The Rise of the European Emperor

Now that the crime has been determined, the next step is how to judge. The goal of Maximilian I is naturally clear-for such treasonous nobles, it is natural to deprive them of titles and fiefs, or even imprison them. Moreover, Maximilian I proposed that since the Principality of Clifford is willing to send troops, the Lower Gedes region can be given to the Principality of Clifford as a reward. But at the same time, the Upper Geddes region should also be awarded to the Habsburgs as compensation.

However, most of the princes disagreed. Why? One is that they do not want to see the Habsburgs annexing the Upper Geddes region; After all, they have done nothing less in collaborating with France to suppress the Habsburg family. This time, the letter that the principality of Gede colluded with France was exposed. If their letters to France are also exposed, will they also be stripped of their titles and fiefs?

Therefore, everyone strongly opposes depriving the Duke of Geddes of the title and all fiefs, and only agrees to deprive the lower Geddes area of ​​the Duchy of Geddes and transfer it to the Duchy of Clifford, who exposed the treason of Charles II, Duke of Geddes. In short, they just don't want to cheapen the Habsburgs...

However, Maximilian I was not a vegetarian either. Seeing that the meeting was deadlocked, he chose to quietly visit Jakob, Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Jacob of Baden, and Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann IV, in the middle of the night.

Of course, he did not visit empty-handed, but brought a lot of gold coins...

And these gold coins are actually the "appearance fee" given to him by Beihai Kingdom to cooperate with the performance. In order to win the Ruhr area, Marin also made a lot of money. Not only did he sell the more than 17,000 Swiss mercenaries to the Habsburg family, but he also gave a "appearance fee" of 100,000 gold coins to get Habsburg. The Fort family cooperated in a big play.

And Emperor Maximilian I was not a fuel-efficient lamp either. Although he did not want to offend Marin and snatch the Lower Gedes area, he set his sights on the Upper Gedes area. After all, the Upper Gedes area also has an area of ​​more than 1,000 square kilometers. Moreover, it is fertile land on both sides of the Maas, a tributary of the Rhine.

According to the assumption of Maximilian I, this time I finally found evidence that the anti-bony boy of the Geddes duchy colluded with foreign countries. Naturally, it is best to take this opportunity to completely clean up the Egmond family of the Geddes duchy. In this way, it can also play the role of killing chickens and warning monkeys.

However, at the imperial meeting, it seemed that most of the princes did not agree with his slaughter. Moreover, they did not want the Habsburgs to annex the Geddes region.

In desperation, Maximilian I decided to use the 100,000 gold coins given to him by Marin to bribe the three religious electors, the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier and the Archbishop of Cologne.

Why bribe three religious electors instead of seven electors together? Because religious electors are not hereditary. After becoming a religious elector,

These electors are often desperate to make money. Anyway, the religious electorate is not their family, and it is only right to take advantage of the opportunity to become the archbishop to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune for his family... And for these greedy religious electors, spending money is the best choice. ...

And the other four secular electors, because they are the status of family inheritance. Therefore, they have to take into account not only economic interests, but also long-term political interests. Therefore, they are more difficult to buy than religious electors.

Maximilian I only gave 10,000 gold coins to each of the three religious electors, and the attitude of these three electors changed drastically.

Of course, the three electors did not follow Maximilian I's will. After private deliberation, the three archbishops decided to allow the Habsburgs of Maximilian I to acquire the western bank of the Maas in the Upper Geddes region. On the west bank of the Maas River in the Upper Geddes region, the territory is only about 500 square kilometers, less than half of the Upper Geddes region. But, it's not bad either. After all, they are all fertile areas with developed agriculture.

As for the east bank of the Maas, the three archbishops decided to keep it. However, because the evidence of treason in the company of Gede is conclusive. Therefore, the specifications of the Principality of Gede Company will be downgraded to the counties, and only 600 to 700 square kilometers of land on the east bank of the Maas River will be reserved. Compared with the previous area of ​​4,000 to 5,000 square kilometers of Gede Company, it has shrunk by more than half.

When the Imperial Conference was held again, the German princes were surprised to find that the three religious princes suddenly changed their positions and supported the Habsburg family to obtain territorial "compensation". Of course, it is only the 500 square kilometers of land on the west bank of the Maas River near the Principality of Brabant.

Not only that, but the Elector Frederick III of Saxony and the Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg suddenly changed their attitudes and supported this decision-obviously, these two were also bought...

It is also bittersweet. Since the defeat in Lübeck, the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg owe a lot of debt, and the domestic economic conditions are poor. Maximilian I eagerly came to the door, and each gave 10,000 gold coins. In the end, the two Elector Lords, who were very short of money, also knelt down in front of the gold coins... After all, a penny stumped a hero, let alone 10,000 gold coins?

Moreover, the Saxon nobles and the Principality of Geddes have an enmity. At the beginning, George, Duke of Saxony, the cousin of the Elector of Saxony, was disgraced by the Duchy of Geddes. At this meeting, George also stood on the side of Maximilian I, and strongly demanded that Charles II be deprived of the dukeship and all fiefs. Under George's lobbying, and Maximilian I also paid for it, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, agreed to stand on the emperor's side. As for the electorate of Brandenburg, Joachim I had no opinion at all, and with the benefits of Ken, he also agreed with Frederick III...

Therefore, when the Imperial Parliament was convened again, five of the seven emperors supported Maximilian I to obtain territorial compensation from the Duchy of Gedes. Of course, there are some differences from the expectations of Maximilian I, only 500 square kilometers in the west of the river, not the more than 1,000 square kilometers expected by Maximilian I...

Although it did not meet expectations and smashed 50,000 gold coins, Maximilian I felt it was worth it. Why? Because the Principality of Geddes, who wanted to follow France and annexed the Habsburg Netherlands territory, lost the largest area of ​​Lower Gedes, and lost the area close to Upper Geds again. Half of the land... Since then, the originally powerful Principality of Gede has been reduced from a powerful country with four or five thousand square kilometers to a small country with only six or seven hundred square kilometers...

From now on, the small state of Geddes will lose its strength and will no longer have the strength to threaten the Habsburg family. After all, a small country with a size of only a few hundred square kilometers cannot make waves...

Of course, for a prince convicted of treason, such a punishment is still a bit light. As a result, under the impetus of several electors, the unfortunate Duke Charles II of Geddes was downgraded to the rank of earl. Moreover, the name of the Principality of Gelden has also been changed, and the name of the capital of the Principality of Gelden is directly used—Gelden, which is for the Earl of Gelden...

In this way, the Principality of Gede, which once slapped the mighty Duchy of Saxony, withered away after this imperial meeting. Although Charles II was under the protection of the princes, he was still a great nobleman. However, the duke was downgraded to an earl, and the territorial area was severely shrunk from five to six thousand square kilometers to six or seven hundred square kilometers... So far, the once powerful Principality of Gedes was officially removed and deprived of most of its territory. There is only one weak vassal state that was renamed the Earl of Geldon...