It has been more than three months since the Quadruple Alliance's war against Denmark broke out, and Marin's men are constantly collecting intelligence on the German region. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Marin was astonished to find that the attitude of the German states towards the war seemed to be ambiguous. As for the Quadruple Alliance, some people in Sweden accuse them of deceitful crimes. Marin was also accused of being murderous and belligerent. However, his two allies, Lübeck and Hamburg, no one dared to publicly accuse them......

Marin was speechless for a moment, thinking that at the beginning, he was pointed out by thousands of people when he played an East Friesland, and he was forced by the Duke of Saxony to lead troops. This time against Denmark, Marin was originally prepared to be strongly opposed and the mainland to be attacked. But unexpectedly, no one accused them of attacking Denmark incorrectly. At least, no one is publicly accused.

At this moment, he figured it out. The reason is that this time he hugged the thick thighs of the Hanseatic League......

Lübeck and Hamburg were the main and deputy leaders of the Hanseatic League, and to form an alliance with them was to form an alliance with the entire Hanseatic League. You know, the Hanseatic League had branches in almost all cities in the German region. Most of the German aristocracy had borrowed money from the merchants of the Hanseatic League. The king of England even used his own crown as collateral on several occasions to borrow money from the Hanseatic League. The princes in Germany also borrowed money from the Hanseatic League to maintain a luxurious life.

At this time, most of the princes of Germany were still only landlords who lived on land rent. If you encounter a disaster year, you can't live without borrowing money. In this era, the richest people in Germany were probably the merchants of the Hanseatic League. Therefore, the German princes tried to establish good relations with the Hanseatic League. In this way, when you are short of money, you can also borrow money from the Hanseatic League to turn around. In particular, when there was a war, the nobles who were not financially good could not afford to hire mercenaries to help them fight without borrowing money. Therefore, none of them dared to offend the Hanseatic League easily, lest they would not be able to borrow money from the Hanseatic League to hire troops to ensure national security in the event of war. Even the two great electors of Saxony and Brandenburg did not dare to turn against the Hanseatic League without a good reason. Unless, they want to be sanctioned by trade.

Having figured this out, Marin was extremely eager to continue to cling to the big thick leg of the Hanseatic League. Because Marin found that the big thick legs of the Hanseatic League were even thicker than Emperor Maximilian I. At least, diplomatically, the Hanseatic League was much better than Maximilian I. When Maximilian I did something, he was often opposed by most of the princes. When the Hanseatic League leaders launched the war against Denmark, not a single country in Germany openly stood up against it......

Before the two speakers of Lübeck and Hamburg left, Marin salivated and ran to ask for an alliance......

"Alliance? Count Marin, aren't we allies now? Speaker of the Lübeck Chamber, Tagfacht, asked with some strange feeling.

"Hehe, Mr. Tagfacht, now we are allies, but what about the future? When Denmark recovers after many years, it will definitely not be willing to lose its territory. At that time, the Duchy of Schleswig, which is closest to Denmark, will definitely be the first to be attacked. So...... Hehe......"

Marin's statement was irrefutable by the two speakers. Indeed, Marin played a large part in this war, and was given the Duchy of Schleswig, which borders Denmark. Although it seems that the territory of the Marin family is worth the territory obtained by the Lübeck and Hamburg families, this is not the case. Because, the biggest beneficiary of this war against Denmark was not Marin, but the two Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg.

The Kalmar Alliance, made up of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, has long been the biggest contender for the Hanseatic League. Today, the maritime trade between the Netherlands and Britain had not yet risen, and the Kalmar League was the Hanseatic League's biggest rival and the only one that could stand on the table.

In this war, relying on the sudden rise of the East Friesian fleet, Lübeck and Hamburg succeeded in destroying the Danish fleet, which was a great threat to the Hanseatic League, and later seized most of the Danish merchant ships.

Suffice it to say, for a long time Denmark could not hold back and could not pose a threat to the Hanseatic League. And without Marin's help, Lübeck and Hamburg alone would not have been able to do it.

As a result, Marin seems to have gained more territory than both Lübeck and Hamburg, but the benefits he received were far less than those of the two cities. Moreover, the Duchy of Schleswig, which was close to Denmark, was also the most vulnerable to a retaliatory attack by Denmark. Therefore, Marin's proposal of the conditions for an alliance against future crises is entirely reasonable.

So, the two Grand Speakers of Lübeck and Hamburg nodded and agreed to form an alliance with Marin......

It's just that, to the surprise of the two speakers, Marin later used this covenant to move out the two Hanseatic chief cities many times as a shield, solving many diplomatic problems......

Soon after, Marin, in the name of Duke Schleswig, signed the Treaty of Copenhagen with the two Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg.

The treaty provided that the two sides formed allies and helped each other militarily. No matter which side is attacked, the other side has an obligation to help.

In addition, the two sides have achieved trade liberalization. All cities in the Duchy of Schleswig will be unconditionally open to Hanseatic merchants from both cities. At the same time, Lübeck and Hamburg also granted "most-favored-nation status" to the cities of Schleswig, Flensburg, Riber, Obenro and Husum. The chambers of commerce belonging to several cities and the trade of Lübeck and Hamburg will receive the treatment and status of members of the Hanseatic League, and will not be suppressed or embarrassed by the alliance in any of the cities that are members of the Hanseatic League......

Originally, Marin planned to directly let several cities in the Duchy of Schleswig directly join the Hanseatic League. However, the provisions of the Hanseatic League specifically required that cities that were not located on the coast or on the banks of navigable rivers, or that did not have autonomy, were not entitled to join the Hanseatic League.

This stumped Marin at once. As a very controlling person, Marin would never allow the city under his rule to be self-governing outside of his control. Therefore, he had no choice but to give up on allowing these cities to join the Hanseatic League.

However, he suddenly remembered the issue of "most-favored-nation treatment" that China and the United States often negotiated before China joined the WTO.

Therefore, he put forward the concept of "most-favored-nation treatment" to the two speakers of the parliament......

The proposal of this concept aroused great interest among the two Grand Speakers. Because, the Hanseatic League also needs strong allies.

The Hanseatic League was a confederation of autonomous cities that, while economically powerful, were militarily weak. Because, it is difficult for them to coordinate and mobilize all resources, and fight the enemy to the death. After all, they are just a loose urban complex. Therefore, the Hanseatic League's deterrence of others is more economic than military.

However, due to the Hanseatic Alliance's admission principle, they were unable to absorb the cities controlled by the big nobles as members, so it was difficult for them to form offensive and defensive alliances with the powerful nobles to help each other.

The concept of "most-favored-nation status" was put forward by Marin, which gave great inspiration to the two speakers. Through this method, the Hanseatic League can completely form an alliance with the powerful nobles to ensure their own security. At the same time, it also gives enough benefits to allies. Moreover, it does not violate the principles of the Hanseatic League, and without violating the provisions of the Hanseatic League, it can also find military allies and use "most-favored-nation treatment" to win over the other side.

And Marin, this aristocrat with outstanding military talents, is in line with the alliance requirements of the Hanseatic League, and is worth wooing. Maybe one day, two Hanseatic cities will use this man to help deal with the enemy......

As a result, the two sides hit it off, signed the "Copenhagen Treaty" in Copenhagen, the capital of the Danes, announced the alliance, and for the first time wrote the concept of "most-favored-nation treatment" on the treaty documents......

So far, Marin has successfully embraced the big thick leg of the Hanseatic League, and has used this big thick leg many times in the future to solve a lot of diplomatic troubles......