The Rise of the European Emperor

After all, Marin remembered what he had done to help his ally, Chief Philippe, and Poland-Lithuania, and began to think about how to speak...

At present, the Teutonic Knights are very miserable. Under the joint attack of Poland and Lithuania, the Teutonic Knights, which used to have an area of ​​more than 100,000 square kilometers and a population of one million people, have only 38,000 square kilometers of land left. and a population of 300,000. Although the Livonian Knights had a larger area and a large population, with the support of Lithuania, they were also out of the control of the Teutonic Knights.

Moreover, the country of the Teutonic Knights is also unstable at the moment. With the support of Poland and Lithuania, the local Prussian nobles of the Teutonic Knights fought openly and secretly with the Teutonic knights for control of the Teutonic state. For now, the four major Hanseatic cities - Königsberg, Elbing, Thon and Mermel - are under the control of more than 800 official Teutonic knights and several thousand reserve Teutonic knights. These four cities, which are also the richest in the Teutonic state, receive a lot of commercial taxes.

In the Teutonic countryside, however, it was the local Prussian aristocracy who prevailed. Only in the area around the four major Hanseatic cities could the Teutonic knights suppress the landed nobles of the Prussian countryside.

Speaking of which, these Prussian land nobles were originally incapable of fighting against the Teutonic Knights. But they have Lithuanians behind them. Therefore, although no Teutonic Knights were rich, the Prussian nobles in the countryside, with the support of Lithuania and Poland, received a lot of money and military support, and had enough strength to fight against the Teutonic Knights. Even being at a disadvantage in the struggle interfered with the Teutonic Knights' control of the countryside beyond the four major Hanseatic cities.

The Teutonic Knights had superior financial resources and superior military strength, but they could not destroy the local Prussian nobles. Because, whenever the Teutonic Knights reorganized the army and planned to destroy the rural Prussian nobles, Poland and Lithuania would also gather the army to threaten the border of the Teutonic Knights and prevent the Knights from destroying the rural Prussians who opposed the Knights. aristocrat...

...

When Marin took advantage of the moment when Archduke Alexander was happy because he won a big order that earns hundreds of thousands of gold coins a year, Marin made a request for reconciliation between Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights.

"Count Marin, why did you make peace on behalf of the Teutonic Knights?" Archduke Alexander asked curiously.

"Because the current head of the Teutonic Congress, Philip, is my ally."

"ally?"

"Yes, when I first became the count of East Friesland, it was the Teutonic State and the Principality of Clifford where the Grand Commander Philip was the first to recognize my status and form an alliance with me. Therefore, I am very grateful. Him." That's not entirely true. In fact, the reason why Marin supported Prince Philip to become the Grand Commander and formed an alliance with him was purely to destroy the good deeds of Friedrich, the third son of Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, and to prevent the Duchy of Saxony from having the Teutonic State as an ally. Later too powerful.

Archduke Alexander did not make an immediate decision, but began to discuss in a low voice with his younger brother Prince Sigmund in Lithuanian dialect. The discussions were long and there were arguments, and there seemed to be big differences.

Marin didn't understand the Lithuanian dialect, so naturally he could only stare blankly. However, the debate over there is fierce, and it seems that the situation is not good...

So, Marin rolled his eyes and decided to put some pressure on...

"Grand Duke, when I came, I passed by Königsberg, and it seemed that I saw the envoy of the Grand Duchy of Moscow go to Königsberg. I don't know why. Could it be that the Muscovites want to form an alliance with the Teutons and attack from east to west..."

In fact, when Marin came, there was indeed an envoy from the Grand Duchy of Moscow to the Teutonic State, but not to negotiate an alliance, but to deal with a trade dispute. Because, the Hanseatic merchants of the Livonia Knights and the merchants of the Grand Duchy of Moscow were due to a huge commercial dispute that occurred in the Livonia Knights.

A contradiction arose. Muscovites thought that the Teutonic State was the suzerain state of the Livonian Knights and had the right to adjudicate, so they foolishly came to Konigsberg to seek arbitration. But in fact, the Livonian Knights had long been de facto independent, but they only recognized the Teutonic State as their suzerain in name. In other words, the Maozi messenger made a vain trip this time.

So, Marin simply took the messenger's visit to Königsberg and used it to bluff the Lithuanians...

Although the Teutonic state was in decline, it was able to make up tens of thousands of troops, and the proportion of heavy cavalry was very high. It is also a huge problem for Lithuania to really form an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Both the faces of Archduke Alexander and Prince Sigmund changed, and Archduke Alexander asked:

"So did they reach an agreement?"

"It doesn't seem like..." Marin pretended to think for a moment, then replied. The reason why he said this was to tell the Lithuanians that if the Teutonic state fell to Moscow, it would bring great trouble to the Lithuanians, not to tell them that the Teutonic state was really allied with Moscow. Just pressing.

Archduke Alexander breathed a sigh of relief, and discussed with his younger brother the Lithuanian dialect for a while...

Marlin added:

"Captain Philip is also my trading partner. Every year, he makes a lot of profit from the sale of salt..." This news implies that the Grand Duke of Alexander, the Grand Chief Philip, is also rich and capable. Recruiting more troops... In fact, Chief Philip did indeed recruit 10,000 new troops, intending to rely on this new army to control the Teutonic State and suppress the native Prussian nobles.

Archduke Alexander and Prince Sigmund seemed to be shaken, and after a while, Archduke Alexander and Prince Sigmund seemed to have negotiated a result. So the Archduke Alexander said to Marin:

“Lithuania agrees in principle to reconcile with the Teutonic State and promises not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Teutonic State. However, that is limited to the Teutonic State itself. For the Livonian Knights State, we do not want to see it again under the Teutonic State. State influence and control..."

Obviously, this is the bottom line of the Lithuanians. Marin thought for a while and felt that this was already very good for the Teutonic state. Indeed, if the Teutonic Kingdom and the Livonian Knights were merged, they would definitely become a powerful force. As Malin himself, he couldn't tolerate such a powerful country by his side. Therefore, Lithuania's request is not excessive.

Therefore, Marin planned to bring this condition of the Grand Duke of Lithuania to Philip, the head of the Teutonic Grand Master. As long as Philip agreed and signed a reconciliation treaty with Lithuania, he would have the opportunity to deal with the opposition nobles in the Teutonic State. Because, Archduke Alexander is not only the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but also the King of the Kingdom of Poland. As long as the Grand Duke Alexander promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Teutonic State, the Teutonic Knights would be able to free up their hands to deal with the local nobles in the country who did not deal with the Knights, and would not be subject to the armed interference of Poland and Lithuania. And all the Teutonic state needs to pay is a promise not to ally with the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Marin believed that as long as Chief Philip was not insane, he would definitely accept this favorable condition for the Teutonic state. Although it was impossible to regain control of the Livonian Knights Kingdom, in fact, the Livonian Knights Kingdom was no longer under the control of the Teutonic Kingdom. To agree or not to agree to this condition is actually nothing. As long as the Prussian nobles in the country are managed, the Teutonic Kingdom can truly be regarded as a country belonging to the Knights, and it can develop more stably. Unlike now, the city and its surroundings are owned by the Teutonic Knights, while the rest of the Teutonic countryside is mostly owned by the Prussian nobility...

With the conditions announced by Alexander the Great, Marin continued on his way home. By the way, he conveyed this condition to Chief Philip...