The Rise of the European Emperor

After the Holy See made a decision, it did not immediately announce it to the world, but pressed the news first and prepared to announce it in a month.

And this month is the time Julius II left for Marin to prepare. After all, if the Archbishop of Cologne is not dealt with, there may be a big melee.

If the Archbishop of Cologne can't think of it for a while, and if the Elector Frederick III of Saxony and the Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg are provoked, Marin may face a group fight with a group of younger brothers outside the three Electors.

Of course, this is only the case when the Archbishop of Cologne can't think of it. If someone took away a huge land area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers, anyone would be mad. However, the arm could not twist the thigh after all. If the Archbishop of Cologne and the Holy See contradict too much, once the Pope is excommunicated, the Archbishop of Cologne will be finished. Even a Shinra emperor like Henry IV would kneel down to the Pope and beg for mercy, let alone an archbishop under the Pope? Therefore, the rational Archbishop of Cologne will definitely not choose to confront the Holy See.

In addition, in order to ensure that Marin can successfully persuade Hermann IV, the archbishop of Cologne, Julius II also gave a big gift - as long as Hermann IV is willing to admit Marin's secularity to the Bishopric of Münster Governing power and support, then Julius II can take advantage of the position of the pope to directly appoint a junior of the Hessian family as assistant bishop.

Not only that, if this junior of the Hessian family wants to compete for the bishop of a certain bishopric in the future, he will get support from the Holy See...

This condition can be said to be very favorable. You know, the bishops of the bishopric are not hereditary. Generally speaking, the bishops and archbishops of the bishopric are elected under the witness of the representatives of the Holy See.

Because bishops have no legitimate heirs and no hereditary power. Therefore, if you want your next-generation nephew to become a bishop of a country, you must not only have a certain level to be eligible to run for election, but also need a lot of money to bribe voters.

Julius II gave the rank of assistant bishop next to the bishop of the bishopric, which is convenient for Herman IV's son and nephew to run for the bishop of the bishopric. At that time, with the support of the Holy See, and spending some money to bribe voters and win the position of bishop of a bishopric, it is almost a certainty.

Of course, this had to be useful while Julius II was alive. Because this promise was given by Julius II, and the next pope will not admit it. Therefore, whenever there is a vacancy in the bishopric of any bishopric, the sons and nephews of Herman IV must quickly fill them. Otherwise, if Julius II died, it would not be so easy to obtain the post of bishop of the bishopric. After all, the bishop of the bishopric who is in charge of the taxation of a country is a piece of fat in everyone's eyes...

Moreover, Marin would also offer a bribe to Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne. With the level and support given by Julius II,

Combined with the large sums of money bribed by Marin - this is equivalent to giving the Hessian family another bishop's seat.

Although it is very sad to lose the Bishopric of Münster, it is for the Archbishopric of Cologne. For Hermann IV, it is more important for his son and nephew to gain another bishopric seat than the loss of a bishopric for the Archbishopric of Cologne. After all, the Archbishopric of Cologne is not his home. Moreover, the decision was made by the Holy See, the superior of the Archbishopric of Cologne. With such a good compensation, a fool would object...

What's more, what Marin got was only the secular governance of the Bishopric of Münster, and the religious power of the Bishopric of Münster still belonged to the Archbishop of Cologne. Of course, this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that the tithes of the Bishopric of Münster will not be stopped, and they will continue to have a hand with the Archbishop of Cologne...

...

After getting the clear news, in order to let Marin know as soon as possible, Kohler directly arranged for a few subordinates, one person and three horses, to go north overnight at all costs. If two horses run away, just buy two more on the way...

Although there are thousands of kilometers from Rome to Aurich, Marin received the news in 5 days, regardless of horsepower. Then, I personally led people to the south in an emergency, with a large amount of gold coins, to Cologne to "talk" to the Archbishop of Cologne...

"What? Are you kidding me? Count Marin, you actually want to divide up my largest vassal, the Bishopric of Munster (the Bishopric of Munster is indeed the largest bishopric under the management of the Archbishop of Cologne, bigger than the Archbishopric of Cologne itself) Point)? And Osnabrück? Are you crazy?" In the living room of the Archbishop of Cologne in Bonn, Hermann IV was furious after hearing Marin's intentions.

"Sir Herman, this is not my decision, it is the decision of the Holy See. I sent troops to help the Holy See expel Caesar Borgia's army and capture the prosperous and prosperous Florentine Republic. Therefore, the Pope and the Cardinals' Cardinals, unanimously decided to give me the secular and religious powers of the Bishopric of Münster and the Bishopric of Osnabrück, which are still in your hands..."

"How could the Holy See make such a decision? Also, why don't I know the situation yet? How could you know first?" Herman IV suppressed his anger and asked suspiciously. He doubted whether Marin was pretending to be a liar.

"That's right, Lord Herman. After making this decision, His Majesty the Pope is afraid that you will not think about it for a while and openly oppose the order of the Holy See. Therefore, first send someone to hurry up and inform me. Then, I will come to talk to you first. Discuss. After about 20 days, the specific order will be announced. The Pope hopes that you will cooperate with his first important secular order..."

"However, the content of this decree is too ridiculous, right?" Herman IV would bet that he had never heard of such a ridiculous order.

"That's right, our great new Pope Julius II has ambitions to unify Italy. However, with the Papal State's army, it is difficult to do so. So, before taking over as Pope, he thought about it. Use the help of other countries' troops to fulfill his wish to unify Italy."

"My 7,000 main force not only helped the Holy See stabilize the security of the Papal State, but also helped to conquer the Republic of Florence. Now, my 7,000 troops are all left in Rome or will they come back."

"However, in return, the Lords of the Holy See unanimously decided to reward me with the secular dominion of the Bishopric of Münster. In fact, this is setting an example for other countries to tell everyone that working for the Holy See is worthwhile. Good..." Marin explained the Holy See's original intention in detail to Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne.

After thinking about it, Herman IV had to admit that this method was indeed easy to use. Exchanging German territory for Italian territory is a sure-fire way for the Holy See.

It's just that the Holy See's move is a favor of the Bishopric of Germany in exchange for its own interests. In particular, this first generosity came to him... It was the Bishopric of Munster, the largest bishopric under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Cologne... So he said angrily:

"Why Münster? And Osnabrück? Can't it be somewhere else?"

"Because the Bishopric of Munster is the closest to East Frisian... Moreover, the lords of the Holy See make corresponding rewards according to the area of ​​the Florentine Republic. After all, the total area of ​​the Florentine Republic, Bimings The Bishopric of Osnabruck and the Bishopric of Osnabruck add up to a lot bigger..."

"Bullshit! If you talk about being close to East Friesland, I remember that the Bishopric of Utrecht also borders East Friesland. Why don't you make sense of Utrecht?"

Malin Xin said that although Utrecht is not small, it is not as big as the Bishop of Münster. Of course, the most important thing is - the Ruhr area is in the south of the Bishopric of Munster!

How can we develop steam engines in the future without coal? If you want to start industry, you must first win the Ruhr area...

If we take the Bishopric of Utrecht, although agriculture is developed, what is the use? Industry is the future development trend...

"By the way, Lord Hermann. The Pope asked me to tell you that if you agree to this matter and support it, he is willing to directly give your family junior the title of assistant bishop. Then, if any bishopric in Germany The seat is vacant, and the Holy See will support your son and nephew and directly run for the bishop of that bishopric..."

"Uh...really?" Herman IV was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized that this was the Holy See to make corresponding compensation. After all, it is indeed unkind to cut off the largest bishop of Münster from the archbishop of Cologne and add a bishopric of Osnabrück.

Hermann IV quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind, and finally found that—for the Archbishopric of Cologne, this time it was a big loss. However, for him Hermann IV himself and the Hessian family, it was a big profit...

Just when Herman IV hesitated, Marin spoke again:

"My lord, if you want to come to your nephew to run for the bishop's election, you need a lot of money. I have 200,000 gold coins here, please accept it with a smile..."

"200,000..." Herman IV's eyelids jumped. At that time, he ran for the Archbishop of Cologne, and the poor Hessian family sold iron, but only collected 120,000 gold coins, and finally helped Hermann IV win the election of the Archbishop of Cologne. 200,000 gold coins, almost quadrupled. Running for an electoral archbishop only costs hundreds of thousands of gold coins, and running for a general bishop of a bishopric country costs 70,000 to 80,000 yuan. Marin sent 200,000 yuan, there is definitely a lot of surplus...

Under the great temptation of gold coins and a preparatory bishop's seat, Hermann IV finally calmed his inner anger and decided to support Marin to win the secular rule of the Bishopric of Münster and Osnabrück. right. Anyway, this is the Holy See's decision, not his decision. The sky is falling and there is a tall one on it...

Next, Marin continued to go out and visited the six Metropolitans who are very powerful in the Archbishop of Cologne. The appetite of these few people is not as great as that of the Archbishop of Cologne. After smashing down 50,000 gold coins, they all knelt down and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Holy See's actions...

In this way, Marin relied on gold coins to clear the way, and got all the seven most powerful figures in the Archbishopric of Cologne. Once the Holy See decree is issued, the Archbishopric of Cologne will not object to Marin's acquisition of the secular power of the Bishopric of Münster and Osnabrück.

Of course, Hermann IV has repeatedly stressed that the bishopric of Münster and Osnabrück have the right to appoint bishops to the Archbishop of Cologne. For such details, Marin naturally does not care. Anyway, it's not a big deal. The big deal, then bribe the Archbishop of Cologne to choose a new bishop who agrees with him...