Now that the charges have been determined, the next step is how to decide. Maximilian I's goal was naturally clear - for such a traitorous nobility, naturally, it was to deprive them of titles and fiefs, and even to imprison them. Moreover, Maximilian I proposed that since the Duchy of Cleaver was willing to send troops, then the region of the Lower Guedes could be given to the Duchy of Criver as a reward. But at the same time, the Upper Guedes region was to be awarded to the Habsburgs as compensation.

However, most of the princes did not agree. Why? One is because they don't want to see the Habsburgs annex the Upper Guedes; Second, it is the princes who have a sad feeling of rabbit death and fox death. After all, they did no less to collude with France to suppress the Habsburgs. This time it was the letter of collusion between the Duchy of Guedes and the French, which was exposed. If their letter to France is also exposed, will they also be stripped of their titles and fiefs?

Therefore, there was a strong opposition to the deprivation of the title and all fiefdoms of the Duke of Guedes, and only agreed to deprive the Duchy of Guedes of the Lower Guedes region and transfer it to the Duchy of Cleaver, who exposed the treason of Charles II, the Duke of Guedes. In short, they just don't want to cheap the Habsburgs......

However, Maximilian I was not a vegetarian either. Seeing that the meeting was deadlocked, he chose to quietly visit Jacob, Archbishop of Mainz, Jacob of Baden, Archbishop of Trier, and Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne, in the middle of the night.

Of course, he didn't visit empty-handed, but brought a lot of gold coins......

And these gold coins are actually the "appearance fee" given to him by Beihai Kingdom to cooperate with the performance. In order to seize the Ruhr area, Marin also spent a lot of money, not only sold the more than 17,000 Swiss mercenaries to the Habsburg family, but also gave 100,000 gold coins as an "appearance fee", in order to get the Habsburg family to cooperate in a big play.

And Emperor Maximilian I was not a fuel-efficient lamp, although he did not want to offend Marin and rob the Lower Guedes region, however, he set his sights on the Upper Guedes region. After all, the Upper Gedesi area also has an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers. Moreover, it is fertile land on both sides of the Maas, a tributary of the Rhine.

According to Maximilian I's assumption, this time it was hard to find evidence of collusion with foreign countries in the Duchy of Godes, so it was naturally best to take this opportunity to completely clean up the Egmund family of the Duchy of Godes. In this way, it can also play a role in killing chickens and setting an example for monkeys.

However, at the Imperial Council, it seems that most of the princes did not approve of his extermination. Moreover, they did not want the Habsburgs to annex the Upper Guedes region.

In desperation, Maximilian I decided to take out the 100,000 gold coins that Marin had given him and use them to bribe the three Electors of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne.

Why bribe the three religious electors instead of the seven electors? Because, religious electors are not hereditary. After becoming religious electors, these electors often desperately made money. Anyway, the religious electorate is not their family, so it is only right to take the opportunity to become an archbishop and take the opportunity to make a fortune for their own family...... And for these money-hungry religious electors, smashing with money is the best choice......

And the other four secular electors, because they are the status of the family inheritance. Therefore, they must take into account not only economic interests, but also long-term political interests. Therefore, they are much more difficult to buy than religious electors.

Maximilian I only gave 10,000 gold coins to each of the three Electors, and the attitude of the three Electors changed dramatically.

Of course, the three electors did not come exactly as Maximilian I wanted. After private deliberations, the three archbishops decided to allow the Habsburgs of Maximilian I to gain access to the west bank of the Maas in the region of Upper Guedes. On the west bank of the Maas River in the Upper Guedes region, the territory is only about 500 square kilometres, less than half of the upper Gedesi region. However, it's not bad. After all, they are all fertile areas with developed agriculture.

As for the area on the east bank of the Maas, the three archbishops decided to keep it. However, because the evidence of treason in the Duchy of Gedes is conclusive. Therefore, the size of the Duchy of Guedes was to be downgraded to the status of a kingdom, and only six or seven hundred square kilometers of territory on the east bank of the Maas River were to be retained. Compared with the previous area of four or five thousand square kilometers of the Principality of Godes, it has shrunk by more than half.

When the Reich Council was reconvened, the German princes were surprised to find that the three religious electors had suddenly changed their position and supported the Habsburgs in obtaining territorial "reparations". Of course, only those five hundred square kilometers on the west bank of the Maas River, near the Duchy of Brabant.

Not only that, but Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, and Jorkim I, Elector of Brandenburg, suddenly changed their minds and supported the decision – apparently bought......

It is also poignant to say, since the defeat at Lübeck, the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg are now in debt and have poor economic conditions. Maximilian I came to the door with a dumb eye and gave each of them 10,000 gold coins. In the end, the two Electors, who were very short of money, also knelt down in front of the gold coin...... After all, a penny is difficult to defeat a hero, let alone 10,000 gold coins?

Moreover, the Saxon aristocracy and the Duchy of Gedes were at enmity. At the beginning, George, Duke of Saxony, the cousin of the Elector of Saxony, was disgraced by the Duchy of Gedes. At this meeting, George also sided with Maximilian I and strongly demanded that Charles II be stripped of his ductile title and all fiefdoms. With George's lobbying and Maximilian I also paying for it, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, agreed to side with the emperor. As for the Electorate of Brandenburg, Joakim I didn't have any opinions, and if there was a good will, he went along with Frederick III......

So, when the Imperial Diet was reconvened, five of the Seven Electors supported Maximilian I in obtaining territorial compensation from the Duchy of Godes. Of course, there is a slight difference from what Maximilian I expected, only 500 square kilometers west of the river, not more than 1,000 square kilometers expected by Maximilian I......

Although it did not meet expectations and threw out 50,000 gold coins, Maximilian I felt that it was worth it. Why? Because the Duchy of Guedes, which was bent on following the French and annexing the Dutch territories of the Habsburgs, lost the largest area of Lower Guedes, and again lost nearly half of the land of the Upper Guedes region...... Since then, the originally powerful Duchy of Gedesi has directly fallen from a powerful country with four or five thousand square kilometers to a small state with a size of only six or seven hundred square kilometers......

From then on, the small state of Geddes will be greatly weakened and will no longer have the strength to threaten the Habsburgs. After all, a small country with an area of only a few hundred square kilometers cannot afford to make waves......

Of course, for a prince convicted of treason, such a punishment is still a bit light. So, under the impetus of several electors, the hapless Duke Charles II of Guedes was demoted to the rank of earl. Moreover, the name of the Duchy of Gedes has also been changed, and the name of the capital of the Duchy of Geddes, Geldon, is directly used for the Earl of Geddon......

In this way, the Duchy of Gedes, which once beat the powerful Duchy of Saxony, died out after this imperial meeting. Although Charles II was under the protection of the princes, he was still a great nobleman. However, the duke was demoted to an earl, and the territory was seriously reduced from five or six thousand square kilometers to six or seven hundred square kilometers...... At this point, the once formidable Duchy of Guedes was officially removed from the list and stripped of most of its territory, leaving only a small vassal state renamed the Gerdon Count......