The Rise of the European Emperor

The society of the Kingdom of France is much more harmonious than that of Germany. In France, the proportion of owner-peasants is still very high. Unlike the German region, most farmers are serfs.

The Burgundy region is a bit special. It has only been merged into the Kingdom of France for a few decades, and the remnants of the former enfeoffment system are still heavy. The Principality of Burgundy has actually been swinging between France and Germany before. Even the daring Charles sought to join the Holy Roman Empire, and then thought about running for emperor... Unfortunately, he lost to Maximilian I's father, Frederick III (emperor).

Because of the wavering between France and Germany, the remnants of serfdom in Burgundy are still relatively heavy. However, after France seized the Principality of Burgundy, although most of the nobles were retained, they carried out certain social reforms, forcing these Burgundian nobles to allow serfs to redeem themselves and obtain certain land.

It is precisely because of this social reform that the farmers in Burgundy are more grateful to the Kingdom of France, and naturally they have no idea of ​​​​against the Kingdom of France.

But the nobles of Burgundy were uncomfortable. The liberated serfs and the land that the serfs "redeemed" belonged to their families! Letting the serfs regain their freedom and gain land is simply harming the interests of those nobles! But they didn't dare to say anything before, after all, their arms couldn't twist their thighs. How can the small Burgundy region compete with the mighty Kingdom of France?

However, fortunately, the Kingdom of France does not prohibit land annexation. As long as there is money and those farmers are willing, those lands can be bought back. But the farmers are not fools, as long as they are not forced to die, no one will easily sell their fields.

But this wicked idea provided by Marin was right in their arms. Everyone can take the land back from those mud legs in a peaceful and concealed way, and what's more, it doesn't violate the laws of the Kingdom of France, so why not do it?

Not to mention, there are many nobles in the Burgundy region who responded, even the old French nobles in other regions of France, that is, the other disaster-stricken areas in northeastern France and the eastern border, are also very tempted. After all, in the farming era, no one thinks they have too much land...

This time, more than a hundred nobles gathered in the castle of the Lizarazu family. Most of them are from the Burgundy region, and there are also many veteran French nobles who came from other places.

The reason why they gathered to discuss this time was mainly to discuss how much steamed and useless seeds should be mixed in the seeds loaned to farmers...

...

Mixing steamed seeds into good seeds, and then lending them to farmers, is still a usury at a high rate. This is a very vicious suggestion Marin made to the nobles in the disaster-stricken areas of France.

Following this suggestion,

The interest on compound interest is already high, and it is difficult to afford it. Then tamper with the seeds so that farmers cannot receive the expected grain when they harvest in autumn, then the only way to go is bankruptcy. At that time, even if they refuse, they will have to mortgage their land to their creditors. After all, the debts of nobles are not so easy to owe.

At the meeting, many greedy aristocrats suggested that they should just lend all the steamed waste seeds to farmers. At that time, the farmers will have no harvest, not only the family's fields will not be able to keep, but even their own people may not be able to keep it. After all, the nobles also lack people, mainly obedient serfs...

But Paul Lizarazu, an old man in his 60s, thinks that using all steamed waste seeds is an insult to people's IQ. If none of the sown seeds germinates, who can't guess their negative role in it?

Aristocrats have face, and they are not as open as pure businessmen. Although they are stealing men and women who are prostitutes in private, a lot of shit. But on the surface, they are very concerned about face and try their best to protect the family honor.

Therefore, this matter must be done, but it must also be hidden, so that everyone cannot clearly see the problem...

Afterwards, the rational faction headed by Paul Lizarazu gradually gained the upper hand. The result is, many agree - only half or so of the steamed, useless seeds are mixed in. In this way, although farmers can see the seeds germinate after spring plowing, they are only a little sparse, and if they don't pay attention, they can't see the problem.

Half of the seeds are useless, and when the autumn harvest comes, the harvest must be halved. Originally, the interest rate of rolling interest was higher than the normal interest rate, and the harvest was halved. The farmers will definitely have big troubles after the autumn harvest...

At the meeting, some more conservative nobles believed that it was not safe enough to mix in half of the unusable seeds, and it was easy to be seen by the farmers. Therefore, they suggested that only 30% to 40% of the steamed seeds should not be used, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the farmers...

Then, the radical faction, the centrist faction (the "adulterated half" faction headed by Paul Lizarazu) and the moderate faction quarreled in the castle and almost staged a full-scale military action.

In the end, Paul Lizarazu, the initiator and leader, reluctantly announced that - based on the standard of half-adulterated seeds, everyone can increase or decrease appropriately, depending on their own happiness. However, you can't do too much, so as not to get burned. After all, if most of the seeds do not germinate, no matter how stupid people are, they will realize that there is a big problem. If you grit your teeth and replant once, you can survive it.

However, if only partially steamed and ineffective seeds are secretly mixed, the common people will not be aware of major problems. However, the final output will definitely not keep up. Coupled with the high interest rate of rolling interest, the participating nobles will be full this time...

...

After the meeting, the participating usury nobles rushed back to their respective manors overnight, quietly steamed a batch of seeds, mixed them with the seeds loaned to the farmers, and stirred them evenly so that no one would see the problem.

This is more than a hundred nobles. If they lend usury together, God knows how many French farmers will go bankrupt and have to sell their farmland. Even, it is hard to protect myself, I need to sell myself, and become a noble serf again...

In short, after this autumn, some border areas in northeastern France and eastern France have become lively. At that time, scenes of tragedies will appear in France, and many French peasant families will lose their land and the means of making a living.

At that time, the North Sea country will quietly send people to recruit those French farmers who have lost their land but have not lost their personal freedom. There is no need to set high conditions, as long as the most basic condition of "sufficient bread is enough", a large number of farmers can be recruited.

After all, even if the land was not sold, in normal years, many poor farmers in France would not be able to enjoy the "luxury" life of "sufficient bread"...

And those unlucky peasants who were forced to sell themselves to the nobles, Marin can also spend some money to buy them from those nobles. After all, nobles who can lend usury are greedy. As long as you are willing to give money, you can buy people from them...