King of German Mercenaries

Soon, with 1,000 soldiers, Marin boarded dozens of fishing boats, and under the escort of three warships, they made a mighty journey across the English Channel to Cork, Ireland.

If it were before, Marin would not dare to walk such a large fleet on the English Channel so arrogantly. However, things are different now.

In the past, ships under Marin's command had to be careful when passing through the English Channel, for fear of attracting the attention of the French and thus being intercepted. However, right now, not long after the death of the French king, France is in turmoil, and various forces are secretly competing with each other. Who has the mind to pay attention to the English Channel?

And the British side is also, Henry VII just cleaned up the fake Richard last year, and the country is maintaining stability now, and he has no intention to pay attention to other things, but the situation is a little better than France.

Therefore, Marin's fleet sailed in the middle of the English Channel, on the French side...

However, when passing through Calais (occupied by the British), Marin passed at night to avoid British attention. Because the British are currently claiming the island of Ireland as a British territory. If the British knew that they were going to seize Cork, wouldn't that be a provocation to Henry VII?

Fortunately, the journey went smoothly, and Marin played the French flag to confuse merchant ships in the English Channel. Sure enough, although the British merchant ships were puzzled by the "French" dispatching such a large fleet, they did not take it seriously. After all, what the French want to do, the British have no control.

As for the French side, the country is in chaos, and no one has come to verify whether the fleet is really the French fleet...

In this way, more than ten days later, the fleet led by Marin successfully arrived in Cork, without arousing suspicion from others along the way...

However, Marin's fleet entered the Lee River from Cork Bay during the day, and happened to be seen by women who were out of town picking wild vegetables. So, when Marin's troops landed, Cork City had already closed its gates and made a defensive stance.

But Marin didn't take care of the people in the city for the time being, but sent 100 cavalry to land first and headed to several roads north of Cork City to intercept all people heading north.

Because, Marin worried, the people of the city would turn north and ask for help from Maurice, Earl of Desmond. But in fact, the people of Cork City did not trust Morris and did not send anyone to the north for help at all. Although he didn't intercept the people calling for help, Marin entrusted him to spread the 100 cavalry on the roads in the north of the city to ensure that the news would not be leaked.

Then, with 900 infantry, Marin slowly surrounded the city of Cork...

The walls of Cork City are tall and sturdy. Marin looked at it. Even if the defenders are all old men, if he wants to attack by force, he will lose a lot. After all, if you have to climb up the wall, the old men may not be able to beat you, but they can still push you off the wall.

And, once the blood bleeds, the relationship between Marin and the townspeople gets strained. After all, blood feuds are difficult to resolve. Marin thought about it and decided to use a gentler method...

On the first day, Marin divided the army into three parts, stationed in the north, west and south of the city respectively (the east of the city is the Li River, and the people in the city can't escape, so there is no need to send troops). Manage the people of the city.

On the top of the city, a hundred local old men looked at the Marin army who were leisurely building their camp there, and looked at each other in dismay. It seemed that the other party came to camp, not to fight.

However, after Marin felt the wind direction, the military camp in the west of the city shifted a little to the south...

Why do you do this? Because the southwest wind prevailed in Cork at this time, Marin placed his main business in the southwest of Cork City, which is the upper wind of Cork City...

After repairing the camp, Marin instructed the cooking team to set up a cauldron and start cooking on a fire...

It was clear that Marin was going to lure the people of Cork with the aroma of the food...

According to information obtained by Kidd, Cork City has been out of food for several months. Now,

People in Cork City are eating wild vegetables, bark, grass roots and the like.

The siege of the city by Marin actually cut off the way for the city people to dig wild vegetables and starved the city people. At this time, he also let people set up a big pot to cook meat in the upper wind—clearly wanting to kill the people in the city...

Sure enough, when the aroma of the spiced broth was fragrant in the direction of Cork City, the 100 old men guarding the city were inhaling the aroma and drooling wildly...

Then, Marin asked everyone to run under the city wall, where bows and arrows could not shoot, the upper wind of Cork City, eat and drink happily, and let the Cork people on the top of the city see and smell...

Eating the dry wild vegetables in their hands, the old men at the top of the city had their eyes red with jealousy... You know, the wild vegetables they ate were dug out by the women in the city and distributed to them...

The first day was peaceful, and the next day, Marin continued to set up the cauldron and simmered the broth. Then, he also found a group of Frisian sailors, and let them drink broth and nibble bread while they were out of the range of bows and arrows under the city, and loudly praised the deliciousness of the food in Frisian...

However, Marin just did not attack the city. A siege battle turned Marin into a food show for the hungry people in the city...

On the third day, Marin dismantled an old-fashioned trebuchet from a warship (Friesland warships belong to old-fashioned warships, with artillery and trebuchets) and placed it under the city...

The old men at the top of the city were nervous, thinking that Marin was finally going to attack the city...

Unexpectedly, instead of firing stone bombs, Marin put a few pieces of brown bread into a leather bag and threw them onto the city wall through a trebuchet...

Looking at a few pieces of brown bread in the leather bag, the old men in Cork at the top of the city looked at each other - what kind of trouble is this going to make?

At this time, the citizens of Cork were very hungry. Marin's two-day blockade, for them, is equivalent to breaking the wild vegetables for two days. Even the old men guarding the city, who are given priority to supply wild vegetables, can only eat half full...

Looking at the brown bread that was not good before, the old men around the leather bag suddenly felt very hungry...

Then, a few pieces of bread were divided among the dozen or so old men who "captured" the leather bag...

Finally, on the fourth day, Marin felt that the people in the city must be very hungry. So he sent people to use earth trumpets and started shouting to the city:

"Residents of Cork City, we are your friends and have come to discuss cooperation with you. Ladysand folks, open the door, we are good people!"

Marin looked at the sailor who was shouting in Frisian and suddenly wanted to laugh. Although this propaganda was designed by him, why does it sound so funny? In particular, the last line "We're good people" sounds like sending yourself a good person card...

"Ladysand folks, you open the door, as long as you open the door, the meat and bread we have here will be distributed to you, so that your family will be full..."

...

"We don't want to do it, but you should send a representative to negotiate..."

...

Then, the fourth day of shouting didn't work. Because, the city people do not believe that Marin they are really good people. If you are a good person, what would you do with thousands of people besieging the city?

However, on the sixth day, the people in the city were already starving...because the wild vegetable reserves were exhausted...

In desperation, the people of Cork City elected a clan elder named Locke, put down the hanging basket, and asked him to negotiate in Marin's barracks...

Marin personally received the clan elder, but he did not rush to negotiate. Instead, he first invited him to eat a large bowl of braised pork and a large bowl of pork rib soup...

If Marin hadn't stopped him, the old man who had been starving for a few days would probably have eaten to death because he couldn't keep his mouth shut...

After negotiations began, Marin expressed his willingness to take control of Cork City. However, Marin also said that, on the surface, Cork is still a self-governing city, and the mayor is also elected by the city people. However, Marin will cast out a political representative. Every document signed by the mayor must be submitted to this government representative for review in advance...

Locke understood that Marin wanted to secretly control Cork City. Locke had read books and was a member of the McKelley family, one of the original 15 families. He knew that Marin was interested in the status of Cork City's trade center and wanted to make money through Cork City.

Although, I am very unhappy. However, Locke had no choice. Because there is no army in Cork City, it is impossible for those 100 old men to beat the thousands of soldiers and horses of Marin. If you fight hard, not to mention that you can beat it, even if you run out of food, you can starve the city people to death...

Thinking of this, Locke no longer struggled with the question of whether to surrender, but began to strive for greater benefits for the people in the city...

For example, Locke demanded that after Marin's army entered the city, they should not rob the people. Their 15 major families, although all the strong men are gone, they still have some family background. If Marin's army details, they'll have nothing.

For this, Marin naturally agreed. He originally wanted the port of Cork City, and he didn't care about the money from the city people. Moreover, the 15 major families, although there is still some wealth, but not much.

Because, when they followed the fake Richard, these 15 major families had already spent most of their old money to support the fake Richard, just for the illusory earlship...

Therefore, grabbing or not grabbing is not necessary for Marin at all. Moreover, Cork City is to be occupied for a long time, and the relationship with the local people is too bad and not good, so as to avoid an uprising or something in the future.

Marin fully agreed to Locke's request, but he also pointed out that not only would the mayor be a puppet in the future, but also the financial officer of Cork City would be appointed directly by him, not elected by the locals...

This is the core. Once the trade in Cork City resumes, the taxes will definitely be rich. Whoever controls the finances controls the core of Cork City...

According to Cork City tradition, the treasurer is also elected by the citizens. However, Marin is not a fool. I am a conqueror. It's fine if I don't rob you, and I have to let go of my finances. Isn't that a fool?

Although Locke was not happy, he couldn't help it - the situation is stronger than people...

After returning to the city, Locke summoned the elders of various clans and announced Marin's conditions. The clan elders were very unhappy at first, but when they saw the hungry children crying, their hearts were still a little soft...

Finally, Locke returned to the outside of the city and demanded that Marin immediately distribute food to the people in the city. Marin naturally agreed, because he had brought a lot of food, and he had already prepared all this.

But before opening the city gate, several clan elders got down from the hanging basket and began to talk with Marin about the last important issue - the taxation of the citizens of the city...

Marin thought for a while, but did not answer immediately, but asked how taxes were collected in the city before...

After the clan elders in the city described the original tax collection method in the city, Marin was a little stunned - it turned out that the residents of the medieval autonomous city (which is very different from the lord city, the lord city tax is set by the lord) basically did not pay much tax. , pay only a limited municipal maintenance tax. When tax increases are required, city councils are also held to vote on whether to increase taxes. And this kind of tax increase is generally unconventional tax items such as war tax...

"Nima, it's no wonder that the kings in the Middle Ages were very poor, so they paid for this tax. The autonomous city basically does not give money to the king... No, this is not in our interests..."

After thinking about it for a long time, Marin finally added a tax item to Cork City - personal income tax...

Of course, this personal income tax has a lower limit. For example, the poor who earn less than 2p a day do not receive personal income tax. However, once this figure is exceeded, the excess part needs to pay 10% personal income tax...

Originally, Marin wanted to set a 20% rate, but now that European cities have such low tax rates, they can be temporarily ignored. In fact, European citizens were spoiled, accustomed to low taxes, and when kings demanded higher taxes for war, they rebelled. Charles I and Louis XVI, both ended up beheaded for tax hikes...

So, instead of going to the high tax rate of the next generation all at once, Marin is ready to take it slow. Moreover, he has not formulated a detailed city tax plan.

However, during the negotiation, when Marin proposed this tax request, he was opposed by the clan elders. Because these clan elders are people from wealthy families, they are all within the scope of personal income tax.

But Marin did not back down. If he backed down this time and tried to do it again next time, it would be difficult...

The clan elders returned to the city angrily, but the people in the city were so hungry that they couldn't bear it, and many people began to eat soil. Even the descendants of the clan elders began to cry from hunger...

After holding on for another day, under the persecution of the people in the city, the clan elders were finally forced to accept Marin's conditions...

As for why they accepted these conditions, it was actually because Marin sent people to slap the horns to shout out to the residents of the city. When most people hear it, they only have to pay tax if they earn more than 2 pence a day, and they feel that it has nothing to do with them...

Moreover, Marin also asked his subordinates to shout out that as long as an agreement is reached, meat and bread will be immediately supplied to the residents of the city to ensure that everyone is full...

So, the hungry people surrounded the homes of several clan elders, forcing them to agree to this condition...

In order to survive, people even made death threats to these clan elders...

In desperation, several elders from wealthy families had to agree to Marin's conditions. But when signing the agreement, Marin quietly added a clause - patrolling (police) in the city, also in charge of the government representative he sent. In other words, the local mayor does not have any armed forces in his hands.

In this way, the garrison and patrol of Cork City are all people of Marin. As a puppet mayor, there is no force that can be resisted.

In the future, Marin also plans to vigorously promote the ban on guns in Cork to prevent citizens from mastering weapons. As a result, the citizens have no strength to resist.

Moreover, Marin has long planned that no matter whether it is the garrison in the city or the patrol, he will not use the local people. In this way, once the people in the city make trouble, there will be no military defections.

Just like the French Revolution, during the civic revolution in Paris, it would be difficult for the citizens to occupy the arsenal if the army refused to shoot and turned their backs.

The troops Marin sent to Cork City were basically Germans, and it was impossible for them to rebel against the locals. In this way, he doesn't have to worry about being revolutionized...

After signing the agreement, Marin officially took over the authority of Cork City, and temporarily appointed a relatively literate Bookman apprentice knight to lead 500 soldiers to station in Cork City, protect the safety of Cork City, and be responsible for local security. . At the same time, Bookman, a trainee knight, also served as the first political representative of Marin to be stationed in Cork City, responsible for supervising the puppet mayor...

As for the tax officer, another appointment is required. In the past two years, Kohler seems to have accepted several disciples on Texel Island and taught them to settle accounts. It seemed that there happened to be young Frisian men in it. It is more convenient for Frisian people to communicate with English-speaking English and Irish people in Frisian, and they are sent to take over the local tax collection.

Although that kid is only 18 years old, but there is no way, Marin is now extremely lacking in talent, so he has to let such a young man take the lead...

After holding a simple city dedication ceremony, Marin brought his troops into Cork City and began to distribute food...

The people in the city were so hungry that they went straight to the food distribution point set up by Marin, and almost had a stampede accident. Fortunately, the army under Marin was strong enough to calm down the scene in time...

After eating and drinking, the city quickly settled down. Besides, Marin's army has entered the city, and the 100 old men in the city can't make waves...

...

In this way, Marin did not use force, and only through the temptation of food, he "conquered" the city of Cork, which was seriously lacking in food, and took control of the largest port in Ireland...

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