Chapter 12： Worms Empire Conference

The time soon came to July. Marin took a team of cavalry guards south and headed to Worms, 40 kilometers south of Mainz, where the Imperial Parliament was held.

According to the decree of the Holy Roman Empire, the Seven Electors had additional positions in the empire. For example, the first-ranked Archbishop of Mainz is the convener of elections, the regent and prime minister of the empire, and at the same time the deputy speaker of the German region. The Archbishop of Cologne is the Speaker of the Burgundy region, and the Archbishop Trier is the Speaker of the Italian region.

However, because the Italian region and the Burgundy region have long been out of the control of the empire. Therefore, the Speakers of the Archbishops of Cologne and Trier have a reputation. Therefore, only the Chief Speaker of the German Region, Archbishop of Mainz, is truly worthy of the name. For this reason, the actual host of the Imperial Parliament is the electorate of the Mainz election. In order to accommodate Archbishop of Mainz, the location of the Imperial Parliament was simply placed in Worms within the archbishopric of Mainz, only 40 kilometers away from the city of Mainz.

Marin, as a newcomer to the Imperial Parliament, naturally had to go to the hill of the parliament leader first. So, before the Parliament had convened, Marin brought a box of treasures to visit Archbishop of Mainz, Berthold von Hennenberg.

Archbishop of Mainz Berthold has a complicated feeling for Marin. Obviously, Marin was promoted by Emperor Maximilian I and was the emperor's person. But now, Marin did not serve before Maximilian I. Instead, he chose to become a separatist prince, and he also defeated an uncle who was said to have passed on from his grandfather and became an earl. In fact, Marin's current identity is similar to that of Archbishop Mainz, and they are all princes of separatism. However, Marin's political stance leaned toward the emperor. The Archbishop understood this somewhat. Because, waiting for the old princes himself, he did not accept him at all, so Marin could only choose to continue embracing the emperor's thighs. But looking at the fact that Marin has sent gold and silver jewelry worth more than 20,000 gold coins twice in a row, Archbishop Berthold still decided to agree to allow Marin to enter the Imperial Parliament. Anyway, the seat of a secular prince is nothing.

After, Marin took advantage of the meeting and held a treasure chest to pay a visit to several other electors besides King Vladislas III of Bohemia.

Among the several electors, the mood of Frederick III, the elector of several Saxony, was the most complicated. Before the Battle of Lyle County, Frederick III also suffered a lot. Because, in the last war, Albrecht, the former Duke of Saxony, also borrowed a lot of soldiers from the electorate of Saxony. During the battle, the soldiers and horses belonging to the electorate of Saxony also suffered many casualties. Therefore, the election of Frederick III was difficult for Marin.

However, this should not blame Malin. Because, it was his uncle Albrecht, not Marin, who caused the incident. Therefore, the Elector of Saxony Frederick III has the most complicated feelings for Marin, and some do not know whether to support Marin. Even if he accepted Marlin's gift, he was not sure.

In fact, Marin did not have much hope for Frederick III. Because, after all, the relationship between the two parties is not good. The reason why Marin insisted on gifting him was that he did not want Frederick III to obstruct himself in the Imperial Parliament.

After all, the public office of the Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire is the marshal of the empire and the highest general of the whole empire. Its prestige is huge and its influence is great. Although Marin has bribed many nobles of the Saxony family. But if Frederick III vehemently opposed at the Imperial Conference, it would be difficult to ensure that no Saxon nobles would fight against the water and choose to oppose it. Therefore, even though Marin knew that there was little hope, he still gave him a big gift, in order that the other party would not trick himself.

In fact, this imperial meeting was mainly to regulate the conflict between the fierce emperor and Switzerland. Now, the two sides are playing hard and difficult to divide, very fierce. The Swiss have the upper hand, but the emperor has a natural barrier, and there is not much danger.

It was just that the emperor could not bear to torture the army in the Graubünden region and Switzerland. After all, more than 10,000 troops are almost most of the royal power. Being trapped in Graubünden is not conducive to protecting sites such as Austria and Burgundy.

Moreover, the continuation of the war and the consumption of resources are huge. This embarrassed the emperor, so he asked Archbishop Mainz, who was the speaker, to convene an imperial meeting and urged the Swiss to stop the offensive. Or, through a resolution declaring the Swiss rebellious, the emperor was allowed to collect a war tax from various countries or free cities of the empire, which was linked to economic pressure.

In fact, the Imperial Parliament basically convenes a regular meeting every year. Archbishop Mainz was not willing to meet the conditions of the emperor, but as the nominal prime minister, he could not give the emperor any face.

In private, Archbishop Mainz had already discussed with other electors. In the end, their solution was to verbally condemn the Swiss ’s actions, but not to impose any actual penalties on the Swiss.

That is to say, everyone decided to sympathize with the emperor on the surface and yell verbally. But for practical benefits, they will not give the emperor. Otherwise, the emperor defeated the Swiss and became stronger, maybe he would come to clean up the princes ...

Sure enough, after the new Empire Conference was held, the princes were very tacit. When the emperor put forward Marin's proposal to join the Imperial Parliament, everyone had received the benefits, plus they thought it was no big deal. So, most people chose to support. Elector Frederick III of Saxony chose to abstain, while the other Saxony nobles voted in favor. With more than two-thirds of the votes, Marin finally got a seat. In the future, Marin may choose to participate in the Imperial Parliament in person or send representatives. After all, his seat has no say in the Imperial Parliament, and it does not matter whether he comes or not. Unlike Archbishops of Mainz and others, they are the leaders of the Imperial Parliament and naturally have to come forward in person to stir up the world in the Imperial Parliament.

But then, when the emperor proposed to punish the "rebellious" Swiss alliance, the princes were very tacit. On the surface, everyone "strongly condemned" the expansion of the Swiss. But in fact, when the emperor asked the Imperial Parliament to approve the war tax, everyone expressed opposition.

The princes believed that the conflict between the emperor and the Swiss took place in the Holy Roman Empire and belonged to the hegemony between the princes, not the foreign war. General hegemony among princes is not eligible to impose war taxes within the empire ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Unless, it is an external war like the Ottoman invasion, everyone will approve it. Before, when the Italian war broke out, the princes did not agree to levy war taxes, because the war did not break out in Germany. If the French army invaded the German region, the princes would soon be able to unify their opinions. But the French did not fight, and the princes had no interest in interfering. Moreover, they were also afraid that the emperor would take the opportunity to grow bigger and stronger.

Therefore, as usual, most princes chose to suppress the emperor. On the bright side, they issued a joint statement condemning the Swiss expansion. But in fact, this is useless, just like the "stern statement" issued by the foreign ministry of a certain country in the future, they are all bluffing and have no practical significance ...

Marin wanted to help the emperor wave his flag, but he was only approved to join the Imperial Parliament today and he has no say at all. Even if he said it, it was no different from not saying it. Moreover, if it arouses the princes' disgust, it is possible that the qualification of the parliamentarian just obtained will be cancelled on the spot ...

Therefore, Marin only shrugged to the emperor and expressed his helplessness ...

After the imperial meeting, Marin paid a visit to the emperor alone. Marin told the emperor that it was not impossible to defeat the Swiss. For example, he was sent to support the emperor's general Frensberg, is a very good general. If the emperor can use Frensberg to train the army, the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army can be further improved. By then, the Swiss will not be a threat ...

Marlin's proposal was somewhat doubtful by Maximilian I. However, he still intends to give it a try (let Franzberg train some Austrian troops). After all, Maximilian I was reluctant to give up any chance of defeating the Swiss ...