In the Duchy of Schleswig, Marin suspended his plans to march because of political maneuvers. Otherwise, if he rashly marched into the Electorate of Saxony before the political means had worked, it would be easy for Frederick III to take advantage of it.

For example, the original secular princes were still hesitant to form an alliance to fight Marin. If Marin had hastily led his army south, Frederick III might have taken advantage of the crisis and said to the princes:

"I don't have time to explain, hurry up and get in the car...... No, it's time to send troops ......"

The princes who had not made up their minds might have been hastily pulled into the chariot of Frederick III and joined the war against Marin.

In fact, Marin may not be afraid of the coalition formed by those secular princes. As long as those religious princes did not participate in the war, Marin also had a chance to win.

However, even if he could win, Marin would not choose to go to war with most of the secular princes. Because, as long as there is blood, it will be difficult to reconcile in the future. Just like the Huaxia of later generations, it is difficult to forgive the Dongying devils.

Marin is a man who wants to be the overlord, but what are the prerequisites for being the overlord? It's a huge prestige, and it's able to do everything you want.

But if it is with most of the secular princes this time, it will be over. If he loses, Marin will have to flee overseas with his family. This situation is naturally not what Marin wants to see.

Even if he won the war, Marin would not be able to fall well, and the hatred with those secular princes was thus established. In the future, what Marin wants to do, let alone respond to every call, it is good not to be unanimously opposed.

Therefore, what Marin is really afraid of is not the combat effectiveness of the princes' coalition army, but the collective hatred of the princes. Therefore, after listening to Mikel's advice, Marin did not immediately move his army south, but was busy bribing the princes first to break up the anti-Marin alliance.

At the same time, Marin's open support for the princes' tradition of autonomy at the risk of offending the Habsburgs was also one of the important means of breaking the deadlock.

Although, after doing so, there may be two sides that are not people. However, at the very least, Marin will no longer be regarded as the emperor's lackey by the princes, and the risk of being beaten by groups is reduced. It's a big deal, Ma Lin will become a system of his own in the future and become a third-party force other than the emperor faction and the princes' faction. Moreover, Marin has an army of 40,000 and has the strength to become a third-party force on his own.

Moreover, Marin's diplomacy cannot be regarded as a failure. At the very least, those religious princes, when their father-in-law was the pope, had to give themselves a few thin faces. Although he did not form an alliance with himself (after all, Marin is not good at propagandizing that the Pope is his father-in-law, which cannot be made public), but those religious princes can still maintain friendly relations with themselves without aggression.

As for Maximilian I, although Marin made amends afterwards and sold Switzerland to the emperor. However, Marin's public disobedience to the emperor still left a rift between the two sides.

Even if Marin was forced to make such a move, the Habsburgs must have felt very unhappy. In the future, it will be difficult for Marin to be regarded as his own by the Austrian side.

Although the two sides did not turn against each other because of the sale of Switzerland to the Habsburgs, from now on, the relationship between the two sides will be downgraded from an iron-clad ally to an ordinary interest ally.

However, this is also an opportunity for Marin, a chance to stand on his own feet......

As a traverser, you should naturally be the protagonist. How could Marin be willing to be a horse boy for Emperor Maximilian I? It's just that, as a nobleman, honor and fame are very important. Marin's own career started when he was the horse boy of Emperor Maximilian I, and it is inevitable that he will be labeled as "Emperor Ma Zai" and cannot be washed off.

If he takes the initiative to leave the emperor's command, although there are enough benefits, he will definitely have a bad reputation, and the notoriety of an anti-bone boy and a traitor will not be able to escape.

In the future, if Marin wants to do something and associate with whomever he wants, he may be ridiculed - "Hmph, traitor!" In ancient China, he might be like Lu Fengxian, who was labelled with a big hat like "three family slaves".

In fact, the Lu Bu family only chose the most beneficial choice for themselves, but in ancient times, this was a manifestation of disloyalty. Therefore, Lu Bu's reputation is stinky.

Marin had been following in the footsteps of Maximilian I before, and most of all, he was afraid of becoming as infamous as Lü Bu.

But now, this time, Frederick III wanted to incite all the German princes to unite against him, although it brought great danger to Marin. However, this is not an opportunity......

What are the opportunities? It is to give Marin a chance to openly break away from the emperor, but not to bear too bad a reputation......

People always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and under the great risk of being attacked by the joint attack of all the German princes, Marin decisively confessed and drew a line with the emperor, which is not a very shameful thing. At least, in ancient Europe, there was no shame.

Ancient Europe was not the same as ancient China, where people praised the kind of heroes who would rather die than give in, and despised those who surrendered. But in ancient Europe, although those loyal subjects were praised, they did not despise surrender and resignation.

Therefore, in ancient Europe, it was normal for nobles to surrender and pay ransom after being captured, and they would not be despised.

Just like Marin at the moment, there is a risk of being beaten by all German princes, admitting cowardice and drawing a line with the emperor is not an unforgivable betrayal in the eyes of Europeans in this era. After all, being good at self-preservation has been a tradition of Europeans from ancient times to the present.

In this way, Marin broke away from the emperor's camp, not on his own initiative, but helplessly when his life and safety were threatened. This kind of behavior would have been despised in ancient China, but it would have been forgiven in ancient Europe.

In this way, Marin has achieved the goal of independence from the emperor, and will not bear the infamy of being a traitor, which is really the best of both worlds.

So, after the initial irritation, Marin was actually secretly happy. It's just that the price is a bit high. Because, if you want to break up the anti-Marin alliance formed by the princes through bribery, it is estimated that it will cost hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Fortunately, this expenditure is shared by allies. Otherwise, Marin will have a big blood......

Fortunately, after this bloodshed, Ma Lin's status will change, from the "emperor's horse boy", to change his identity, and become a powerful prince of his own.

Moreover, because of its strong military strength, as long as it passes through this transition period, from now on, Marin will become an important third-party force that the emperor faction and the princes' faction compete to woo. After all, Marin, who has a strong military strength, will increase in strength no matter which side it falls. After that, the diplomatic dilemma will be away from Marin......