Maximian I suddenly felt as if his legs had stepped into two quagmires in separate places.

It's a terrible feeling.

He was like a man walking in a swamp, his legs so tightly trapped that he couldn't pull them out.

When you want to pull out any leg, the weight of your body will involuntarily press on the other leg.

In this way, the body will involuntarily tilt to one side.

There will be such a bad feeling because of the threat from the Italian and Bohemian directions, respectively.

Italy was attacked with an unexpected onslaught from the Roman-Thesians, something that Maximian had never thought of before.

He was accustomed to the kind of war that dragged on, like with the French, where a war was fought and stopped, and no one would be desperate from the beginning.

But the Roman-Thesians were different, and it can be said that from the very beginning they changed the way of warfare.

Not only did the Roman-Thescian army suddenly cross their own line of defense against the Genoa-Parma-Po River, but they also attacked Milan with a fierce attack.

The Austrian army, which was taken by surprise by the sudden attack, was not able to hold even Pavia.

What particularly made Maximian find it strange was that the Romantesians actually crossed the Po River and directly threatened Veneto while attacking Milan.

Just think of the words that had been so loud at court before, such as "the roman-tertesians did not have the guts to provoke a war" and "that Cambrai was content, that he had got what he needed, and that he would not have any greater ambitions for the territory", and that Maximian felt the anger of being slapped directly in the face.

Maximian, of course, did not know that there was a small book called "The Book with Generals" that was popular among the high-ranking officers of Rome and Thesia.

And there is a passage that clearly states the chain of actions of his enemies.

"In any war, it is necessary to concentrate all the forces and weapons that can be mobilized, go all out, and strike a stormy first blow, and strive to completely lose the enemy's strategic balance by the greatest casualties in the early stage of the war, so as to achieve the campaign objective in the shortest possible time......

The Battle of Parma deprived the Austrians of their most important garrison in Lombardy.

Milan was in danger and had to send someone to ask for help from Vienna, but to Maximian's annoyance, when he came to Milan for help, he found that the order he had been expressing for a long time was barely moving.

Maximian suddenly found himself with no soldiers available for a while.

The crushing defeat in Switzerland forced Maximilian to agree to the independence of the mountain barbarians, with the consequence that he could no longer recruit soldiers from Switzerland at will.

This deprived him of a very valuable source of soldiers.

The two Italian wars that followed, which cost him dearly.

Maximian was actually planning to recuperate for two years, and what was even more rare was that because of the civil strife, the Ottomans could not threaten the security of Austria for the time being.

But suddenly, events in the Iberian Peninsula completely disrupted his plans.

Maximian was annoyed by this, but because it was at stake for his grandson's throne and because he could take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail Ferdinand into supporting his annexation of Milan, he gladly accepted his family's request to send troops.

But now things did not go as he had imagined, and the Roman Thesians did not play according to the routine, which caused him to suffer a big loss in Lombardy from the beginning.

But what made him feel worse was the bad news from Bohemia.

Ever since he forced King Ladislas II of Bohemia to give up half of Hungary, Maximian had come to see Hungary as his own.

If it weren't for the Ottomans' invasion of Europe, perhaps he would have once again completely annexed all of Hungary through war.

It's just that the Ottomans did Ladisras II a favor this time.

The Battle of Bucharest gave Ladislas II a respite, and through his relations with Wallachia, he rekindled his ambitions to regain Hungary.

These Maximians actually know everything.

It's just that he didn't expect that Ladislas II would really dare to put this ambition into practice.

As recently as February, reports from the eastern frontier were frequented that the Bohemians seemed to be moving troops along the border.

Despite his vigilance, Maximian did not think Ladislas II had the guts.

Entering March, the sudden tension in the Lombardy region attracted the attention of Maximian.

The Bohemians did not make any new moves, and there was news that the Archduchess of Wallachia was leading an expedition to Sicily, so Maximian did not pay much attention to the movements in the east, except for ordering the defenders of the eastern border to take strict precautions.

Even in April, when he heard that the Grand Duchess of Wallachia had returned home in triumph, Maximian did not think that they would make such a quick move.

But his guess was clearly wrong.

Shortly after mid-April, the Bohemians suddenly sent troops to Hungary.

Not only did they violate the earlier agreement reached in the Treaty of Prague that each side would not have a heavy presence in Hungary, but they also quickly advanced westward from eastern Hungary to the west, threatening to regain all of Hungary in one fell swoop.

At the same time, the Wallachians sent an elite force, though not very numerous, but apparently quite impressive, which, although not directly involved in the attack on the Austrian army in Hungary, was able to defeat the Northern Bosnian army, which was also eyeing southern Hungary, with great speed.

The Wallachian army then began to advance along the tripartite border towards Hungary and eastern northern Bosnia.

It's a weird and complicated situation.

In Hungary, the armies of four countries were suddenly gathered, and the Hungarians were indifferent and disgusted by the war that broke out in their own country.

Maximian was a little caught off guard by this unexpected conflict that suddenly erupted on the eastern frontier, and he couldn't figure out when Ladislas II, who was always hesitant to look ahead, became so decisive.

has been giving him such a "surprise" before he can react.

Now the situation in the east is a headache for Maximian, the Wallachians did not openly invade Hungary, their opponents were always the Northern Bosnians.

And because of her exploits in the Battle of Bucharest, the Archduchess of Wallachia not only had a great influence in the Balkans, but also had various relations with the Hungarians.

So even though he knew that the Wallachians were not at peace with Hungary, he could not react violently until they officially invaded western Hungary.

Otherwise, it is likely that Wallachia will be driven directly to the side of the Bohemians.

As for the Northern Bosnians, Maximian was not optimistic about the King of Helva, because he already had a lot of troubles of his own, and the former King Rova, who was never willing to lose and compete with him for the throne??, and his neighbor in the east, the Duchy of Caniola, were enough to make him troublesome, and he was not at all able to help.

However, Maximian sent to Zagreb in the hope of reaching a deal with Helva, at least so that he could contain the Wallachians.

These sudden troubles made Maximian feel as if even God was about to abandon him, and at court, the same dispute between the north and the south also caused the emperor to be distressed.

Many aristocrats believed that Austria should never give up their interests in Italy, where they had already given too much, and that several years of war had already caused the Austrians to shed too much blood on the Italian peninsula, and that all previous sacrifices would be meaningless if they were to give up abruptly.

In addition, Austria has already lost Switzerland, and if it loses Italy, it is likely to give the French an opportunity.

Such a point of view is of course very much in line with Maximian's ideas, but compared to it, the views of the other side cannot be underestimated.

Hungary, which had been seized from the Bohemians in several costly wars, was also of great value to Austria, not only as a buffer against the Ottoman invasion, but also because of its rich mineral resources, which also gave many of the nobles who had invested in the annexation war an opportunity to make a fortune.

However, this time was too short, and the subsequent Ottoman invasion also had a great impact on this financial route.

Now there was a proposal to temporarily abandon Hungary for the sake of Italy, which angered the nobles who had not yet had time to recoup their capital.

The two sides engaged in a heated debate at court, which later turned into a mutual attack.

At the same time, this debate over future policy gradually turned into a power struggle for the future chief minister of the Austrian court.

Since Kotschakh was deposed, Maximir was in no hurry to appoint a new chief minister, which gave many nobles hope and opportunity.

Moreover, several successive defeats in the wars in recent years, especially the loss of Switzerland, also made many nobles realize that Maximian could not be allowed to continue to act recklessly.

Maximian's obsession with Italy had drawn Austria into several wars, and the German princes were almost ready to take advantage of it.

This has led many to fear that if they continue to be trapped in Italy, the situation may become even more unfavorable.

And the mere thought of the Elector of the King of Bohemia made the nobles even more worried.

Although the Electors could not depose the Emperor, they could have lost the Habsburgs in the next election.

After all, the kings of France have coveted the title of emperor for a long time.

Since he thought so, it was natural that someone revealed this small threat to Maximian.

This made the emperor even more annoyed.

Because this worry seems to be worrying about whether his family can keep the title of emperor, but in fact, it is not a reminder to him that if he does not satisfy some people in the country, they will also stand against him.

Maximian knew the nobles too well, and like him, they were always looking at their own interests and thinking about themselves, so they would not hesitate to abandon him when it was time to choose.

The arrival of the Marquis of Baden came as a slight surprise to Maximian.

The pampering of his daughter did not make the Marquis of Baden proud, which made Maximian very satisfied with this very sensible old nobleman.

As for the Marquis's business, Maximian knew of it, of course, and even heard of his cooperation with Kotschach, but it did not make him feel anything wrong.

After all, all the nobles nowadays have more or less a relationship with those various chambers of commerce.

The early days of aristocrats living purely on their territory are over.

So the arrival of the marquis this time made him guess something somewhat.

Sure enough, as soon as the Marquis of Baden spoke, Maximian immediately realized that things were not simple.

"Your Majesty, allow me to convey to you Kotschach's greetings to you."

Maximian's expressionless face showed bewilderment.

Of course, he did not forget his former palace minister, but on the contrary heard that Kotschach was now a guest of the Fugol family in Augsburg.

The Forgol family had disappeared for a time since they had been involved in the Hungarian copper deal.

But somehow, it seems that all of a sudden good fortune has been handed over again, and the Foggers family has revived the lintel again.

It's just that to Maximian's displeasure, the reinvigorated Fogol family doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with him anymore.

Now that Kotschach had suddenly passed by the Marquis of Baden with a so-called greeting, Maximian immediately realized that there might be some subtle relationship involved.

"Your Majesty, the Fogols wish to continue to serve you, and they know that you are preparing to rebuild the city of Vienna, so they are willing to provide you with sufficient funds to accomplish this feat."

Maximian looked at the Marquis of Baden in surprise, he did not expect the Marquis to bring him such news.

Maximian had long had the idea of rebuilding and enlarging the city of Vienna, but when he had a rough estimate of the funds needed, he immediately dismissed this somewhat whimsical idea.

That's a huge amount of money that, calculated in the present state of Austria's finances, will not be exhausted until his grandson.

Because of this, he coveted the wealth of Lombardy even more.

"House Fogol, will you help me?"

Maximian felt that things should not be so simple, after all, the estrangement shown by the Folfol family before showed that the family had become much more cautious after a disaster.

Now that the Fogols would take the initiative to make such a suggestion, it is clear that there is enough reward for them to be willing to pay a huge price.

"What do they want?" Maximian finally asked.

The Marquis of Baden secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that the emperor should be tempted.

Maximian had always made the rebuilding of Vienna a huge dream, but the staggering amount of money held him back.

Now there was a chance for him to get his wish, and Maximian's heart was moved.

It's just that he also knows that with such good conditions, it is impossible not to pay the price.

Jacob Fugol had never been a philanthropist, and certainly not a very kind client himself, so Maximian was secretly happy that he had been able to get his long-cherished wish in exchange, and at the same time wondered what he was going to offer.

"According to Kotschach, it seems that the Fugol family wants to continue to do business in the countries of the empire, and you know that some of them are related to many nobles."

The Marquis of Baden's words made Maximian frown secretly.

Of course he knew what the Marquis was hinting at.

Maximian's grand plan for the rebuilding of Vienna was not just a success.

Vienna is located in a basin at the foot of the northern Alps, and although it is surrounded by mountains, the city itself is not safe because it is located in the middle of the basin.

The threat of the Ottomans to the Balkans, and even Hungary, saw a crisis in Maximian, and he began to be wary that if Austria was to face an invasion from the infidels and the front line was unfavorable, Vienna's current city defenses might not be able to withstand a direct attack from the infidels.

It is because of this that Maximian was in a hurry to rebuild the city.

But in addition to this, Maximian had another idea.

He wanted to make Vienna the center of all Europe, and then to take the opportunity to gather the German princes to Vienna.

He believed that a beautiful city would make the princes happy, so that he could have a chance to gradually reclaim power from them.

It's just that many people oppose his idea, which makes Maximian wonder if anyone has already guessed his true intentions, so he will stop it by lack of money.

Now that the Fugol family offered to help him fulfill this wish, Maximian could not help but be excited.

However, he still tried to remind himself that he should be calm and not show too much concern until he knew the other party's true intentions.

"Just continuing to do business, it doesn't seem to be enough to make the Fugore family pay such a big price."

Maximian looked at the Marquis of Baden with an impassive expression, believing that the relationship between the Marquis and Kotschach should be more than what he said, so even if he did not know the true purpose of the Fugol family, it should bring useful news.

Sure enough, the Marquis of Baden cautiously spoke.

"Your Majesty, the Fugar family has made it a wish to allow them to trade freely within the empire with their trading partners, and they are willing to join our Chamber of Commerce against the French, who are becoming a growing threat."

"French?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please look at this."

Looking at the fine pepper brought by the Marquis of Baden, Maximian's expression became grim.

Maximian, of course, knew what kind of wealth pepper could bring, and if the French had another great source of wealth in the pepper trade, it would not be long before the pepper could be turned into a sharp weapon for the French to threaten Austria.

"Fugol is for this," Maximian is still a little incredulous, "so who are they talking about as a trading partner?" ”

The Marquis of Baden paused, and finally spoke under Maximian's gaze: "It's Your Majesty the Trade Alliance, they are willing to do business with us, I mean with all of us." ”

Listening to the Marquis's words, Maximian's face finally changed.

And in a house not far from the palace, Kotschach looked at the sky and muttered, "It's probably time to see and see." ”

vertex