The Rise of the European Emperor

Far away in southern Europe, the Italian peninsula, Stade and his 7,000 East Frisian army, after completing the occupation of the city of Florence, waited for a long time until the retreating French army left the territory of the Republic of Florence before attacking everywhere. , took the whole territory of the Florentine Republic. Then, wait for the Papal State to send Italian mercenaries to take over the defense.

And Stade and his East Frisian army, then withdrew to Rome, and became the escort of the city of Rome.

Right now, the newly enthroned Pope does not trust Italian mercenaries, but only the regular army under his son-in-law. Without Stade's army by his side, Julius II even felt a little insecure.

Although it is said that in accordance with the East Frisian way, Stade selected 6,000 mountain people in the Papal State and conducted regular military training in the East Frisian style. However, because the training time is still short, it has not been able to form combat effectiveness. For a long period of time, Julius II still needs to rely on Stadt and his soldiers to protect the security of Rome and the Papal State.

And, since that rogue election time has passed, Julius II has developed a bad taste. Every time things are discussed, some East Frisian soldiers and their own men will be arranged outside the main hall of the Lateran Cathedral. They don't wear military uniforms, they just wear ordinary people's clothes. However, they watched on in the name of "citizen representative". If there is a disagreement, these "citizen representatives" will prevent the cardinals who oppose Julius II from going to the toilet and eating...

Looking at these "citizen representatives", the cardinals who have experienced the rogue election feel their bladders are a little bit bloated, and they seem to want to go to the toilet again...

In this way, under the pressure of "citizen representatives", it seems very rare for a cardinal who dares to openly challenge Julius II...

Therefore, after Julius II came to power, every cardinal meeting, the venue was harmonious. The arrogant cardinals, around the Holy See with Julius II as the core, formed a leadership team with great fighting ability that advance and retreat together...

However, Julius II proposed that in order to thank Marin, Count of East Friesland, for his great contribution to helping the Papal State to "maintain order" and to capture the Florence area, he planned to transfer the Bishopric of Münster, a bishopric that indirectly accepted the leadership of the Holy See. Most of the cardinals present showed dissatisfaction when he rewarded Marin for his secular dominion.

After all, over the years, the Holy See has only embezzled the interests of others. How can they send a large amount of benefits to others like this?

So, Julius II explained to everyone. And he made a grand plan to use the territorial governance that the German Holy See could not control in exchange for others to help him attack the territory of Italy.

Julius II told the cardinals that his greatest wish,

That is, the Papal State can rule all of Italy...

The cardinals were shocked by the crazy idea of ​​Julius II...

They all know that although the Papal State is one of the powerful forces in Italy, it does not rely on military affairs. More, it is because of the huge religious influence of the Holy See that the Papal State has become one of the important forces in Italy.

If religious factors aside, the national power of the Papal State is no match for Venice, no match for the Principality of Milan, no match for the Kingdom of Naples, or even no match for the Republic of Florence…

If it weren't for the religious status of the Holy See, no one dared to attack the Holy See easily, and the Papal State might have been annexed by its neighbor, the Kingdom of Naples.

Therefore, the cardinals of the Holy See never imagined that they could unify Italy with the power of the Papal State. Because the Papal State is not strong enough...

Of course, this is not to say that the Papal State is poor. Instead, most of the "tithes" collected by the Papal State from European countries went into the personal pockets of the popes and cardinals. Therefore, although the Papal State is not poor, the national finances are really not very good. Because most of the interests of the Holy See have been swallowed up by the corrupt cardinals...

This is like the Ming Dynasty in the late period. It looked like a big empire, but the government's finances were terrible. But those ministers in power are all very rich.

Therefore, although the Holy See receives a lot of money from all over Europe every year, it cannot make the Papal State stronger...

The daring plan proposed by Julius II did have a chance for the Papal State to acquire more Italian lands. Just like not long ago, the new Pope Julius II used the army of East Frisian Country to capture the wealthy Republic of Florence.

However, the cardinals are not opposed to hiring others to help in the expedition, but there is a huge objection to giving a huge Bishopric of Münster as a reward to Marin, Count of East Frisian. Because there is no precedent for this kind of thing, nor is it customary.

In the eyes of these arrogant Roman cardinals, it is an honor for an earl of a small and remote country to serve the great figures of the Holy See. At most, it's enough to reward some money, where can it be used to reward a country's territory to him? Moreover, this territory is not directly under the Papal State. Its immediate superior is Hermann IV, the very powerful Archbishop of Cologne in Germany.

What if the Holy See sent the Bishopric of Münster out without Herman IV's consent, which attracted Herman IV's backlash? You must know that as one of the seven emperors of Shinra, the Archbishopric of Cologne controlled by Herman IV, the national power is not under the Papal State.

If Herman IV firmly disagrees, it will embarrass the Holy See. How will it end then? Is the "excommunication" of Hermann IV?

However, excommunication is not something to be used casually. If Herman IV violated the dogma and excommunicated him, no one would say anything. However, refusing to be sent to the Bishopric of Munster does not seem to violate the dogma, so it is not easy to punish...

Listening to the bishops' discussion, Julius II also had a headache. Although, he could use the "Rome citizen representatives" on the sidelines to force the cardinals to pass the resolution. But as the cardinals say, it's hard to do.

It is not difficult for the cardinals to pass the resolution, but it is not a simple matter to obtain the consent of the Archbishop of Cologne. They are not some kind of cats and dogs, but the super-powerful helmsmen of the Archbishopric of Cologne, whose national power is not weaker than that of the Pope, and a group of vassal bishoprics.

Therefore, the cautious Julius II did not pass this resolution immediately, but sent a letter to Marin, asking him to find a way to bribe the cardinals of the Roman Cardinals first. In addition, the current Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann IV, must be bribed to agree to let go of the Bishopric of Münster.

The Archbishop of Cologne is different from other secular princes. Those secular princes are hereditary. For those secular princes, territory is family property and cannot be easily given to others.

But the Archbishop of Cologne is different. The Archbishop of Cologne is elected under the supervision of the Holy See, not hereditary. Therefore, if he were to die, the Archbishopric of Cologne would not necessarily be passed on to his descendants. Therefore, it is different from those secular princes.

Julius II believed that as long as he bribed the Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann IV, with enough money, he would give up control of the Bishopric of Münster. As long as the Archbishop of Cologne, the Electoral Marquis of Cologne, let go, as for the opinion of the Bishop of Münster, who cares?

The Holy See agreed, the Elector of Cologne also agreed, and Marin occupied the Bishopric of Münster, then it was reasonable and legal...

When Marin, who was in Worms, received the letter from Julius II, his face immediately collapsed:

"What, it's going to cost money again... Besides, it looks like I'm going to spend a lot of money this time..."