The Rise of the European Emperor

Although it was judged that the Electoral State of Saxony and the Electoral State of Brandenburg were going to jointly use force against the two main cities of themselves and the Hanseatic League, Marin still didn't quite understand it. According to his judgment, it should be Denmark who hired these Swiss mercenaries, not the two electors.

In fact, Marin was right. Indeed, it was King Hans of Denmark who planned to hire these 20,000 mercenaries in the beginning. However, when discussing with the Elector Frederick III of Saxony and the Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg, King Hans found that bringing the Swiss mercenaries back to Denmark was a very difficult task...

Why? Because the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were occupied by Marin and the two Hanseatic main cities. It is difficult to get 20,000 Swiss mercenaries to travel overland to Denmark without being detected. That way, there would be no surprise effect.

As for the sea route, it doesn't work either. Because the Danish Navy was wiped out by the two main cities of the Hanseatic League. Now, the waters near Denmark are dominated by Lübeck and Hamburg. It is also impossible to transport 20,000 troops by sea to Denmark under the eyes of the two cities.

Therefore, the resourceful Elector of Saxony, Frederick III, thought it was impossible to bring the 20,000 Swiss mercenaries to Denmark. If you want to hide, it is better to put it in the Electoral State of Saxony and the Electoral State of Brandenburg.

Anyway, after the war between the two countries, 30,000 troops will also be involved in the offensive. It is better to hide 20,000 Swiss mercenaries in the territory of the two countries, and wait until the official war begins to act with the troops of the two countries.

As for the territory of Denmark, a group of Swiss mercenary officers was assigned to help train the 20,000-strong Danish army. Once the war begins, the armies of Saxony and Brandenburg will set off in the northeastern part of Brandenburg near Lübeck and Hamburg, after having good relations with the Electorate of Brandenburg (actually by Brandenburg The Duchy of Mecklenburg, overwhelmed by the force of the Electorate of Den Burg, quickly surrounded and attacked the wealthy city of Lübeck. The Danish army of 20,000 went south to raid the Principality of Schleswig, trying to retake the Principality.

In order to keep secrets, since last autumn, Frederick III came up with a way to let Swiss mercenaries disguise themselves as caravans to Saxony and Brandenburg in batches. Moreover, this method has indeed deceived the vast majority of people. Even the thoughtful Frederick III asked the head of a dozen mercenaries in Switzerland to temporarily secretly arrange the family members to a hidden place to avoid being spied on.

Unfortunately, he still missed one point, that is - he did not pay attention to the currency issue. Frederick III and Joachim I naturally chose to use their own coins because they had to pay a deposit to the Swiss mercenaries. After the Swiss mercenaries got the deposit, they took the money and spent it when spending along the way. Then, through the use of coins, Marin speculates on where the Swiss are going...

Of course, this can't blame Frederick III for not being rigorous enough. Rather, because of the low level of espionage in this era,

No one would infer useful intelligence from such a looting.

But Marin's spies were different. They were trained in modern intelligence at Marlin's half-baked level, and they paid attention to details. Thus, they found out that the Swiss mercenaries were using the coins of the Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Brandenburg in large quantities, and Marin guessed the truth.

In fact, the deposit was supposed to have been paid by King Hans. However, since being defeated by the four-nation coalition, the Danish mainland has been sacked by the coalition and has suffered serious financial difficulties. King Hans was able to pull up an army of 20,000 people. It was already extremely difficult. Where would there be money to pay the high commissions of Swiss mercenaries?

Therefore, King Hans could only ask for help from the Electoral State of Saxony and the Electoral State of Brandenburg and ask them to pay the deposit on their behalf. This is what happened before.

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/\u003e Moreover, King Hans made it clear that after the victory of this war, he only wanted to take back the Principality of Holstein, the Principality of Schleswig and the Counties of Oldenburg that rescued his family. Other interests, he will not.

The Electoral State of Saxony and the Electoral State of Brandenburg have helped Denmark, in addition to the relationship of the in-law alliance, there is an important reason - they have an excuse to openly loot Lübeck and Hamburg...

You know, Lübeck and Hamburg are the two most developed cities in Germany, none of them. These two cities have a lot of wealthy businessmen. If they can break through these two cities, it is not surprising that the army has looted the wealth worth tens of millions of gold coins.

There is a rare opportunity to attack Lübeck and Hamburg in a fair and honest way, and they don't want to miss it. As long as these two cities are captured, the two countries will definitely "eat", and even "eat"...

After all, in the two countries with the most powerful emperors, their respective fiscal revenue is only a few hundred thousand gold coins each year. If you grab the property worth tens of millions of gold coins, then these two countries will definitely make a lot of money and make a lot of money...

Moreover, Frederick III, the elector of Saxony, had an ambition in his heart, that is, he hoped to deal a heavy blow to the economy and prestige of Lübeck and Hamburg, so that the two cities would lose their status as the leaders and vice-leaders of the Hanseatic League. Then, the Hanseatic merchants of the Saxony business district rose to replace the two cities and became the new leaders...

If the core area of ​​the Hanseatic League is transferred from Lübeck and Hamburg to the Saxony business district, it will definitely be a good thing for the Electorate of Saxony.

The Elector of Brandenburg, Joachim I, didn't think so much. Besides, the Electoral State of Brandenburg under his rule is quite large, but the business is really underdeveloped, and it is still an agricultural country. Even if Lübeck and Hamburg decline, the benefits will not come to the agricultural-dominated Electorate of Brandenburg. . . .

In fact, the Electoral State of Brandenburg is a vassal state dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, and it is also a poor state. At least, it is the poorest vassal state among the seven great emperors.

Brandenburg really rose to prominence after inheriting East Prussia, that is, after annexing the Teutonic state. Where is the Teutonic State? It was a developed commercial area, with four Hanseatic commercial cities such as Konigsberg, developed industry and commerce, and high taxes... At least, it was richer than the Electoral State of Brandenburg...

Therefore, after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia, the Electorate of Brandenburg simply used the name of the Kingdom of Prussia instead of the Electorate of Brandenburg when it was promoted to a kingdom. Because Prussia is really richer than Brandenburg. Even in later generations, the Brandenburg region, with the exception of parts of Greater Berlin and Cottbus, is mostly still relatively poor rural areas.

Similarly, the early Kingdom of Prussia also relied on agriculture and also on the Junkers landlord class. It was not until after the war that Prussia gained the economically developed Westphalia region that the economy began to improve. In particular, Westphalia has the famous Ruhr area. After gaining the Ruhr area, and just in time for the great development of the steam engine, Prussia became an industrial power.

In short, the current Electorate of Brandenburg is still poor. Relying on the relatively large territory, developing agriculture, and relying on the total amount, it barely ranks among the ranks of powerful vassal states. Economically, it is not comparable to Saxony.

Don't look at the division of Saxony, but only relying on more than half of the Saxony area, the Electoral State of Saxony has a larger population and more developed commerce than the Electoral State of Brandenburg. Therefore, the Electorate of Brandenburg, which has a large territory, often takes Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, as its leader... In addition to the fact that the brain is not as good as others, and the strength is not as good as others, it is also an objective reason...