King of German Mercenaries

The number of Teutonic knights in the Saxony and Franconian-Swabian alliances was so great that the two together had 410 seats, half of the total number of Teutonic knights with voting rights.

Moreover, Marin couldn't guarantee that some of the other neutral knights would be pulled over. For this reason, Marin is thinking about not only guaranteeing his own votes, but also destroying and reducing the opponent's votes...

This time the election of the chief of the Teutonic Knights has attracted a lot of people. In addition to the two seeds, Prince Frederick and Prince Philip, there are actually some eligible knights or princes from other regions to participate in the campaign.

(Note: The prince here does not only refer to the son of the king, but the son of the princes. All kings, dukes, marquis and earls who own autonomous territories, and their sons, can be called princes. Of course, the sons of the lords below the earl are not allowed. It's called a prince. Because, the level is not enough...)

In this era, many noble families, if there are many sons or daughters, like to choose a son to be a monk, or choose a daughter to be a nun.

King Edward IV of England, for example, had a youngest daughter, Bridget of York, who became a nun. There are also some kings, dukes, and counts who, when they have enough sons, will arrange for a son to develop into the religious world, and try to become a bishop or something.

Because, in this era, the Holy See has a great influence. If there is one person in the family who can make a name for himself in the church, it can bring great help to the family.

Moreover, although the bishops of the bishopric and the archbishopric need to be appointed by the Holy See, all of them are from those big noble families.

For example, the three major religious electors of the Holy Roman Empire—the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, and the Archbishop of Cologne—are all from those princely families.

Berthold von Hennenberg, Archbishop of Mainz, came from the Earl of Hennenberg, his father was Count Hennenberg; Archbishop Johan II of Trier was from Baden, he His father was Jacob, Count of Baden Frontier; Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne, was from Hesse and was the son of Louis I, Count of Hesse...

Of course, the sons of so many princes became archbishops only if those princes were willing to make their sons monks. Therefore, unless it is a family with difficult descendants, it is actually quite common for those princes to choose a son to become a monk.

Moreover, to choose a son to become a monk, a monk does not need a territory. Therefore, when dividing up the inheritance, there can be fewer disputes...

Most of these princes who became monks would be arranged by the family to bribe the Holy See and arrange to become bishops on their own territory. Like Prince Philip,

Originally, it was planned to arrange for his second brother, the Bishop of Nevers, in the country of Nevers.

But there are also some restless ones, for example, Prince Frederick, who heard that the former chief of the Teutonic Knights had hiccups, and there was no suitable candidate within the Teutonic Knights. So he hurried to run for the election. Moreover, he also had the support of the Duke of Saxony.

After all, the Teutonic Knights is a very powerful country. If its opponent, the Polish-Lithuanian Alliance, is too powerful, as the head of this powerful country, don't be too comfortable.

Even if a strong enemy is on the side, as the chief of the Teutonic Knights, it is very face. And, it's also very sensible. Because, as long as he becomes the head of the Teutonic League, he can become the head of the third largest business circle in the Hanseatic League, the Prussian and Livonian business circles.

As the head of the group, it is no problem to get enough benefits for yourself and your family in the third largest business district of the Hanseatic League...

Therefore, there are actually a lot of noble children who want to become the Teutonic Grand Commander.

In addition to the two seeded contestants, Prince Frederick and Prince Philip, there are still some children of noble monks who came to participate in the election.

However, after Prince Frederick and Prince Philip began to exert their strength, many people felt desperate. Because, compared with these two deep-pocketed seeds, they have no chance of winning.

As a result, some minor nobles from remote areas or the disciples of noble cultivators from minor princely states withdrew from the campaign one after another, intending to watch the fun.

But Marin didn't plan to let them go, and was going to pick a puppet to block Prince Frederick...

After picking left and right, Marin selected a disciple of an Austrian noble monk named William. This guy named William is not small. His father was an offshoot of the Austrian Habsburg family. Like Count Albrecht who had previously commanded the army in Italy, he was an unterritorial court count of the Habsburg family. Of course, the Count of Albrecht had gotten into a fief last time because he was exposed to the light of Marin, and he lived a relatively moist life. And William's father, Earl Albert, although he was also an earl, only had the title of an earl and had no corresponding territory. He was a standard poor earl.

Therefore, after William heard that the chief of the Teutonic Knights had passed away and there was no suitable successor, he also rushed to Königsberg to try his luck.

But he dropped the candidacy when he saw that Prince Frederick and Prince Philip were throwing money and writing bad checks. Because, as the son of a poor landless earl, William was also very poor. His brothers have no money to squander, let alone him.

However, when Marin learned his identity, he was overjoyed...

First of all, William is a member of the Habsburg family, although only a collateral, but also considered noble. The Habsburg family may have little influence over other princes. For example, whether it is a Franconian knight or a Westphalian-Rhineland knight, they are not interested in the Habsburg family.

However, the knights of the Swabian family had to give face. Because, the nobles of the Swabian family are now the emperor's most hard-core allies. These Teutonic knights from noble families in the Swabian region could not but give the Habsburgs face.

At the same time, the knights of the Saxon family should also give the Habsburg family some face. Because the Saxon nobles have a good relationship with the Habsburg family now. Of course, between Prince Frederick, the direct prince of Saxony, and William, the collateral prince of the Habsburg family, the knights of Saxony will decisively choose Prince Frederick. Don't say that William is just a collateral line of the Habsburg family, even if it is a direct line, in the Saxon knight, it can't be compared with his own prince.

Therefore, it is completely impossible for Marin to use William to canvass the Saxon knights. As for the Franconian knights, the possibility is relatively small, but it can also draw a few votes. On the other hand, the Swabian Knights can do something about it...

Marin took the initiative to contact William, the poor ghost prince. When Marin asked Prince William to run for the post of Grand Headmaster, William refused. Because he has absolutely no confidence.

However, Marin took out a handful of gold coins and tried it, and saw the desire in Prince William's eyes. So, Marin has a bottom line...

After promising a favor fee of 5,000 gold coins and recommending him to hold an important position next to Prince Philip, Prince William resolutely knelt down...

Even Marin paid him a deposit of 500 gold coins, which made Prince William very happy...

In this regard, Marin is also relieved...

After that, Marin asked for a few capable men from Prince Philip to help Prince William support the scene. Then, Marin asked Prince William to secretly invite those Swabian knights and Franconian knights, offering a bag of gold coins as a bribe...

In order to be more convincing, Malin, a "professional talent" with modern counterfeiting technology, forged a royal document based on the identity certificate signed by the emperor issued by the emperor on his body, explaining that Habs The Fort family gave William support and asked the knights of the Swabian family to support William a lot...

William was afraid to use the document at first, but Marin told him, as long as you don't leave a copy to the knights, who can prove that you used this fake document?

Moreover, as long as Prince Philip succeeds in taking the position of the chief, he will definitely reuse William. This point, Prince Philip also personally guaranteed.

As for the emperor to blame afterwards? There may be this. After all, the Duke of Saxony was an ally of the Emperor. But so what? William was originally a member of the Habsburg family. Moreover, this time it was William's personal behavior, and the emperor could not blame his father and brother.

And as long as things are done, William doesn't have to go back, and he doesn't have to worry about being punished. Even if things fail, Marin promises not to give the 5,000 gold. So, William can live just as well.

After thinking about it, William officially accepted Marin's employment, and began to take the fake emperor's documents and the gold coin bag provided by Marin, and began to quietly attack those Swabian knights and Franconian knights...

And for the sake of secrecy, William secretly invited those knights in private, and he only invited a few people at a time, very hidden...

Not only that, Marin also made William crazy to open conditions. Promise to the knights of Swabian and Franconia that as long as they become the chief commander, they will support them to become sub-commanders or hold other important positions, and they will be in power together...

Such a promise may not be attractive to those Teutonic knights who are doing well. However, it is very attractive to those Teutonic knights who do not mix well. However, these poor knights have the same voting rights as those who are good knights...

As for writing a bad check? This is not a problem at all. Because, William is destined to be unable to be elected as the chief. If not selected, these promises do not need to be fulfilled. So, even if you make random promises, you don’t have to worry about anything going wrong.

Frederick, Prince of Saxony, who is proud of the spring breeze, doesn't know yet that his ally, the Teutonic Knights of the Franconian-Swabian Alliance, has been secretly poached with a hoe...