It has been 20 days since East Friesland joined forces with Lübeck, Hamburg and Sweden declared war on Denmark. In these days, this news has spread throughout Germany.
All countries responded differently to this, some gloating, some dissatisfied, and some supported... For example, King Hans' brother-in-law, Frederick III, expressed his dissatisfaction. Because his sister Christina was the queen of King Hans.
However, Frederick III, as the Elector of Saxony, was very conflicted at this time. Because, although he was the brother-in-law of the King of Denmark, he was also a vested interest in the Hanseatic League. Because there were several Hanseatic cities in the Saxony Electorate, which were important tax sources for the Electorate. Moreover, Frederick III himself had also borrowed a large amount of loans from the Hanseatic League, but he had not paid off yet.
Therefore, Frederick III was the most contradictory to the attack on Denmark by the Four-Nation Alliance. On the one hand, he was a vested interest in the Hanseatic League, and the one who sent troops was the eldest Lübeck and the second Hamburg of the Hanseatic League; on the other hand, Denmark was his sister's country...
Therefore, after struggling for a long time, Saxony's Elector chose to wait and see for the time being. After all, if he offended the eldest and second son of the Hanseatic League and the city in the territory was fired from the Hanseatic League, he would lose a lot of money. Before his own interests and the interests of his sister's family, Frederick III finally chose himself. However, he was more wise, he still publicly called on both sides to restrain himself, and it would be best to stop the war and sit down to negotiate. But in this situation, this appeal is no different from not saying anything. After all, both sides have already made real fire. And the Four-Nation Alliance has such an advantage, so how can he stop? But since Frederick III has made a statement, he does not care about his sister's life and death, and he can barely get through it morally.
In addition, to be honest, Frederick III was also very afraid of the evil star Marin. Last time, his uncle led 26,000 troops and was wiped out. This time, it was said that Marin led 30,000 coalition forces, and God knew what kind of bloody storm would be caused. Saxony alone had no confidence to successfully interfere. This was also an important reason why Frederick III finally chose neutrality.
However, Frederick III, as one of the seven electoral emperors, had a great influence. In order to protect his sister and brother-in-law, he had already begun to act in secret and contact other electoral emperors, hoping to use political pressure to prevent the Four-Nation Alliance from doing too much. At least, it should not threaten the status of the Hans and his wife. Otherwise, if Marin, an impulsive guy, breaks into Copenhagen and kills his sister and brother-in-law, it would be bad. At that time, he would have to be involved in the war.
In fact, Marin was also always guarding against the Saxony Electorate in the south. After all, as King Hans' brother-in-law, Marin didn't know whether Frederick III would impulsively send troops to rescue him.
When he told Hamburg military chief Weizmann, he was not worried at all:
"Mr. Marin, you are too worried. Although Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, is still under 40 years old, he is a complete old fox. He will not do anything that he is unsure of. What's more, he is also afraid of being sanctioned by the Hanseatic League."
"Sanctions from the Hanseatic League?" Marin was a little curious, feeling that the Hanseatic League was awesome. A electorate said that it would be sanctions?
"Yes, if you change to other electorates, you may not be afraid of sanctions from the Hanseatic League. But Saxony... The Saxony business district is the second largest business district of the Hanseatic League. The Saxony Elector and the Duke of Saxony have obtained a large amount of commercial taxes every year because of several Hanseatic cities in your territory. In addition, the Principality of Saxony, which pays you 1 million gold coins, will not be able to support it if it is not for the loan from the Hanseatic merchants..."
"Ah? Did you lend the money to the Principality of Saxony?" Marin was a little stunned. His allies supported his enemies...
"Haha, of course, after all, we were not allies at that time..." Weitzmann felt a little embarrassed.
"Understand, but will Saxon Elector be afraid of you?"
"Let me say that, Lord Marin, the Saxony Electoral State and the Saxony Principal State, more than half of the fiscal revenue comes from commercial taxes in the Hanseatic cities within the territory. Lübeck and our Hamburg are the two most vocal companies in the Hanseatic League. If Saxony Electoral dares to challenge us, we can completely expel the membership of the Hanseatic cities of the Saxony Electoral State. In the future, the business of those cities will be fatal, and the fiscal revenue of Saxony Electoral State will be reduced by more than half..." Weizmann said confidently.
Marin was a little stunned and murmured:
"It's so awesome...so awesome..."
At this time, Marin began to face up to the strength of Lubeck, the Hanseatic leader and Hamburg, the Hanseatic deputy leader. Although the army strength of these two cities is not as strong as its own, their influence is too scary. It can force an electoral prince to dare not come forward to protect his sister easily...
Sure enough, Marin waited for the news that the Saxony Elector sent troops, but waited for Frederick III's call for a ceasefire. However, how much is this appeal worth? It's not painful at all...
Before, the reason why Marin had been repairing in Glückstadt, the capital of the Principal of Holstein, was not only to teach the mercenaries in Hamburg to learn the rules, but was actually to guard against the interference of the Saxony Elector. Now, the Saxony Elector has admitted his conscience and dared not interfere, so he was relieved. At the same time, he also had a new understanding of the influence of the Hanseatic League.
This alliance has strong financial resources and great political influence. If it is not necessary, Marin would not be willing to provoke it. Previously, Denmark had barely suppressed Lubeck and Hamburg with the joint power of three kingdoms (Denmark, Norway and Weakness) and two principalities (Denmark Schleswig and Holstein). Now, because of its own intrusion, the cities of Lubeck and Hamburg are actually confident to challenge the powerful Kalmar League. It is incredible.
Moreover, according to Weizmann's introduction, most cities in Germany (except some too small cities) have the Hanseatic alliance. They have obtained many commercial and political privileges by lending to lords from all over the country.
During this period, many lords were very poor. In order to maintain a luxury life, some people rely entirely on loans from the Hanseatic League to maintain their finances. Therefore, the Hanseatic League had a huge influence on the lords. Even political giants like the Elector of Saxony depended on the face of the Hanseatic League, let alone those ordinary little nobles.
At this moment, Marin suddenly had the idea of ​​forming a long-term alliance with the Hanseatic League...
Originally, the alliance between East Friesland and Lübeck and Hamburg was just a temporary covenant. Because the two sides came together temporarily because of their common enemy Denmark.
However, now it seems that the Hanseatic League is so great, and Marin also needs such powerful allies to help him speak...
Although the Hanseatic Alliance is just a commercial alliance and does not have a seat in the Imperial Parliament (Hanseatic cities will not be qualified to participate in the Imperial Parliament after the "Thirty Years' War" in the 17th century, for example, Hamburg was qualified to attend the Imperial Parliament and vote in 1770). However, its political influence cannot be underestimated.
Because many imperial cities, such as Cologne and Dortmund, are both imperial cities and Hanseatic cities, and are easily influenced by the Hanseatic Alliance. Although imperial cities such as Aachen, Nuremberg, and Augsburg have not officially joined the Hanseatic Alliance, they have a very close relationship with the Hanseatic Alliance, especially in terms of interests. As long as the Hanseatic Alliance says hello, it is difficult for them to refuse. Because if it angers the Hanseatic Alliance, it will not be difficult to paralyze your business. The reason why the imperial cities can become an imperial city is that they rely on business to be financially independent. If the commercial is paralyzed, the city will not be able to survive. Therefore, the Hanseatic Alliance has a strong influence on most imperial cities...
Chapter completed!