Just as Marin was working hard on the island of Texel, many major events occurred on the land of Western Europe. After arduous negotiations like tug-of-war, Maximilian I finally got the ransom of more than one million gold coins that he had always dreamed of from the unlucky Charles VIII. In order to pay the high ransom, Charles VIII emptied the savings of the treasury and borrowed a large sum of money from the Jewish merchants and the merchants of Renaya.

But Charles VIII had to pay the ransom, because if he did not care about the life or death of the captured soldiers, no one would be willing to work for him in the future.

Looking at the mountain of gold and silver coins, Maximilian I woke up many times in his dreams. Then, Maximilian I decided to expand the number of regular troops under the Habsburg family from 16,500 to 25,000.

In addition, Maximilian I also spent a large amount of funds to establish a number of military factories in Innsbruck, Austria. As a knight-controller, Maximilian I began to personally participate in the development of the famous Maximilian armor in later generations. Originally, this was something the emperor had to develop around 1,500 years ago in order to adapt to the needs of war. Now that the funds are sufficient, he of course began to develop in advance.

Moreover, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the army, Maximilian I also purchased a batch of artillery and equipped the army. Maximilian I was a military-minded person, and the century-long British-French war gave him great inspiration. The French began to be defeated frequently in front of British longbowmen, but later, the French not only equipped with more protective plate armor, but also began to use artillery large numbers to fight against the longbowmen, and gradually won the victory and expelled the British from France.

When the French fought, they often used hundreds of artillery pieces. If they bombarded together, it would be easy to open a big hole in the front battlefield. The last Italian battle, the coalition forces won the last battle. In addition to being affected by syphilis and eager to run away, the French had abandoned all the artillery pieces before, which was also an important reason for their failure. If Charles VIII brought hundreds of artillery pieces to bombard the Italian coalition pieces, the French would probably defeat the Italian coalition. Therefore, the inspired Maximilian I purchased 50 light bronze cannons for his army. In addition to the original dozens of artillery pieces, the emperor's army also had more than one hundred artillery pieces.

However, the artillery of this era did not have a suitable gun mount or a gun ear. To carry the cannons, you had to carry a large number of heavy carriages to transport the cannons. At this time, the cannons were generally a thick gun barrel. Every time you fight, someone had to send someone to lift the gun barrel from the carriage to the front of the formation and lay it on the ground. Therefore, infantry cannons were generally not heavy and the caliber was not large. Because if the cannon body was too heavy, the soldiers could not lift it at all. In order to set up the cannons, engineers also needed to dig pits to block the recoil of the cannons. In short, using cannons these days was very troublesome. Unlike later, a light cannon with a horse on the wheel, he could quickly rush.

Carriages are very susceptible to the influence of terrain. Because of mountain terrain, carriages cannot pass through, so they cannot transport the cannons.

During the Swabian War in 1499, it was difficult for the emperor's army to transport artillery to the Swiss Plateau. As a result, the emperor's coalition was taught a lesson by the Swiss spearmen.

...

However, for the emperor, he received great benefits, and others were also jealous of him...

Moreover, the jealousy is not outsiders, but insiders of the Habsburg family...

So, when Maximilian I was full of confidence, the members of the Habsburg family, including those from Austria, those from lower Austria, those from Tyrol, those from lower Tyrol, those from Styrol, those from Stylia... and so on, a bunch of dukes and earls came to Innsbruck, where Maximilian I lived, to fight the autumn wind...

Maximilian I was very popular. In his imagination, these more than 1 million gold coins were the key to the re-rise of the Habsburg family. If he gave them to these guys, what would he do to rise? Originally, he planned to strengthen his army after the development of a new type of plate armor, first defeat his biggest competitor, Hungary. Then, he would deal with the princes who were dissatisfied with him one by one, and finally let the Habsburg family truly become the controller of the German region, rather than the nominal owner.

However, his long-term vision does not mean that his relatives have long-term vision...

Just like when someone in China broke out in later generations, many relatives came to borrow money, various branches of Habsburg also came to "borrow" money...

In this era, due to underdeveloped agriculture and the great voyages were just beginning, and most nobles had very bad finances. It was normal for the nobles to owe money to the Hanseatic League. Therefore, the Hanseatic League gained a lot of trade privileges in Germany by lending to the nobles.

It’s like the emperor himself, who had owed more than 100,000 gold coins before. But after receiving the ransom, the emperor’s finances suddenly improved. However, relatives who were staring at the money also came to the door...

Moreover, the emperor is different from ordinary civilians. Ordinary civilians can just manage themselves. They can choose not to lend money to relatives, and at most they will be scolded. However, the emperor cannot ignore his relatives. Because his relatives are not simple things.

The Habsburg side branches were at least barons, and there were also a bunch of dukes and counts. As a nominal monarch, Maximilian I needed the support of these noble relatives. Without these people, he would not even have the confidence to quarrel with the princes in the imperial parliament. After all, there were hundreds of princes, but the emperor was only one. If he quarreled with hundreds of princes, he would definitely lose. Therefore, he had to win over his relatives and nobles of the Swabian League to help him quarrel and fight...

Therefore, the emperor could not ignore the demands of these noble relatives, especially his important supporters.

Of course, the emperor cannot follow the words of these guys. If we follow the words of these guys, we can share the millions of gold coins together.

After many disputes and even quarrels, the emperor took out 200,000 gold coins in great pain and blocked his relatives' mouths. Many people were not happy. If the emperor had not brought out the righteousness of the family's future, the relatives would have even divided all the ransoms.

Unexpectedly, the dukes and earls of the Swabian League also came to "borrow money"...

The Swabian Alliance is now the emperor's greatest reliance on force, and it is even more impossible to offend the emperor than the emperor's relatives. Otherwise, no one would support the emperor. It is okay for their own relatives to ask them to go to the Imperial Parliament to help quarrel. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are all fighting against the five scumbags. In order to fight, they have to rely on the Swabian Alliance and their mercenaries (most of the officers are nobles from the Swabian Alliance).

For this reason, the emperor endured the reluctance and pain in his heart and "borrowed" 200,000 gold coins to the great nobles in Swabian. Moreover, it was said that it was "borrowing", God knows when these guys will return it. According to the virtues of the nobles in this era, it was "not bad for a thousand years, not for a thousand years"... Anyway, Maximilian I felt that when he was alive, he could not see these guys paying back the money...

The emperor was knocked away 400,000 gold coins in succession, which made the emperor's heart bleed, but he couldn't say anything. Politics is about exchange of interests. If you get rich, don't bring friends to play with you, and don't think of having allies in the future. In order to show your national prestige, the emperor had widely publicized that he had obtained 2,000 senior French prisoners, which was known to the whole country. Everyone knows that with these captives, the emperor will definitely have a large amount of ransom. Therefore, these guys have already made plans to knock the emperor, which can be said to have been planning for a long time. Moreover, the emperor has to express something, which is really frustrating...
Chapter completed!