John II laughed, indeed, Marin would not give it even if he wanted Duisburg. After all, Duisburg's location at the corner of the Ruhr and Rhine rivers is very important. In addition to the economic development of the city itself, it was also an important collection point for toll taxes on the Rhine. Ships that come up from the Rhine, as well as those that want to go upstream from downstream, have to pay a toll.

Speaking of which, even if the section of the Rhine between the Ruhr and Lipper rivers was ceded, John II would not have suffered much. Because, at most, he lost the toll of the waterway from the Ruhr to the Lipper.

There are very few countries on the Ruhr River, only a few such as the Marker and the Duchy of Berg. On the other side of the Lipper River, too, there are only a few countries such as the Bishop's State of Münster, Recklinghausen and Lipber.

In fact, on the Ruhr and Lipper rivers, the two imperial cities of Essen and Dortmund really accounted for the lion's share of the toll on ships. It is these two commercially developed imperial cities that have so many ships to sail. In an agricultural vassal state like the Makber Kingdom, there are basically no ships in normal times, only more grain ships after the autumn harvest. In normal times, it is rare to see some boats pulling coal. As a result, the two tributaries of the Rhine do not have as much traffic as Duisburg. After all, Duisburg can tax the ships of many countries upstream.

Moreover, whether it is a boat from the Ruhr or the Lipper, as long as it wants to go upstream or downstream, it will inevitably be levied by the Duchy of Cleaver. Because, leaving the Ruhr and Lipper rivers, there is Duisburg, an unavoidable tax collection point, to the south. To the northwest, the main territory of the Duchy of Cripple is there, and there is absolutely no shortage of tax collection points. As soon as you head northwest from the Lipper, you have to pass through the tax post of Wessel. It should be noted that Wessel was also an important commercial city in the Duchy of Clive. Its economic status in the Duchy of Criver is second only to Duisburg and higher than that of the capital Cleaver.

However, because of the excavation of the Münster Canal, John II felt a crisis. This is because taking the Münster Canal into the Ames and then to the North Sea is much closer than taking a detour to the mouth of the Rhine. In particular, boats from the Rhine to the important Hanseatic port cities of Hamburg and Bremen save a lot of distance and time. Therefore, John II was worried that ships going to the northern coast of Germany, such as Hamburg or Bremen, would later take the Münster Canal instead. That way, he'll have a lot less toll.

He didn't really care too much about Marin's desire to buy the land on the east bank of the Rhine. Because, the amount of land that the Lamarck family has on the east bank is actually not much.

However, John II knew that in the Duchy of Cleaver there were fiefs of two barons and 5 knights. Moreover, these two barons have always been the most important old families in the Duchy of Cleaver. Even John II was usually very respectful of their opinions. As for the five knights, they are also important members of the army.

Therefore, the land on the east bank of the Rhine was not as important as Duisburg and Wessel, but John II could not give it up easily.

In fact, John II almost rebelled after the exchange of the kingdom of Macbeth. Because, this touched the interests of many nobles in the country of Mack. But in the end, because the land in the lower Guedes region that John II had given them was more fertile, and they also knew that they could not defeat the army of the North Sea State. Therefore, the nobles of the former Macbeth Kingdom finally compromised.

To be honest, John II had no feelings for the kingdom of Mac. Because, most of the time, he stayed on the side of the Principality of Cleaver. As for the country of Macbeth, he generally sent representatives to manage it, and rarely asked questions. Therefore, he was not distressed at all about exchanging Mark Boguo out.

But the Duchy of Cripple is different, this is where he is rooted. John II did not want his reckless decision to lead to a civil war.

And, to be honest, the land at the western end of the southern part of the Bishopric of Münster, raised by Marin, is not at all comparable to the question of whether inland water transport is developed or not.

Why? The reason is as Marin has noticed before - irrigation technology is not developed in this era, and the aristocracy is not willing to spend huge sums of money to dig ditches. Thus, German agriculture in this era was characterized by the fact that agricultural irrigation depended mainly on natural rivers......

Therefore, the lands on the banks of the Rhine, Ruhr and Lippe are authentic and high-quality watering fields – the river is right next to them, and irrigation is very convenient......

And the piece of land that Marin wants to exchange for is not a river, and the difference between it and the natural water that is convenient for irrigation by the big river is not half a star. The two barons and the five knights on the east bank of the Rhine would not agree to the land exchange unless they were kicked in the head by a donkey.

After all, wheat can be grown by watering the land by the river. In the inland areas where there are no natural rivers, only rye, which is as vigorous as a weed, can be cultivated......

What's more, the land provided by Marin is still under the control of the church. Even if he won the hand, John II did not have the courage to challenge the authority of the church to grab land......

In addition to this, John II was also worried that if this piece of land on the east bank of the Rhine was exchanged for Marin, then the ownership of this section of the Rhine would not belong to the Duchy of Cleaver. In this case, what happens when ships traveling between the core area of the Duchy of Ccliffor and Duisburg are taxed in the future?

……

John II voiced all these concerns in one go, and said that it would be difficult for him to exchange the land for Marin until these problems were resolved.

After listening to this, Marin felt that it was also very tricky. At least, it's a lot more complicated than he thought.

But Marin also knew that once industrialization began, this waterway would become a very busy traffic hub. Not to mention, there are also several large coal mines in these hundreds of square kilometers.

So, Marin finally decided to go ahead with the deal. As for the problems raised by John II, he solved them one by one......

……

First of all, there is the problem of water transportation.

John II feared that if the land was exchanged for Marin, the Rhine would no longer belong to the Duchy of Clifford, affecting Duisburg's connection with the mainland.

Marin's solution was that even if the exchange was completed, a formal treaty would be signed declaring this section of the Rhine waterway (mainly the eastern half and the western half of the Archbishopric of Cologne) to be shared by the North Sea State and the Duchy of Cleaver. In this way, in the future, the ships of the Duchy of Cleaver will not have to pay the toll tax when they pass through this passageway.

At the same time, Marin also promised that the Münster Canal would not be open to ships from other countries for the time being, except for ships from important strategic partners of the North Sea States.

John II was pleased with the promise given by Marin. In particular, the treatment of the Münster Canal allowed the collection of toll taxes on the lower Rhine without any repercussions. In this way, John II was naturally satisfied.

……

Secondly, there is the question of land ownership in the western region of South Münster. At present, the arable land there is mainly in the hands of the Church. If the church is not settled, even if the nobles on the east bank of the Rhine are replaced, they will not be able to get land. Therefore, Marin needs to take the land from the local monasteries first.

For this point, Marin feels that although it is difficult, it can still be solved. For others, the church is a huge existence that cannot be challenged. However, for Marin, the priests in South Münster were only the men of his papal father-in-law. Moreover, he is also a low-level subordinate.

Therefore, the solution to the problem of local land ownership is actually very simple - directly through the relationship of the Holy See, the local abbots can be transferred elsewhere.

There are monasteries all over Europe, and every year a large number of old abbots die and many new abbots take office. Marin only needs to say that the pope's father-in-law, use the connections of the Holy See, and transfer those local abbots to other monasteries and continue to be abbots, and it can be solved.

The western part of South Münster is not a fertile land, with a lack of natural rivers and a low rate of development. Therefore, as long as the abbots were to choose an old abbot who had just died, and the territory was very rich, and let them continue to be abbots, these people would surely be happy.

And those ordinary clergy below the abbot don't have to be so troublesome. As long as Marin gave a little advantage, the Bishop Conrad, who was currently in control of the South Münster region, would be able to arrange for those ordinary missionaries. After all, the status of diocesan bishop is not given for nothing. Bishop Conrad may have some scruples about dealing with the abbots who are equivalent to local tycoons. But for the ordinary clergy, Conrad was a god-like being who could easily decide their fate.

After the abbots and priests were separated, Marin and Bishop Conrad could change the ownership of the cultivated land on the land.

In fact, Marin and Bishop Conrad had already agreed that in the event of Bishop Conrad's death, the South Münster region would be owned by Marin. Moreover, most of the cultivated land in the South Münster region, which had previously belonged to the Church, would also belong to Marin. The local church only retains the arable land near the church, which is enough for the local clergy to live a prosperous life. In proportion, when Marin took control of the South Münster region, he would have received three-quarters of the land of the original Church......

When Marin told John II that he could get three-quarters of the arable land to compensate for the replacement of the former Principality of Cleaver, John II was also shocked:

"What? Can you get three-quarters of the land from the local church? Really? ”

John II apparently did not believe that the Church was a circumstantial existence. They are the only ones who take advantage of others, and there are those who are taken advantage of by others?

Marin shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently:

"Did Master John forget? The Holy See gave me the Bishopric of Münster. Moreover, His Holiness the Pope and the Roman Cardinals also acquiesced in the fact that I could take most of the land from the Münster Church. After all, the lands of the Bishopric of Münster are basically in the hands of the Church. If I don't ask them for land, then what am I going to do with the Bishopric of Münster? Watching the church get rich? ”

"......I see," John II realized. At the same time, he admired Marin's ability to take away most of the arable land from the church.

Marin chuckled inwardly - if you had a father-in-law who was also a pope, you could do it......

……

Finally, there was the issue of irrigation of arable land that the seven vassal nobles of the land on the east bank of the Rhine were concerned about......

After thinking about it for a while, Marin made a decision to send someone to help those nobles dig a river in the new fiefdom......

It just so happened that the 15,000 people who had been sent to the Parson concentration camp in the Duchy of Brabant to pretend to be Swiss mercenaries prisoners of war would also come. These were originally the entourage of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg who were captured by Marin in Lübeck. But after the war, Saxony and Brandenburg simply gave them to Marin because they could not afford to pay the ransom of these people. He even agreed to send his spouses and family members over to him.

So, they are now Marin's people. Originally, Marin had planned to let these people return to China, after all, there was still a shortage of large labor in places such as West Friesland and North Münster.

Now, however, in order to satisfy the nobles of the Duchy of Cleaver. Especially, to satisfy those two barons. Marin decided to continue sending the 15,000 men to the territory that had been exchanged in the western region of South Münster to dig irrigation rivers. At the very least, the new fiefdoms of the two barons should have an area as large as the previous fiefdoms to irrigate the land...... After digging the irrigation river in the territory of the two barons, the five knights will continue to dig......

The project was not large, because the purpose of irrigating the river was to divert water, and it did not need to be wide or deep. Therefore, the amount of work is far less than that of the Münster Canal. Marin sent 15,000 people to dig the river, and it was definitely possible to solve the problem within a year.

……

After solving these three problems, Marin also proposed that a large amount of compensation could be given in addition. For example, John II could be compensated with 100,000 gold worth of grain. As for the two barons and the 5 knights, they will also be compensated. Of course, certainly not as much as it was given to John II. But it all adds up, and it's a lot of money.

As for why they were compensated, it was because Marin needed to buy the castle, houses and other real estate they left behind. They can't take these with them, but it's a loss if they don't take them away. After all, it was built before, and it cost a lot. Moreover, when they go to a new fiefdom, they will also have to build it. Therefore, Marin needs to buy these real estate properties to compensate them for their losses. At the same time, it also gave them the money to build new houses in the new fiefdoms.

……

After paying such a big price, Marin believes that this transaction is almost complete. John II had already said yes, and the matter was half the battle. Next, as long as you get the two barons and the five knights, everything will fall into place.

And Marin's goal of coming to Cripple this time was basically achieved......