The Rise of the European Emperor

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Under the auspices of the Grand Chancellor of Germany, Archbishop Jacob of Mainz, the representatives of the German princes present confirmed the identity of the Grand Duke of Marin Beihai. Moreover, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Beihai has expanded to 60,000 square kilometers.

At the same time, everyone also acquiesced to the order issued by Emperor Maximilian I - if anyone finds evidence that Charles II, Duke of Geddes colluded with France, any prince has the right to send troops to seize the Netherlands part of the Duchy of Geddes. Fertile Territory.

In fact, the princes were reluctant to agree to the emperor's orders. But morally speaking, there is nothing wrong with the emperor's orders - is it wrong to punish traitors who eat inside and out? Therefore, everyone can only acquiesce to the emperor's order.

In fact, Marin was excited about it. why? Because he has already thought about it - if he finds evidence that the Duchy of Geddes colluded with France, he will immediately follow the emperor's order, enter the Duchy of Geddes, and then take the three of the Duchy of Geddes in the Netherlands. More than a thousand square kilometers of territory, exchanged with the Principality of Clifford...

As for where to exchange? Of course, it is the Earl of Mark under the name of Duke Clever...

Where is the Earl of Mark? Ruhr area! As long as the country of Mark can be exchanged and the Ruhr area, which Marin most coveted, can be obtained, Marin will dare to openly develop the steam engine industry. Otherwise, if the steam engine is developed prematurely, and the strategic value of coal is seen, it will be difficult for Marin to change from Duke Cliff to Earl of Mark.

But now, until the steam engine was made public, Europeans did not know much about the true value of coal. After all, now is the age of agriculture, and everyone pays more attention to cultivated land. Many coal mining areas in the Ruhr area are considered inferior because they are not suitable for farming.

Just like the previous Hoffman Manor, because the coal mines were buried underground, the land was relatively barren, and the harvest was not good. Moreover, now Europeans do not know the technology of rolling briquettes and the technology of making briquettes, and coal is not a conventional fuel. After all, the fireplaces commonly used by Europeans are wood-burning. Therefore, coal is not valued very much now, and it is only used in large quantities in the metallurgical industry. But now the European steel production is so low, the iron production of a country can only be measured in tons, not thousands or 10,000 tons. So, you can imagine the amount of coal.

Don't think that it is very simple for Marin to boil salt with coal. In fact, in ancient times, powdered coal was easily burnt out because the air was isolated from the coal powder. Therefore, in ancient times, lump coal was king, and pulverized coal was discarded at will.

The reason why the ancient Chinese people used coal widely is because they invented a great thing - briquettes...

The briquettes mentioned here are not honeycomb briquettes that some dialects talk about. In fact, briquettes are briquettes, and briquettes are briquettes, which are really balls made of pulverized coal and mud...

Of course, briquettes are superior to briquettes.

But that was only invented in the 20th century. The briquettes were invented in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and after the Song Dynasty, they became popular in ancient China.

Don't underestimate the briquettes, which are epoch-making inventions. After the pulverized coal, mud and water are shaken into briquettes, the gaps between the briquettes are large and contain a lot of air, which is naturally not easy to extinguish when burning. Its effect is better than lump coal.

Europeans currently do not know how to shake briquettes, and the utilization rate of natural coal is not high, so they can only sell lump coal. The Marin Coal Mine can make use of the pulverized coal, which accounts for nearly half of the excavated coal, and shake it into briquettes, making it an excellent fuel. It is definitely an epoch-making change in the history of coal. Of course, this is limited to Europe, China has long been popular.

If the technology of shaking briquettes spreads, the sales of coal in the Ruhr area will increase greatly without promoting the steam engine. Therefore, in order to be able to easily switch to the Country of Mark, Marin blocked the technique of shaking the briquettes. Later, the "technical workers" who could shake briquettes were moved to the Sydney Coal Mine on Cape Breton Island.

Before steam engines, briquettes, and briquettes could fully utilize coal, Marin seized the Netherlands, a country with developed agriculture, and exchanged it with John, Duke of Clifford. The other party would definitely agree.

Because the land area of ​​​​the Netherlands in the Netherlands is no smaller than that of the country of Mark (3,000 square kilometers), and it is located on the alluvial plain near the mouth of the Rhine, with developed agriculture and a large population. According to the thinking of the agricultural era, if it is exchanged, it seems that John the Duke of Cleaver will take advantage.

Moreover, judging from the map, the Netherlands region of the Principality of Gede Company (search for 'The Rise of the European Emperor' on the Du Niang Tieba has a relevant map) is connected with the Principality of Clifford. Unlike the Earl of Mark, it is not with Duke Clifford. So, this is more attractive to John the Duke of Clever.

As for the reason why Marin asked to change the site, and it seemed to be a little disadvantaged, it was also very simple - the country of Mark is Marin's hometown...

Marin was born in the Bochum area of ​​​​the country of Mark, and it is understandable to want to change to his hometown. After all, although Europeans do not have the same strong hometown complex as China, they do.

Therefore, this order issued by His Majesty the Emperor seems to be tailor-made for Marin.

Of course, it would be very difficult to find evidence of the collusion between the Duke of Guedes and the French. After all, Charles II, Duke of Guedes, was also an old fox, not a fool. Even if it colludes with France, it will be secretive and not easy to be discovered. It seems very difficult to get hold of Charles II, Duke of Geddes...

But Marin isn't afraid...

why? Because Charles II, Duke of Guedes, was in contact with the French, there must have been correspondence. It would be very difficult to obtain these letters from Charles II, Duke of Geddes. However, it is much simpler to obtain correspondence from the French with the principality of Gerdes. . . .

Why do you say that? Because this is determined by the different status of the two countries...

The Principality of Gedes is a small vassal state, and it regards France as its backing, and will definitely attach great importance to the correspondence with France. Not to mention that it will be burned after seeing it, at least it will be hidden in the secret room by Charles II, Duke of Geddes, and it is extremely difficult to get it.

But in France it's different...

As far as France is concerned, the small principality of Gerdes is just a small pawn in the great France. It's best to bring trouble to Shinra, and it doesn't matter if you can't.

Therefore, the relationship between the two is extremely unequal, and France will not attach importance to the Ged company as much as the Ged company attaches importance to France. Even the secret letter sent by Charles II, Duke of Geddes, will not be kept as a top secret, maybe just put it on a desk in the palace to eat ashes...

Maybe it's more difficult to find those letters in the French royal palace than in the Duke of Guedes. But Marin is different, because he has already arranged for the fat brother to go to the French royal palace to be the royal chef...

In other words, Marin is someone in the French royal palace...

Of course, Marin wouldn't be stupid enough to let the Fat Brothers steal those letters himself. Because, if the Fatty Brothers were exposed because of this, it would really outweigh the gains.

However, the fat brother can find out where those letters are and who is responsible for keeping them...

Then, Marin, who got the news, sent another person to bribe the French official responsible for keeping the letters, and smashed him in the face with tens of thousands of gold coins, not worrying about not being able to buy these letters... Anyway, this is not particularly confidential for France. What's more... Moreover, tens of thousands of gold coins are enough for the official who kept those letters to escape to a foreign country and become a rich man. It really doesn't work, Marin can also reward him with a title and some fiefs, which is not a disadvantage. After all, if you get the Netherlands region of the Gerd company and replace it with the Ruhr region of the country of Mark, Marin will make a lot of money...

As long as he gets the relevant letter and has the evidence, Marin can immediately send troops to directly capture the land in the Netherlands of the Gede Company, and then successfully and legally occupy it according to the emperor's order today. Then, change to the Ruhr area...

With the Ruhr area, Marin can openly work on steam engines...

Thinking of the scene where his sailboat traveled the Rhine, the Ruhr, the Lippe... and even all over the world, Marin was not only excited, but he even smirked openly at the imperial meeting...