The Rise of the European Emperor

However, despite the failure of the debate, Otto III, Count of Schaumburg, intends to give it a shot. Taking advantage of the noon recess, he and a group of secular nobles who supported him vigorously advocated the "Marin Threat Theory" and moved around, hoping to arouse the common hatred of the princes.

And Marin didn't stay idle either. Marin was not idle while Otto III sought supporters there. With a small gift, he went to visit the big men among the religious princes.

However, after offering gifts and greetings, Marin will inadvertently add a sentence - "His Holiness the Pope also asked me to greet the Bishop"...

The meaning of this sentence is very profound. Marin is sending a message to the religious princes - the Pope is on my side. Therefore, as the princes of the church, you better not fight against me for the mere Recklinghausen...

Sure enough, after the afternoon meeting resumed, although Otto III's supporters increased a little, but none of the religious princes supported him. Regarding the fact that Marin wanted to buy Recklinghausen, the religious princes basically chose to remain silent.

These bishops knew very well that they were worried only about Marin helping the Habsburgs to unify Germany. As for the ownership of the Recklinghausen area, is it their business? If there is no pope, they may support Otto III by the way and suppress Marin. But with the Pope's endorsement, they stopped talking. The last time the Pope visited Worms in person and endorsed Marin, reappeared in their minds...

In order not to be targeted by the "chairman" of the "Church Group", these religious princes just ignored Otto III's all kinds of agitation...

Gradually, those secular princes also realized that something was wrong - it seems that all the religious princes chose to remain silent...

Secular electors such as Frederick III also felt that something was wrong, so he asked Archbishop Jacob of Mainz to temporarily suspend the meeting. Then, the seven electors entered the secret room of Worms Cathedral and discussed urgently together... Maximilian I watched the seven electors hold a small meeting together, but did not call him the emperor, full of black Wire. But he had no choice but to chat with a few aunts who knew each other to resolve the embarrassment in his heart...

"The three bishops, why are you all silent? Did you watch that guy from Marin win Recklinghausen? That way, his strength has greatly increased!" Frederick III, Elector of Saxony Inexplicably asked the three religious electors. He had suffered Marin's losses in the previous war, so he had a grudge against Marin. He is very happy to see things that can make Marin suffer.

But the Archbishop of Mainz, Jacob, shook his head and said:

"Lord Frederick, it's not that we don't want to target him. It's that... it's not worth the harm to target him for this matter... Have you forgotten that the last meeting was about the presence of His Excellency the Pope?"

The corners of Frederick III's mouth twitched - paralyzed, can he forget? Last time I saw that he was able to convince everyone to form a coalition to attack Marin. However, the presence of His Excellency the Pope directly suppressed all the religious princes. Just relying on the secular princes, make a P? You must know that the four secular electors, King Vladislas II of Bohemia, seem to be a little biased towards Marin, and the Palatine elector is average. And the powerful him and the Elector of Brandenburg, Joachim I, were both beaten... So, Marin can only be cheaper...

And this time, it seems to be the case again. Marin obviously reminded the religious princes not to forget the Pope's opinion...

"Everyone, His Majesty the Pope is far away in Rome, and I didn't come in person this time..." Frederick III did not give up and wanted to continue to persuade.

But before he could finish speaking, the three religious electors shook their heads in unison:

"Your Majesty Frederick, you may be right. We now have a single country, and we can indeed disobey His Majesty the Pope. But don't forget, we all have children and nephews in the church. The Pope wants It may be difficult to deal with the three of us, but it is easy to kill our descendants. After all, they haven't grown up yet.

"Jacob, Archbishop of Trier, said gloomily.

"Perhaps, when this Pope returns to heaven, your younger generation will not be embarrassed..." Frederick III said.

"No, you are wrong. Lord Frederick, even if the Pope returns to the kingdom of heaven, the next Pope will not let our younger generation go." Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne, said depressedly.

"why?"

"It's an implicit rule - if the current pope doesn't help the previous pope to suppress those who disobey the Holy See, then the next pope won't help him suppress the enemies of the Holy See during his reign. Of course, like the current pope and the The exception is when the previous Pope is a mortal enemy. This implicit rule is to maintain the majesty of the Pope and not be trampled by the people below." Herman IV explained patiently.

The bishops can't confirm whether the next pope is an enemy of this one, but that's very unlikely. Therefore, if you offend this Pope, this family may be continuously suppressed in the future, so don't think about being a bishop anymore. And if you don't become a bishop, you can't make any money. You must know that in this era, being the bishop of the German Bishopric is very rich and rich, and it is a "little money" way of making money. If this financial path is cut off, then the person who offends the Pope will definitely become the sinner of the entire family...

After speaking, Herman IV said dissatisfiedly:

"Lord Frederick, regarding Marin's purchase of secular governance in the Recklinghausen area, we, the Archbishopric of Cologne, have all agreed. Now, Otto III is openly opposed, clearly not giving the Archbishopric of Cologne any respect. The old man's face is so good. Is it worthless? Besides, the matter in the Recklinghausen area is a trivial matter at all. It is the major event of this meeting that Marin swears not to fight to help the Habsburg family invade other vassal states. I hope that Lord Frederick will not because of This little thing misses the real big thing!"

The two Jacobs, Archbishop of Mainz and Archbishop of Trier, also nodded, agreeing with the view of Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne. In their opinion, the Recklinghausen area is not a wealthy place, so it's fine for Marin. Only the matter of whether the North Sea State and the Habsburgs jointly sent troops is the real big issue.

Not only that, King Vladislas II of Bohemia and Elector Palatine also agreed with this view. Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg did not speak, and he did not care about these things now. As long as it doesn't endanger the interests of the Electorate of Brandenburg, he doesn't want to care.

Frederick III sighed helplessly when he saw this situation, and decided not to dwell on this issue anymore...

When the meeting resumed, the situation suddenly changed drastically. Several large emperors have expressed their support for Marin's acquisition of secular governance in the Recklinghausen area. However, Marin was required to swear in writing that he would not send troops to help a certain family invade the territory of the imperial princes. At the same time, it is not allowed to help a certain family fight in the form of mercenaries...

As soon as Marin had achieved his goal, he naturally accepted it as soon as he saw it.

However, in order to show his "loyalty" side, he deliberately squeezed out a few tears and seemed to accept this condition with grief and indignation.

After all, Marin came to the stage of history with the promotion of Maximilian I. It would be too shameless to accept the conditions of the princes happily at this time. Moreover, he had sworn an oath in front of the emperor at the beginning. If you renege on your oath so readily, you will be despised for your character.

Therefore, Marin must try his best to pretend that "the baby refuses, they forced me" grievance. In this way, it can also be regarded as an explanation for the "grace of promotion" of His Majesty the Emperor.

Maximilian I was also full of helplessness. Seeing the tears in Marin's eyes, he couldn't help but cry...

Of course, he was not moved by Marin, but because he thought that the grand ambitions of the Habsburg family would be stifled, and he wanted to cry bitterly. After all, it is rare that in addition to an ace fighter who is loyal to the Habsburg family, he is also persecuted by the princes of all Germany. He is also very painful...

But to be honest, Marin was really nice to him. Not only did they give him the general Frenzberg and the troops of the two phalanxes, but also sold the 18,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war with strong combat power to the Habsburg family and to the Habs. The Burg family played a key role in conquering Switzerland.

The Habsburg family can retake the family's Longxing place - the Eagle Fort in Allgäu, and the first credit must be Marin. Not to mention that the Habsburgs thus occupied half of Switzerland. Perhaps the Habsburgs could have eaten the whole of Switzerland if the French hadn't forcibly intervened...

Therefore, Maximilian I was so sad that he wanted to cry about losing the help of the fierce brother Marin...

As a result, at the imperial meeting, there was a scene in which Maximilian I and Marin, the monarch and minister, "looked at each other and choked." If accompanied by sad music and narration, it is definitely a classic tragedy...

For a time, the princes present suddenly had an illusion - as if they suddenly became villains, forcing the lovers... Abu, it was the prince and the minister who had to be separated...

Probably feeling that he had done a good job of acting, Marin finally put away his tears, aggrieved like a little daughter-in-law, and half-heartedly agreed to the "suggestion" that the princes clearly forced...

However, in order to maintain his image as a good man, Marin put forward a condition - he could promise not to help the Habsburg family attack the German princes, nor to help the Habsburg family expand in the form of mercenaries. However, if the homeland of the Habsburgs - Austria, the Netherlands and Franche-Comté - was seriously invaded, he would still send troops to help. In short, what he means is - not assisting, but assisting (local)...

As for the reason, Marin said that he had sworn allegiance to the emperor in the name of God at the knighthood ceremony in Vienna. Therefore, he cannot completely break away from the connection with the emperor. Because that would be tantamount to breaking the oath. And breaking an oath made in the name of God is very serious...

Therefore, Marin's oath to "do not assist, but help defend" is not to betray his original oath...

After a heated discussion, the princes felt that Marin's statement was very reasonable. After all, they all knew that Marin was made a full knight by Maximilian I in Vienna. Therefore, it is not good for them to force Marin to completely renege on the oath he made in the name of God. After all, everyone here is a believer of God. So, in the end, the princes agreed to Marin's request. Anyway, as far as the princes are concerned, as long as Marin does not send troops to help the Habsburgs attack the German princes, the goal will be achieved. As for eliminating the Habsburg family, they didn't actually think about it...

In the end, Marin swore in the name of God, in the presence of all the Reichsmen, that he would not send troops or mercenaries to help the Habsburgs attack other German princes. But if an enemy army invades the Habsburg family homeland, he will send troops to help, but after helping to defend the Habsburg family homeland, he cannot continue to send troops to help counterattack...

After taking the oath, Marin wrote it down in words, signed and stamped it, and this document was sealed in Worms Church...

Afterwards, the Reichstag also reviewed and approved a resolution agreeing to Marin's acquisition of secular governance in the Recklinghausen area. At the last moment before the end of the meeting, Marin also announced-because he did not serve in the North Sea Country for a long time, he dismissed all the positions and titles of Frenzberg and his subordinates in the North Sea Country...

This decision is called punishment, and in fact, it is equivalent to giving Frenzberg completely to the emperor...and, Marin had to do it too. Because, until now, Frenzberg and his two phalanxes from the North Sea Kingdom are still serving the emperor. But Marin had just sworn that he would not be able to help the emperor fight, and he could not break his promise. Therefore, it is the best choice to expel Frenzberg and others and distance themselves from them...

Many princes expressed dissatisfaction with this, but they also knew that Frenzberg was now one of Maximilian I's most trusted generals. Even if Marin wanted to take it back, Franzberg wasn't necessarily happy. Therefore, Marin's disposal method is the most appropriate.

Moreover, although Frenzberg is also a good general, with the Habsburg family of Frenzberg, it is not possible to kill the Quartet. The current situation shows this. As long as Marin's main army does not move, it will be difficult for the Habsburg family to take Switzerland, let alone attack other vassal states. So, a Frenzberger doesn't affect the big picture.

Maximilian I is also very fond of Marin. After all, with Marin's oath of "not assisting, but assisting in defense", other vassal states want to jointly invade the Habsburg family's homeland, and they must also weigh it. . And giving Frenzberg and his two phalanxes to the Habsburg family in disguise is also very "feeling and righteous"... Therefore, Maximilian I can't ask Marin to do more ...

When parting, the pair of monarchs and ministers rode their horses and stared at each other in the distance, and staged a "speechless choking" and "reluctant to part" drama...

It wasn't until Marin's horse team went to a place where no one was outside the city that Marin couldn't help laughing:

"Haha, I'm finally free! The goal has been achieved! In the future, I finally don't have to pretend to be a loyal minister to help the Habsburg family for free!" Of course, this sentence was spoken in Chinese. Even Kahn and the guards who were with him didn't understand what Marin said...

For Marin, this swearing incident, isn't it a relief? Before, in order to become a nobleman, Marin had to become a full-fledged knight and imperial baron by ingratiating himself to Maximilian I. For this reason, he swore allegiance to Maximilian I. Because of this, it became a heavy moral burden for Marin. If he turns his back on the emperor, it is tantamount to breaking his oath, and he will be accused by thousands of people. Even, to help the Habsburg family, he can't charge... This makes him a little embarrassed...

Fortunately, these stupid princes helped. With this oath to make the bottom. In the future, Marin will no longer have to work hard to pretend to be a loyal minister and go to work for the Habsburg family for free. So for Marin, it was a real relief.

Moreover, the tacit approval of the annexation of most of the region between the Ruhr and the Lippe was a surprise. After all, as long as you master these areas, you will control most of Germany's coal. When the industrial revolution is carried out in the future, there is no need to worry about energy. Even if other countries are greedy, they must have coal first...