Chapter 1373: Charlie's suggestion

Soon after the withdrawal of the 20,000 troops of the North Sea Army and Frensberg, the princes of the princely alliance also began to discuss the withdrawal. why? Because they have insufficient funds. Also, it is already December, Christmas and New Year are coming, these princes are not willing to spend Christmas and New Year in Basel ...

At the meeting of princes, Frederick III said with regret:

"Since the French refused to send troops, it would not make much sense for our army to stay here. Instead, it ran out of money. After all, the Habsburg family annexed Switzerland, and the most urgent thing should be France, not us. Since they Do n’t worry, why are we so worried? Go back! "

Anthony Duke of Lorraine worriedly said:

"But, you are gone, what should your emperor make me angry?"

The Principality of Lorraine is considered to be the initiator of the alliance of princes, and has always been very close to France. If the coalition of princes is gone, he is afraid that the army of the Habsburg family will engage him ...

After thinking of Frederick III, he said:

"Well, anyway, most of the mercenaries will be dismissed after we go back. Before we go back, we will select the most elite 10,000 from the more than 20,000 elite mercenaries to stay and help you protect the Principality of Lorraine. These 10,000 elite mercenaries, combined with the original 4,000-plus veterans of the Principality of Lorraine, should be enough for you to guard Nancy. If the Habsburg family really retaliated against the Principality of Lorraine, we can gather soldiers to rescue them ... "

"But ... but I can't afford so many standing troops ..." Anthony Duke of Lorraine looked bitter.

Although the Principality of Lorraine plays the role of Lorraine Iron Mine, the largest iron ore mine in Western Europe, the fiscal revenue is not bad. However, because Europe had no industry at this time, there was little demand for steel. Even if there was an iron ore at home, Duke Anthony of Lorraine had no money to keep tens of thousands of people ...

Frederick III thought, as if the Principality of Lorraine was indeed not too rich. So he thought about it and said:

"Well, we secretly support you a little bit, and then you go to France to ask for a little bit, anyway, for a few months, then ..."

Subsequently, the League of Princes sent an emissary to Paris and informed the decision of the French King Louis XII's coalition to be withdrawn.

Louis XII was in a hurry-without the cooperation of the 37,000 princely coalition forces, he supported more than 20,000 "Swiss Resistance Army" estimated to be unable to beat the 35,000 troops of the Habsburg family ...

At this time, Charlie, the former Earl of Galden, had come to Paris for a long time to give Louis XII an idea ...

...

Charlie, the former Earl of Gelden, fled by boat from Gelden and then drove along the Rhine River downstream. The ship entered the North Sea and then sailed towards the mouth of the Seine against the shore and successfully arrived in Paris.

King Louis XII of France didn't treat Charlie as a loser very much, and felt that he was incompetent and didn't want to ignore him. But Charlie is very cunning, because he ran early, so he brought a lot of belongings.

When he left Gelden, Charlie basically emptied the treasury of the State of Gelden and brought out the gold and silver of the State of Gelden. Moreover, among these gold and silver, there is also the dividends of Geldenbo from the money snatched from the North Sea State. Its total amount is as high as about 300,000 gold coins. In particular, more than half of this was robbed from Beihai. Less than half of what originally belonged to Geldenberg.

Seeing that Louis XII did not see himself very much, Charlie simply sent 150,000 gold coins to Louis XII, bluntly saying that he would buy a fief in France and be his own lord.

The French lord is different from the German lord. The German lord can make his own decision, which is equivalent to a prince. The big lord of France is just the equivalent of the king's high-class horse. Therefore, the price of the French lord is not expensive, and the bribe of 150,000 gold coins gave Charlie a title of Earl of Nantes.

Of course, Louis XII couldn't seal a big city like Nantes to Charlie, but only part of the rural area near Nantes as a fief. The size of the site is a little larger than the average baron collar.

However, Charlie was also satisfied. Because he is also an earl anyway. Although the Earl of France is not as powerful as the Earl of Germany, it is recognized by all Europe after all. Although there is no benefit, at least there are some faces to go out.

After buying the Earl's title, Louis XII finally saw Charlie. After all, Charlie's money also made Louis XII a lot easier in preparing for the Italian war. As a newly-increasing French earl, Charlie became a regular visitor to the Royal Palace of Paris ...

...

This time, after hearing the news that the coalition of princes intends to withdraw their troops, Charlie, the new Count of Nanjin, who had always had an idea, asked Louis XII and offered a strategy-

"Your Majesty, you thought that since the German princes’ coalition forces were about to withdraw their troops, then the mercenaries who accounted for more than half of them would definitely be disbanded afterwards. We might as well send people to contact the German princes and let them keep those mercenaries, Incorporated into the 'Swiss Resistance Army'. As a result, the number of 'Swiss Resistance Army' has reached 30,000 or 40,000, so don't worry about the 35,000 troops of the Habsburg family! "

After hearing the suggestion of Count Charles, Louis Twelve suddenly lit up—yes, anyway, those German princes no longer needed those mercenaries. If the 20,000 mercenaries vacated by those princes are hired to join the Swiss Resistance Army, they can compete with the 35,000 Habsburg family army. Even, it can have a little advantage ...

However, Count Duert, Louis XII's favorite, objected-

"Your Majesty ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ If we hired 20,000 German mercenaries laid off by the German princes, it would certainly be able to withstand the offensive pressure of the Habsburg family. But, Your Majesty, you have thought about it The cost of a German mercenary is several Dnier (French silver coins) per day, 20,000 German mercenaries, the daily cost is more than 100,000 Dnier ... If your majesty does not intend to be elsewhere The use of soldiers is of no cost. However, your majesty intends to use soldiers in the Italian region, and this expenditure will be difficult to come up with ... "

Louis XII counted carefully, and then a little counseled ...

Every German mercenary, the daily commission, according to the German side price, at least 3 Finney per day. The daily commission of 20,000 people costs 60,000 Finney, which is equivalent to about 1,000 gold coins. If it is a year, it will cost 365,000 gold coins ...

What's more, among these 20,000 mercenaries, many cavalry and officers have more commission expenses. In this way, the annual expenditure of these 20,000 mercenaries is as high as 400,000 gold coins ...

The current royal income of the Royal Kingdom of France is only about 1.2 million gold coins. If you want to hire these 20,000 German mercenaries, the annual expenditure will cost one-third of the French finance ...

So, Louis XII decisively counseled ...

...

Seeing nothing, Count Charles did not give up. After thinking for a while, his eyes lit up suddenly and said:

"Your Majesty, you have a good way! This time, you can get His Majesty the most elite warriors without spending commissions, and help fight the Habsburg family!"

"There is such a good thing?" Louis XII was a little unbelieving.

However, after Count Charles explained, Louis XII suddenly realized ...