It was soon July, and Marin led a team of cavalry guards to the south to Walms, 40 kilometers south of Mainz.
According to the Holy Roman Empire Decree, the seven electoral emperors had other positions in the empire. For example, the first-ranked Archbishop Mainz was the convener of the elect, the regent and prime minister of the empire, and was also the Grand Speaker of the German region. Archbishop Cologne was the Grand Speaker of the Burgundy region, and Archbishop Trier was the Grand Speaker of the Italian region.
However, because the Italian region and Burgundy region had long been separated from the control of the empire. Therefore, the Archbishop of Cologne and Archbishop of Trier are just a false name. Therefore, only the Archbishop of Mainz is the President of the German region. Therefore, the actual host of the Imperial Parliament is the Emperor of Mainz. In order to accommodate Archbishop of Mainz, the venue for the Imperial Parliament was simply placed in Walms in the Archbishop of Mainz, which is only 40 kilometers away from Mainz.
As a newcomer to the Imperial Parliament, Marin naturally had to go to the top of the mountain where the president of the parliament was. So, before the parliament was held, Marin brought a box of treasures to visit Archbishop Berthold von Henniberg of Mainz.
Archbishop Berthold of Mainz has a complicated relationship with Marin. It is obvious that Marin was promoted by Emperor Maximilian I and was the emperor's man. But now, Marin did not serve in front of Maximilian I, but chose to become a separatist prince. He also conquered a country that was said to have been passed down from his grandfather and became an earl. In fact, Marin's current identity is similar to Archbishop Mainz and they are both separatist.
The princes. However, Marin's political stance is inclined to the emperor. The Archbishop has some understanding of this. Because he waited for the old princes and did not accept him at all, Marin could only choose to continue to hold the emperor's thigh. But in view of Marin's face of giving gold, silver and jewelry worth more than 20,000 gold coins twice in a row, Archbishop Berthold decided to agree to let Marin enter the Imperial Parliament. Anyway, a seat for a secular prince is nothing.
Afterwards, while the meeting had not been held, Marin brought the treasure chest to visit several other electorates except the Bohemia King Vladislas III.
Among the several electoral princes, Frederick III, the most complicated mood. In the previous battle of Lyre County, Frederick III also suffered a lot of losses. Because in the last war, the former Duke of Saxony Albresit also borrowed a lot of troops from the Saxony Election State. During the battle, many soldiers and horses belonging to the Saxony Election State were also killed or injured. Therefore, it was difficult for Frederick III to have a good impression of Marin.
However, this cannot be blamed on Marin. Because, it was his uncle Albresette, not Marin. Therefore, Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, had the most complicated feelings for Marin, and some did not know whether to support Marin. Even if he accepted Marin's heavy gift, he was very uncertain.
In fact, Marin did not have much hope for Frederick III. Because the relationship between the two sides was not good after all. The reason why Marin insisted on giving him gifts was that he did not want Frederick III to disturb him in the Imperial Parliament.
After all, the public office of the Saxon Elector in the Holy Roman Empire was the Imperial Marshal and the highest general of the Empire. His prestige was huge and his influence was great. Although Marin had bribed many Saxon nobles. If Frederick III strongly opposed it at the Imperial Conference, it was difficult to guarantee that the Saxon nobles would not have reversed and chose to oppose it. Therefore, even though Marin knew that there was little hope, he still gave him a heavy gift, so that the other party would not make trouble for himself.
In fact, this imperial meeting was mainly to regulate the conflict between the emperor and Switzerland who were fighting fiercely. Now, the two sides are fighting hard and very fierce. The Swiss have the upper hand, but the emperor has natural barriers, so there is no big danger.
However, the emperor could not stand the trap of the army in the Graubunden area and fight with Switzerland. After all, more than 10,000 troops were almost the majority of the royal power. Trapped in Graubunden was not conducive to protecting territories such as Austria and Burgundy.
Moreover, the war continued, the resources consumed huge amounts, and the money spent every day was spent. This made the emperor feel distressed, so he asked Archbishop Mainz, who was the Speaker of the Grand Priest, to convene an imperial meeting and urged the Swiss to stop the attack. Or, through a resolution to declare the Swiss rebellion, the emperor would collect a war tax from various countries or the free cities of the imperial city, and the economic pressure was placed.
In fact, the Imperial Parliament basically holds regular meetings every year. Archbishop Mainz is not willing to meet the emperor's conditions, but as the nominal prime minister, he cannot give the emperor no face at all.
In private, Archbishop Mainz had already discussed with other electors. In the end, their solution was to verbally condemn the Swiss's behavior, but not to impose any actual punishment on the Swiss.
In other words, everyone decided to sympathize with the emperor on the surface and shout verbally. But they would not give the emperor the actual interests. Otherwise, if the emperor defeated the Swiss and became stronger, he might come to deal with the princes...
Sure enough, after the new Imperial Conference was held, the princes were very tacit. When the emperor proposed that Marin join the Imperial Parliament, everyone had received benefits and thought it was no big deal. So most of them chose to support it. Frederick III, the electorate of Saxony, chose to abstain, while most of the other Saxony nobles voted in favor. With more than two-thirds of the votes, Marin finally won a seat. In the future, Marin could choose to participate in the Imperial Parliament himself or send representatives. After all, his seat had no say in the Imperial Parliament, and it didn't matter whether he came to the Imperial Parliament or not. Unlike Archbishop Mainz and others, they were the leaders of the Imperial Parliament, so they naturally had to come forward in person to stir up the world in the Imperial Parliament.
But next, when the emperor proposed to punish the "rebellious" Swiss alliance, the princes were tacitly aware. On the surface, everyone "strongly condemned" the Swiss expansion behavior. But in fact, when the emperor asked the Imperial Parliament to approve the collection of war taxes, most of them expressed opposition.
The princes believed that the conflict between the emperor and the Swiss occurred in the Holy Roman Empire and was a battle between the princes, not a foreign war. Generally, the battle between the princes was not qualified to collect war taxes in the empire. Unless it was a foreign war such as the invasion of the Ottoman Empire, everyone would approve it. Before, when the Italian war broke out, the princes also disagreed with the collection of war taxes because the war did not break out in Germany. If the French army invaded the German region, the princes could quickly unify their opinions. But the French did not fight, and the princes would have no interest in interfering. Moreover, they were also afraid that the emperor would take the opportunity to become bigger and stronger.
Therefore, as usual, most princes chose to suppress the emperor. On the surface, they issued a joint statement condemning the expansion of the Swiss. But in fact, this was useless. Just like the foreign ministry of a certain country issued a "solid statement" in later generations, they were all bluffing and had no practical meaning...
Marin wanted to help the emperor waving the flag and shouting, but he was approved to join the Imperial Parliament today and had no say at all. Even if he said it, it was no different from not saying it. Moreover, if it aroused the disgust of the princes, he might be disqualified from the newly obtained parliamentary membership on the spot...
So, Marin could only shrugged at the emperor and expressed his helplessness...
After the Empire Conference, Marin visited the emperor alone. Marin told the emperor that it was not impossible to defeat the Swiss. For example, Frenzberg, the general he sent to support the emperor, was a very good general. If the emperor could use Frenzberg to train the army, the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army would be further improved. At that time, the Swiss would not be a threat...
Chapter completed!