the defeat, these mercenaries should be redeemed by the defeated employer with money. Or, simply join the side that captured him and fight for Marin.

However, now that the eight vassal states are all destroyed, naturally no one will pay them a ransom. And Marin's North Sea country is not uncommon for these German mercenaries with low military literacy, and will not be willing to hire them. Therefore, Marin didn't think about how to arrange them before.

But now, when Marin was planning the city of Bremen, he suddenly thought of digging a small canal connecting the Weser River and the Ems River, and he naturally thought of the 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war.

So, Marin made a decision-send troops to escort the 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war and help him dig a canal connecting the Leda River and the Hunter River.

After all, it is just a small canal less than 10 kilometers long, and it does not require how deep or wide. Even if the 16,000 laborers only dig 100 meters a day, 100 days will be enough to dig the canal. Once this canal is opened, Marin is equivalent to connecting the three major rivers of the Rhine, Ems and Weser, which is very conducive to inland waterway navigation.

In fact, because of the construction of this small canal, anyone with a discerning eye can see the great economic development of Beihai State in the future. Haider even suggested - moving to Bremen, or Oldenburg. Because, once the canal is built, Bremen and the city of Oldenburg on the side of the canal will become busy inland shipping centers.

But Marin resolutely rejected the proposal...

why? Because as a military leader, Marin instinctively refused to build the capital by the river. After all, in the ancient history of China, there are too many examples of large cities near rivers being flooded.

For example, in the battle of Jinyang where the three families divided Jin, the Jin army of the Zhi family and the coalition forces of the Han, Zhao and Wei families used water to flood Jinyang and the camp of the Zhi family respectively.

The foundation of the three divisions was laid.

Later, when Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, Wang Ben besieged Daliang (Kaifeng), the capital of Wei State, and flooded Daliang City by digging the Yellow River, annexing Wei State in one fell swoop.

With these examples first, how dare Marin put the capital by the river? Although Europeans are relatively backward now, they still don't understand the method of flooding. However, Marin felt that they would know sooner or later. Moreover, I might use this trick in the future. In this way, what if others learn it and use it to deal with their own capital?

Therefore, Marin insisted on placing the capital in Aurich, which has no big rivers around it, instead of the port of Emden, because he was afraid that people would flood his capital. My wife and children are all placed in the capital, if they are drowned by water, then my struggle will be meaningless...

...

After arranging matters related to the excavation of the canal, Marin returned to Aurich. At this time, Kohler and others had already calculated all the military exploits in this war. When Marin went back, he naturally gave military medals to the meritorious soldiers.

The military medal is also an "invention" of Marin. Although there are medals in Europe in this era, only those who have been knighted are eligible to be awarded. The lowest medals must be Knights of the Garter and Knights of the Golden Fleece.

Knights are obviously nobles, so in this era, only nobles are eligible to wear medals.

But it is impossible for Marin to award honors only to soldiers who have won titles, because this is not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of the soldiers of the whole army. Therefore, Marin "invented" the military medal to reward all soldiers who fought bravely.

Among them, the lowest military medal is made of oak, called "Warrior Medal". All soldiers who have fought bravely on the battlefield, even the lowest-ranked soldiers, may be awarded. Of course, the conditions for soldiers to obtain the "Warrior Medal" are relatively harsh. For example, the first to break into the enemy's camp and the first to ascend to the top of the enemy's city are eligible to receive such medals.

The surface of this oak medallion is painted with a layer of paint to ensure corrosion resistance. A hero is engraved on the wooden sign, representing bravery.

As long as the soldier who received the Warrior Medal, the status of the whole family will immediately change. For example, in the manor, the status of the family members of ordinary soldiers is higher than that of ordinary serfs, and they enjoy a little priority. But if they get the Warrior Medal, then the treatment of this family is equivalent to that of the steward of the manor, and the treatment is given priority, which is very easy to use.

As for the officers, Marin also set up a military medal, but it is more advanced. The military medals of the officers are all made of metal with eagles engraved on them. However, according to different materials, it can be divided into three types: copper, silver and gold. Among them, the bronze eagle medal is mainly awarded to lower-level officers; the silver medal is mainly awarded to middle-level officers; the gold eagle medal is naturally awarded to senior generals.

The warrior medal made of oak is rougher in workmanship and larger, and the hanging method is also very rough-it hangs directly on the neck like a work card. The officer's eagle medal is much finer and smaller, so that it can be hung on the chest, and it can be hung with an extra copper button on the chest.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to withdraw from the military medal, Marin also took the opportunity to introduce the military rank system. Among them, soldiers are divided into three grades - privates, privates and privates.

Among them, the recruits are private soldiers. Those who have served for more than one year are all second-class soldiers. Then, recruits or privates who received the Medal of Valor were promoted to privates.

If the private first class is awarded the medal of bravery, he is promoted to non-commissioned officer. There are four grades of non-commissioned officers - Corporal, Sergeant, Sergeant and Master Chief.

However, non-commissioned officers belong to the civilian class of officers, and they can only be a small team leader (a team of 25 people). Up to the non-commissioned officer, it is natural to be a lieutenant officer, that is, an officer of the aristocratic class.

Needless to say, lieutenants, like later generations, are divided into three levels: second lieutenant, lieutenant and captain, and there is no captain. At the top is the school officer, which is divided into four levels: major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and senior colonel.

Among them, the second lieutenant and the lieutenant correspond to the deputy company leader (250-man company), and the captain corresponds to the company leader. The major and lieutenant colonel correspond to the deputy phalanx leader, and the colonel corresponds to the phalanx leader.

However, although the colonel is also within the scope of the colonel, Marin does not intend to award it to front-line officers, but intends to award it to future staff officers and civilian officers. Now, Marin's army is an illiterate concentration camp. As for staff officers and civilian officers, there are none.

Then, at the top is the general. Brigadier general and major general are awarded to the deputy head of the army, and lieutenant general is naturally the rank of the head of the army. As for the general, Marin generally does not grant it. Because, the largest organizational system in the Beihai Kingdom is the Ten Thousand Army Corps, which is only equivalent to a division in later generations. Only when there is an establishment similar to the army of later generations, that is, when there is an establishment with a scale of 30,000 to 50,000, the general will be awarded the title.

As for now, Marin has only awarded himself the rank of general. Schwartz and others are all lieutenant generals. As for the more senior generals and marshals...Marin stipulates that only the emperor or crown prince is eligible to be a marshal; only the king is eligible to be a general...and Marin is now the Grand Duke, and the highest can only be awarded the rank of general...

...

While making military ranks and military medals, Marin also promoted the titles of Schwartz, Stadt and others-the earl...

Of course, Marin increased the rank of the earl-the earl is also divided into three classes, the lowest is the subordinate earl, then the deputy earl, and finally the earl. Schwartz, Stadt, Kohler, and Kahn were naturally awarded the lowest title of earl, the earl. Otherwise, there will be no way to upgrade in the future...

As for the newly promoted legion chiefs such as Wagner and Heynckes, they were awarded the title of viscount. After all, they started from a low level. Like Heynckes, he is currently only the subordinate viscount of the third-class viscount. Steindorf, on the other hand, was promoted to a first-class viscount, and the next time he was promoted, he would be able to become a subordinate earl...

At the same time, Marin also created a marquis, which is also divided into three levels, for future rewards. But he didn't list the dukes, because he is a grand duke himself, and he is not qualified to be a duke. After all, the grand duke is only half a level higher than the duke, and is still in the duke class. Only by being promoted to the position of king can one be compared with the duke, and be qualified to confer the title of duke...