Of course, Marin did not completely passively accept the pressure of the other party. Most of the people who went to Worms to attend the Imperial Conference this time were actually princes of the anti-emperor faction. These people, naturally, don't have a good impression of Ma Lin, who has a deep relationship with the emperor.

If negotiations are conducted in the presence of these people, it will certainly be a one-sided pressure. Therefore, Marin plans to pull some princes who are close to him and go together to strengthen his own strength.

For example, the minor princes of the Imperial cities, and John II, Duke of Cleaver, as well as the nobles of the Emperor's faction and the various lines of the Swabian League......

It's just that this time, because Ma Lin has publicly dissociated himself from the emperor, it may attract the dissatisfaction of the emperor's nobles. Moreover, the emperor could not openly tell them that Marin had sold Switzerland to himself......

Therefore, the nobles of the emperor's faction are most likely to be divided, some will support themselves, and some will oppose them. But the emperor himself must know the inside story, so he will definitely support himself. After all, if the emperor did not support him, Marin might not have sold the 18,000 Swiss prisoners of war to the emperor. If these 18,000 people were taken up by the French and other anti-emperor forces and used to deal with the soldiers and horses who exchanged land, the harm would be too great.

And those dozens of imperial cities, although they are all projectile lands, but because of the existence of the Hanseatic League, although they have less land, they have a lot of wealth. Therefore, they also have a certain right to speak. Of these sixty or seventy imperial cities, most of them, with the exception of a few on the Saxon side, must have been on the side of Lübeck and Hamburg, that is, on the side of Marin. After all, if Marin is unlucky, Lübeck and Hamburg will also be doomed together.

Moreover, in this temporary imperial council, the Archbishop of Mainz did not invite the dozens of imperial cities, nor did he invite the princes of the emperor's faction. So, strictly speaking, it was an informal meeting. When all the forces have arrived, it will be a formal meeting.

That's what Marin's countermeasure is - you're going to negotiate in the presence of the princes, right? Okay, I'm calling everybody, it can't be all of yours......

In addition, Marin wrote to the Pope's father-in-law, asking him to send a weighty envoy to witness the negotiations. In this way, when putting pressure on Marin, those religious princes did not dare to be presumptuous. After all, they want to give the Pope face.

As for the secular princes, not all of them were on Frederick III's side. Marin brought in representatives of the Emperor's faction and the Imperial Cities, as well as Duke Cleaver and several neutral princes, just to contend with them. Besides, just those secular princes, Marin would not be afraid. These stupid secular princes seem to have huge military strength, but their combat effectiveness is not easy to say, and they may not be their opponents.

With the help of the princes of their own faction to speak, and the Holy See sent people to "watch" and suppress those religious princes, the strength of the other party was weakened by at least half. When the time comes, the negotiations will not be too bad.

To this end, Marin sent a messenger to ask the emperor for help, asking the emperor to lead a group of princes to Worms to help him. At the same time, Marin also wrote to Lübeck and Hamburg, asking them to use their abilities and call on those imperial cities to come to Worms to help quarrel. After all, now Lübeck and Hamburg are in the same boat. Moreover, Lübeck and Hamburg are actually representatives of the negotiating parties. It's just that the people of the Imperial Diet ignore these two cities. Because, in this war, our own army is basically under the command of Marin. Therefore, those princes all recognized Marin as speaking.

If you bring the Hanseatic League with you, there is another unexpected benefit, that is, it can influence the poor nobles who owe the Hanseatic League and take the opportunity to ask them to change their position. Not to mention anything else, it is still very feasible to reduce some debts and induce those poor aristocrats to change their positions.

……

Just as the German region was being disturbed by this large-scale war, Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander, was also engaged in an important conversation with his younger brother Prince Zygmunt.

Grand Duke Alexander looked at his younger brother, Prince Zygmunt, and asked seriously:

"Zygmunt, have you really decided to marry the Hoffmans?"

Prince Zygmunt nodded and said:

"Yes, brother, I decided!"

"However, I have heard that Marin, although he has defeated the Saxons and Brandenburgers on the battlefield, is very passive in diplomacy! I have heard that Frederick III is planning to rally most of the German princes to join forces against Marin. Isn't it too risky for you to decide to marry the Hoffman family at this time? Grand Duke Alexander said worriedly.

You must know that Grand Duke Alexander himself was not in good health, and his wife was from an enemy country, so he had already run back to his parents' house. Therefore, Archduke Alexander knew that it would be difficult for him to have offspring. Therefore, it is highly likely that the throne of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the Polish throne will pass to this younger brother.

In this way, the younger brother will marry a wife, most likely the future Queen of Poland and the Grand Duchess of Lithuania. Kemarin. If Hoffmann had been beaten by most of the German princes, and thus lost his territory and title, the Hoffmann family would have become a commoner family. Even if she retains the knighthood before her career, Anne of the Hoffman family is not worthy of her younger brother.

But the problem is that divorce in Europe is not easy to do these days. If the king wants to divorce, he must approve it himself. His elder brother, King Vladislas II of Bohemia, met Pope Alexander VI of the Borgia family who negotiated when he was divorced, and as long as he gave money, he would grant a divorce.

And the current Pope Julius II seems to be much more upright than Alexander VI. When the time comes, the younger brother just wants to divorce Anne, and the Pope may not be willing to sentence it...... If you can't do it, then you will smash it......

As for the younger brother that Anne of the Hoffman family is very beautiful? So what? In ancient Europe, it was never about the appearance of the wife, but about the marriage of the right family. The bloodline is the most important thing, the beauty is not so important......

Archduke Alexander's concerns, Prince Sigmunt certainly understood. However, he replied confidently:

"Brother, please don't worry. Although Marin looked dangerous, in reality, it was unlikely that the German religious princes would agree to a joint army. And the German religious princes accounted for almost half of the princes, as long as they did not send troops, the coalition that Frederick III wanted to build would be abolished first! ”

"How do you know that the religious princes will not participate in sending troops?" Grand Duke Alexander asked suspiciously.

"I learned about it when I was visiting East Friesland, you know? When His Majesty the Pope returns to Rome today, he is accompanied by 7,000 elite soldiers sent by Marin. If it had not been for the capture of Rome by this army, His Majesty the Pope might not even be able to enter the city today......"

"And this?" Grand Duke Alexander asked curiously.

"Yes, the current Pope and the former Pope are mortal enemies. After the death of His Majesty the previous Pope, the current Pope wanted to return to Rome, and naturally he would be rejected. Therefore, the Pope today simply brought 7,000 elite soldiers to attack the city of Rome and forced those cardinals to fall to him...... "Some of this information was revealed to him by Marin. There are also some of them that I guessed by myself.

"You mean...... How did the Pope come to power today through a military coup? Grand Duke Alexander was shocked.

"That's probably the case, but today's pope is originally a high-ranking archbishop of the Holy See, and his seniority is very old, and he does have the qualifications to become a pope."

"That means the Pope will support Marin today?"

"That's pretty much it!" Prince Zygmundt nodded.

"However, even if half of the princes do not participate, the remaining half can gather 100,000 troops, right? Can Marlin stop it? ”

"The religious princes did not participate, and the secular princes did not all support Frederick III! There are still many princes, in fact, they are waiting to see the situation. Moreover, even if they gather an army of 100,000, they may not be able to defeat Marin......"

"100,000 people can't beat it? Is Marlin that powerful? "Archduke Alexander was a little unconvinced.

"Brother, what do you think, the coalition army of Brandenburg and Saxony before was 50,000 elite soldiers! In addition to the 30,000 veterans of Brandenburg and Saxony, the remaining 20,000 are the world-famous Swiss mercenaries, but they have not been defeated? Do you think that the coalition formed by the worldly German princes can defeat the 40,000 elite army of Marin? You must know that it is said that there are 100,000 coalition troops, but the ones who really have combat effectiveness are actually only a few elites, with a total of up to 20,000 or 30,000 people. The rest of the people are basically here to mix. Can such an army beat Marin's elite with a strong combat power of 40,000? Taking a step back, if Marin's 40,000 people hid in the city to defend, it would be difficult for the 100,000 people to capture the city. In short, Marin is a hard time to fail......"

"It's hard to fail? What if they are besieged for a long time? 40,000 people consume food is an astronomical amount! "Archduke Alexander was a little unconvinced.

However, Prince Zygmunt knew that Marlin had advanced fertilizer technology. So, in every city in East Friesland, there was a pile of food, and there was no end to it. So, he smiled and said:

"I've been to East Friesland, where the cities of Orich and Emden are full of grain. On the edge of Orich, there was even a new small city for the purpose of putting food......"

Grand Duke Alexander's mouth grew in surprise and said:

"Doesn't he have to sell grain for money?"

Prince Zygmunt thought about it, but still did not intend to tell his brother the secret of fertilizer, but said:

"Brother, have you forgotten? Marin is a big salt merchant, selling salt is extremely profitable, and he doesn't need to sell grain to make money at all! ”

Grand Duke Alexander nodded in understanding. After all, their brother and Marin, as well as the big trade list of hundreds of thousands of gold coins and salt every year, Marin is indeed not short of money.

"So, Marin won't fail?"

"Yes, at least undefeated! With so much food and such a strong army, even if you defend the city, you will be undefeated. Even, if those princes put together an army of 100,000 to besiege the city and consume it, it may be that the princes' alliance army will run out of food first! Prince Zygmunt said firmly.

After thinking about it, Grand Duke Alexander stood up and said:

"That's good! So be it, I will now send the Foreign Secretary to Germany in my name, with great fanfare, to find Marin directly, to openly support him, and to propose to Anne for you! ”

"Don't wait and see?"

"Don't wait, since according to you, it will be difficult for Marin to fail. So, let's take advantage of the present to show goodwill! The icing on the cake is not as good as charcoal in the snow (there is no such idiom in Europe, but it means so)! We are now openly supporting him, which is tantamount to doing him a great favor, and he wants to accept our great affection. After all, Poland and Lithuania are both European powers, and our support is also relatively deterrent. ”

"And if you wait for the results to support it, it will be the icing on the cake, but it will be dispensable!"

"Brother is wise!" Prince Zygmunt made a little ass.

The next day, at the behest of Grand Duke Alexander, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Bereski, escorted by three thousand plate-armored knights and many more knightly attendants, set out for Germany with great fanfare.

In fact, it doesn't take 3,000 plate armor knights to escort a foreign minister, and with such a scale, it can defeat a vassal state. But Archduke Alexander's intention was to show off the strong force of Lithuania and Poland, so he did not hesitate to send so many knights just to show his muscles in front of those German princes. Anyway, Lithuania and Poland are both knightly powers, and there is no shortage of these three or two thousand knights. And this is also a very strong means of support for Marin......

Besides, he was just flexing his muscles, and he didn't say anything about declaring war on the German princes. Archduke Alexander was only timid, but as the monarch of two great powers, he was not without wisdom. This public display of muscles showed a certain amount of political wisdom in his life. Anyway, I sent someone to propose a kiss, and I didn't declare war. At that time, even if Marin is really finished, it will be a big deal to regret the marriage. After all, I'm not married yet, so I'm just here to make an appointment.

And in the eyes of outsiders, this is very different - Nima, Marin actually has such a strong ally, and casually sends thousands of knights to parade...... In addition, Poland and Lithuania are indeed European powers, and the deterrent effect is indeed not small, and it is also of great help to Marin. On top of that, Poland and Lithuania didn't say they were going to war...... It's a big deal, in the end, depending on the situation, I'll go back again, anyway, I can advance and retreat freely......

What the? You say the dignity of the king? That thing, Grand Duke Alexander had already been beaten by the hair of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Along with it, there was also the courage of Archduke Alexander. Therefore, although Grand Duke Alexander showed off his muscles this time, it was purely for the sake of showing his muscles, and it seemed a little difficult for him to really send troops. However, such support is also sufficient. After all, the German princes didn't know that Archduke Alexander didn't want to fight......