The Rise of the European Emperor

Chapter 332 The Rimini Problem

"By the way, there is something I want to discuss with you." Julius II suddenly said.

"What's wrong? Giuliano?" Marin was a little puzzled.

"It's a problem in the Rimini area."

"Rimini area? What happened?" Marin was a little puzzled.

"The coast of Rimini has been occupied by the damn Venetians!" Julius II said bitterly.

"No way? Occupying the land of the Holy See, the Venetian's head was kicked by the donkey?" Marlin was suddenly surprised.

"That's right, the Rimini area was seized by Caesar Borgia from the Malatesta family in 1500. Venice took advantage of the opportunity of the Holy See to change the Pope to help Malatesta In the name of the family reclaiming the territory, they took the opportunity to control the Rimini area."

"That's not to mention, they also controlled Ravenna, an important city on the Adriatic coast that used to be the capital of Western Rome..."

In fact, Julius II of Rimini may not necessarily like it, but Ravenna is different. Ravenna was the capital of the Roman Empire from the period between the Roman Emperor Henolius and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Later, when the Eastern Roman Empire recovered Italy from the Goths, it also made Ravenna the center of its rule in Italy.

Therefore, Ravenna is a very important and historic city in the Italian region. Such a city, which originally belonged to the Papal State, was robbed by Venice, and it was no wonder that Julius II was not annoyed. Not to mention Julius II, the entire Holy See was very depressed.

Although the Venetians nominally ruled the entire region with the Maratesino family, it was known to the discerning person that the Venetians actually ruled the region.

Marin is really speechless about the Venetians' brains. Indeed, because of the corruption of the Papal State, the bishops have divided up most of the tithes, resulting in not many troops that the Papal State can support. But,

The Papal State is the center of European Catholicism. Although the military strength is average, the Pope has an unparalleled appeal in Europe. As long as the Pope shouted, there were still a lot of people who responded.

In fact, if it wasn't for the lack of troops of the Papal State, and the newly conquered Florentine Republic also required a large number of troops to garrison, the 7,000 East Frisian army led by Stade alone would be enough to retake the Rimini area.

"Marin, I plan to form an anti-Venice alliance to bring in France, Spain, Austria and other countries as well as the Italian states to oppose Venice. Venice has been too arrogant over the years. Because of the money, it has become rampant in Italy. Wuji, you actually bullied the Pope..." Julius II said worriedly.

"Forming an anti-Venice alliance?" Marin was stunned, but quickly reacted - isn't this the famous "Cambrai Alliance" in history?

However, history has proved that the formation of this alliance was foolish. Because, although it weakened Venice, it reintroduced the tiger from France to Italy, which was not worth the loss. So, Julius II quickly changed his stance and joined Venice against the threat of the French.

So Marin reminded:

"Giuliano, I oppose your idea. Especially the practice of winning over Spain and France, it definitely brings wolves into the house!"

"Oh, how?" Julius II wondered why Marin said that. In his opinion, it was a pleasure to win over so many powers to suppress Venice, and he didn't have to do it himself.

"Giuliano, no matter how arrogant Venice is, it's just a small Italian state. Although it has money, its army's combat effectiveness is just that. Therefore, he can be arrogant only because the armies of the Italian states are too useless. already."

Having said this, Julius II blushed. The army of the Italian states mentioned by Marin is too useless, including the army of the Papal State.

"Compared to Venice, Spain and France are the real worries of Italy. You must know that these two countries are vast in size and large in population. France, in particular, has a population of 15 million and has amazing potential. And Louis XII, obviously There is a huge ambition to annex Italy. Therefore, for Italy, the threat of France ranks first, and the threat of Spain is also not small, and it can be ranked second. Preventing any actions by these two countries in Italy is the most important thing. Do they have an excuse to interfere in Italian affairs? You know, it is easy to invite their troops to enter Italy, but it is difficult to let them go..." Actually, Marin wanted to say "it's easy to ask God to send him off", but considering that Julius II is the biggest god in Europe, still didn't say that...

"What you said seems reasonable, but how to curb the expansion of the Venetians?" Julius II frowned and said.

Apparently, he also considered the risk of letting the French re-enter Italy. But Venice is so strong...

"It's simple, it's really impossible, you can use the method I used to take down the Republic of Florence!"

"You mean... in exchange for the Bishopric of Germany for the Rimini region, to invite the troops of other countries to attack the Venetians?" Julius II said.

"Yes, that's it, the Venetians are powerful. However, the Venetians use Italian mercenaries. You should know how bad the Italian mercenaries are. As long as you have enough troops to control the rest of the Papal States and Florence, just Stade's 7,000 men, and the new 3,000 German mercenaries, were enough to defeat the Venetians."

"The financial resources of the Republic of Venice are too terrifying. If it can not do anything, it is the best. Well, when I go back this time, I will go to Venice and persuade Venice to give up the Rimini area. If it succeeds, it is the best. It's really not possible. After you recruit another batch of recruits to fill the defense gaps in other areas of the Papal State and Florence, let Stade take back Rimini with an army of 10,000 troops."

"What? You have a relationship with the Venetians?" Julius II asked curiously.

So Marin told Julius II about selling half of the captured prisoners of war, horses, and armor to the Venetians.

"Haha, I said, why did you quickly become a powerful prince from a small wandering knight. It turns out that you concealed half of the seizures and sold them to the Venetians. Fat! If Maximilian I found out, wouldn't he be so angry that he would skin you?"

"Hehe, that's how the world is, the courageous and the cowardly starved to death. Besides, if it weren't for the exchange of a noble title and territory with him, I might have sold all the seizures to the Venetians. Even if he What if I found out? It's a big deal to run away..." Marin really wanted to run away. As long as you have money, go to another country and buy a title and territory, isn't it frivolous? When Alexander VI bought a fief from Spain for his son, he only spent 50,000 gold coins...

"Okay, since you have friendship with the Venetians, let's try it out first. It's best if the Rimini issue can be resolved peacefully, but if it doesn't work, I'll let you send troops to try. Even if we fail, we can use the bishop. For example, your emperor, Maximilian I, has not yet been crowned. I use this condition to invite him to send troops, and I think he will be happy..."

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