As all the preparations and foreshadowing were nearing completion, only one final step remained—the Duchy of Cleaver publicly declared itself on the side of the Habsburgs, and then sent troops to "unravel" the Parsons concentration camp......

At the same time, the Habsburgs also openly asked the Duchy of Cleaver, the vassal state closest to the Parsons concentration camp battlefield, to send troops to help relieve the siege...... According to the script, John II, Duke of Cleaver, would accept the Habsburgs' request and quickly send troops to Parsons concentration camp - in effect, Schwartz would send troops under the banner of the Duchy of Cleaver. Of course, the Duchy of Cripple will also send 8,000 men to help in the war......

However, what Schwartz didn't expect was that at the last moment, John II, Duke of Cliffor, actually retreated a little. Because he was afraid of being isolated by the German princes...... Because, if he accepted the request of the Habsburgs. From then on, the Duchy of Clive could only stand on the side of the Habsburgs. At the same time, it will be isolated by most of the princes......

Although it seems more cost-effective to trade the Ruhr area of the Makor Kingdom for the Lower Guedes region of the Duchy of Gedus, in addition, Marin will also give the Duchy of Cleaver a large amount of monetary subsidies. But at the last moment, the old man began to waver, and seemed to be very hesitant......

Schwartz was in a hurry, and ran to the royal palace in Cleaver City several times, urging John II to make a decision quickly, but John II just couldn't make up his mind and made Schwartz anxious.

In the end, Schwartz was forced to have no choice but to give the other party an idea:

"Lord Duke, since you don't want to offend the German princes, then let me give you an idea!" Schwartz has been following Marin for a long time, and although he is more straightforward, he has also learned a lot of flexible ideas.

John II's eyes lit up and he said:

"Tell me about it!"

"Well, Lord Duke, you will first publicly reject the Habsburgs' request. Then, you start pretending to be sick...... Pretending to be very sick, lying in bed and unable to move, and even often 'unconscious'......"

"And then?"

"Then, because Prince John was still young, on the surface, the palace minister Mason was in charge......"

"What do you mean...... Let Prime Minister Mason accept His Majesty's request on my behalf, and then announce the dispatch of troops? John II's eyes lit up...... Obviously, this is throwing the pot at Old Mason......

"That's right, Lord Duke! Anyway, Prime Minister Mason seems to be very old and about to retire. All you have to do is ask Master Mason to do this, and when it's done, you can pretend to wake up and 'get back to health'...... After that, you put all the blame on Lord Mason and remove him from any of his duties, and strip him of his baronial title and barony fiefdom...... Of course, the result of the deal to replace the Lower Guedes region with the country of Marqueb will not change......"

"Isn't that too immoral? It's unfair to old Mason......"

"It's alright, Lord Duke. When the time comes, our Grand Duke Marin will make amends to Lord Mason. Titles and titles can compensate him......" Schwartz said confidently. Marin is now the least short of land, and it is nothing to give the baronial title to old Mason.

In fact, Northumberland, England under Marin, was now lacking a qualified courtier. Although the elder Mason is 67 years old, he is still in good health. It's more than enough to be sent to Northumberland as a court minister in a county......

"Okay, that's it!" John II soon summoned the old Prime Minister Mason to discuss the matter.

Old Mason was very hesitant, because, as long as he took the blame for this matter, the family title and back cover would be deprived afterwards. Moreover, although Schwartz made a promise, Schwartz was not Marin, and he did not believe that Schwartz's promise was valid. However, now that Marin has gone to the Americas, I want to confirm with Marin, but I can't find anyone. And time can't be delayed any longer......

So, Schwartz gritted his teeth and signed a private gambling agreement directly with Old Mason - if Marin did not compensate Old Mason for his title and fiefdom, he was willing to give up his viscount and viscount title unconditionally to the Old Mason family......

After getting Schwartz's written assurance, the elder Mason was really relieved......

Then, it was time to act - John II first publicly rejected the Habsburgs' request, which made the handsome King Philip, who cooperated with the acting, feel a little baffled...... Fortunately, Schwartz sent him a secret letter to let him know what was going on......

The surrounding vassal states were indeed very satisfied with John II's "general knowledge", but a few days later, the Duchy of Cleaver suddenly announced that John II had suddenly contracted a vicious disease, lay in bed and could not move, and was in a coma for a long time......

As a result, John II lost the ability to continue to administer the Duchy of Cleaver and the Kingdom of Mack. John II's son, Prince John, was still a minor and could not replace John II in charge of the affairs of the Duchy of Clifford...... Then, Mason, the old prime minister of the Duchy of Cleaver, announced that he would be in full charge of the military affairs of the Duchy of Cripple and the country of Mack during the serious illness of John II......

After the elder Mason "took power", the handsome king Philip, who got the inside information, sent an envoy again, asking the elder Mason to send troops to the Parson concentration camp in the Duchy of Brabant to relieve the siege. At the same time, he also semi-openly excluded his cronies, and went to Cleaver City with several large boxes of belongings, putting on a posture of bribing old Mason.

Then, on the orders of John II, who was "sick in bed", the elder Mason accepted the "heavy gift" of the Habsburgs in half of the air, and then, his attitude began to change greatly......

In the days that followed, the elder Mason began to advocate and curry favor with Emperor Maximilian I's Habsburg legitimacy. In private, the elder Mason even declared that the Habsburgs were the only noble royal family in the Holy Roman Empire. Even, the position of the Habsburg emperor should not be elected in the future, but directly hereditary......

Old Mason's declaration made the Principality of Guedes nervous, for fear that the Principality of Cripple would suddenly intervene......

However, Old Mason continued to follow the second step of the script and publicly stated that the Duchy of Cleaver intends to send troops to intervene, but it may not be able to defeat the strong army of the Duchy of Geddes. Therefore, the elder Mason openly appealed to the army of the Grand Duchy of the North Sea, together with the army of the Duchy of Cleaver, to go to the Duchy of Brabant to help relieve the siege......

It's just that the fake Schwartz of Jeffrey and Aurich of the Beihai Palace has publicly stated that the Beihai State has no right to decide whether to send troops in the absence of Marin. Therefore, they can only refuse Old Mason's invitation to send troops......

……

Of course, it's all acting. In essence, by this time Schwarz's army had already begun to enter the territory of the Duchy of Brabant. Prior to this, all the Gedesi spies on the northern border of the Duchy of Brabant had been eliminated by the scouts of the North Sea State......

As long as Old Mason gave an order, the army of the North Sea Kingdom, wearing the clothes that the soldiers of the Principality of Cleaver were accustomed to wearing, and carrying the flag of the Duchy of Cleaver, would go straight to the Parson concentration camp and attack the army of the Duchy of Gedes from behind, striving to defeat the army of Gedus in a battle. Then, it was time to send troops to seize the area of the Lower Gedesi......