Considering that many princes may not take the emperor seriously, it is basically impossible to implement the emperor's order. At Marin's suggestion, Maximilian I also wrote to the Pope, asking the Pope to advocate abstinence throughout Europe for a period of time. Because the infection of syphilis is spread by messing around. If everyone abstained from sexual intercourse, there would be no channels for the spread of syphilis.
After solving this matter, Maximilian I also admired Marin very much. This little fellow, who was about the same age as Prince Philip, not only helped him defeat the invincible Frenchman in Italy, brought him spoils worth more than a million gold coins, but also helped him suppress the outbreak of a plague (syphilis).
After thinking about it, Maximilian I decided to conduct an extensive publicity campaign throughout the empire. Together with the syphilis ban, promote Marin's "advanced deeds".
Marin was originally just a young man who wasn't even a knight, but after helping the emperor fight, in just a few months, he was named a baron with an independent territory because of his military exploits. Such a story, in this day and age, is definitely very inspirational.
This matter is also tantamount to telling everyone in a disguised form—come on, serve the emperor me, the benefits will be great!
Except for the group of people from the Swabian Alliance and Albrecht, the Duke of Saxony (not the Saxon Elector, but the younger brother of the Saxony Elector), the great nobles in the Shenluo Empire were basically Standing against the emperor.
Therefore, the emperor needs a new force to break this situation. The birth of Marin made the emperor find a point of propaganda.
Maximilian I was relatively wise and promising in the Habsburg family. Many people think that Charles V is the most capable monarch of the Habsburg family, but in fact, when Charles V came to the throne, he controlled Spain, a big money bag with a large amount of American gold and silver, of course he had enough confidence.
You know, in Europe at that time, mercenaries were the mainstream, and whoever had money could do things. Sitting on the large gold mine of the Spanish colonial empire, Charles V naturally had enough money to hire enough troops to beat the whole of Europe. Moreover, at that time, the Spanish phalanx happened to be very popular. The gold and silver in Spain, and the Spanish phalanx, were not made by Charles V, but existed in themselves. Even, Charles V was able to inherit the Spanish throne because Maximilian I let his son Philip marry the "crazy girl" Juana. Therefore, it is not easy to comment on the level of Charles V's ability.
But Maximilian I was different. When he came to the throne, the Habsburg family was in a precarious time. His father, Frederick III, fought for hegemony with Hungary, and lost more than half of Austria as a result. And his father-in-law, Charles the Bold, fought for hegemony with France and lost his life...
Therefore, what he took over was the mess of Austria and Burgundy. Under such circumstances, Maximilian I resolutely abandoned the ancient military system mobilized by the fiefs and adopted the emerging mercenary system, which enabled the Habsburg family to own a 15,000-strong army without much cost. The powerful force of infantry and 1500 knights also stabilized the imperial power of the Habsburg family.
Therefore, Maximilian I was the most important founder of the Habsburg family's ability to monopolize the imperial power of the Holy Roman Empire for 300 years. Charles V, at most, can only be regarded as a good three generations of emperors.
As a relatively capable monarch, Maximilian I's vision is not bad. He could see Marin's outstanding ability, so he was relatively polite to Marin. Before, Marin bargained with him, but he didn't think he was disobedient, and he was willing to talk to him. If any other little knight dared to drag Maximilian I like this, he would have been beaten out by the royal knights of Austria.
Of course, the inspirational story of Marin's success under his command, the emperor felt, would definitely inspire those young and promising young people to come to serve the emperor one after another. Therefore, Maximilian I decisively established Marin as a positive model and publicized it...
Facts have proved that the emperor's vision is very good. What the common people like to hear most is the inspirational stories of these young heroes. The story of Marin relying on 4,000 men and defeating 8,000 well-equipped French knights soon became a household name in the Principality of Austria, and began to spread in Burgundy, and then spread to the entire Holy Roman Empire.
Those great nobles who opposed the emperor could not stop the spread of Marin's legend in the empire. Because they have no reason to prevent the spread and spread of the deeds of young heroes like Marin. But they know that this matter is beneficial to the emperor...
Sure enough, after publicity, many young people in Austria and Swabia regarded Marin as their idol. In this day and age, there are few singer stars, and young people don't know who to admire. As for the emperor and the dukes, they are too high and far away from the young people.
But Marin is different. He is also a young man, even a 17-year-old boy, a boy from a low-level knight family, very "down-to-earth". In Marin's successful deeds, they seem to see their own future...
After hearing Marin's inspirational story, many young wandering knights in Austria gave up the idea of serving those great nobles, and went directly to Vienna to find Maximilian I...
In their view, the same wandering knight, Marin, a 17-year-old kid, can succeed, why can't I? Even if it is not as good as Marin, it is still possible to have the title of an official imperial knight. Because most of the wandering knights are apprentice knights, not real knights at all. And a real knight needs to be canonized by a great noble. Only knights who have been canonized can be regarded as true nobles. And apprentice knights can only be regarded as elite fighters, not nobles.
In a short period of time, the emperor recruited 500 wandering knights who came to Vienna from all over Austria to serve, which made the emperor very happy.
You know, before the Spanish phalanx appeared, muskets were not the standard weapon of the army. And the knight class has not yet been suppressed by muskets and gradually withdrawn from the stage of history.
Therefore, in this era, knights are still relatively popular "skilled jobs". Maximilian I was able to recruit 500 more knights, which was considered a bumper harvest.
Because, although there are many knights in the Holy Roman Empire, there are also many great nobles. Not to mention the emperor and duke, there are quite a few knights who served earls, viscounts, and barons.
As for the emperor himself, because of his poor financial situation, many knights were unwilling to serve him, a poor emperor, which made him very depressed.
Now, stimulated by Marin's inspirational story, many young knights are eager to serve the emperor willingly.
Not only those wandering knights, but also many healthy young people who are struggling to make a living, also have the idea of serving as soldiers for food. Especially, Marin's men, the group of youths who returned home with hundreds of gold coins. They went to Italy for a trip, built a house and bought fields after returning home, married a beautiful daughter-in-law, and reached the pinnacle of life... This is a living advertisement...
As a result, many poor young people are also eager to move, planning to go to Vienna to join the emperor, and also want to make a lot of money and reach the pinnacle of life just like their predecessors...