The Rise of the European Emperor

The more interesting thing is yet to come, because the Teutonic Knights sent envoys to secretly arrive in Aurich to purchase weapons and armor from the North Sea country.

Obviously, the Teutonic Knights have made up their minds this time to annex it back to the Livonian Knights. After all, the Knights of Livonia is also a big trading country with rich interests. If it can be annexed, it will greatly enhance the strength of the Teutonic state.

In fact, before 1435, the Livonian Knights were still under the control of the Teutonic State and needed to pay certain taxes to the Teutonic State. However, because the Teutonic Knights suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Greenwald in 1410, the Grand Commander and a large number of generals died in battle, which greatly weakened the strength of the Teutonic Kingdom and also reduced the power of the vassal Livonian Knights. control.

Not to mention, the control over the vassal of the Livonian Knights, the Teutonic Knights' control over the nobles and businessmen in the Teutonic Knights is seriously insufficient. Under such internal and external troubles, sworn enemies Poland and Lithuania secretly supported the local forces of the Teutonic and Livonian Knights. In addition, in order to make up for the war losses, the Teutonic State increased taxes substantially in the Teutonic State and the Livonian Knights State, which finally caused a rebound from the local forces of the two countries.

In 1435, several wealthy Hanseatic commercial cities such as Riga of the Livonian Knights, as well as local nobles, churches, merchants, and farmers in Livonia formed a coalition army in the name of tax resistance and launched an uprising. Against the Teutonic and Livonian Orders.

At that time, the Teutonic Knights were restrained by the two powerful enemies of Poland and Lithuania, and there were also rebellions secretly supported by Poland and Lithuania in the country, so they were unable to go north to reinforce the Livonian Knights. Then, the Livonian Knights were defeated by the coalition forces of the local forces in the Livonian Knights in the Battle of Pabaiscas.

From then on, the Livonian Knights were forced to become a member of the Livonian Parliament and lost control of the Livonian Knights. After all, they are only a minority in parliament. At the same time, the State of the Livonian Knights was renamed the Livonian Federation and officially broke away from the control of the Teutonic State. However, the outside world still calls them the country of the Livonian Knights. After all, the Holy See only recognizes the Knights, not any federation.

Since then, the Teutonic State has tried to take back control of the Livonia region many times. However, the Teutonic state has also been unstable. With the secret support of Poland and Lithuania, the Prussian nobles have been challenging the dominance of the Teutonic Knights. What's more, when they revealed their idea of ​​annexing Livonia, Poland and Lithuania would react strongly and threaten with force. Therefore, the Teutonic state has never been able to find a chance to regain control of Livonia.

And this time, the Grand Duchy of Moscow is going to beat the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which is definitely a good opportunity for the Teutonic Kingdom. At that time, Poland and Lithuania will definitely be held back by the army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, unable to intervene in the Teutonic war against the Livonian Federation. As long as the Livonia region, which is prosperous in trade, is annexed, the strength of the Teutonic state will surely increase.

and,

In this war, the Livonian Knights of the Livonian Federation will also stand on the side of the Teutonic Knights and act as a leading party.

why? Because after the Battle of Pabaiscas in 1435, the defeated Livonian Knights lost control of the Livonian region. Especially in terms of trade, a large amount of the interests of the Livonian Knights were taken away by commercial representatives of the defeated Hanseatic cities, local nobles and even the church. Prior to this, most of the trade interests of the Livonian Knights were under the control of the Livonian Knights. At present, the Livonian Knights have tragically become a second-rate force in the Livonian Federation. If it weren't for the Holy See's support for their legal status, maybe the Knights would have been banned.

As for the same Knights, the life of the members of the Teutonic Knights is much better than that of the members of the Livonian Knights. Because most of the trade interests of the Teutonic Kingdom are in the hands of more than 800 Teutonic knights of the Teutonic Knights.

Moreover, since Grand Commander Philip took office, he has been devoted to suppressing the strongest opposition force in the country—the Prussian aristocracy.

Because of Marin's support, the Teutonic Knights monopolized the Teutonic salt trade and provided Marin with rough wool, wood, turpentine... and other commodities. Because of the control of trading ports such as Königsberg and the trade channels with the North Sea country, the Teutonic Knights have used commercial means to run on many opposition Prussian nobles in the territory over the years. And this kind of run on purely commercial behavior is not suppressed by force, and Poland and Lithuania have no excuse to intervene by force. They can't always say - you let the Prussian nobles lose money, I will beat you... plus Marin mediated through it, and the two sides signed a peace agreement, so the Teutonic Knights gradually took control of the Teutonic Kingdom. In the big picture, I have the energy to free up my hands to deal with the Livonia issue.

But because of the existence of Poland and Lithuania, the Teutonic country did not dare to do it easily. After all, the combined strength of the two countries is stronger than the Teutonic state.

But this time the Grand Duchy of Moscow wanted to attack Lithuania, which made the Teutonic Knights overjoyed. Because, this means that during the war, Poland and Lithuania will be dragged down by the Grand Duchy of Moscow, unable to intervene in the Teutonic State's use of troops against the Livonian Federation. As long as you move fast enough to win the Livonian Federation before the end of the war between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Lithuania, you can avoid the backlash of Poland and Lithuania. After Poland, Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow are finished, they have already controlled Livonia and made it a fait accompli.

...

Why did the Teutonic Knights insist on taking the Livonia region? Because this is the salt trade channel of the Grand Duchy of Moscow...

Turning over the map, you will find that the Grand Duchy of Moscow is separated from the Central European region by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the west, and the Crimean Khanate to the south... Both are powerful countries. The Grand Duchy of Moscow wants to get salt, but they are both blocked.

Therefore, the source of salt for the Grand Duchy of Moscow is mainly in the northwest...

To the northwest, the Livonian Knights are located on the Baltic Sea and are an important place for importing salt. Then, to the east of the Livonian Knights is the Pskov Noble Republic, and to the east of Pskov is the Grand Duchy of Moscow...

In other words, the main salt import route of the Grand Duchy of Moscow is - Livonia - Pskov Republic - Grand Duchy of Moscow...

A pound of table salt only sells for two or three pfennigs in Beihai. But when transported to the Baltic coast, it can be sold for two or three shillings in an instant...

One shilling is equal to 12 pfennigs, two or three shillings are twelve times two or three pfennigs...

After passing through the two countries of Livonia and Pskov, the salt is transported to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which is more expensive. One pound of salt can be exchanged for one or two sheep...

The Grand Duchy of Moscow has a population of tens of millions, and the consumption of salt is astonishing. Therefore, by relying on salt, the two commercial countries of the Livonian Knights and the Pskov Republic also made a lot of money.

It is precisely because of this that Vasily III was obsessed with taking down the wealthy Pskov Republic. After all, this is the salt gateway of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

As for the country of the Livonian Knights, the Muscovites dare not annex it lightly. why? Because it was once the site of the Teutonic Knights. Moscow's annexation of Pskov may be strongly opposed by Lithuania, but the Teutonic Knights will definitely acquiesce. Even, some cooperation will be given. But if Livonia, which originally belonged to the Teutonic Knights, is to be annexed, not only Lithuania will do it, but the Teutonic Knights will also turn their faces and join hands with Lithuania to fight the Grand Duchy of Moscow. These two countries are not weak, as long as they are not fools, the Muscovites will not provoke these two countries at the same time, but can only choose to fight one.

Therefore, the final result is that the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Teutonic Knights agreed in private that Moscow annexed the Pskov Republic, and the Teutonic State annexed the Livonian Federation... Both sides will get what they need, and they will also closely cooperate in the salt trade in the future. Cooperate and make money together...

...

But there is a very big problem in attacking the Livonian Federation, that is, the problem of attacking the fortifications...

Hanseatic commercial cities such as Riga are tall and sturdy cities. If it is attacked by ordinary means, it may take several months to besieged before it can be defeated.

But what the Teutonic Knights lack most is time. If the war between Moscow and Lithuania is over and major cities such as Kriga are not captured, Poland and Lithuania will definitely send troops to intervene. At that time, it will be a waste of work.

Therefore, what the representative of the Teutonic State meant was that they hoped to purchase a batch of heavy artillery and iron ball shells from the North Sea State to blast open the gates of fortified cities such as Riga.

It needs to be pointed out that because it has not experienced war for a long time. Riga and other Eastern European cities did not replace the ordinary oak city gates with iron gates to prevent shelling. After all, metallurgy in Eastern Europe is backward, and metals are still heavily dependent on the supply of merchants in Western Europe. The cost of getting a few pure iron gates is too high.

In this case, if there is a batch of heavy artillery, it can blast open the oak city gate and achieve the goal of conquering the fortified city.

Moreover, because Riga and other Hanseatic commercial cities are either by the sea or by the big river, after all, it is necessary to facilitate the arrival of Hanseatic merchant ships. Therefore, the transportation of heavy artillery is not a problem at all. It can be directly transported to the shore by a warship, and then it can be dragged ashore and fired.

Therefore, the Teutonic envoy directly asked to buy the largest caliber naval gun. Moreover, it is a powerful heavy artillery with a long barrel...

After all, only with a long body can the range be far enough and the power strong enough. The large-caliber Karen naval gun with a short barrel is certainly not weak. However, compared with the long-barreled heavy artillery of the same caliber, the power is still checked. In the case that it can be transported by ship, it is better to choose a heavy gun with a long barrel and a large caliber...

...

However, Marin was not very happy to sell those heavy naval guns. Not for anything else, just to keep people from knowing the news that Beihai State used steel to cast heavy artillery.

Because, in order to keep secret and mislead other countries to spend a lot of expensive copper to cast guns, Marin deliberately painted a layer of copper paint on the outside of the naval guns, making people mistakenly think they were made of copper. Even the artillery sold to the Hanseatic allies was deliberately made of copper.

In this way, even if other countries know that Beihai has a lot of cannons, if they want to learn how to make cannons from Beihai, they must first spend a lot of expensive copper. And to play copper cannons requires extremely strong capital. This kind of gameplay is afraid that only a few rich countries such as Venice, Spain, and Portugal dare to play like this.

Therefore, Marin decided to repeat the old trick-to provide heavy artillery made of copper to the Teutonic Knights.

The casting of bronze cannons in Beihai is much simpler than that in other countries. The casting of cannons in other countries still uses the clay mold method. It takes more than two or three months to dry the clay molds. Moreover, the clay mold is a one-time consumable.

But Beihai State is different. Gong Zhenlin's iron mold casting method is used. The iron mold can be reused, and it cools quickly, so the casting speed is extremely fast. The iron mold is also very easy to manufacture, and it can be quickly made by sand casting. If it weren't for the high price of copper in Europe and the high cost, Marin could cast many, many copper cannons at any time.

As a result, the North Sea State and the Teutonic State secretly signed an arms sales contract. The contract stipulates that the North Sea State will provide the Teutonic State with 10 24-pound copper cannons and 10 32-pound copper cannons before the end of the year for the siege of the Livonia region. In addition, Marin also needs to provide 20 experienced gunners to be responsible for the aiming of these 20 heavy artillery during wartime. After all, the Teutonic state itself lacks skilled gunners to handle heavy artillery. And the war will probably start in the spring of next year. The Teutonic country has no time to train skilled gunners, so it can only borrow experienced gunners from the North Sea country...

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