Why did Lübeck and Hamburg (mainly Hamburg) covet the Hanseatic merchants of Bremen? At first, Marin thought that he was mainly interested in the wealth of the Bremen Hanseatic merchants, after all, commercial activities in this era were subject to taxes. But after Marin learned more about it, he realized that the reason why Hamburg coveted the Hanseatic merchants of Bremen and desperately wanted to recruit the past was not for wealth and taxes.

Of course, wealth and taxes are also part of the reason. The real reason is – the business channels of the Bremen people......

The two cities are both important Hanseatic cities on the northwest coast of Germany, and both are big guys, and the two sides are full of competition. However, the advantages of the two are not the same. Hamburg's base is mainly in Germany, including the inland Elbe valley. For example, in the Saxony region of the Elbe Valley (including the Electorate of Saxony and the Duchy of Saxony) and the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, the import and export of goods must be carried out through Hamburg. Therefore, the northwestern coast of Germany and the Elbe valley belong to the basic plate of Hamburg.

The city of Bremen is different, and their base includes England and the Netherlands, in addition to the Weser Valley and parts of the north-west coast of Germany. Even, the interests of England and the Netherlands are no less than the interests of their own countries.

The Hanseatic League's trading houses in London and Antwerp were dominated by Hanseatic merchants in Bremen. Although Hamburg also has its own presence in the London and Antwerp stores, it is far less powerful than Bremen. The main reason is that Bremen has made overseas its main development direction in the first place. Therefore, in London and Antwerp's overseas plates, Bremen is respected.

As a result, the three big men of the Hanseatic League - Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen, Lübeck's basic market is the Baltic region; Bremen's basic market is dominated by England and the Netherlands, whose interests outweigh those of the country; Hamburg, although the deputy leader of the Hanseatic League, also had influence in the Baltics, England and the Netherlands, but they were all relegated to the second place...... It was only Hamburg's strong strength on the mainland, relying on the trade rights of the Elbe Valley, that it barely suppressed Bremen and became the second strongest in the Hanseatic League.

This time, Marin wants to move Bremen, and the most excited is the hamburger. Because, the Hamburgers are keen to see Bremen's interests in England and the Netherlands......

In other words, whoever annexed those Bremen Hanseatic merchants would have belonged to the commercial channels of the city of Bremen in England and Antwerp, the Netherlands.

If Hamburg had poached the Hanseatic merchants in Bremen who controlled the commercial channels of England and the Netherlands, it could be said that Hamburg's power in the North Sea region would have increased dramatically. Perhaps, he will rely on these channels to surpass Lübeck.

The Lübecks apparently knew this as well, so they didn't agree at first. However, in order to achieve its goal, Hamburg did not hesitate to share these benefits equally with Lübeck, so that Lübeck finally agreed to swallow Bremen together. In addition, Lübeck was not willing to offend Marin for the sake of Bremen. After all, Bremen died on its own initiative and took the initiative to be hostile to the North Sea State.

But Marin knew that the Hamburgers' proposal was actually a trap - although Hamburg offered to divide the Bremen Hanseatic merchants equally, the Bremen Hanseatic merchants were not goods, and they would have their own choices......

After all, the core interests of the Bremen Hanseatic merchants were in the North Sea, while the core interests of Lübeck were in the Baltic. If Lübeck and Hamburg were to attract Bremen merchants at the same time, then Bremen merchants would definitely prefer Hamburg for the sake of profit. After all, Hamburg is also a port on the North Sea. And if it takes refuge in Lübeck, where will the ship be moored? Baltic Sea? In that case, it would be inconvenient to go to England and the Netherlands......

But Lübeck was not without benefits, after all, as long as there were businessmen willing to go, they would inevitably bring a lot of capital. How important is capital? It can be understood by looking at the various overtures of local officials in China to investors in later generations. If nothing else, the tax revenue generated by business activities every year is for nothing.

In those days, there were no agricultural taxes in Europe, only commercial taxes and import and export duties. For wealthy Hanseatic merchants, import and export trade was a basic activity. If a Hanseatic merchant goes to live and do business in Lübeck, the annual tax will certainly increase a lot.

In order to let Lübeck support the Beihai State to annex Bremen, Hamburg also put forward a condition that Lübeck could not refuse - no matter what the intentions of the Bremen businessmen, as long as Hamburg recruited half of the Bremen merchants, it would stop immediately. Then, the remaining Bremen Hanseatic merchants were encouraged to go to Lübeck......

Seeing the wealth and taxes brought by half of the Lübeck merchants, Lübeck finally agreed......

……

In fact, Marin was also more greedy for the commercial channels in England and the Netherlands that the Bremen merchants mastered, and also thought about keeping those Hanseatic merchants.

However, after much thought, Marin gave up soliciting those people. Why? Because these Hanseatic merchants had too much political influence on the city of Bremen.

In Bremen, these Hanseatic merchants were not only the local tycoons, but also political leaders. They climbed up and shouted, and there were many responders in Bremen.

If Marin wants to keep these people, then it is not certain who will have the final say in Bremen City in the future. Even if these people did not dare to oppose Marin clearly, it was easy to secretly encourage the citizens of Bremen to confront Marin.

Don't underestimate the burgher class of this era, the early revolutions and so on, all made up by the burgher class. King Louis XVI of France was also guillotined by the townspeople.

Of course, the burgher class is stupid, they are often demagogic and rhythmic. But if the Bremen Hanseatic merchants who were able to seduce them and the rhythmic ones were driven away, the townspeople would be left without a leader. After all, the burghers, although they are the main force of the revolution, are by no means the head of the revolution.

Therefore, in order to achieve long-term peace and stability in Bremen in the future, Marin had to reluctantly give up the business channels of those Bremen merchants and let them be recruited by Hamburg and Lübeck.

……

In fact, Marin itself struggled to attract Bremen merchants. Because, the two sides have long formed a grudge......

At the beginning, after Marin established the Beihai Chamber of Commerce, he began to mainly deal in grain and salt, but he had nothing to do with the Bremen merchants. But with the expansion of the territory of the North Sea Kingdom, the contradictions between Marin and Bremen merchants intensified.

This is mainly due to the fact that, in order to keep the domestic agricultural technology secret, Marin forbade foreign merchants to enter and leave the North Sea Country at will. However, the original vassal states of the North Sea Kingdom were originally the commercial sphere of influence of the Bremen Hanseatic merchants. Marin's ban on foreign merchants was tantamount to cutting off the financial routes of many Bremen merchants. Cutting off people's financial routes, such as killing their parents, it is strange that those Bremen merchants can live in peace with Marin.

The Beihai State is not a small vassal state, with an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers, it is in the forefront of Germany. Previously, most of these territories were the commercial sphere of influence of Bremen Hanseatic merchants.

When Marin took control of these areas, he not only expelled all Bremen merchants who belonged to "foreign merchants", but also formed the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to compete with the Bremen people. Even if the Beihai Chamber of Commerce monopolized the trade of the Beihai Kingdom, it also extended its tentacles to London and established a branch no less than the Hanseatic League's trading inn, which had already made the Bremen merchants mad. If it hadn't been for the defeat, the Bremen merchants would have hacked Marin a long time ago. Therefore, it is not surprising that they fell to the princes of the Eight Kingdoms when they saw the opportunity.

……

After Marin blockaded the Weser River, the commercial activity of the city of Bremen was hit hard. However, out of hostility and hatred for Marin, the Bremen did not give in. Marin repeatedly sent people to contact the Bremen merchants, but they refused. Many Bremen businessmen are even ruthless – even if they don't do business, they won't give up the city of Bremen.

As for merchant ships not being allowed to enter or leave the Weser River? The Bremen merchants decided that it was a big deal that the merchant ships would not return to the Weser River......

As for the merchant ships trapped in the Weser River, they preferred to abandon them. Then, in addition, ships are procured from outside to run sea routes. After all, a ship is expensive for ordinary people, but it is not too much of a problem for those Bremen luxury merchants.

Therefore, even if the Weser River was blocked, Marin's early contact with Bremen merchants was not successful. Even so, Hamburg's contacts with the Bremen Hanseatic merchants were not smooth.

There were even radical Bremen Hanseatic businessmen who waved the banner of "I would rather not do business than give up the city of Bremen".

When Marin saw this banner, he was simply angry. So, he decided to go to a more advanced method - cutting off food......

……

Indeed, while merchant ships could not go to sea to do business, the Bremen could change ships and avoid the blockade of Marin. The basic market of Bremen merchants was mainly in England and Antwerp in the Netherlands. As long as they don't return to their home port in Bremen, Marin can't do anything about them.

But Bremen is such a big city, people in the city always have to eat, right?

Bremen has a population of nearly 20,000 people, and the daily consumption of food and vegetables is astronomical. However, the city of Bremen is a purely commercial city with no farmland at all. So, the food in Bremen needs to be brought in from somewhere else. And the largest supplier of grain is, of course, Beihai State.

Even if it is not the North Sea State that provides food, the transportation of grain from other places into Bremen City must pass through the North Sea State.

So, Marin decided to cut off the traffic route from Bremen......

The method is also simple - block the waterway access from Bremen City to the outside of the city......

……

To this end, Marin suddenly announced that he would "strengthen the infrastructure around Bremen City". As a result, he ordered the waterway upstream of Bremen to be blocked and carried out centralized dredging. At the same time, the land routes around Bremen City were completely blocked by the North Sea Army. The reason is to build roads......

At this moment, Bremen City was immediately unlucky......

In the past, by the Weser River, even if the North Sea Kingdom did not sell grain to the city of Bremen, Bremen could still bring in grain from other countries through the Weser River.

Even if Marin blocked the mouth of the Weser River, the Bremen would be able to bring in grain from places such as Hesse and Thuringia in the upper reaches of the Weser River.

However, as soon as Marin blocked the route of the upper Weser River, the city of Bremen panicked. This means that Bremen has no access to food......

"Starve or negotiate, you choose!" Marin gave an ultimatum......