While Frentzberg was busy looking for a suitable ambush site, the Seven-Nation Coalition against the North Sea State was basically in place, converging on Bielefeld, the capital of the Ravensburg Count closest to the Münster region.

Bielefeld is a strange city, it is not a member of the Hanseatic League, but it has close ties with the Hanseatic League, and it is also a famous commercial city.

However, Bielefeld's main trade product is a bit peculiar. Its main trade commodity is neither salt, nor grain, nor wine, nor wool...... Its main product is linen ......

In fact, flax is not a rare commodity in Europe, and many cities have flax trade projects. But the problem is that it is really rare for an entire commercial city to concentrate on making flax. Because, the profit of the flax business is actually not high. After all, in Europe, linen was worn by inferior people, and it was of a lower grade than woolen cloth. Therefore, the price of flax cannot be sold, and the profit is naturally not high.

But flaxseed oil, a derivative of flax, is a best-selling commodity in Europe. Because linseed oil is a dry oil, it is an important raw material for shipbuilding. Because tung oil is not available in Europe, linseed oil is the dry oil of choice for Europeans in shipbuilding.

In addition, flax oil is a very healthy vegetable oil that has been respected in later generations, rich in linolenic acid, which belongs to the top grade of vegetable oil.

However, in this era, there were very few people who ate flax oil, and only a few poor people were willing to eat it. Because, flax oil has an unpleasant strange taste, and it tastes weird.

Therefore, the aristocracy still preferred to eat olive oil, and only the poor would be willing to eat flax oil, which tasted strange. Moreover, the main use of flaxseed oil at present is also for shipbuilding, not for eating.

Bielefeld is now a "specialized" trading town specializing in flax-related business, with a linen textile industry, which produces linen for sale and flax oil, a by-product, which is sold to shipyards. Even, in order to match the flax industry in Bielefeld City, a lot of flax was grown in the Count of Ravensburg.

Of course, the princes of the Seven Roads gathered in Bielefeld today, not to buy linen or flax oil, but to join the alliance to attack the North Sea Kingdom.

Now, an army of 40,000 people, led by seven princes, has gathered outside Bielefeld to discuss how and where to do it against the North Sea Kingdom.

Speaking of the Count of Ravensburg, it actually belonged to Duke William IV of the Duchy of Lich-Berg, that is, the prince to whom Marin had previously purchased the town of Mülheim in the Ruhr region, and was also the in-law of Marin's ally, Duke John II of Cleaver.

Duke William IV had only one daughter, Maria, and married John III, the eldest son of John II, Duke of Cleaver, after Marlin left for Daming in 1509.

However, because of William IV's lavish habits and love of fine food and wine, the treasury was empty. Then, when it came time to marry his daughter, the dowry could not be paid......

The great nobles, especially the princes, who marry their daughters, do not want a bride price like later generations (there is also a saying about bride price in modern times, only enlightened parents do not want a bride price). As a prince, and with only one daughter, the bride price must not be shabby.

Then, William IV, the loser, took out the Countland of Ravensburg and sold it for 250,000 gold coins......

And the buyer, coincidentally, was Antonios, Count of Schaumburg, the original owner of Recklinghausen, which Marin bought at the beginning.

At the beginning, Marin spent 200,000 gold coins to buy the Recklinghausen area, which made Count Antonios very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do.

Marin then spent another 50,000 gold coins to buy all the fields and mines of Count Antonios in the Recklinghausen area. Then, Count Antonios had no choice but to take the money and get rid of it completely.

But as it happened, when Marin left Beihai for the Ming Dynasty, William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg, was busy marrying his daughter. William IV was such an only daughter, so he naturally refused to wronged his daughter. But he had no money in his hands and could not get a dowry.

It just so happened that Count Antonios came to visit him. Then, the two agreed that William IV would mortgage the most obscure Ravensburg Count under William IV to Antonios, Count of Schaumburg, for 250,000 Gulden gold coins.

Then, William IV, who took 250,000 gold coins, bought a very rich dowry and married his daughter Maria to John III, the eldest son of John II.

John II wondered why he had so much money to buy a dowry than his own family, and when he heard that he had sold the Count of Ravensburg, he was so depressed that he almost vomited blood......

However, before John II could persuade William IV to redeem the Count of Ravensburg, William IV hiccuped. Then, the deal became an ironclad fact.

Moreover, because the Duchy of Cleaver occupied the fertile region of Lower Guedes, even those princes of the Imperial Court of Princes refused to support John II's redemption of the Count of Ravensburg - the benefits are all for you to take, what are the others messing with?

You know, John III, the son of John II, after marrying Maria, got the two principalities of Hulich and Berg. If you redeem the Count of Ravensburg again, you will swallow three vassal states in one go, how can you not attract jealousy?

In addition, John II's previous collusion with Marin to annex the Lower Guedes region also caused strong dissatisfaction among the princes. Seeing him suffer this time, the princes were also very happy. Antonios' purchase of the Count of Ravensburg was then affirmed by the Imperial Court of Princes, who confirmed him as the new Count of Ravensburg.

……

In fact, this scene has never been seen in the original history. Why? Because the Count of Schaumburg was not forcibly bought by Recklinghausen in the original history. If they hadn't sold Recklinghausen, they wouldn't have had an extra 250,000 gold in cash, and naturally they couldn't afford to buy the Ravensburg Earl.

It can be said that it was Marin's forced purchase of Recklinghausen that caused a chain reaction, resulting in Antonios, Count of Schaumburg, having a lot of money. It happened that he met William IV, who was poorer, and took the opportunity to spend money to buy the Count of Ravensburg, along with the title of this count.

Even, William IV was short of money, and Marin had to take the blame. Why? Because William IV liked to eat and drink, and Marin recommended a variety of Chinese delicacies to him, and also recommended the high-priced wine "Royal Salute". In the days that followed, William IV ate and drank heavily, spending countless dollars, and causing a great financial deficit. When he married his daughter, he had no money, so he had to consider selling the Ravensburg Earl. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with Marlin carrying this pot. If John II had known this, he might have turned against Marin. After all, it's a country!

Moreover, when Marin found out, he was actually so depressed that he almost vomited blood - he knew that William IV was going to sell the Ravensburg country, so it was better to sell it to himself. After all, the Ravensburg Count is not small, almost one or two thousand square kilometers......

……

Antonios, 73-year-old Count of Ravensburg (and Count of Schaumburg and Lord of Gomen), was satisfied, but even in his domain, he could only sit down in the face of the two Dukes of Braunschweig of the Welf family.

Seeing that the seven vassal states had gathered an army of 40,000 and gathered in Bielefeld, the capital of the Count of Ravensburg, Count Antonios was not happy.

Because, counting more than 30,000 people, a total of more than 70,000 people eat horses and chew. In Bielefeld, most of the grain and grass have to be produced by themselves, so it's no wonder that they are happy.

Therefore, Count Antonios wanted to start the fight early. In this way, the army left the Count of Ravensburg without him having to spend food and grass......

So Count Antonios asked:

"Two Henry, when are we going to send troops?"