Before leaving Italy, Marin sent Kohler with a group of cronies to deal with the huge number of horses. Even, with a thick face, he asked the emperor for 30 war horses. For this reason, Marin specifically promised that next time he will fight for the emperor, he will bring at least 30 cavalry.
Of course, among the war horses he asked for, there were 20 excellent stallions that had not been castrated, and 10 excellent mares. European war horses are different from Eastern war horses. For the war horses of the Orientals, in order to calm down the temper of the war horses and prevent them from getting into trouble because of "picking up girls", the male horses are basically castrated.
On the European side, whether the male horse is castrated or not depends on the wishes of the knight himself. Only those stallions that are too violent will be castrated. There are also some knights, influenced by oriental habits, who choose to castrate their male war horses.
For example, among the 1,000 French war horses that Marin dedicated to the emperor, there were more than 300 uncastrated stallions. Strictly speaking, uncastrated stallions and castrated stallions have their own characteristics. Stallions that have not been castrated tend to be irritable, more courageous and explosive, but difficult to control. The so-called strong horses are mainly those male horses that have not been castrated. And castrated male horses, because they have no desires and desires, tend to have a much better temper, which is almost the same as that of mares. Moreover, gelding horse endurance is also good. Although the explosive power is not as good as that of the uncastrated stallion, the endurance has been strengthened. They no longer have desires, and eating, drinking and running have become the most important things in their lives...
Marin felt that it made sense that the Eastern warhorse would not be as good as Europe in later generations. The Easterners castrated all the good stallions to be used as war horses, leaving only bad horses for breeding, which would inevitably lead to a decline in the quality of the horses. Because this is not in line with the principle of eugenics. Fortunately, the Mongolian horses in the east have strong vitality and a huge base, so they have not become extinct. However, its overall quality has not improved.
As for war horses in Europe, many knights are unwilling to castrate male horses, so many excellent horses can be used for breeding. So, European horses are getting taller and taller. This is like Yao Ming's child must be very tall, and Pan Changjiang's child must not be tall. In ancient China, male horses like "Yao Ming" were castrated, while male horses like "Pan Changjiang" were kept. Therefore, Mongolian horses will never grow taller, and may even degenerate. Because the tall horses among them were all castrated, and they couldn't leave powerful offspring...
Marin salivated, and asked the emperor for a batch of war horses. Originally, the emperor refused. But considering that these horses were originally captured by Marin, and Marin promised to bring cavalry to join the battle next time. So, he reluctantly let Marin choose 30 horses, but it was far from the 100 horses Marin expected.
"What a stingy emperor!" Marin was very dissatisfied. But this is also his own problem. Who told him not to keep some good horses first? It went into the pocket of Maximilian I, and you want someone to take it out again? Think too much...
Originally, the emperor also felt that the fiefdom given to Marin was too barren, and wanted to reward some property. But Marin asked for war horses, and the emperor directly regarded the 30 war horses as an additional reward. As for the property that was originally intended to be rewarded, it was gone. If Marin knew this situation, he would definitely jump up with anger. Because, in order to obtain these horses, he also promised to contribute 30 heavy cavalry to the emperor in the next war. And if you accept the emperor's property reward of the same value, you don't need to agree to this condition at all.
On Kohler's side, only 1,600 of the 3,600 draft horses were sold. Because of the war, Italy lost a lot this time, and many rich men were robbed by soldiers and turned into poor people. Therefore, there are not many who can afford horses. As for the Venetians, because they ate too many war horses and armors, it was difficult to turn over funds. Besides, if someone bought a war horse, why do they need to pull the horse? In which area is there no draft horse for sale
So, Marin had 2,000 draft horses in his hands...
"Fuck, there are 2,000 horses left, are you kidding me?" Marin was a little surprised, he didn't want to open a racecourse, why do he need so many horses? Every horse is a big eater, 2,000 horses can make people poor... Well, that's not true, it seems that Marin can afford these horses now...
"There is no way, Italy was severely damaged by the war, many rich people went bankrupt, or ran to other places to avoid the war..."
"Then we keep these horses? Horses consume a lot of feed..."
"Master, you now have territory, why don't we specialize in horse breeding?"
"War horse breeding?"
"Yes, wars are frequent now, and the demand for war horses is also great. We can breed war horses and sell them to those nobles!"
"War horse breeding... is a good idea, let's take the lead in conducting a war horse pedigree certification..." Marin laughed. He plans to introduce some excellent war horses such as Arabian horses, and breed some excellent war horse breeds.
"Kole, go and hire someone who knows horses to help you select them, find out the castrated males, and sell them when you go back to China. Those not too strong males are also sold. As for the females Horses, the bad ones are sold off, and the better ones are kept..." Marin has made up his mind to cultivate war horses.
The quality of this batch of draft horses from the French is very good, almost reaching the level of war horses, just a little bit worse. Such horses can be used for breeding, and there is a high chance of breeding war horses.
After selection, Kohler left 200 uncastrated males and 800 mares. In this way, on average, each stallion will have four "wives"...
"Hey, I hope you don't suffer from kidney failure by then..." Marin looked at the stallions maliciously...
After returning to the German region, Kohler took a group of cronies and sold the other 1,000 draft horses along the way and sold them off one by one.
However, after returning to the country, because there was no fighting for the time being, the emperor also planned to dismiss most of the army. As for Marin's phalanx, the emperor originally planned to keep it. However, Marin was anxious to run the territory and was unwilling to stay in Vienna.
"Baron Marin, you have to think about it, it will be easier to improve your status by following me..." The emperor used his status to seduce Marin.
"Your Majesty, is there any battle to fight now, and I will stay in Vienna to dawdle? If you have time, why not build up my baronship. However, once Your Majesty wants to fight, I promise to bring the army to serve His Majesty." Marin was eager to build the territory, but he did not give up the opportunity to promote the title. The baron is always a low-level title. Without an earl title, Marin is too embarrassed to greet people, and he has to salute first when he sees a high-ranking noble. He can also shake his prestige in front of the knight now, which is really nothing.
Moreover, Marin also found that he had never been in the officialdom in his previous life, and dealing with people was a bit immature. Rather than trying to play tricks with those black-bellied old men, it would be more comfortable to go to your own territory and become the emperor of the land.
"Okay, then you can go back first, when I have a war, you must come!"
"I swear by the honor of a knight that I will definitely come to serve Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty, if you have made great achievements, don't forget to mention my title..."
"Don't worry, if you make a great contribution, I will definitely not treat you badly!" Maximilian I was not stupid. Marin made a great contribution and made him more than one million gold coins. It was almost a fortune. He can't wait for Marin to make such great achievements several times. For a poor emperor like him, money is more important than face...
But after Marin returned to his station outside Vienna, he was in a bad mood immediately...
It turned out that many subordinates were clamoring to go home...
Since Marin distributed 100 gold coins to each of them, many people were satisfied. Because, this money is enough for them to go back to their hometown to build a house, buy fields and marry a wife. For them, earning 100 gold coins has already reached the pinnacle of life...
You know, the average German earns only 2 pfennigs a day (many poor people only earn 1 pfennig a day). Over the course of a year, that’s 730 pfennigs, equivalent to £3 or 12 ducats. And 100 gold coins is equivalent to their salary after working for more than 8 years, which is a huge sum of money. Coupled with the salary paid by the emperor before, and some small benefits obtained privately in Italy, it is completely enough for them to "return home". Therefore, many soldiers began to want to leave...
Marin also had some regrets. No wonder the later Frederick the Great did not allow Prussian soldiers to rob. It turns out that this guy is afraid that the soldiers will run away after grabbing the money...
But it's too late to say anything now, since people want to leave, Marin is not reluctant. After all, there is no war now, and it is not easy to support them. Besides, people's hearts are broken, and the team is not easy to lead. It's better to let those who want to leave leave, and then find a chance to rebuild the team.
Of course, this incident also taught Marin a lesson - that is, don't give money to the mercenaries casually! Because, if those mercenaries got enough money, they might run away.
However, Marin is thinking—the mercenaries will definitely not do it if they don't pay the mercenaries. However, the money cannot be distributed immediately, because many mercenaries may run away after receiving the money. Therefore, the best way is for Marin to temporarily "help" the mercenaries keep the money they get, just like the fixed deposit of later generations. If the service period is less than a few years, the funds will not be cashed, lest the mercenaries get the money too early and run away.
As for the three sent by the emperor, Bowen Gardner, Height Basque, and Jason Cheers sent by the earl, as well as their subordinates, they were transferred back by the emperor and the earl.
Because, Marin's team is obviously about to be abolished by the empire for the time being. And those three people are the cronies of the emperor and the earl, so they can't be abolished together, right? Therefore, they were transferred back to the headquarters to serve. Moreover, they also learned a lot of knowledge from Marin, and they expected them to train soldiers when they went back...
Then, after statistics, Marin found sadly that as many as 700 of the original 1,100 men ran away with a "crash". In Marin's hands, there were only 400 men left in an instant...
"Good brother, show loyalty!" Marin patted the chests of those brothers who were willing to stay and follow him, very moved.
In fact, what Marin didn't know was that only half of the 400 people left were really Marin's loyal cronies. The other half are unwilling to go home because of identity issues. They were the sons of serfs, of low status. The original serf owners drove them away because they could not afford to support them, but they had not yet given up their slavery and made them commoners. If they went home with 100 gold coins now, they might be snatched by the serf owner. Because, according to the law, the children of serfs are also considered the property of serf owners. The property of the property, is it not the master's
If these children of serfs go home with 100 gold coins, there is a great risk of being plundered by the original serf owners. While staying in Marin's army, no serf owner would have the guts to grab it. As for those who returned to their hometowns, most of them were civilians, or used to be serfs, but after being driven out of the manor by the serf owners, they have obtained the status of civilians recognized by legal documents. They didn't worry about being plundered by the serf owners, so they rushed home to live a good life.
In other words, there are only 200 people here who are devoted to Marin. Among them, 70 were from the first batch of people recruited by Marin. But Marin didn't know, thinking that these 400 people were all his loyalists...
"Brothers, if you want, you can take your family to Texel Island. I will arrange for someone to build a house for you, and even be responsible for introducing your wives..."
"Haha, really, Lord Baron, are you really responsible for helping us find wives?" asked a frustrating-looking but brave subordinate.
"My uncle said he would do it!" Marin slapped his chest loudly.
"Long live Master Marin! We are going to marry a beautiful woman!" Then, a group of brothers under his command went crazy.
This group of people, born in poverty, but not lacking in courage and courage, are good soldiers. And, after this incident, Marin discovered their loyalty. Therefore, Marin intends to take them back to his territory and train them well.
For this reason, Marin thought of Germany during World War I and World War II. At that time, Hitler relied on the 100,000 Wehrmacht elite left after World War I, and based on them, he quickly rebuilt a huge army. And the previous 100,000 National Defense Forces, everyone has become a grassroots officer, led a group of recruits to fight bravely, and accompanied the mustache to single out the world...
Marin intends to train these 400 people into excellent officers. In this way, the next time the emperor recruits him again, he can quickly pull up a team based on these 400 people and charge into battle...