Frankly speaking, even if Marin sent people to release termites, it would not stop the French from building ships. After all, termites can't gnaw all the wood either. But what Marin wanted was not to completely prevent the French from building, but to greatly increase the cost of French shipbuilding.

For example, it is clear that it takes X cubic meters of wood to build a boat, but because of termite damage, the French need to prepare twice or even three times as much wood. Well, the cost of shipbuilding for the French increased significantly.

Cost may not have much impact in later generations. After all, the officials of later generations are very rich and can afford a little loss. But this era is different, the dignified Kingdom of France, the top power in Europe, has a financial income of only more than 1.2 million gold coins a year, which is not as good as Venice or Beihai State. France is a large country, with many officials and an army, and its financial expenditures are very huge. Among them, the army's war horse feed consumption is the largest part of many consumptions. Therefore, the French do not have much money to spare.

The increase in shipbuilding costs will make France, which is already not rich, have to reduce the number of shipbuilders. At that time, if there were not enough ships, it would be difficult to form a real threat to England. In short, this is a very stealthy soft knife, which does not see the threat, but it works well. And most importantly, the French are unaware......

……

Why did Marin weaken France at this time? Quite simply, he was paving the way for Caesar to get England!

Both Louis XII and François I were ambitious and coveted England. Two generations of French emperors have been plotting against England for a long time. If Marin had married England at this time, the French would have been furious!

The secret that Edward was no longer able to have children, the French were apparently well aware. Therefore, the marriage of Caesar and Princess Margaret means that they will be able to unite England in the future. But for the French, who had long plotted against England, Caesar's acquisition of England was an absolutely disastrous consequence. Because, England already had a strong navy, and the North Sea navy was not weak. In particular, the Army of the North Sea State is still very strong. If England and the North Sea countries were to join forces, France would not be able to move England in the future.

Therefore, if Caesar and Princess Margaret were married, the angry France might not have the ability to cross the sea to attack England, but it would definitely have the ability to attack the North Sea Kingdom, which was also located on land.

And Marin was not ready for a decisive battle at all at this time, and there were only 30,000 or 40,000 people on the mainland. If the only enemy was France, Marin was confident that he could resist it. However, if the German princes joined in, it would be more than lucky......

Therefore, before Caesar and Princess Margaret got married, Marin thought that France must be beaten hard and let France be low-key and honest for a while. In this way, there is no way to interfere in the marriage of Caesar and Princess Margaret. When France eases up, the wood is already in the boat, and they can't change it.

……

In fact, England was geographically much more of a threat to France than Spain. Although Spain was an army power, it was far to the southwest. The core of France is in the Paris basin in the north, and the Spaniards can't reach it.

The English, on the other hand, could go up the Seine and attack Paris directly......

Of course, this is only theoretical. Because the English army was too scum, it could only attack the northern and western coasts of France, and did not have the ability to invade Paris. Because, even if they invaded Paris, the English Army was no match for the French Knights.

But the French were also afraid that England would suddenly have a strong army! Not to mention anything else, if it merges with the North Sea State, it will definitely be a dual power on land and sea, and it will have the ability to directly threaten Paris.

Therefore, if the North Sea Kingdom wants to merge with England, it will really overstimulate France, and Marin has to guard against it!

……

The best option is to take advantage of the current internal instability of the French, and the English can unite with Spain and Austria to beat the French fiercely and beat the French honestly.

Originally, this opportunity was actually very large. For example, Maximilian I added Gudendorff's army of 16,000. If Gudendorff's 16,000 men could be transferred to the Netherlands, they would attack Paris from the direction of Belgium in the future. At the same time, England also mobilized a large army from its own territory to join them and attack Paris together, which would definitely make France unlucky.

You know, Paris has not been under siege. At the beginning, the bold Charles united the then Duke of Berry, the Duke of Bourbon and the Duke of Brittany to form a "public alliance" against Louis XI, and besieged Paris, and almost succeeded in overthrowing Louis XI's rule. If Louis XI hadn't divided and co-opted the "Public Welfare Alliance" in time, causing internal contradictions, perhaps the Valois dynasty would have been overthrown by the bold Charles.

Moreover, attacking Paris from Belgium would have been a smooth one. As long as the Habsburgs could send 16,000 troops, plus England with 20,000 or 30,000 men, they could push all the way to Paris. Not to mention the destruction of France, it can definitely force France to sign the alliance under the city.

After all, now the main forces of the French army are still in Naples, and at this time attacking from the north, the French will definitely be difficult to parry.

However, Maximilian I himself had his own plans. His Majesty did not believe in the English ability to fight on land, and he preferred to annex Switzerland first while the French had no time to do so. By the time the western regions of Switzerland were annexed, the Habsburg territories would be united. At that time, Austria, Tyrol, Switzerland and Franche-Comté will be connected into a single region, which will be more conducive to rule.

Moreover, Maximilian I actually had his own careful thoughts - he was a little jealous that Spain could swallow the rich kingdom of Naples! Although they are allies, the emperor is not happy to take advantage of allies!

In addition, if Spain takes the opportunity to completely defeat France, then it is difficult to say whether Spain will be a friend or foe in the future. Therefore, Maximilian I felt that it was better to let France and Spain be evenly matched, fighting each other to the death.

And what Marin meant, he also understood, was to unite the British and French forces left behind in the homeland to fight to the death on the great plains of northern France and destroy the living forces of France. As long as the more than 10,000 French knights who remained in Paris can be eliminated, then France will inevitably be greatly damaged......

This was supposed to be good for Austria, but the emperor feared defeat in the decisive battle on the plains. Because, the plain is very conducive to the play of the French heavy cavalry. Also, if France is really crippled, there will be no one to curb Spain's expansion...... Well, these are actually excuses......

……

As for why His Majesty the Emperor made such a choice? Because he learned from his daughter Queen Margaret the secret that the volcanic ash of the Kingdom of Naples could increase agricultural production.

After hearing this secret, Maximilian I was jealous! He also wanted to obtain the Kingdom of Naples, but the Habsburgs were not strong enough to intervene in the Naples hegemony.

His Majesty the Emperor was jealous. Originally, he should have united with England to repair France and make France suffer a big loss.

However, because of his strong jealousy of Spain, His Majesty the Emperor chose a more short-sighted choice, which was to concentrate on Switzerland first. As for the Franco-Spanish struggle for hegemony, he just watched it lively. Unless, France has the upper hand, he will come to Spain's aid......

His mind was as complicated as Marin, and he didn't expect His Majesty the Emperor to choose not to help his in-law ally Spain because of jealousy. He just wondered why His Majesty the Emperor had suddenly become so short-sighted and annoyed......