The Rise of the European Emperor

It has been more than three months since the Quadruple Alliance's war against Denmark broke out, and Marin's men are constantly collecting information on the German region.

Marin was very surprised to find that the attitudes of the German states towards this war seemed to be ambiguous. For the Quadruple Alliance, some people in Sweden accused them of deceiving the king. Marin was also accused of being brutal and bellicose. However, none of his two allies, Lübeck and Hamburg, dared to publicly accuse...

Marlin was speechless for a moment, thinking that when he conquered East Frisian, he was accused by thousands of people, and he was also persecuted by the Duke of Saxony. This time against Denmark, Marin was prepared to be strongly opposed and the homeland to be attacked. But unexpectedly, no one accused them of attacking Denmark as incorrect. At least, no one has publicly accused it.

At this moment, he wanted to understand. The reason is that this time he hugged the extra thick thighs of the Hanseatic League...

Lübeck and Hamburg are the main and deputy leaders of the Hanseatic League, and to form an alliance with them is to form an alliance with the entire Hanseatic League. You know, the Hanseatic League has branches in almost all cities in the German region. Most of the German nobles borrowed money from Hanseatic League merchants. The King of England even used his crown as collateral many times to borrow money from the Hanseatic League. The princes in Germany also borrowed money from the Hanseatic League to maintain a luxurious life.

In this era, most of the princes in the German region were only landlords who lived on rent. If you encounter a disaster year, you will not be able to live without borrowing money. In this era, the richest people in Germany were probably the businessmen of the Hanseatic League. Therefore, the princes of Germany tried to make good relations with the Hanseatic League. In this way, when money is tight, I can also borrow money from the Hanseatic League to turn around. In particular, when a war broke out, those nobles with poor finances would have no money to hire mercenaries to help them fight the war without borrowing money. Therefore, none of them dared to offend the Hanseatic League easily, so that when a war broke out, they would not be able to borrow money from the Hanseatic League to hire troops to ensure national security. Even the two great emperors of Saxony and Brandenburg would not dare to turn against the Hanseatic League without good reason. Unless, they want to be subject to trade sanctions.

After figuring this out, Marin was extremely eager to continue to hug the thick leg of the Hanseatic League. Because Marin discovered that the thick legs of the Hanseatic League were even thicker than Emperor Maximilian I. At least, diplomatically, the Hanseatic League has more cattle than Maximilian I. When Maximilian I did something, he was often opposed by most of the princes. And the Hanseatic League leader and deputy leader launched a war against Denmark, and no country in the German region has come out to express opposition...

Before the two great speakers of Lubeck and Hamburg left, Marin salivated and ran to seek an alliance...

"Alliance? Count Marin, aren't we allies now?" Lübeck Grand Chancellor Tagfacht asked strangely.

"Hehe, Mr. Tagfacht, now we are allies, but what about in the future? When Denmark recovers after many years, it will definitely not be reconciled to the lost territory. At that time, the Principality of Schleswig, which is the closest to Denmark, will definitely be It was the first to be attacked. So...hehe..."

Neither of the two speakers could refute Marin's remarks. Indeed, Marin contributed a lot in this war, and was also assigned to the Duchy of Schleswig, which borders Denmark. Although it seems that the territory divided by the Marin family is worth the territory obtained by the Lübeck and Hamburg families, this is not the case. Because, the biggest beneficiary of this war against Denmark was not Marin, but the two Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg.

For a long time, the Kalmar Union composed of Denmark, Norway and Sweden has been the biggest competitor of the Hanseatic League. Today, the maritime trade between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom has not yet risen, and the Kalmar League is the biggest competitor of the Hanseatic League.

It is also the only competitor on the table.

In this war, relying on the emerging East Frisian fleet, Lübeck and Hamburg successfully eliminated the Danish fleet, which was a huge threat to the Hanseatic League, and robbed most of the Danish merchant ships in the later period.

It can be said that for a long time, Denmark could not be slowed down and could not pose a threat to the Hanseatic League. And without Marin's help, Lübeck and Hamburg alone would not have been able to do it.

Therefore, Marin seems to gain more territory than both Lübeck and Hamburg, but the benefits are far less than those of the two cities. Moreover, the principality of Schleswig, which is close to Denmark, is also the most vulnerable to retaliatory attacks by Denmark. So Marin's conditions for forming an alliance to fight future crises are perfectly reasonable.

Therefore, the two grand speakers of Lubeck and Hamburg, nodded and agreed to form an alliance with Marin...

However, what surprised the two speakers was that Marin later used this covenant to move the two Hanseatic chief cities out as a shield many times, and solved many diplomatic problems...

Soon, Marin signed the Treaty of Copenhagen with the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg in the name of the Duke of Schleswig.

The treaty stipulated that the two sides would form allies and help each other militarily. No matter which side is attacked, the other side has an obligation to help.

In addition, the two sides achieved trade liberalization. All cities in the Duchy of Schleswig will be unconditionally open to Hanseatic merchants from both cities. At the same time, Lübeck and Hamburg also granted "most-favored-nation treatment" to the cities of Schleswig, Flensburg, Ribe, Obenlo and Husum. The chambers of commerce that several cities belong to and trade in Lübeck and Hamburg will receive the treatment and status of Hanseatic members, and in any Hanseatic League member city, they will not be suppressed or embarrassed by the alliance...

Originally, Marin planned to directly let several cities in the Principality of Schleswig join the Hanseatic League. However, in the regulations of the Hanseatic League, it is specially required that any city that is not located in the coastal zone or on both sides of the navigable river, or has no autonomy, has no right to join the Hanseatic League.

At this point, Marlin was stumped at once. As a man with a strong desire to control, Marin will never allow the city under his rule to become autonomous without his control. Therefore, he could only give up letting these cities join the Hanseatic League.

However, he suddenly remembered the "most-favored-nation treatment" issue that was often negotiated between China and the United States before China and the United States joined the WTO.

So, he put forward the concept of "Most Favored Nation Treatment" to the two speakers...

The proposal of this concept aroused great interest of the two speakers. Because the Hanseatic League also needs strong allies.

The Hanseatic League was a consortium of autonomous cities that, while extremely powerful economically, was weaker militarily. Because, it is difficult for them to coordinate and mobilize all resources to fight the enemy. After all, they are just a loose association of cities. Therefore, the deterrence of the Hanseatic League to others is more economic than military.

However, because of the access principle of the Hanseatic League, they could not absorb the cities controlled by the great nobles as members, so it was difficult for them to form an offensive and defensive alliance with those powerful nobles to help each other.

The concept of Marin's "Most Favored Nation Treatment" was a great inspiration to the two Speakers. Through this method, the Hanseatic League can completely form an alliance with those powerful nobles to ensure its own safety. At the same time, it also gives sufficient benefits to allies. Moreover, it does not violate the principles of the Hanseatic League. Without violating the provisions of the Hanseatic League, it can still find military allies, and can use "most favored nation treatment" to win over each other.

And Marin, a noble with outstanding military talent, was in line with the alliance requirements of the Hanseatic League and was worth winning over. Maybe someday in the future, the two Hanseatic cities will use this person to help deal with the enemy...

As a result, the two sides hit it off. In Copenhagen, the capital of the Danes, they signed the "Copenhagen Treaty", announcing an alliance, and for the first time, the concept of "most-favored-nation treatment" was written in the official document of the treaty...

So far, Marin has successfully embraced the thick leg of the Hanseatic League, and used this thick leg many times in the future to solve a lot of diplomatic troubles...