The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin thought for a long time with a bitter face, and found that the money had to be spent. The Roman Cardinals can spend it or not, but the Archbishop of Cologne must spend it.

The Holy See gave itself the large-scale Bishopric of Munster, which was generous to the Archbishop of Cologne. If the Archbishop of Cologne knew about it, it would be strange that he would not be angry.

Although it is said that the Archbishop of Cologne is a subordinate of the Holy See. However, the Archbishop of Cologne is a powerful prince, and even the Holy See cannot casually command the Archbishop of Cologne.

What's more, if Marin used the Holy See to intimidate the Archbishop of Cologne, he might really be embarrassed. Originally, the Seven Electors of Saxony and the Electors of Brandenburg were already very hostile to themselves. If you offend the Archbishop of Cologne again, you will offend the three great emperors.

The two electors, with their little brother, Marin asked himself that he could barely fight. If the three great emperors and princes would form a group to beat him together, Marin would lose confidence.

You must know that the Archbishop of Cologne is not only one of the seven emperors, but also the grand speaker of the Burgundy region (Netherlands). power of command.

If the Archbishop of Cologne is offended, in the future, when Marin goes to war with the Electors of Saxony and Elector of Brandenburg in the east, the homeland may be united by the Archbishopric of Cologne and its many affiliated bishoprics from the south and west. attack.

Marin's current territory was already scattered, so he would go to the east to fight against the coalition forces of the Electors of Saxony and the Electors of Brandenburg, and at the same time fight against the bishopric group led by the Archbishopric of Cologne, it would be very unfortunate.

Therefore, the best solution is to bribe the Archbishop of Cologne to agree to give up the Bishopric of Münster. In this way, Marin would not come into conflict with the bishopric group of the Archbishop of Cologne.

Moreover, Marin also understands that the position of the archbishop of the bishopric is not hereditary. Therefore, most of the archbishops of those bishopric states, except for a few virtuous ones, will make a lot of money during their term of office. In this day and age, it is normal for the bishops of the bishopric to make money. Even bribing voters in elections is public. Just like when Alexander VI elected the Pope, in order to let the rival of the Sforza family quit, he directly said to him-"How much do you want to quit?", and then sent a team of mules, pretending to be Full of gold, strutted to the house of the cardinal of the Sforza family...

Therefore, in Western Europe in this era, if you encounter problems, you can choose to spend money. Of course, not many have the conditions to do this. Most of the nobles, because of the small amount of land output, plus their own luxurious life, spend money like dirt. Therefore, most nobles can't come up with a lot of money to bribe people.

Moreover, secular nobles often can only rely on the output of their own territory to maintain,

And no taxes can be levied on the landlords. Often, the more commercial cities controlled by the aristocracy, the more tax revenue.

In other words, it is impossible to make money by farming. Why are the Electors of Saxony and Dukes of Saxony rich? Because Saxony is a very developed area of ​​handicraft industry in Germany. Unlike farming, aristocrats can levy taxes for setting up handicraft workshops and selling goods. Therefore, only in areas with developed industry and commerce, the finances of the nobles will be better.

However, in contrast, the finances of the bishopric are often very good. Why? Because the bishopric can collect tithes...

It is the natural right of the Episcopal State to levy tithes. Although it is said that tithes are also levied in the kingdoms of those secular princes, but that is all levied by the churches in the countries of those secular princes, and has nothing to do with the secular princes.

But the bishop has the right to use the tithes of the bishopric, and not all of them are sent to Rome. Of course, even the tithe church in the secular princely state could withhold a large amount of tithe and only send a portion to Rome.

So, throughout Western Europe, wherever, churches are very rich. You think, the people of the entire church area have to give one-tenth of their income to the church. Can the church not make a fortune?

Bishops of the bishopric could spend more than half of their tithes on state spending, and only need to send a small portion of the tithes to Rome. Of course, some of these expenses are falsely reported. All these false reports became the private property of the bishop of the bishopric. Those tithes sent to Rome actually end up in the treasury of the Papal State, not many, and most of them were divided up by the popes and cardinals of the Holy See...

Fortunately for Marin, as a great nobleman, he does not need to pay "tithing". At least, no priest dared to tithe him.

Because, the priests in the counties of East Friesland have to act in the eyes of Marin. At the beginning, when he invaded East Frisian Country, Marin raised his butcher's knife and slaughtered countless nobles. Therefore, the priests of East Friesland feared Marin. And Taylor, even more directly into Marin's arms.

Under the circumstance that the domestic priests are all under their own orders, Marin actually evaded taxes...

Commercial tithes are the worst to count. Because, no one knows exactly how much money the businessman makes. Of course, for those pure merchants with low status, or Jewish merchants, the church can send someone to check the accounts. Of course, businessmen can also do false accounts to evade taxes.

So, in fact, the main source of tithing is the harvest of the farmland. Every autumn harvest season, the priests would go to the fields to wait for "tax collection". For example, if you receive 400 pounds of rye per acre, you should pay 40 pounds of rye to the church...

However, from the very beginning, Marin colluded with (or coerced) the local church and falsely reported the yield. The 400-pound per mu yield was still reported as less than 150 pounds. Therefore, when the church in East Friesland collects tithes, it still collects a low standard of less than 15 pounds per acre of land. Of course, this standard is not lower than before. In other words, the income of the East Frisian Country Church is not less than before.

It's not that Marin likes to evade taxes, but because if the tithing in East Friesland is too high, it will attract the attention of other countries and let people know the secret of the high yield per mu of East Friesland. Therefore, Marin has always colluded with the local church and falsely reported the yield of crops, in order to keep the secret of the high yield of crops, not for tax evasion.

The archbishops of the archbishopric countries, when they are running, are actually full of money transactions. After Hermann IV became the Archbishop of Cologne, he was also busy making money. For example, before Marin asked Hermann IV to speak for him at the Imperial Council, twice (the first time to make the Counties of East Friesland a member of the Imperial House of Princes, and the second time to make the Duchy of Schleswig Joined the Imperial House of Lords) bribed a total of 20,000 gold coins to Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne. And Herman IV also laughed, obviously, he is not a noble priest...

Therefore, it is possible to pay Hermann IV to give up the Bishopric of Munster.

And as far as Marin knew, Hermann IV did not have mistresses and illegitimate children like Alexander VI. Most of the money he accumulated has subsidized the family, that is, the Hessian family.

The Earl of Hesse is a poor country with barren land and a large population. Hermann IV was born in the Hessian family and naturally concerned about the development of the Hessian country. Moreover, the nobles of this era have a very strong family concept. Therefore, the large amount of money that Herman IV accumulated, in addition to maintaining his own luxury life, many subsidized the family.

Therefore, Marin's plan is to bribe Hermann IV himself on the one hand; on the other hand, to bribe Hermann IV's relatives to help persuade Hermann IV to agree to give up the Bishopric of Munster...

It's just that I don't know how much this bribe will cost...

Unlike the previous request for Hermann IV to vote for him at the Imperial Conference, this time, Marin wanted to "cut flesh" in the area under Herman IV's rule. To get Herman IV to agree, it is estimated that it will be an astronomical figure...