The Rise of the European Emperor

While John II, Duke of Clifford, "woke up" in high spirits and took over the Lower Geddes region, Charles II, the former Duke of Geddes in Gelden, finally received a letter from the Imperial Parliament. Arriving with the official document of the Imperial Parliament, there is also the sad news that the army of Geddes who has gone on the expedition to the Duchy of Brabant has been wiped out.

Sauer reckoned that the secrecy should not be required at this time, so he removed the surveillance on the direction of Upper Geddes, and stopped the interception of the enemy's sentry. Therefore, the sentry sent by Gelden finally found out the specific news. When they brought back the news of their defeat, the official document from the Imperial Parliament also arrived...

"How could this be? How could this be? How could this be?

In the end, Charles II spit out a mouthful of old blood and passed out gloriously... Unlike John II, Duke of Clifford, who pretended to be stunned, he was really dizzy, and he was in a hurry...

Originally, Charles II was still dreaming of "taking the Netherlands and becoming king of the kingdom". Moreover, Charles II was still very confident at that time. Now, once the dream was broken, Charles II couldn't bear this heavy blow and fainted all of a sudden. Moreover, he is not called Charles II now, but should be called Charles I. Also, downgraded from Duke Geddes to Earl of Geldon...

In fact, Charlie's fate was good. That is to say, in the Holy Roman Empire, a country where the imperial power is not strong, he can still maintain his status as a great noble after collusion with foreign countries is exposed. Although most of the territory has been deprived, and his status has been reduced from duke to earl, he is still a great aristocrat, isn't he?

If it were placed in ancient China, the result of connecting with foreign countries would definitely be full of censorship. All the men in the family were beheaded, and all the women were sold to the Jiaofang Division to work in the special service industry...

Even in France, even if you can save your life, you will not be able to escape if you are deprived of your noble status and all fiefs. There is only a strange country like the Holy Roman Empire, where the imperial power is declining, and the princes have too much power. With the protection of the princes, Charles could continue to be an earl, and he still retained several hundred square kilometers of fief. In later generations, a few hundred square kilometers would be worth a small county. To be able to sit on a small county as a fief, life is definitely not bad. You know, many German counts have not yet had such a big fief. Some counts have only one castle in their fief, which is much worse than him...

...

At this time, the news finally spread, and the princes suddenly realized - oh, it turns out that the Principality of Clifford hired the army of the North Sea Kingdom, no wonder it was able to defeat the powerful army of the Principality of Gedes...

But then, everyone was angry - Marin Gobi, this boy Marin will continue to do things? Do you want to be beaten by a group?

Therefore, many princes sent envoys to Beihai Kingdom, strongly condemning the behavior of Beihai Kingdom for making troubles everywhere, and jointly threatened to say that next time they do something like this, be careful that the princes of all Germany will join forces to attack...

However, their denunciations have been to no avail. No matter how they denounced it, the Principality of Geddes, a powerful vassal state that contained a lot of energy of the Habsburg family, has vanished into thin air. With only a few hundred square kilometers and two or three small towns left, the Earl of Gelden has no ability to make waves any longer.

Beihai Kingdom is also a bachelor. Old Hoffman, who was in charge of staying behind, smiled apologetically in the face of the envoys from various countries who came to question them, and swore that this was because Schwartz, the highest military commander of Beihai Kingdom, had a private friendship with old Mason. Well, that led to Schwartz accepting the employment of old Mason without authorization... So, when Marin returns, he will let him punish Schwartz, the general who sent troops without authorization...

The messengers and old Hoffman couldn't say anything, so they had no choice but to hold back their fire...

As for the old Hoffman, his heart was already overjoyed at this time. why? Because he decided to return to his hometown of Bochum after Marin came back,

Show off well with the old folks and acquaintances...

What Ma Lin said, "the rich and the noble do not return to their hometown, such as the brocade clothes walking at night, who knows" is just an excuse. But for a laity like Old Hoffman, it is really a refreshing thing to look forward to. It's just that his hometown belonged to Earl Mark, not theirs, and he couldn't pretend to be someone else's territory. Now, his hometown has become his own territory. As an old lady of Beihai Kingdom, it is only natural for him to go back and show off his appearance...

So, while following Marin's instructions, the old man apologized to the messengers of various countries, and he had already planned how to return to his hometown to show off to his old friends...

After receiving the foreign envoys, the old Hoffman returned to the mansion in the east of the city where he lived, and said excitedly to Mrs. Mary:

"My dear, now the Earl of Mark belongs to our family! I, Flins Hoffman, was not from a high background, but I didn't expect to have such a glorious opportunity when I am old! Now, the country of Earl Mark belongs to our family. , I can finally go back to my hometown and show off in front of my old friends! Haha!"

Mrs. Mary pursed her lips and smiled, and said:

"Look at your smugness, if it wasn't for my son Marin who received God's favor and worked hard for many years, would you have the chance to return home now?"

Old Hoffman, however, didn't care about Mrs. Mary's thorny words, but said triumphantly:

"Marin is your son, but not my son? No matter how powerful he is, he is favored and blessed by God, and he is also my son. If I dare to beat him up when I get angry, he will not be able to beat him back. No matter how strong he is, he is also my son. Seeds of Lao Tzu. We are old, and now we can show off not ourselves, but our children. The more powerful our children are, the more face we have. When I return to my hometown, I will definitely entertain the elders of my hometown and those old knights every day. Friends, show them our ability...well, the ability to have a good son...haha..."

"Look at how complacent you are!" Mrs. Mary rolled his eyes at him. However, Mrs. Mary suddenly lowered her head and pondered...

After a while, Mrs. Mary raised her head and said to old Hoffman:

"My dear, I believe that you go back and show off to the villagers. But, if you want to show off to your old friends, I'm afraid it won't be so easy..."

"Why?" Old Hoffman didn't understand.

Mrs. Mary explained patiently:

"Naturally those ordinary folks will not leave their hometown casually, but your old friends are different. They are all knights and vassals of John II, Earl of Mark. Now, John II wants to replace Geddes with the Earl of Mark. However, he also needs someone to guard him after he has obtained the Lower Geddes area. Those old subordinates from the Earl of Mark are the best candidates to be sent to take over the Lower Geddes area. Therefore, there may be many knights. Will follow to the Lower Geddes region and help John II run it."

Old Hoffman nodded, but soon shook his head again:

"My dear, you don't know. I was in the Earl of Mark, and I was not appreciated by the above. Even the Earl of Mark didn't know that there was someone like me. And the people who were close to me at the time were almost all different. The marginal knights who are valued by the Counties of Mark. Therefore, John II, Earl of Mark may take away a group of knights this time, but he will definitely take away the important ones. Those marginal knights who are close to me may not follow along. ."

Lady Mary nodded, but added:

"What you said is very reasonable, but no one can tell what will happen in the end. I heard that John II has sent people to persuade the local nobles to leave with him. Therefore, it is difficult to guarantee that your old friends will stay. Come down. If you can't bear your old friends, send someone back to persuade them. They are not the people that Count Mark attaches great importance to. As long as you promise to take care of them, they should stay. Of course, don't make random promises. To deal with those people, Marin has to make up his mind!"

Old Hoffman nodded and said:

"Understood, I'll send people back to my hometown to persuade them to stay. Seriously, I really need these old friends to support me when I go back to my hometown to show the glory of the Hoffman family. No matter what, they are also nobles. I The grand duke, his father, can't show off with a group of folks who are not even nobles, or it's better to show off in front of his former colleagues...hehe..."

After that, he arranged for his men to go back to their hometown to persuade those old friends to stay. At the same time, he also sent people to prepare luxury carriages and various guards of honor. Just waiting for Marin to come back, he brought his team, under the name of "returning to his hometown to visit relatives", to show off fiercely in front of his hometown elders and former knight colleagues...