On Christmas Day in 1498, Emperor Maximilian I missed his son again, but the handsome king Philip didn't think about his father. Therefore, the old Maximilian I had no choice but to rush to Ghent in the Netherlands to see his son, and reunite for Christmas by the way.
However, on the way to Ghent, Maximilian I sent someone to East Frisia to summon Marin to meet him in Ghent after the New Year...
The reason why I wanted to meet Marin was because Maximilian I had been hesitating in the conflict between Swabia and Switzerland. On the one hand, Swabia is a staunch ally of the emperor, and of course it must be supported. On the other hand, the emperor also wanted to win over the Swiss and make Swiss mercenaries work for him.
Therefore, in the war against the Swiss invasion of Swabia, the emperor has been mediating in the middle, hoping that the two sides can stop the war and make peace. However, the emperor finally found out that the Swiss didn't care about him...
Therefore, the emperor decided to switch sides and completely sided with the Swabian Union. However, the biggest problem is that the emperor has no confidence and has not finally decided to fight the Swiss. Therefore, taking the opportunity to see his son, he wanted to ask Marin's opinion for reference.
Just after the New Year, Maximilian I did not return to Austria, and Marin also rushed to Antwerp by boat, and then rode to Ghent to meet the emperor.
"Happy New Year, Your Majesty!" Marin bowed and saluted the emperor who was waiting for him.
"Happy New Year, Marin, sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Congratulations, Marin, it feels good to take back the ancestral territory, doesn't it?"
"It's only half good, and I think I'll feel pretty good if His Majesty can declare my legitimacy."
"Ahem... Well, you know, the Duke of Saxony stopped me from doing this. I need the votes of the nobles of the Saxon family, so I can't turn against him. However, I still refused the unreasonable request of the Duke of Saxony to declare you illegal. of… "
"I know, it's just that the Duke of Saxony has great ambitions. When will he be big when he expands around? The Weiting family is growing stronger and stronger. Maybe it will be the next Habsburg family..." Marin sighed with emotion. A little provocation.
Maximilian I didn't say anything, but his expression clearly agreed with Marin's statement...
"Marin, do you know what's going on between Switzerland and the Swabians?"
"I have heard that the Swiss are ambitious and sent troops to capture a large area of the Swabian Union..."
"Yes, I originally wanted to mediate, but the Swiss don't buy my face at all..."
"It is impossible for the Swiss to buy Your Majesty's face. Because many of their lands were taken from the Habsburgs. In order to prevent Your Majesty from taking back the former territories of the Habsburgs, they It's hard to stand on His Majesty's side..."
"So, I decided to completely stand on the side of the Swabian Union and go to war with the Swiss. By the way, Marin, you are a very intelligent young man. It is said that you are still spreading the word of your 'God's Blessed One'" What about the daimyo... do you have any good suggestions?"
"Hehe, where is the 'God's Favored One'? It's all blown out by those bards..." Marin smiled shyly.
"As for the war with the Swiss, I think His Majesty still needs to be more cautious..."
"Oh, how do you say it?"
"Your Majesty must have seen the fragile combat power of the Swabian Alliance. Therefore, I do not recommend that Your Majesty directly confront the Zurich Legion..."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I suggest that Your Majesty seize the Graubünden region in southeastern Switzerland. As for the conflict in northeastern Switzerland, let the Swabian Union and the Swiss confront each other first..."
Unlike the original history, when the Swabian War broke out in 1499, the Zurich attack on the Swabian Union was basically over. Therefore, when the emperor attacked Graubünden, he ushered in the main force of the Swiss.
In this life, because of Marin's relationship, the Zurich people delayed the invasion time, which led to the war between Zurich and Swabia, which has not yet ended.
However, the emperor wanted to intervene in the Swiss issue during this time period. It was also Marin who provided enough funds to the emperor, which caused the emperor to want to make a big splash. At this moment, the emperor didn't want to seize Graubünden, but he wanted to face Switzerland...
"Why do you want to capture Graubünden?" The emperor was a little puzzled. Originally, he planned to help the Swabians drive away the Zurich people.
"Your Majesty, please send for a map..."
Soon, a map of the Swiss region was sent up. Marin pointed to Switzerland and explained to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, please look, this is Graubünden... This place, called Mistel Valley, is an important passage connecting Switzerland and the Milan region of Italy, and its strategic location is extremely important. At the same time, it is also the link between the Tyrol region controlled by His Majesty." An important pass in the Milan area. As long as you control the Mistel Valley, your majesty's ability to influence Italy will be greatly enhanced, and you can attack and retreat... "
"Sure enough!" Maximilian I nodded.
"Moreover, the Graubünden region is currently still an autonomous region and has not yet joined the Swiss Union."
"But what if they ask the Swiss for help?"
"Your Majesty, haven't they joined the Swiss Union yet? We suddenly sent troops to surround Graubünden, and then block any passages leading to Switzerland..."
"What is the reason for this?"
"Intercept the messenger! As long as the people of Graubünden don't send out messengers to go to Switzerland, the Swiss can't take the initiative to announce that Graubünden will accept them, right? They are not in the same group..."
"That's a nice idea..."
"I estimate that it will take a lot of time to take down Graubünden. However, as long as the troops of the Swiss Union do not come to help, it will not be a big problem to take down Graubünden. Your Majesty, you have so many cavalry, so blockade Graubünden shouldn’t be a problem, right? Moreover, Graubünden is also a mountainous area, and there are not many roads leading to the outside world, so it should be easily blocked... "
"The conflict between the Naswas and the Zurich?"
"Forget about it, let's take down the Graubünden region first. After taking down Graubünden, His Majesty's territory has expanded, and he has also mastered the throat of the Italian region, which will facilitate participation in Italian affairs in the future. Even, learn It is easy for the emperors of the past to march into Rome... "
Marin's last sentence "March into Rome" can make Maximilian I's blood boil. In the past, when the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire wanted to be crowned, he usually marched into Rome, Italy with a large army, and had the Pope crown him in Rome.
In fact, marching into Rome was not only for the purpose of being crowned by the pope, but also for the purpose of showing off force and deterring the Italian region. After all, the northern part of Italy (north of Rome, except Venice), legally speaking, also belongs to the territory of the Holy Roman Empire.
However, although Frederick III, the father of Maximilian I, was also crowned in Rome, he went to Rome peacefully and asked the Pope to be crowned, instead of deterring Rome with force like his predecessors, forcing the Pope to be crowned of.
And Maximilian I was an ambitious emperor, so he naturally had the idea of learning from his predecessors and playing "March into Rome". Therefore, Graubünden quickly became the object of conquest that Maximilian I attached great importance to.
Not only that, because Maximilian I continued to marry the daughter of the Duke of Milan as his wife. Therefore, Maximilian I also has a certain chance to get Milan. In addition, the Mistel Valley is indeed an important traffic route to Italy, so Maximilian I firmly plans to conquer Graubünden.
…
After talking about things in Switzerland, Maximilian I suddenly began to gossip, concerned about the details of how Marin won East Frisia. Moreover, Maximilian I also raised a question that made it difficult for Marin to answer:
"Marin, I heard that you have dispatched five or six thousand troops to recover East Frisia this time. However, as far as I know, it takes a lot of money to gather five or six thousand troops and keep them for a long time. You alone A mere baron, how can he be so rich?"
Marin was a little embarrassed at once, but he couldn't say it clearly, saying that half of the captured French knights had been sold to Venice. If he said that, the emperor would definitely take his skin off...
So, Marin began to think of excuses on the spot...
Soon, a good excuse was thought up...
"Your Majesty, as you know, I am a descendant of the Bullock family..."
"Well... then what?"
"The Brock family has ruled East Frisia for hundreds of years, can they not collect anything?"
"You mean? You are using the property left by the Block family? However, when the Block family was overthrown, their assets should have been taken away by the Ukner family..."
"You are right, but what was taken away was only the wealth in the treasury. However, the ancestors of the Bullock family also quietly set up a treasure chest, hiding a lot of gold and silver..."
"Treasure?" Maximilian I suddenly became interested, wanting to hear the story...
Marin quickly conceived, simply combined the plots of some treasure-related movies in later generations, and then made up a story on the spot and told it to Maximilian I. Its plot, ups and downs, shocking...
"How many treasures are there? Are there many?" Maximilian I's eyes suddenly burst into light, as if he wanted to covet it...
"Uh...not a lot, there are only more than 200,000 gold coins, all of which were used by the minister for the great cause of restoring the country..."
Maximilian I was a little disappointed for a moment. Originally, if there were a lot of treasures, he planned to "borrow" money from Marin...
For a long time, Maximilian I was skeptical that Marin had the money to buy this and that, and to recruit an army. Because, this is so abnormal. It wasn't until today that Marin made up a lie about "the treasure of the Bullock family" on the spot to explain this problem clearly.
In order to divert the emperor's attention, Marin quickly changed the subject:
"It's such a pity, Your Majesty, if I didn't want to guard against the attack of the Saxons, I might have led the army to help Your Majesty fight the Swiss..."
Maximilian I's eyes lit up at first, but soon dimmed. He was also very disappointed that he could not use a powerful thug like Marin...