The Rise of the European Emperor

In mid-March, it is a good time to start the spring ploughing. In Denmark, because of the high latitude, spring ploughing has just begun. However, due to the war, spring ploughing was suspended in many places in the Principality of Holstein and the Principality of Schleswig.

In this regard, whether Marin, Lübeck or Hamburg, are unwilling to see. Therefore, after taking Ribe City, Marin temporarily stationed with the army.

At the same time, Marin sent people to the mouth of the Ribe River on the edge of Ribe City, and built several long bridges and piers to connect with the mainland. Mainly, let the homeland provide the materials needed for the war.

After the army was stationed, Marin recruited a group of local people and ordered them to go to various places in the Principality of Schleswig to inform those manors to resume spring ploughing immediately. The army promised not to interfere with them during the spring ploughing period.

The Hanseatic city representatives of Weizmann and Hermann also responded quickly, and sent a group of troops to rush back to the Principality of Holstein. West, urge locals to continue spring farming.

Because Marin used strict military discipline to restrain his officers and men, the damage to the two duchies was minimal despite the large army crossing the border. Only the estates of some recalcitrant barons or knights were attacked, and some young men who participated in the revolt were killed.

However, most of the serfs, because of their cowardice, did not participate in the resistance, and naturally they did not suffer any losses. At this time, it's okay to let them continue the spring plowing.

In the era of chaos and chaos, a large number of civilians died, not in massacres. Instead, when the army crosses the border, it is easy to rush to grab food. Even some rebels will snatch the seeds left by the farmers...the rations and seeds have been robbed, and the farmers can only starve to death, or rebel...

Marin deeply understands that whether it is the Principality of Schleswig or the Principality of Holstein, it will be the territory of himself and his allies in the future. In order not to cause chaos in these two places, we must not rob the people of food. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the normal progress of spring plowing and autumn harvest.

Therefore, after winning the city of Ribe, Marin hired local people to ride horses to various manors to publicize the policy of encouraging spring ploughing, and posted a notice that his army would not loot. Even when he captured several cities before, those rewards were all paid by Marin himself. Of course, that money was also looted from the city's official treasury.

Marin knew that, if nothing else, Ribe would later become the border area between the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark he occupied. Therefore, this must be a front-line city.

To this end, Marin began to mobilize the city residents here, as well as the soldiers and people under his command, to start repairing the city of Ribe, preparing to use it as a fortress for a long time.

For the nobles in the city who voluntarily surrendered, Marin gave very favorable treatment, but temporarily deprived them of their military power to prevent them from repeating.

Today, the number of nobles from the Principality of Schleswig who surrendered to Marin has reached more than a thousand. These people are also a burden in Marin's hands. Marin needs to guard against them at all times, so he needs a lot of manpower.

Moreover, if you let them return to their own territory, it is equivalent to letting the tiger return to the mountain. God knows whether these people will rebel one day...

So, Marin remembered a casino plan that came to his mind when he conquered Oldenburg. That is - to build a Las Vegas-like casino and entertainment city, specifically for these surrendered nobles and their descendants to eat, drink and play. As for their territory, Marin intends to send someone to trust it. Then, return to them the benefits they could have received before. As for the excess part of the high yield caused by the use of new fertilizers, it naturally belongs to Marin.

In addition, those little nobles who were killed because of their stubborn resistance, their territories were naturally confiscated by Marin. Then, take out a part and use it to reward brave soldiers in battle. Occupying the 9,200-square-kilometer Principality of Schleswig all at once, the land in Marin's hands increased nearly three times the size of his native land.

Therefore, Marin now has enough land to reward soldiers.

At that time, as long as a few fertilizer fields are built in the Principality of Schleswig, the food production of the local manor can be properly increased. However, after Marin led the army into the Principality of Schleswig, he discovered a problem, that is - the Jutland Peninsula is vast and sparsely populated...

Yes, according to the local nobles, the entire kingdom of Denmark (including several islands such as Jutland and Zeeland, 42,000 square kilometers, including the Danes in North Schleswig), was only 600,000 at this time. population. The Kingdom of Norway has a population of 240,000; Sweden has 550,000; Finland has 300,000…

That is, the combined population of Sweden and Finland is 850,000 people. The total population of Denmark and Norway is only 840,000, which is less than the area under the control of old Sten Sture. Therefore, the Swedes have the confidence to resist.

There are only 600,000 Danes on an area of ​​nearly 40,000 square kilometers. Moreover, the bulk of the population must be in the core area of ​​Denmark, the island of Zealand. Therefore, Jutland, including the more than 3,900 square kilometers of North Schleswig and the 25,400 square kilometers of the Convention, has only a population of 200,000...

You must know that a county where Marin lived in later generations had a population of more than 800,000, and an area of ​​only over 1,000 square kilometers...

Therefore, at this time, Jutland was still vast and sparsely populated. In order to use the land, many local people are engaged in animal husbandry, cattle and sheep raising are relatively developed, and many people raise horses. The rye and oats are cultivated only by about half the population, and most of them are ploughed on the fertile soil by the great rivers.

After hearing this information from the surrendered Danish nobles, Marin coveted the vast Jutland peninsula. However, he also knows that Denmark is not something he can eat at the moment. This time, he finally found an excuse to attack Denmark and cut off the Principality of Schleswig, which was too much. If you want to cut off the Jutland peninsula, which is much larger than the Principality of Schleswig, let alone Denmark refuse, other people will also oppose it. In the case that his own strength is not enough to single out all Germany, Marin can only endure temporarily and suppress his ambition to annex Denmark.

However, now that he and Denmark have become enemies, Marin has no reason to make each other better. Right now, it was the time when the Danish region started spring ploughing, and Marin had made the Principality of Schleswig a smooth spring ploughing, but he might not have wanted the Danes to have a smooth spring ploughing as well.

In addition, Marin needs a lot of horses, and the horses in Denmark are relatively tall. To this end, Marin intends to send cavalry to cross the northern border of the Principality of Schleswig, go deep into the Jutland Peninsula, and grab horses everywhere...

The reason why they want to grab horses is not only to increase the number of horses for themselves, but also to attack Danish agriculture. The Danes, like the rest of Europe, were popular for horse farming at this time. Therefore, the draught horse is the most important animal power for Danish farmers. As for cows, the Danes obviously don't understand what a cow nose ring is, and naturally they can't easily drive cows to work. Therefore, now the spring plowing in the field is basically the tall Nordic draught horse.

Marin couldn't bear to kill people, but if he didn't kill people, he would destroy the Danish agriculture. So, robbing the Danes for their draught horses was the best choice.

Moreover, the cavalry is powerful. After snatching the drawn horse, the cavalry can roar away as long as they put on the reins and ride the horse while holding the grabbed horse, which is very convenient.

According to the conjecture of the surrendered nobles, there were about 100,000 serfs in Jutland, and there were about 10,000 draught horses. Not only that, but several important horse farms in Jutland were also an important source of war horses in the army of King Hans of Denmark.

Hearing this, Marin was immediately excited. So, according to the instructions of the surrendering nobles, he planned to send all the cavalry to seize the horse farms belonging to the royal family first, and rob the thousands of horses inside. Then, go to grab the draw horses used by the serfs to cultivate the land. This year's grain production in Denmark's Jutland peninsula is bound to drop significantly. At that time, even if Marin and the others retreat, the serfs will cause trouble for the Danish king Hans because of starvation...

The 1,000 Lancers recruited from the Teutonic side became excited after hearing that there were several royal horse farms set up by King Hans of Denmark on the Jutland peninsula.

After all, it was the Danish king's stable, not the draught horses used by the serfs. There must be many good horses that are suitable for war horses. For these cavalrymen, they are all people who love horses. Is there any reason to miss it? Moreover, Marin also promised them that they would be allowed to choose a good horse to replace the one they were riding.

So, after getting the specific directions from Marin, the 1,000 Lancers roared and headed for the few Danish royal horse farms.

In addition, Marin also selected more than a thousand infantrymen with good riding skills, and asked them to step on the horses that were pulling the carts and go to the manor halfway in Jutland to snatch the horses...

Marin believes that after this horse rush, the spring ploughing of the Danes on Jutland will definitely be greatly affected. By autumn, famine in Jutland is almost certain. At that time, the Danish king Hans will definitely be devastated. And this is exactly what Marin wanted to see. Otherwise, if there is nothing to do, King Hans of Denmark has to prepare to take revenge on himself...

However, the thought of many innocent Danish civilians will starve to death after the fall, Marin felt a sense of sympathy. But he quickly got these thoughts out of his mind. If you want to participate in the game of hegemony, you can't have the slightest woman's kindness. Any virgin whore, even if she has crossed over, is only suitable for being a peaceful person. This kind of person, participating in the game of hegemony, will definitely die ugly. Marin didn't want to die, so he could only harden his heart and do a lot of cruel and vicious things. Emperors like Emperor Wu of Liang who believed in Buddhism and had the benevolence of women are only worthy of being killed and become a stepping stone for others. Even a hero such as Xiang Yu was finally turned over by the shameless Liu Bang because of his temporary benevolence, and he cut himself by the Wujiang River, becoming Liu Bang's stepping stone...