Spring plowing is about to begin, and Marin is ready. The only troublesome thing is the problem of the fertilizer block. Because of the rush of time, the fertilizer after being exposed to the sun and the wind, and the smell of manure still have a lot of residues. The smell is very unpleasant and difficult to cover up.
So, Marin sent people to the swamp to dig a lot of peat soil, mixed with these fertilizer blocks to cover up the smell. However, the smell of feces still cannot be covered.
In a rage, Marin decided to put all the fertilizers in the hands of the serfs who had more thorough control over them, and not hand them over to irrelevant people. In this way, the risk of leakage is greatly reduced.
Just as Marin was preparing for spring plowing, the Principality of Cleaver suddenly sent an envoy...
In name, the envoy of the Duchy of Cliff came to congratulate Marin on becoming the Earl of East Frisia, and brought many gifts. But those gifts made Marin roll his eyes after seeing them. There is no other reason, because among these "heavy gifts", there are mainly spices such as pepper, cinnamon, and cloves.
It stands to reason that John II gave these precious gifts with sincerity. However, how did he know that Marin has four ships and is returning from India, wearing clothes full of spices...
Moreover, Marin did not have the habit of dipping pepper in his food. Therefore, the consumption of spices is actually not large. It's just that Marin's cheap father, old Hoffman, has a heavy mouth, and he is a bit fond of the spices that the big nobles eat in large quantities. Therefore, when eating, the old Hoffman often likes to eat with braised pork dipped in pepper, cinnamon and clove powder...
Fortunately, the old Hoffman didn't sprinkle a lot of pepper on the dish, otherwise, Marin wouldn't be able to eat it at all. In fact, the old Hoffman really planned to do so. However, not only Marin, but also Mrs. Mary doesn't like to eat directly dipped in spices. So, let's do it.
Cleaver's envoy, Lannett, came this time to congratulate Marin on becoming the Earl of East Frisia, and also had another mission—to ask Marin to return the 28 wandering knights...
After all, John II felt sorry for his brother. He knew that the composition of the Teutonic Knights was very complicated. Even if Philip became the grand master, it would take at least two or three years to sort it out before he could truly control the Teutonic Knights. This is not bad, after all, Prince Philip was also well-educated and smart. If you were an idiot, you might be taken away by those knights with real power under you.
Therefore, John II hoped that the 28 trainee knights who had participated in the battle of Marin's conquest of East Frisia would all help their brothers. After all, these people have all seen blood, and they are different from ordinary wandering knights who have never fought. Moreover, these people have also participated in the training of the Marin army and have experience in military training. This is very important to John II.
John II admired Marin's military command ability and military training ability very much, so he hoped that these 28 trainee knights who had experienced wars and were trained by Marin could be sent to help his younger brother. With these trainee knights who have participated in the war and learned military training, it is also convenient for Philip to quickly control the army of the Teutonic Knights. At least, a large number of cronies can be placed in the army.
But where is Marin happy? He has very few educated officers in his hands. These 28 trainee wandering knights, he is a treasure. At least, these officers can understand military orders, and there is nothing wrong with executing them. Unlike before, Marin promoted many illiterate officers, which resulted in difficulties in communicating military orders. At the beginning, in order to accurately convey the order, Marin even sent someone to confirm after ordering to make sure that the first batch of messengers did not convey the wrong order.
Now, with these 28 people, Marin can directly write the military order in hand, and let any soldier ride a horse to hand it over to the officer. Moreover, these wandering knights are basically only eighteen or nineteen years old. They are more obedient and can resolutely carry out Marin's orders. Those wandering knights with old fritters are certainly more experienced, but they also have more ideas, and they tend to be smart and modify Marin's orders without authorization.
Just like Frundsberg, Marin found that he had more thoughts of his own. At the beginning, the cooperation between the two was not very good. The main reason was that Frunzberg sometimes insisted on his own opinion and did not trust Marin's guidance. But with the development of time, and Marin proved himself correct with facts many times, Frundsberg was completely convinced by Marin and completely carried out Marin's order.
However, after all, Frundsberg is the knight of the old fritters, and he still has a lot of ideas. For example, the last time Marin treated those women and children ruthlessly in order to prevent future troubles, it aroused Frundsberg's strong dissatisfaction. Although Frundsberg did not express it in person, he still had a grudge about that matter.
This also made Marin realize that recruiting ready-made officers is quick to get started, but they are not as obedient as those wandering knights who have just been kicked out of their homes.
These wandering knights who have just been kicked out have basically zero social experience, and they have to learn many things from scratch. This wine left Marin with a lot of room for improvement. As long as they are well trained, these young wandering knights can easily be cultivated as Marin's loyalists.
For example, after the 28 trainee wandering knights stayed under Marin for a few months, most of them became Marin's most staunch supporters, and only a few of them were too slippery to be fooled. In addition, his own ability is limited, and he is not able to fully implement military orders, and has not been reused by Marin, so he is not very interested in Marin.
Sure enough, after Marin asked the opinions of these 28 people, 22 people expressed their willingness to stay without hesitation because they recognized and admired Marin very much, and because they were also reused here. The other 6 people were willing to go to the Teutonic Knights because they had many ideas and were not reused.
Speaking of which, the six people who are going to leave here are actually not bad in ability, and they are also relatively smart. They also learned well in Marin's military training. It's just that they have an important shortcoming, that is, they are not very obedient, and they think too much...
It is a great thing for a scientist to have many ideas. But for a middle-level officer, sometimes it is a bit fatal.
Regardless of whether it is a modern army or a modern army, a very important requirement for grassroots officers is to "resolutely obey orders."
Marin is not afraid that his subordinates have ideas. Usually, they can put forward ideas and discuss them with everyone. However, as long as the superior order is issued, no matter whether the superior order is right or wrong, the officers who receive the order must strictly implement it. Even if, that order was to send the officer to die.
Therefore, Marin didn't take much notice of the six trainee wandering knights who seemed smart but didn't obey orders. This kind of person, in the most difficult desperate stage, may have his own ideas, such as "preserving strength" and the like. In that case, it would be more deadly.
After understanding the thoughts of these 28 people, Marin decided to find a way to keep the 22 trainee wandering knights who were willing to serve him. In fact, among the 22 people, 15 people have already been named formal knights because of their previous military exploits. There was even one person (acting fourth square leader Stade) who was made a hereditary knight.
For Marin to leave 22 wandering knights, the envoy of the Principality of Clive, Lannett, of course did not agree. He wanted 28 people, and Marin only gave 6, which is too unreasonable. Before, Lannett and John II thought that there might be a few wandering knights willing to stay with Marin. However, he did not expect that 22 people would be willing to stay. So, of course he didn't want to.
So, Marin decided to exchange something...
Originally, Marin planned to spend money on it. However, Marin's eyes were suddenly attracted by a report on the imprisoned former citizens of Emden on his desk...
These imprisoned citizens of Emden are the family members of the citizens of Emden who fought desperately with Marin on the day Marin invaded Emden, and even many citizens of Emden who resisted Marin that day were still alive and were arrested together. Imprisoned.
For this group of people, Marin had a headache and didn't know how to deal with it. If you want to say that there will be no future troubles, you should kill them. However, the total number of these people is as high as 1,600, and they are all civilians. If they are all killed, Marin's reputation will be stink.
Before, Marin had a reason to kill those nobles who resisted. After all, those nobles, because their ancestors participated in the rebellion, were not in the right position, which is justified in law.
However, these imprisoned citizens are just ordinary people. According to the moral code of knights, one should not raise a butcher's knife to civilians. Of course, on the day Marin attacked the city, civilians blocked his army with kitchen knives, except for that situation.
However, for the detained civilians, Marin is not good at killing. Because the opponent is now unarmed. Moreover, there are many old and weak women and children among them.
Originally, Marin planned to exile these people to North America in the future. However, thinking about how the United States of later generations came to be, Marin was a little hesitant. You know, the earliest American immigrants were actually Puritans who rebelled against the king, and some exiled criminals.
It is precisely because of this that later generations of American culture advocate individuality (their ancestors were all criminals and rebels, can they have no individuality?) and the supremacy of interests.
Marin doesn't want the future colony to get out of control, so it's not a good idea to exile criminals and opponents to North America. To exile these people to a place as rich as North America is not to punish them, but to reward them.
Therefore, if you want to exile criminals and rebels, exile them to Africa, and deal with Uncle Black, that is the real exile and punishment.
Rich lands like North America, Australia, and Argentina should be handed over to immigrants who are loyal to themselves, so as to ensure that those colonies will not become independent in the future.
Only places with harsh environments and fierce residents like the African tropical rainforest and the Sahara Desert are good places for criminals and opponents...
This group of citizens basically has a blood feud with Marin. Therefore, it is impossible for these people to return to their hearts. Therefore, it is reasonable to send them away. But now, because of the lack of ships and sailing talents, Marin just wants to send these people overseas, and there are no conditions.
It just so happened that when the Principality of Cleaver came over to ask for someone, Marin decided in an instant—to give these people to John II, Duke of Cleaver...
Speaking of this group of people, Marin felt quite sorry. Because there are many craftsmen here. After all, in the Middle Ages, people who could live in the city, except for the aristocrats and the most humble coolies, were either craftsmen or merchants.
According to Marin's statistics, among the 1,600 people, 300 are craftsmen. Here, there are carpenters, cobblers, tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, stonemasons, masons, bakers, etc... all of them are medieval technical talents. With them, the economy can be much more active.
It's a pity that they had a blood feud with Marin, and Marin dared not use them anymore.
It happened that John II came to ask for someone, so Marin decided to exchange these people with John II...
Although these people have enmity with Marin, they have no enmity with John II. When they went to the territory of John II, they still made a living. Moreover, they can produce a lot of goods and promote the economic development of the Principality of Clive.
"Master Marin, this condition sounds good, but these people are ordinary citizens with high requirements. Taking them to the Principality of Cleaver will cost a lot of money just for resettlement..."
"What ordinary citizens? They are all prisoners of war. Now, I will punish them as slaves and hand them over to you, Lord Duke!"
The citizens in the Middle Ages were very cool. They didn't have to bear heavy taxes like serfs, but they enjoyed various preferential policies. If the mayor's policies don't suit their wishes, they dare to point at the mayor's nose and scold them. Because, even in the Middle Ages, mayors and councilors were elected by these citizens.
Therefore, the citizens are all uncles, and because they have the right to vote, even the mayor and mayor don't dare to provoke them.
Therefore, Lannett was very moved by Marin's proposal to send 1,600 people, including 300 craftsmen, to Duke John. Because, 300 craftsmen can produce a lot of goods and bring a lot of taxes to John II.
Moreover, because Prince Philip became the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, John II had a channel to transport a large amount of goods to the Teutonic Knights for sale.
But when there are channels, there must be producers to help produce low-cost goods...
300 craftsmen will definitely be able to help John II produce a lot of goods that can be used for trade. The only question is, in what capacity are these artisans brought in...
If it is introduced as a citizen, it is equivalent to inviting 300 uncles... You know, the citizens in the Middle Ages were very good, and the craftsmen were even high-end people among the citizens. Therefore, inviting 300 uncles to go back will cause a lot of trouble.
When Marin opened his mouth and was willing to punish these craftsmen as slaves and give them to John II, Lannet almost wanted to agree on the spot. Because he knew that John II was unlikely to refuse such a good condition.
In order to obtain enough goods for trade, John II is now privately recruiting craftsmen. But just like this, it is still more difficult to recruit. Because the craftsmen in the Middle Ages were all uncles, with high salaries and many conditions. John II didn't want Marin to be so rich, he could use money to smash the craftsmen directly. He can only use preferential policies to attract those craftsmen. However, preferential policies are more difficult to impress those craftsmen. After all, the benefits of this thing cannot be seen in the short term, and only those with long-term vision can discover the benefits. Unlike the gold coins smashed by Marin, it is dazzling to look at, and it is easier to be accepted by craftsmen.
As for the 22 trainee wandering knights, they were nothing to John II. Every year, dozens of wandering knights in the Principality of Cliff and Earl Mark are kicked out of their homes. Therefore, there is no shortage of wandering knights in John II.
It's just that John II was eager to support his brothers, so he wanted to send these wandering knights to the Teutonic Knights. The conditions you Marin offered are just right for John II's appetite.
Moreover, these craftsmen were given to him by Marin as a slave, which is really rare. A craftsman with a citizen status is an uncle and cannot afford to be offended. But the slave artisan is purely a money-making machine for the master. The master only needs to feed these craftsmen, as for other treatment, dare to mention it? Want to be whipped
Lannett can be sure that John II will agree to this condition. However, he didn't dare to make decisions without authorization, so he decided to go back and ask John II for instructions.
As for Marin, it is also very heartbreaking to let go of 300 craftsmen. However, these craftsmen have a blood feud with themselves, even if they are enslaved, they are easy to resist.
But giving it to John II is different. John II was not the culprit who killed their family members. They have no reason to fight John II. Therefore, by giving it to John II, these craftsmen can still engage in production with peace of mind. If they kept it in their own hands, even if these people were forced to engage in production, they might do bad things. For example, deliberately making the product poorly, wasting Marin's raw materials...
Moreover, with this group of people, in exchange for 22 officers with culture and martial arts who are easy to use, even if Marin loses, it will not be too much. What's more, he also eliminated the unrest in Emden. Taking into account social stability factors, Marin is actually not too bad...
At this stage, Marin's first need is to ensure the safety of East Frisia, followed by economic construction. Therefore, 22 educated officers are what Marin needs most at present. As for craftsmen, it is secondary. Besides, as long as you have money, are you afraid you won't be able to recruit? What's more, Marin plans to set up a technical school in the future to train educated craftsmen on a large scale...