Seeing that the Republic of Friesland has no share of its own, Marin is not reconciled to being trapped on a few small islands. So, he began to set his sights on the neighboring country of Friesland, which is also the hometown of Mrs. Mary—East Friesland.
Mrs. Mary is the heir of the Block family and has the theoretical possibility of inheriting East Frisia. Although, Mrs. Mary's mother was not an aristocrat, his parents' marriage was a "marriage between noble and common people". From a legal point of view, Mrs. Mary should have lost the possibility of inheriting the Counties of East Frisia. This is also an important reason why the current Count of East Frisia did not continue to hunt down Mrs. Mary.
However, this did not bother Marin. As a traveler who was accustomed to seeing false evidence in later generations, Marin knew that although Mrs. Mary's grandfather was just a businessman, Mrs. Mary's grandfather, as the Earl of East Frisia at that time, was qualified to grant Mrs. Mary's Grandpa is a nobleman.
Marin remembered that Madam Mary had collected a lot of official parchment documents signed by Earl Bullock. As a master who is good at imitating other people's handwriting, Marin can completely imitate Earl Bullock's signature and make fake documents. As long as Marin forged a document that the Earl of Bullock authorized the family of Mrs. Mary's grandfather, the Savannah family, to be promoted to baron, and let everyone recognize it. Then, the marriage of Mrs. Mary's parents is no longer an intermarriage.
As for how the paperwork is convincing, that's simple. In addition to making the handwriting on the documents exactly the same as those old documents, Marin also knows the techniques of aging and making old. For example, you can put forged documents in high and low temperature environments for a period of time, and you can also take the documents to a place with a lot of wind and sand for a period of time... In short, after a period of tossing, as long as the documents look shabby, you can It's done.
Even, Marin can simply buy old old parchment. In this way, it is easier to make old, and it is more difficult to distinguish authenticity from falsehood.
As long as the handwriting is the same, plus the documents, it looks very old. Even if someone comes to identify it, it is difficult to see the authenticity. And as long as there is such a document, Mrs. Mary has the qualifications to inherit East Frisia. Then, as the son of Mrs. Mary, he has the legal qualification to use force against East Frisia.
The only trouble is that he has a big brother...
Although Adler is a bit silly, he is the eldest son of Mrs. Mary. According to European practice, even if Mrs. Mary is eligible to inherit East Frisia, her first heir is Adler, not Marin.
Marin was very worried. He had been busy for a while, but ended up making wedding clothes for Adler. Although Adler is his own brother, but in the struggle for hegemony, there is no family relationship to talk about. In order to become emperor, Lao Li killed two brothers...
If he could not get the absolute right of succession, Marin would rather not attack East Frisia. Because, East Frisia is not too easy to mess with.
You must know that the Earl of East Frisia is a tiny country with a population of just over 60,000, but its combat power is not bad. Although they are both Frisians like the Frisian Noble Republic, the combat power of the two countries is quite different.
Because East Frisia is facing the hostile German princes, the people of this country have basically been fighting. A small state with a mere 60,000 people can actually mobilize an army of 8,000. In medieval Europe, basically all the people were soldiers. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are the fighting nation of this era.
As for the Frisian aristocratic republic, East Frisia is blocked in the east, and the relatively mild Archbishop of Utrecht is used as a barrier in the south. Therefore, the Frisian aristocratic republic is not dangerous enough, and the people's sense of crisis is not as strong as that of East Frisia, and unlike East Frisia, almost all the people are soldiers. Therefore, they were easily conquered by the Duke of Saxony.
Marin once read such a fragment in the history books-in 1516, Maximilian I gave the Counties of East Frisia to George, Duke of Saxony. Then, George, the Duke of Saxony, gathered 24 lords and led a total of 10,000 coalition troops, but was defeated by Friesland.
Of course, East Frisia is on the defensive side and naturally has the advantage. Moreover, this small state can mobilize an army of 8,000, which is very powerful. What's even more powerful is that its standing army is a 1,000-man heavy armored swordsman unit, also called straw hat swordsmen. Because, this group of heavily armored swordsmen only wore breastplate armor on their upper body, no armor on their lower body, and wore a local Frisian straw hat on their heads. In general, the number of heavily armored swordsmen in East Frisia is twice that of the Frisian aristocratic republic with a population of more than 200,000. Moreover, the straw hat swordsmen in East Frisia have better training and stronger combat effectiveness.
In fact, it was George, Duke of Saxony, who killed himself. If you fight, you can fight, you have tens of thousands of troops, and the usual number of troops in East Frisia is only 1,000 people. If you launch a sneak attack without declaring war, the opponent will definitely not have time to mobilize the whole country.
It turned out that this one was lucky, he asked the emperor for help, and asked the emperor to issue an edict publicly, which was correct legally, but it also gave East Frisia enough time to prepare.
Before the Saxon army arrived in East Frisia, the Counties of East Frisia had already mobilized 8,000 troops, relying on strong walls, and were ready... Then, the Saxon coalition forces were tragic...
If it were Marin, it would definitely be a surprise attack on Emden, the capital of East Frisia, and directly take down the Sexner family that ruled the country, and everything would be fine.
As for legal matters, wait until the Sexner family is captured, and then slowly explain and get in touch with the locals. The original earls were gone, and no one called on them to resist. Other regions were also unable to mobilize.
Besides, among the 13 tribes in East Frisia, the area controlled by the largest Brock family is the easiest to fall to Marin. Because, according to the spies' report, many people there still miss the Brock family. As long as someone responds to him, it shouldn't be difficult to take over the entire territory of East Frisia.
Then, I also learned from Li Yuan to enter Chang'an, and a "three chapters of the agreement", or "amnesty to the world" or something, can disintegrate the will of the East Frisians to resist. We all have a good life, who the hell is willing to resist? Moreover, the descendants of Mrs. Mary are indeed the orthodox heirs. Except for the loyalists of the overthrown Sexner family and the Ukner family who betrayed the Brock family back then, it is estimated that other families will lose their determination to fight to the end.
As for the 1,000 straw hat swordsmen in the East Frisian standing army, Marin was not worried. This group of warriors wearing breastplate armor, it is really troublesome for ordinary cold weapon troops to encounter them. However, there are many musketeers in Marin's army, which are most suitable for fighting these armored heavy infantry.
In fact, the biggest trouble comes from Adler...
After thinking about it, Marin finally came up with a way-that is to go home and sign a document with Adler, asking Adler to renounce the inheritance rights of East Frisia in writing. Of course, as compensation, after taking over the Counties of East Frisia, Marin will also grant Adler a baron and give him a good place.
If Adler is unwilling to give up the right of inheritance, then Marin would rather not attack East Frisia, so as not to cause a lot of trouble in the future and cause family internal strife...
In that case, Marin would have to wait for Pope Julius II, the god of war, to ascend the throne. At that time, relying on Angela's trump card and colluding with the Pope, he can still obtain the status of an earl.
You must know that although Maximilian I claimed to be emperor, he has not been crowned by the Pope until now. Historically, it was not until 1508, when the emperor followed the Pope in a group attack on Venice, which threatened the Papal State, that Pope Julius II officially agreed to allow the emperor to be crowned himself.
The current emperor is not justified. If Julius II is willing to support himself and use the official coronation as a negotiation condition, let alone changing the earl with the emperor, the duke is possible. Of course, the official coronation is an important bargaining chip for the pope to deal with the emperor, and the pope will not use it lightly...