King of German Mercenaries

Spring ploughing is about to begin, and Marin is ready. The only troublesome thing is the problem of fertilizer blocks. Because of the rush of time, there is still a lot of residual odor of fertilizer and feces after being blown by the sun and wind. The smell is very unpleasant and difficult to hide.

So Marin sent people to the swamp to dig up a lot of peat soil, mixed with these fertilizer blocks, to cover up the smell. However, the smell of feces still can't be covered.

In a fit of rage, Marin decided to let the serfs who had complete control over the fertilizers complete the fertilization, instead of handing it over to irrelevant people. In this way, the risk of leakage is greatly reduced.

Just as Marin was preparing for spring ploughing, the Principality of Clifford suddenly sent an envoy...

In name, the messenger of the Principality of Clifford came to congratulate Marin on becoming the Count of East Frisland, and brought a lot of gifts. But those gifts made Marin roll his eyes a little. There is no other reason, because these "heavy gifts" are mainly pepper, cinnamon, cloves and other spices.

It stands to reason that John II sent these precious gifts with sincerity. However, how did he know that Marin had four boats and was returning from India, wearing clothes full of spices...

Moreover, Marin did not eat with pepper dipped in the habit of eating. Therefore, the consumption of spices is actually not large. It's just that Marin's cheap dad, Old Hoffman, is a bit heavy-mouthed, and he is somewhat fond of the spices that the big nobles eat in large quantities. Therefore, when it was time to eat, old Hoffman often liked to eat braised pork with pepper, cinnamon and cloves...

Fortunately, old Hoffman didn't sprinkle pepper on the dishes in large quantities, otherwise, Marin would not be able to eat at all. In fact, the old Hoffman really planned to do so. However, not only Marin, but also Mrs. Mary does not like to eat it directly with spices. So, this is over.

Clifford's envoy Lannett, in addition to congratulating Marin on becoming the Earl of East Frisland, has another mission - to ask Marin to return the 28 wandering knights...

After all, John II loved his brother dearly. He knew that the composition of the Teutonic Knights was very complicated. Even if Philip became the chief, he would need at least two or three years of sorting out before he could truly control the Teutonic Knights. This is not bad, after all, Prince Philip was also well educated and smart. If he were an idiot, he would probably be overshadowed by the real power knights under him.

Therefore, John II hoped that the 28 apprentice knights who participated in Marin's conquest of East Friesland could help his brother. After all, these people have seen blood, which is different from those ordinary wandering knights who have never fought. Moreover, these people have also participated in the training of the Marin army and have experience in military training. This is very much valued by John II.

John II admired Marin's military command ability and military training ability, so he hoped that he could send these 28 apprentice knights who had experienced war and were trained by Marin to help his younger brother. With these apprentice knights who have participated in the war and learned to train, it is also convenient for Philip to quickly control the army of the Teutonic Knights. At least, a large number of cronies can be placed in the army.

But where would Marin be happy? There are very few literate officers in his hands. These 28 apprentice wandering knights, he is a treasure. At least, these officers can understand the military orders, and there is nothing wrong with implementing them. Unlike in the past, Marin promoted many illiterate officers, resulting in difficulties in the transmission of military orders. At the beginning, in order to accurately convey the order, Marin even sent someone to confirm the order to make sure that the first batch of messengers did not convey the wrong order.

Now, with these 28 people, Marin can directly write the military order and let any soldier ride to the officer to hand it over. Moreover, these wandering knights are basically only eighteen or nineteen years old. They are relatively obedient and can resolutely implement Marin's orders. Those wandering knights with old fritters are of course more experienced, but they also have many ideas of their own, and they are also easy to make themselves smart.

Modify Marlin's order without authorization.

Like Frenzberg, Marin found that he had more ideas of his own. At the beginning, the cooperation between the two was not good. The main reason was that Frenzberg sometimes insisted on his own opinions and did not trust Marin's guidance. However, with the development of time and the fact that Marin proved himself correct many times, Frenzberg was completely convinced by Marin and completely implemented Marin's orders.

However, after all, Frenzberg is a knight of the old fritters, and he still has many ideas. For example, last time Marin treated those women and children ruthlessly in order to avoid future troubles, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from Frenzberg. Although Frenzberg did not express it in person, he still had a grudge against that incident.

This also made Marin realize that recruiting ready-made officers is quick to start, but it is not as obedient as those wandering knights who have just been kicked out of their homes.

These wandering knights who have just been kicked out have basically zero social experience, and many things have to be learned from scratch. This wine leaves a lot of room for improvement for Marin. As long as they are properly trained, these young wandering knights can easily be cultivated into Marin's diehard loyalists.

For example, most of the 28 apprentice wandering knights became Marin's most staunch supporters after being under Marin's service for a few months, and only a few were too slippery to be fooled. In addition, his own ability is limited, and he is not able to fully implement military orders, so he has not been reused by Marin, so he is not very loyal to Marin.

Sure enough, after Marin asked the opinions of these 28 people, 22 people expressed their willingness to stay because they recognized and admired Marin very much, and they were also reused here. The other 6 people, because they have many ideas and are not reused, are willing to go to the Teutonic Knights.

Speaking of which, the 6 people who are going to leave are actually not bad, and they are also relatively smart. Marin's training, they also learned well. However, they have an important disadvantage, that is, they are not very obedient, and they have too many ideas...

A lot of ideas, for a scientist, that's a good thing. But for a mid-level officer, sometimes it's a bit lethal.

Whether it is a modern army or a modern army, a very important requirement for grass-roots officers is to "resolutely obey orders".

Marin is not afraid that his subordinates have ideas. Usually, if there are ideas, they can be put forward and discussed by everyone. However, as long as the superior's order is issued, no matter whether the superior's order is right or wrong, the officer who receives the order must strictly implement it. Even if the order was to send the officer to his death in the palace.

Therefore, for the six apprentice wandering knights who seemed to be smart but didn't follow orders very much, Marin didn't have much eye for it. This kind of person, in the most difficult desperate stage, may have his own ideas, such as "preserving strength" and the like. That would be more fatal.

After understanding the thoughts of these 28 people, Marin decided to find a way to keep the 22 apprentice wandering knights who were willing to serve him. In fact, of the 22 people, 15 people have been named official knights because of their previous military exploits. There was even one person (acting fourth phalanx commander Stade) who was named a hereditary knight.

For Marin to leave 22 wandering knights in one bite, Lannett, the envoy of the Principality of Clifford, of course did not agree. He asked for 28 people, and Marin only gave 6, which was too unreasonable. Before, Lannett and John II thought that there might be a few wandering knights willing to stay with Marin. However, he did not expect that 22 people would be willing to stay. So, of course he didn't want to.

So, Marin decided to get something in exchange for...

Originally, Marin was going to throw money at it. However, Marin's eyes were suddenly attracted by a report on the detained former Emden citizen on his desk...

These detained Emden citizens are the family members of the Emden citizens who fought with Marin on the day Marin invaded Emden, and there are even many Emden citizens who resisted Marin that day. detained.

For this group of people, Marin has a headache and doesn't know how to deal with it. If there is no future trouble, they should be killed. However, the total number of these people is as high as 1,600, and they are all civilians. If they are all killed, then Marin's reputation will be bad.

Before, Marin killed those nobles who resisted, and there was a reason. After all, those nobles, because their ancestors participated in the rebellion in the past, were not in the right position, and they were justified in legal terms.

However, these detained citizens are just ordinary people. According to the moral code of knights, the butcher's knife should not be raised against the commoners. Of course, like the day Marin sieged the city, the civilians blocked his army with kitchen knives, except that case.

However, for the detained civilians, Marin is not good at killing people. Because the other party is now unarmed. Moreover, there are many elderly and weak women and children among them.

Originally, Marin planned to exile these people to North America in the future. However, when he thinks about how the United States came to be in later generations, Marin is a little hesitant. You must know that the earliest immigrants to the United States were actually some Puritans who rebelled against the king, and some exiled criminals.

It is precisely because of this that the American culture of later generations advocates individuality (their ancestors were all criminals and rebels, can they have no individuality?) and interests come first.

Marin didn't want the future colony to get out of control, so it was not a good idea to exile criminals and opponents to North America. To exile these people to a place as fertile as North America is not punishing them, but rewarding them.

Therefore, if you want to exile criminals and rebels, exile them to Africa, and deal with black uncles, it is the real exile and punishment.

Rich places like North America, Australia, and Argentina should be handed over to immigrants who are loyal to them, so as to ensure that those colonies will not become independent in the future.

Only places with harsh environments like the African rainforest, Sahara desert, etc. with fierce inhabitants are good places for criminals and opponents...

These citizens basically have a blood feud with Marin. Therefore, these people simply cannot return to their hearts. Therefore, it is reasonable to send their ideas away. But now, because of the lack of ships and sailing talents, Marin just wants to send these people overseas, and there are no conditions.

It just so happened that the Duchy of Clifford came to ask for people, and Marin decided in an instant - to give these people to John II, Duke of Clifford...

Speaking of this group of people, Marin felt quite sorry. Because there are many craftsmen here. After all, in the Middle Ages, the people who could live in the city, except for the high-ranking nobles and the least status coolies, were either craftsmen or merchants.

According to Marin's statistics, among the 1,600 people, 300 were craftsmen. Here, there are carpenters, cobblers, tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, masons, masons, bakers, etc... They are all technical talents in the Middle Ages. With them there, the economy can be much more active.

It's a pity that they had a blood feud with Marin, and Marin didn't dare to use them.

It happened that John II came to ask for people, so Marin decided to exchange these people with John II...

Of course these people had a grudge against Marin, but they had no grudge against John II. They went to John II's territory, and they still made a living. Moreover, they can produce a lot of goods and promote the development of the economy of the Duchy of Cliff.

"Mr. Marin, this condition sounds good, but these people are ordinary citizens and have high requirements. Bringing them to the Principality of Clifford will cost a lot of money just to settle them..."

"What ordinary citizens? They are all prisoners of war. Now, I will punish them all as slaves and hand them over to your Duke!"

Medieval citizens were very greedy. They did not have to pay heavy taxes like serfs, but they enjoyed various preferential policies. If the mayor's policies are not what they want, they dare to point at the mayor's nose and curse. Because, even in the Middle Ages, mayors and councilors were elected by these citizens.

Therefore, the citizens are all uncles, and because they have the right to vote, even the mayor and the mayor are not afraid to provoke them.

Therefore, Lannett was very excited about Marin's proposal to give 1,600 people, including 300 craftsmen, to Duke John. Because, 300 craftsmen, can produce a lot of goods, bringing a lot of taxes to John II.

Moreover, because Prince Philip became the chief of the Teutonic Order, John II had a channel to transport a large amount of goods to the Teutonic Knights for sale.

But there are channels, and there are also producers to help produce low-cost commodities...

300 craftsmen can definitely help John II produce a lot of commodities that can be traded. The only question is in what capacity are these artisans brought in...

If it was introduced as a citizen, it would be equivalent to inviting 300 uncles... You must know that the medieval citizens were very fond of it, and the craftsmen were even more high-end people among the citizens. Therefore, asking 300 uncles to go back will bring a lot of trouble.

When Marin opened his mouth and was willing to punish these craftsmen as slaves and give them to John II, Lannett almost agreed on the spot. Because he knew that such a good condition, John II was unlikely to refuse.

In order to obtain enough goods for trade, John II is now privately recruiting artisans. However, it is still more difficult to recruit. Because the craftsmen in the Middle Ages were all uncles, with high treatment and many conditions. John II didn't want such a big money as Marin, and he could smash the craftsman directly with money. He can only use preferential policies to attract those craftsmen. However, preferential policies are more difficult to impress those craftsmen. After all, the benefits of this thing cannot be seen in a short time, and only those with a long-term perspective can discover the benefits. Unlike the gold coins smashed by Marin, they are dazzling and more easily accepted by craftsmen.

As for the 22 apprentice wandering knights, it was nothing to John II. Every year, dozens of wandering knights are kicked out of their homes in the Principality of Clifford and the Earl of Mark. Therefore, there is no shortage of wandering knights in John II.

However, John II was eager to support his brothers, so he wanted to send these wandering knights to the Teutonic Knights. Your Marin's offer is just right for John II's appetite.

Moreover, this batch of craftsmen was given to him by Marin as a slave, which is really rare. Citizen craftsmen are uncles and can't afford to offend them. But slave craftsmen, that is purely a money-making machine for the master. As long as the master has enough food for these craftsmen, as for other treatments, dare you mention it? Want to get kicked?

Lannett was certain that John II would agree to this condition. However, he did not dare to make his own decisions, and decided to go back and ask John II for instructions.

As for Marin, it is also very painful to let go of 300 craftsmen. However, these craftsmen have a deep blood feud with themselves, and even if they are enslaved, they are easy to resist.

But giving it to John II is different. John II was not the culprit who killed their family. They have no reason to fight with John II. Therefore, for John II, these craftsmen can still engage in production with peace of mind. If they stay in their own hands, even if these people are forced to engage in production, they will probably do bad things. For example, intentionally making the product bad, wasting Marlin's raw materials...

Moreover, with this group of people, in exchange for 22 officers who were educated and skilled in martial arts, even if Marin lost, it was not too much. What's more, he also removed the unsettling factor in Emden. Considering the social stability factor, Marin is actually not too bad...

At this stage, Marin's first need is to ensure the safety of East Friesland, followed by economic construction. Therefore, 22 literate officers are what Marin needs most at present. As for craftsmen, it is secondary. Besides, as long as you have money, you are afraid that you will not be able to recruit? What's more, Marin also plans to set up a technical school in the future, specializing in the large-scale training of literate craftsmen...