After taking the land of Mülheim, then, the only remaining target is the land of the Duchy of Cleaver.

However, this land is very difficult to hold. Why? Because this land is the core area of the Duchy of Cleaver......

The Duchy of Cleaver is not large, about 2,200 square kilometers, which is much smaller than the Eastern Frysian Earl Kingdom. However, its territory, all on both sides of the Rhine, belongs to the rich agricultural region. Moreover, there are no swampy areas, and the land utilization rate is high.

The area east of the Rhine, south of the Lipper and north of the Ruhr was about four or five hundred square kilometres, which Marin sought to occupy almost a quarter of the territory of the Duchy of Clive. Territorially, there are also many feudal vassals, which is very troublesome to deal with.

Previously, although Marin exchanged the Lower Guedes region for the country of Mack, it was also a special situation. Why? Because the land of the country of Makber is far less rich than that of the Lower Guedes. This is, of course, referring to agriculture. However, in this era, there is no industry, and agriculture is naturally king.

In the Lower Guedes region, most of the feudal nobility was slaughtered decades earlier when Charles the Bold of Burgundy destroyed the Duchy of Guedes. Therefore, even if Charles II was restored in 1492, there would not be much left of the feudal aristocracy in the country.

There is no feudal aristocracy, what kind of situation will arise? Naturally, most of the arable land and estates in the Lower Guedes area were owned by Charles II, Duke of Guedes.

And what are the consequences of having more royal territories? Naturally, Charles II was very rich. After all, there was no universal taxation in this era. The criterion for judging whether the princes are rich or not, in addition to the number of cities in the fief, is the amount of land under their names.

The more land in your name, the greater the income. Charles II took the opportunity of being shuffled by the bold Charlie to destroy the country, and took most of the land of the Duchy of Guedes into his own hands. In this way, Charles II naturally became a very wealthy prince. Otherwise, he didn't have that much money to feed a large army and fight for West Friesland with the Duchy of Saxony.

It should be noted here that although the princes were nominally the owners of all the land in the vassal states, in fact, much of the land was divided. After all, there were many barons and knights under the command of those dukes and counts. The longer the vassal state is inherited, the less land there is in the name of the prince. Because, each generation of princes will divide some land and go out. And the recovery of land is difficult, unless the vassal under the rule is no heir, can take the opportunity to recover the land......

Therefore, the longer the vassal state, the less land the vassal himself has. And the princes like Marin who fight the world have the most land under their names. Because he is the first generation of princes, he has not divided much land to go out. As for the original vassals of the land he fell, most of them were cleared or driven away by him. Therefore, there is only so much land for him.

The reason why John II was willing to exchange the Lower Gerdes region for the Lower Gerdes region was also because the Lower Gerdes region had a lot of arable land directly under the Duke of Gordes, which was much more than John II's land under the name of the Lower Mark.

And Marin's exchange of the country of Macbeth, if the value of coal is not calculated, is a loss. Because, this is an exchange of territory, not the destruction of the country. Therefore, Marin can't move those original small feudal nobles at will. Therefore, except for those feudal nobles who were willing to follow John II to the lower Guedes area to mix the manor Marin could receive, those small feudal nobles who were willing to stay, Marin could not touch them. Of course, those petty feudal nobles must also owe allegiance to Marin.

Therefore, from an agricultural point of view, it was a great loss for Marin to exchange the land ownership in the lower Guedes region, which was concentrated in the hands of the princes themselves, for the more dispersed land ownership.

But Marin's own goal is not to land the land, but to coal. So, he didn't actually feel like he was at a loss. When the industrial age comes, Marin will make a lot of money. Because, those mineral resources in the territory are owned by the princes.

(Note: In the feudal era, the minerals of European countries were owned by the royal family.) Of course, in the divided Germany, the mineral resources of the vassal states were owned by the vassals. All miners must be licensed and pay heavy taxes. For example, when Spain developed gold and silver mines in the Americas, it stipulated that one-fifth of the profits from gold and silver mines would go to the Spanish crown. We're talking about earnings, not profits. ）

……

Unlike the Kingdom of Mac, John II was based in the Duchy of Cleaver. Count Mark is only his concurrent title, and Duke Cleaver is his main title. The roots of the Lamarck family are also in the Duchy of Cliver.

Therefore, the territorial changes in the Principality of Cleaver have a great impact on the Lamarck family. Therefore, it was more difficult for Marin to exchange the land east of the Rhine than it was to exchange the country of Mac. Moreover, Marin now does not have high-quality land in his hands that is concentrated in the hands of the princes, as in the lower Guedes region, which can be exchanged.

At present, Marin has in his hands mainly the area south of the Ruhr River in the country of Marin, and the western part of the South Münster region.

However, neither the area south of the Ruhr nor the western part of the South Münster region in the Marqueb region was as fertile as the land east of the Rhine in the Duchy of Cliffor. Moreover, the degree of transportation is far less convenient.

Not only that, but the ownership of the two plots of land is also more complicated. The area south of the Ruhr River in the kingdom of Mark was a fief under the name of John II, how could John II not know about the situation there? Anyway, it can't catch up with the land on the east bank of the Rhine in the Duchy of Cleaver. Moreover, there is no border with the Duchy of Cliver, which is more troublesome to manage.

As for the land in the western part of the South Münster region, it borders the Duchy of Cleaver. However, the land there is not as fertile as the one on the east bank of the Rhine, and land ownership is also troublesome. This is because the ownership of land in the South Münster area is mainly in the hands of the Church......

Even if John II, Duke of Cleaver, was willing to exchange land, he would not dare to ask the church for land......

In these years, Protestantism has not yet come out to rebel, and Catholicism in Europe is stronger than that of later generations. Even if Marin exchanged the land for John II, John II would not dare to take the land in the hands of the local church......

Therefore, it is very difficult to change to the land on the east bank of the Rhine......

But no matter what, Marin was reluctant to give up that land. Because that land is not only rich in coal resources, but also has unparalleled advantages in water transportation.

So, Marin decided to give it a try. If you haven't tried it, how do you know if it will succeed or not? As a later saying goes, there is always an ideal, what if it is realized......

Moreover, Marin didn't go with a fluke mentality. He wanted to get the land on the east bank of the Rhine. He was willing to pay a huge price to get that piece of land......