"God, why do you even know a small castle in the mountains? Who are we locals? William took the map and told me for an afternoon. I still don't know where the castle is!" Carl couldn't help but look at the sky. He was really convinced. If Hong Tao was not a god, he was the first to express his doubts.

"Is this marriage introduced by William?" Since it was really the Habsburg family, Hong Tao naturally thought of Emperor Frederick II. At present, the territory of Switzerland still belongs to the German Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire. But Hong Tao does not think that this kind of marriage is a good thing. If it was really introduced by Frederick II, then it would be a big conspiracy. He wanted to use Jiang Zhuyi and Aya as bargaining chips to break into the German Kingdom. Although he always said that he did not care about the large area of ​​land north of the mountain, can the emperor believe what he said?

"No, no, no, it has nothing to do with William, but it has something to do with you. Baron Jiang has lended money here over the years and has almost become the biggest landlord. The mountainous area is very poor, and the Zelingen family who ruled that area has no descendants. The future heir is likely to be the Habsburg family. The Habsburg family and the Baron borrowed money to expand the St. Gotthar Pass, and the Baron organized the goods to go north through the mountain pass, and the Habsburg family was responsible for the safety along the way.

I guess it was their agreement between Aya to marry Count Rudolph. The Baron asked Aya to be the executor. In the future, Hot Aya's goods would have another northern market, and northern furs would also go south from here. This is a great thing and a very profitable business. Compared with Jiang, the Venetians are simply hawkers on the street, with a far worse vision." Carl was not stupid, and knew why Hong Tao asked this, so he quickly clarified for his cousin.

"At present, it is often not a good thing for women to be too smart. She is playing with fire! Do you think that with her and the Habsburg family, and the Zellingen family, can occupy the most important traffic intersection on the European continent? This is not only a major transportation route between north and south, but when I knock Flanders Hanseatic down, it will also become an important transportation route between east and west. At that time, Louis in the west, the German nobles in the north, and the Bohemians in the east will not look at her, a woman without a foundation and bloodline, sitting here.

If you collect taxes, your cousin will also salivate at this place. Can she withstand the attack from all sides? Do you want me to fight a land war with the whole of Europe!" Jiang Zhuyi knows business, has a good vision, and Hong Tao knows these advantages, and is also very impressed. But this woman is a little ambition and courageous, and she actually wants to hold back the throat of the European continent and become a major force that keeps her word in Europe. This is a bit overestimating her ability. Moreover, the time she chose was not right, and she could not provide her with enough help.

"I think you underestimated her. She has more than one Habsburg family. From three or four years ago, she started to ask Aya and Ariane to exchange many small lands that belong to her with the Zelingen family. At that time, I thought she was stupid and used so many good land to exchange for mountainous lands that were not produced. Later, when she and the Habsburg family joined forces, I carefully studied the map and found that she had a complete plan since many years ago."

"Now she has actually controlled a large area of ​​land and population north of the Alps, south of Lake Zurich, east of the Duchy of Burgundy to Lake Zurich. There are few aristocratic territories in the area. Even if I have it, she probably stayed to hide her intentionally. After marrying the Habsburg family this time, her power will expand far north, because Aya has become her adopted daughter under the presidency of the Archbishop. In other words, the children born to Aya and Adolf are also her grandson, and they are born with the inheritance rights of the Habsburg family."

"From my understanding of her, Count Adolf will definitely not live long. The Habsburg family will sooner or later become her grandson's territory. In this way, there will be a formal bloodline inheritance, and the pope cannot refuse to admit it. If you kill people, you use cannons, she will use honey and countless Eastern witchcraft. It will be difficult for anyone to die, because the other party does not know that there is an enemy at all. I have to thank you. If it weren't for her listening to you, she would have attacked me long ago."

"Actually, she doesn't need you to help too much. The mercenaries in her territory were employed by Louis during the Crusades. In recent years, there were wars, and almost all the troops from her territory can be seen. Those guys from the mountains were only slightly better than William's Leprosy Legion, and they could not use their bodies as weapons. But I think if it was a normal army, they were the first in Europe. The only weakness was that the number of people was a little small, but at present it was enough to defend the mountain." Carl found an opportunity today and could educate Hong Tao well. This kind of opportunity was rare.

"Why haven't you told me that she was doing these things before?" Hong Tao really had to listen to Carl's lecture to him. He knew nothing about what he said, and Jiang Zhuyi did it behind his back. It can't be said to be behind his back, because she didn't deliberately hide it, but she just didn't mention it to him.

"How could I know she hadn't told you? She never let me ask about what you told her. I thought it was all you asked her to do. And I wasn't willing to interfere too much in her affairs. If you annoy her, I would be very sad. Of course you are not afraid." Carl answered with Hong Tao's questioning with confidence. The meaning of the words was: You guys and women were plotting against others all day long, and I, an outsider, were you involved in something blindly. If you say that wrong and get hated by Jiang Zhuyi, you might even be unlucky.

"I'm really getting more and more tired as I live. Who am I?" Hong Tao also understood Carl's complaint and was not convinced.

"I refuse to answer this question!" Carl's answer was even more hateful. He obviously admitted it, but he didn't say it directly.

"You offended me! I am a revenge person. Just wait for Baron Jiang's revenge. Let you always think that both sides will not offend you, but I will not let you succeed!" Carl is no longer the original Carl. Although he still trusts himself, he has a lot of thoughts in his heart. This is normal. Thirty-year-olds and fifty-year-olds must think differently. People with family wealth and bachelors will definitely not always think the same. Hong Tao can only scare him and let him sleep and have nightmares.

"Let's talk about her for now. Since she has such great ability, let her do it by herself. Only when she can't even put on her pants can she give up!" At this time, Hong Tao was no longer worried about Jiang Zhuyi. After listening to Carl's detailed introduction, he looked carefully on the map. Hong Tao admired Jiang Zhuyi's vision and methods. This woman is indeed extraordinary. Not only has a business mind, but her vision is longer than that of ordinary people, but she also has strategic thinking and execution ability.

The mountain area that Jiang Zhuyi secretly built was almost the central and southern part of the Swiss Federation of later generations. This mountain area was not a country in the Middle Ages, but just a bunch of small aristocratic territories and the emperor's direct territories. The mountainous areas were poor, and it was impossible to plant them on a large scale. The animal husbandry industry was not developed. How could we live without food or drink if we had to eat or drink if we had to drink? After thinking about it, we would not have anything to exchange with countries outside, so we might as well just use people to make money, so a very special mercenary custom was born.

They form an army themselves, train themselves, and then sell themselves to anyone. As long as you can afford the money, they will go to help you fight, never asking who you want to fight. And they will fight as much as you pay, and they will calculate every penny carefully. If the employer loses money during the war, they will turn around and leave without talking about feelings.

Wars in Europe have a characteristic, which are very frequent but small in scale, especially conflicts between noble lords, which are on average almost every day. If this kind of war is placed in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, it is at best considered an armed battle between villages, and even wars are not even considered a war. However, there are few Europeans, and it is still a professional military system. If you can send out ten knights and hundreds of soldiers, you will be a relatively good lord. A war against tens of thousands of people and tens of thousands of people was only the Crusades in the Middle Ages, and such wars could not be fought between countries.

It is because of this environment that the mercenaries in the mountains of Switzerland have a market. If you can't beat the big village on the other side of the river, it doesn't matter. If you pay, we will help you fight. Fifty gold coins cross the river, one hundred gold coins attack the other village, and you will work if you give the money, and the last person will not breach the contract. If you pay another fifty gold coins, the Swiss mercenaries can help you stay for half a year to prevent the other party from counterattacking.

Since the middle and late Middle Ages, Swiss mercenaries have become synonymous with fierce, strong combat power and trustworthiness. Although their employment price is not cheap, they are really good goods. Rich people like to hire these troops wearing heavy armor, holding sharp halberds a few meters long, and fighting in large arrays to help them guard their houses.

These mountain people are not only fierce, but also very disciplined. No matter how unfavorable the war situation is, there are no deserters. Most of them are fellow villagers. Whoever becomes a deserter will be known by their hometown people, and then no one will use this family. It is difficult to live in the local area if they lose their credibility.

They have three regulations: hang the fleeing people and can only live in tents and not pursue the fleeing enemies. These rules make it rare for established Swiss mercenaries to be ambushed by the enemy, and head-on combat is several times more than that of the Swiss mercenaries, and it is difficult to defeat the Swiss phalanx. Because this mercenary is really desperate, every battle is a true death battle. If these people do not capture prisoners, the enemy will be killed, and the villages and cities will be slaughtered very easily.

In later Vatican cities, only one army was allowed to settle in, that is, the Swiss mercenaries, called the Pope Guard. This was the Roman Church for its efforts to protect Pope Clemón VII from escaping, and in the end, only a dozen people were left. From there, the Pope's guards only used Swiss mercenaries.
Chapter completed!