The princes were discussing how to blackmail Marin in a hurry, but no one noticed that the priest sitting at the edge of the chamber had a flash of eyes.
This priest is naturally James Bond, an outstanding spy in the North Sea Kingdom, who is the newly promoted theology professor "Calvin", at the University of Wittenberg. As a distinguished guest and friend of Frederick III of Saxony, although Bond was not qualified to attend the meeting, he still sat in the corner of the chamber with Martin Luther and listened to the entire meeting.
Martin Luther, an idealist, was shocked by the last wave of discussion among the princes - is this still aristocrat? Why does it mean to be money when you keep silent? Like a bottomless businessman...
Until he left the chamber, Martin Luther was a little unresponsive. Because the scene in front of him had a great impact on him and a little subverted his views. After all, he was only 34 years old and had been a teacher in an ivory tower university. Although he had seen many injustice at the bottom of society, he still had fewer filth among the nobles.
But Bond, as a spy, has a better knowledge of many secrets and is familiar with it. He is not surprised by this. Looking at Martin Luther's disappointment, Bond patted his shoulder:
"Martin, don't mind, this is life. You know, nobles also have to eat, drink, defecate, and like to be arrogant and spend more money. Therefore, they care so much about money."
Martin Luther came to his senses and smiled reluctantly, but asked seriously:
"Calvin, do you think it's meaningful to be determined to promote church reform? You have also seen that these nobles are not as noble as they advertise, but are very philanthropic. I am worried that even if the reform is successful, it will only be cheaper for these people and cannot help ordinary people who really need help."
Martin Luther was a relatively noble person, and he liked to help the weak. Originally, he thought that the nobles he wanted to cooperate with would be as noble and kind as advertised in the knight novels. As a result, when he saw this, he realized that those princes were just a bunch of profiteers who always talked about their interests.
Bond was very open-minded, and Marin asked him this question. So he thought about what Marin said at the beginning and comforted Martin Luther:
"You are right. Many of these nobles are not good people. But you must know that if they don't help us, we will be unable to support ourselves and will soon be suppressed by the Holy See and will not be able to fulfill our wishes. Although cooperation with them is not the best choice, we have no choice. Moreover, although most of the benefits after the reform will be taken away by these noble men, the people will still get some benefits. As long as there is progress, we will have a clear conscience!"
After hearing Bond's words, Martin Luther thought about it and then repeatedly thought about these words. It was not until a few days later that Martin Luther figured it out. Many difficulties cannot be solved overnight. Cooperating with the nobles mainly depends on their strength. First solve the problem, and then solve the problem of aristocrats' greed. Of course, he may not have time to solve the subsequent problems. Because, Martin Luther is not confident that he can do this in his life to solve the trouble of the Holy See. But as Professor Calvin said, even if he can only get some benefits, it will be of great benefit to ordinary people. After all, the people's requirements are extremely low, just to live.
...
After Bond separated from Martin Luther, he immediately sent the details of the private meeting through Feige's letter and sent it to Marin as a password.
After seeing the information, Malin was speechless - a group of princes had such a little success. Fortunately, these people were not stupid enough to blackmail him directly. If they wanted to do business, it would be fine even if they gave some benefits.
In fact, Malin always wanted to do business with the various vassal states. However, the princes had a lot of opinions about him and had never been willing to cooperate. Even if he was willing to give in, most of the princes would suspect that he had "illegal plans". Therefore, Malin had previously built many "small" chambers of commerce, hiding the background of the Beihai State, and established trade relations with some vassal states.
But the problem is that there is no way to go to the official position. These low-key small chambers of commerce often encounter various difficulties and are blackmailed. Therefore, in the end, they actually don’t make much money.
This is normal. You should know that even in the 21st century, when Chinese people go to the Russians to do business, they are often blackmailed by the "constables" in various names. Even China has investments that are so important. In this era when the legal system is not available, business must not only consider the purchase cost and transportation cost, but also the extortion along the way must be considered.
There are so many countries in Germany that merchants often have to "enter and leave" and then pay passes taxes and tariffs. These costs make the small chambers of trumpet under Marin miserable. Often, when goods that are obviously very profitable, they will be knocked out a little bit of profit after a few more checkpoints on the road. But Marin cannot speak for these small chambers of trumpet, otherwise, these chambers of trumpet will be even more unlucky and targeted.
If the goods are handed over to these princes to "agent", the situation will be very different immediately. Not to mention anything else, no one dares to collect tolls in the state where the princes are located. After all, that country is the chassis of this prince, who dares to blackmail the local emperor?
Then, the costs of being extorted along the way can be directly lost. At least, it is not necessary to bear the burden on the Chamber of Commerce under Marin. In the end, although it seems to be a concession, it is actually even more profitable.
Moreover, the so-called "purchase price" itself contains the tolls that were extorted, which is far more than the cost price even if it is 20% off. The shipment price of the origin is actually less than half of the "purchase price". In this way, even if the "purchase price" is 20% off, Malin still makes more than 30% more.
In addition, those businesses represented by the princes themselves will not only be unblocked in their own country, but will pay much less toll when other princes pass through the border. Because the princes give each other face and will facilitate each other.
Once the family flags of the princes are inserted and the family badges are hung, they are not tax-free when passing the checkpoint. Even if tolls are collected, they will definitely be charged according to the minimum standards for the sake of the family flags and the family badges. In addition, the officials and soldiers at the checkpoints dare not blackmail the caravan in private, because this will offend the great nobles behind the caravan.
Therefore, there are so many benefits to handing over the goods to these princes to represent. They can save a lot of tolls and will not be extorted by cats and dogs.
However, because of the extremely tense relationship between the two sides, Malin was unable to let the princes represent their own products.
Now, the relationship between the two sides is still tense. However, this time, some princes wanted to force Malin to make concessions in business. Although they were not ashamed of face, in fact, they were exactly what Malin wanted...
Chapter completed!