King of German Mercenaries

As the training continued, Marin suddenly discovered that there were many problems in the army. The biggest problem is the quality of officers.

You must know that in the entire army, except for Marin, Schwartz, and Frenzberg, who came from three knight families who were literate, everyone else was illiterate.

Although, among these illiterate soldiers, there are also many clever ones who are more suitable to be team captains. However, at the level of a company captain, these illiterate people are not suitable.

In the simplest example, a company of 250 men might be sent on individual missions. And some tasks are more complicated and cannot be fully expressed by oral communication (messengers are also illiterate and cannot remember too much), and require written orders.

However, if the captain of the company is illiterate, it will stop. Orders that are too long are difficult for the messenger to dictate. In the end, even the captain could only be dumbfounded. Therefore, it is also very important to find a company captain who can understand orders.

And all Marin's current army, a total of 5,000 people (the 1,000 Frisian prisoners of war are not counted), a total of 20 companies. It can be said that Marin is in urgent need of talents like company captain.

Of course, Marin can also organize literacy classes so that his subordinates can learn to read and write smartly. However, this is a little too late. Because, within this year, he will definitely send troops.

Not only Malin worried, Schwartz and Franzberg are worried. Those acting company captains in their phalanx are all illiterate, and are only suitable for being a microphone, not a company captain.

In this regard, Schwartz and Frenzberg both came to Marin to discuss how to solve this problem...

In fact, the most suitable company captains are those wandering knights. These people are literate, strong in martial arts, and can conquer those big-headed soldiers. Moreover, the wandering knights have learned simple military command methods when they are basically at home, and they can be regarded as professional counterparts.

However, Marin had also recruited those wandering knights who came to visit him on Texel Island, but he didn't find one. The literate among the civilians may not necessarily be able to become officers. Because, in addition to literacy, officers must also have courage and force, otherwise they will not be able to conquer those big-headed soldiers. Moreover, in the age of cold weapons, the bravery of grass-roots officers is very important. If the officer takes the lead in fleeing, the army will surely collapse...

So, the best way is to recruit those wandering knights...

However, Marin cannot now send people to openly recruit wandering knights in the German interior. Because, once he publicly recruited wandering knights, it would reveal military secrets. For example, the information that he recruited 5,000 soldiers is easily known.

Once this news leaks out, it will attract the vigilance of countries around the Wadden Islands. The most immediate consequence is that East Friesland may increase its vigilance. If East Friesland strengthens its vigilance, the difficulty of attacking Emden will increase exponentially, which is definitely not what Marin wants to see.

"How can I recruit enough wandering knights without attracting attention..." Marin fell into deep thought...

"Master, how about we go to the eldest master to help?" Schwartz came up with an idea.

"No, absolutely not. Adler hasn't given birth to a son yet, and Daddy won't allow him to go to war."

"Then let's borrow some people from the Teutonic Knights?"

"Borrowing someone?" Marin was a little puzzled.

"Didn't you say that there are many wandering knights in the Teutonic Knights? There are so many wandering knights, why can't they borrow some first. When East Frisian is conquered and you become an earl, someone will be willing to defect..."

Marin thought for a while, and his eyes suddenly lit up:

"Good idea! Let's borrow someone!"

"But, my lord, the person who borrowed it has to be returned after all..." Franzberg hesitated.

"It's okay, I thought of a good way. We can find those wandering knights who just debuted, and then fool them every day. If you don't believe them, they won't stay."

"Then we will send someone to the Teutonic Kingdom to borrow someone now?"

"Do not,

I'll go to Cliff City myself..."

"what do you mean?"

"Previously, Chief Philip asked John II to organize the wandering knights from the Duchy of Clifford and the Country of Mark to defect to him. Can I borrow 20 people from John II in the organization..."

"Will John II lend it?"

"We are allies. It's really not good. I can give him some salt quota every year, so that he can make a small fortune." Give John II a point, and let John II distribute it exclusively in the Duchy of Clifford and the Earl of Mark, and that's no problem. Who made him the boss of these two countries?

"How about Manager Wright?"

"It's okay, the amount I give to Wright every year is actually not enough to sell. Moreover, now Wright has expanded the market to the upper Rhine region and is no longer limited to the vicinity of Cologne. It's just that the Duchy of Clifford and the Earl of Mark are missing, It won't prevent him from selling out the salt."

The next day, Marin took dozens of thugs, one man and two horses, and quickly rushed to Cliff City...

John II warmly received Marin, but when Marin proposed to borrow someone, John II was a little embarrassed. Because, these people should be sent to the Teutonic State to help his brother.

Although Marin is an ally, he cannot compare to his brother after all. Therefore, John II prefers to give these people to his brother, so that Prince Philip can quickly control the Teutonic state.

"Hehe, I don't know if Lord Duke has heard of the high-quality non-bitter salt from the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce?" Marin knew that it was not easy, so he had to make a big move...

"Of course I have heard that the refined salt is snow-white and crystal clear, with no bitter taste. It is indeed the best salt. Now, my court has switched to this salt instead of the bitter Lüneburg mine salt. "

"What if I can get a large batch of this salt and let you sell it as an agent?"

"What?"

So Marin explained to John II the popular concept of regional agency sales in later generations. To put it bluntly, it is to allow John II to monopolize the sales of non-bitter salt in the Duchy of Clifford and the Country of Mark...

At present, the price of unbittered salt is at least six shillings per quarter in the Duchy of Clever, which is still wholesale. The price Marlin gave Wright was only 3 shillings and 9 pfennigs. The profits are still huge.

Moreover, Marin also instilled the shameless means of "salt monopoly" to John II, instigating John II to monopolize the national salt trade...

The more John II listened, the brighter his eyes became. When Marin finished speaking, his eyes were already searchlights...

"What a great idea... er... Baron Marin, do you really have a way to find so much non-bitter salt for me? And a steady supply?"

"Of course, we can produce non-bitter salt on our island?"

"What? Then you also provided the non-bitter salt from the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce?" John II stood up in shock. He finally understood why Marin was able to give 100,000 gold coins to support his younger brother as the chief of the Teutonic regiment. Without bitterness, the trade of salt is not a loss, and it is a big profit...

"Cough cough... That's not it, I'm just one of the partners of the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce. The main partner of the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce is actually in the UK. On my side, because of the discovery of a bay with high seawater quality , so a lot of non-bitter salt can be produced. Well...you know, the quality of salt is related to seawater..." Marin began to fool John II. Anyway, John II didn't understand science...

"Oh... so that's the case..." Although he didn't understand, John II was a big man with a big face, and he wouldn't say what he didn't understand. So, he simply pretended to understand, and kept nodding... Just like those big leaders who inspected the high-tech development zone, they clearly didn't understand high-tech, but kept nodding, as if they understood...

Next, Marin and John II agreed that Marin would provide John II with 50,000 quarts of unbittered salt at a wholesale price of 4 shillings per quart per year. In fact, this amount is not much, but the population of the Principality of Clifford and the Earl of Mark is not large. Moreover, among ordinary people, some poor people can't afford salt that is not bitter. Therefore, if these experiences can cover half of the residents of the two countries, it is not bad. The other half of the poor also need to import some bitter Lüneburg salt. However, whether it is refined salt or bitter salt, John II intends to monopolize the operation according to Marin's er instructions...

After a cooperation agreement was reached, John II was happy. As a result, the second batch of 60 wandering knights who were going to be sent to the Teutonic Knights was given to Marin by John II directly, and 28 wandering knights from the country of Mark were directly given to Marin, and he promised to help keep them secret... …

Marin also happily took these 28 people back, and he made up his mind-although he said it was borrowing, he planned to learn "Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou", these people have borrowed but not repaid...

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