King of German Mercenaries

As financial resources allow, Marin intends to increase the number of squires from five to six. Because, although Kohler's brain is good, his body is too thin, and it's okay to be a quartermaster. In terms of combat power, he is very scum.

Therefore, Marin felt that it was better to find another combat effectiveness to replace Kohler's position. But Kohler continued to follow him, serving as quartermaster and steward.

So, shortly after the news of the French invasion of Italy came, Marin asked old Hoffman to help him choose his attendants in the manor!

Hearing that Marin was going to the battlefield, the old Hoffman was not happy at this time. why? Because of his second son's talent for business, the old Hoffman felt that even if he didn't go to war, Marin could live well. Before, he drove Marin out of the house to join the army, also for the survival of his son. But now, with Marin's ability so strong, he obviously doesn't need to work hard any more. Therefore, neither old Hoffman nor Mrs. Mary are willing to let Marin take another risk.

However, this time Marin's attitude is very firm. He knew very well that it would not be difficult to become a rich man in the future with his own abilities. However, in the Middle Ages, when the aristocracy took everything, the rich could not control their own destiny. Adler would later inherit the Hoffman estate and become a fief knight. On the other hand, Marin and his two younger brothers will become ordinary people without aristocratic status. In order to have the ability to control his own destiny in this dark age, Marin had to take risks on the battlefield. Besides, the success of Wallenstein and Tilly has always stimulated him.

Therefore, Marin resolutely demanded to defect to the emperor and fight for the emperor...

In fact, Marin is so determined, in addition to his own fame, there is another important factor - he knows that France will lose in the first round of the Italian war. If you follow the winning side, are you afraid that you won't have any military exploits?

Moreover, this battlefield is actually the Holy Roman Empire uniting Venice, the Papal State, the Duchy of Milan and Florence and other Italian princes to fight France and France's younger brother Piedmont (Savoy). It can be said that Maximilian I was not fighting alone.

Moreover, when the French army entered the Italian peninsula aggressively, Shinra did not send troops to stop it at first. Even the Italian princes and the Papal States did not block them at the beginning, only Naples sent troops to block them, and they were defeated.

From Marin's point of view, the initial choice of the Shinra Empire and the Italian princes, although not what they wanted, was extremely correct.

After all, at the beginning, the combined army of France and Piedmont had as many as 60,000 people (37,000 in France and 23,000 in Piedmont). Such a huge army was extremely rare in the Middle Ages. At that time, anyone who resisted would definitely commit suicide. Even if Naples sent troops to stop it, they saw that the French army was too strong, and they were scared away.

When the French army reached the Kingdom of Naples, the Italian princes gathered together under the call of Venice and the Papal State and invited the Holy Roman Empire to participate. After all, Italy was torn apart and did not have enough strength to confront the French.

At that time, Venice was the No. 1 tyrant in Italy. As a Mediterranean business hegemon, Venice's financial revenue was not lower than that of France, or even higher.

In the era when mercenaries started to rise, as long as you had money, you could recruit enough troops. Therefore, the rich Venice is the most powerful prince in Italy. Only a force with a particularly strong appeal like the Papal State can compare with Venice.

Marin reckons that Venice might pay part of the bill in order to win over the Holy Roman Empire. However, that will not happen until the Holy Alliance is established in March next year.

But Marin was reluctant to wait until then, because Emperor Maximilian I would definitely be able to raise a part of the military spending this year. Not to mention, his own territories, Austria and Burgundy, can also collect some war taxes.

As for yourself, you must strive to enter the emperor's army as soon as possible,

Mix up your qualifications or something. In addition, the emperor must also pay more attention to those who "started" early, and may be trained as officers. Next year, the army that will be temporarily recruited after Venice is "sponsored" is estimated to be mostly cannon fodder. Because, that group of mercenaries, it is estimated that there is not much training time, and they will be put into the battlefield.

...

Seeing that Marin was so determined, the old Hoffman didn't say anything in the end. After all, he also knew that titles and fiefs were fought on the battlefield. So, in the end, old Hoffman decided to cooperate with Marin and choose a squire.

To this end, old Hoffman called up all the boys in the manor, as well as the boys who worked as coolies in the serf's family, for Marin to choose.

Marin's requirements for his servants are very high. What he wants is not servants who are obedient, but warriors who can cooperate with him in battle. A silly and bold like Kahn, although he eats a bit more, he is brave and loyal.

Unfortunately, not everyone is as brave as Kahn. Marlin had the lads challenge and wrestle Kahn when he picked his squires. As a result, none of them were Kahn's opponents.

In desperation, Marin had to lower his requirements, no longer taking Kahn as the standard. After choosing from left to right, Marin finally chose only 3 strong, brave, and very honest and obedient young men.

Originally, he wanted to pick four. But apart from the three chosen, everyone else was either too thin, too timid, or too cunning to fit the bill.

You know, in Marin's view, his attendants are basically his meat shields. In times of danger, squires should protect themselves and accompany them in battle. Therefore, if the combat power is too low, they will be easily killed; if they are timid, they will easily abandon themselves and run away; Therefore, Marin is better than lack.

Just when Marin was having a headache with the squire, a selected squire named Sauer suddenly said:

"Master Malin, are you looking for a brave and reliable follower?"

"Huh?" Marin was stunned, but still replied:

"Yes!"

"I know such a person when I was working as a coolie in Bochum. His name is Schwartz. He is a very strong coolie, very strong, and very loyal." Because of the heavy burden on the family, Sauer, The year before last, he went to work as a coolie in Bochum to earn money, and the friends he knew were also coolies.

"What's the way?"

"He was actually a descendant of a knight, but his grandfather didn't have the right to inherit the land, so he left the manor and went to do business in Bochum. However, his father was not good at business, and the business lost money and owed a lot of money. In desperation, Schwartz had to work as a coolie as an adult, helping people carry things to earn money to support the family and pay off debts."

"After a nobleman?"

"Well, Schwartz is strong and tall, about as strong as Kahn. Besides, he seems to know a little bit of knightly martial arts."

"In that case, why didn't he become a wandering knight and defect to a certain lord?"

"Master, to be a knight requires war horses and armor. With Schwartz's current family situation, can he afford it?"

"Uh...also..."

"Moreover, because their family owes a lot of money, the creditors do not allow their family members to leave Bochum, so as to prevent them from reneging on their debts and escaping..."

"That's it, so, Sauer, can you ride a horse? If you can, lead the way. I'm going to meet this Schwartz in person."

"Only a little……"

"Master, it's just a coolie, you just asked him to come here, why go to see him in person!" Kahn said puzzled.

"Idiot, didn't you hear Sauer say that their family's creditors would not allow his family's people to leave Bochum?"

"Oh..." Kahn touched the back of his head embarrassedly. This IQ made Marin speechless...

Afterwards, Marin, Kahn, and Sauer rode their horses to the city of Bochum. At the gate of a granary in Bochum, they saw Schwartz carrying rye.

I saw a black-haired, muscular man with a height of about 1.83 meters, carrying two bags of rye with ease...

At the gate of this warehouse, other coolies are carrying a bag of rye every time. This bag of rye, at least 100 pounds. Schwartz, on the other hand, carried a bag on his left shoulder and a bag on his right shoulder, and he looked relaxed...

"The strength is really not small!" Kahn couldn't help but admire.

After Schwartz's labor was over, Marin asked Sauer to go over and invite him to a beer hall to discuss things.

"Excuse me, do you have anything to do with me?" After Schwartz came to the beer hall, he first introduced himself to Marin, and then asked politely.

"Mr. Lange, I heard that you are a descendant of a nobleman?" Schwartz has a surname, Lange. In the Middle Ages, only nobles and people of status had surnames. And general serfs, such as Kahn and Sauer, have only first names and no surnames. Some higher-ranking nobles will also add the word "Feng" in the middle of their surnames.

"Yes, my great-grandfather was a fief knight, but my grandfather was not an heir. Moreover, our branch is in decline. You can see, I am a coolie now!" Schwartz looked melancholy replied.

"I heard that you know some knightly martial arts, why don't you become a knight?" Malin asked knowingly.

"Mr. Hoffman, as you know, in the current situation of our family, can I afford war horses and armor? In fact, let alone war horses, we don't even have draught horses in our family. As for my martial arts, it's basically ancestral. As for the horse-riding martial arts, because there are no horses, I have no chance to practice at all, and only learned some theories. Strictly speaking, until now, I am not very good at horseback riding..." Shiva Z answered earnestly.

"Uh..." Marin was taken aback by Schwartz's honesty. In later generations, Marin participated in many interviews and interviewed others. In the past, only people praised themselves hard, and no one exposed their shortcomings. Schwartz's honesty made Marin a little uncomfortable. However, Marin turned to overjoyed. Isn't such an honest person exactly what he wanted?

"I want to hire you as my knight attendant, would you like to?"

Schwartz was silent, not answering immediately.

"Given that you have certain martial arts skills, the daily salary is 4 pfennig, and the food and drink are mine." Marin made a condition.

Schwartz remained silent, seemingly thinking.

"Master, why do you give him 4 Finneys while I only have 3 Finneys a day?" Kahn muttered in dissatisfaction.

"You are too embarrassed to say that you eat three people's meals alone. Your meal expenses alone will cost a lot more than others. If you want to eat as much as others, I will also charge you 4 pfennig a day!" , Kahn stopped talking.

"Mr. Hoffmann, I'm very tempted by the conditions you offered, but our family owes a lot of money to others, and the creditors do not allow members of our family to leave Bochum..." Schwartz said helplessly.

"How much does your family owe others?" Marin asked curiously.

"50 marks..." Schwartz said helplessly.

50 marks, equivalent to 8,000 pfennig, may not be much for a manor owner, but for a poor family, it is a huge sum of money. You know, when Schwartz works as a coolie, he works twice as much as others, and only earns 4 pfennig a day. Also, you have to pay for your meals yourself. Although his appetite was not as good as that of Kahn, he was still a lot more than normal people. Moreover, the Schwartz family, the father has fallen ill because of the failure of the business. The family, now only the adult Schwartz, and her mother make money. But in addition to the father lying on the bed at home, there are two younger brothers. Schwartz made little money as a coolie, and his mother made even less by helping men mend clothes. Therefore, the debt of 50 marks almost crushed his family.

"Is that so... Mr. Lange, would you mind having a wrestling competition with my attendant?"

"Uh... well..." Schwartz stood up and walked outside the beer hall, and the three of Marin followed.

In the open space next to the beer hall, Kahn and Schwartz both stood and started wrestling...

"Ah—" Kahn roared and rushed forward, trying to grab Schwartz and throw him down.

Schwartz was careful not to collide with Kahn's Mars immediately, but to dodge. Then he grabbed Kahn's arm and began to test Kahn's strength.

Although Kahn is a rice bucket, the rice is not free. His strength is naturally great, and it is bigger than Schwartz...

Schwartz tried it out and found that Kahn was stronger than himself. If you fight with it recklessly, you may suffer. So, he began to use some combat skills to avoid Kahn's collision head-on.

The duel between the two was very long, usually Kahn was slamming and dashing, while Schwartz tried to avoid direct collisions. Seeing this, Marin knew that if it dragged on like this, Kahn's loss would be settled. Because, Kahn doesn't know how to save physical strength, the front is too hard, and the consumption is too much.

Sure enough, after a long time, Kahn was out of breath. After a while, Kahn didn't seem to be as aggressive as he had begun. Then, taking advantage of Kahn's chance to catch his breath, after Schwartz avoided Kahn's frontal charge, he slammed into force and tripped Kahn to the ground with skill...

"That's right, I'm physically strong, and I'm more intelligent..." Marin was very satisfied.

After the test, Marin stretched out his right hand:

"Welcome, Mr. Lange, I need a powerful squire like you!"

"But... Mr. Hoffmann, I can't leave Bochum..." Schwartz said in frustration. He knew that following a knight might be dangerous, but it was also a rare opportunity. Because he is confident that with his own skills, he can spell a piece of the world. As a descendant of a knight, he didn't want to be a lowly coolie forever.

"It's okay, as long as you swear allegiance to me, I will help you pay off your debts!" ​​Marin said indifferently.

"That's 50 marks..." Sauer was a little dumbfounded.

Schwartz was also a little stunned, but he did not reply immediately, but went home and discussed it with his father. The next day, Schwartz rushed to the hotel where Marin was staying, and officially replied to Marin, expressing his willingness to become Marin's attendant, and swore and signed the contract on the spot.

And Marin also went home and took 50 marks to help the Schwartz family pay off the debt. Moreover, Marin also arranged for Schwartz's parents and two younger brothers to live in the Hoffman estate to help manage the coal mine.

Schwartz's father, Quinny Lange, was a descendant of a nobleman, but he could read and calculate. Although he has no talent for business, he can still settle accounts.

Moreover, although old Quinney was not in good health, he was actually overwhelmed by the mental pressure of debt. After arriving at Hoffman Manor, he saw hope and his health began to improve immediately.

His new job is actually to count the number of coal miners digging at the entrance of the coal mine. Because, there is such a rule in Hoffman Coal Mine - if coal miners (except newcomers) dig more than 10 charterons of coal every day, for every extra charteron they dig, there will be half a penny bonus. And these, there must be a person who can count and write statistics.

Before, this matter was done by the old Hoffman himself. However, as a manor owner, doing this in person will inevitably lose your identity. The descendants of the poor nobles like old Quinney, it is just right to do this. Moreover, the work is not heavy and can be done sitting in a shed above the mine. Even if the gas explodes or collapses under the mine, it will not affect the people above the mine.

Not only that, Marin also promised Schwartz to allow Schwartz's two underage younger brothers to follow Marin's two younger brothers, Simon and Albert, to practice martial arts and equestrian together. In the future, when they grow up, they will be squires and assistants to Simon and Albert.

For such a win, Schwartz was naturally very moved, and expressed his willingness to make trouble for Marin. So, Marin finally has a general (Kahn can only be regarded as a brave bodyguard, Dian Wei and the like)...

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