The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin was surprised that Edward's family had moved into his camp without many guards. Although she also suggested Edward, but the other party really moved in, he was also a little puzzled. After all, Edward was no longer the young child who had just been rescued from the Tower of London, and would not trust others so easily.

So, when drinking at night, taking advantage of the time when he was half-drunk and half-awake, Marin tentatively asked:

"Your Majesty, why did you really come to my camp? York City no longer?"

Edward said with a bitter face:

"I don't want to either. Damn Henry, after defeating the French, he deliberately told the French that I gave them information about the French. If the French soldiers under my command found out, they wouldn't dismantle me. ?" Edward United said bitterly.

"Is the news reliable?" Marin asked with a serious face.

"Certainly!" Edward said without hesitation.

Marlin understood in seconds - this must be the information of Edward's own sister, Princess Margaret...

However, after thinking about it, Marin became happy:

"Ha, if this is the case, my suspicions will be cleared! In this way, Louis XII will not suspect me!"

Edward was immediately dissatisfied:

"You are no longer suspicious, but I am miserable! In this case, Louis XII has no choice but to eat me?"

Marin said indifferently:

"Your Majesty, you will become the King of England in the future. As the King of England, you are born to be mortal enemies with France. What have you to worry about?"

Edward nodded, but soon shook his head again, saying:

"This is true, but the timing is not right. I have seven or eight thousand French soldiers under my command. Originally, they were my strong help in attacking Henry, the king-killer. But if the French misunderstood me, then they would instantly Become my mortal enemy. It may even help Henry to attack me. Since they are all mortal enemy kings, Louis XII must hate me even more as a possible 'traitor'..."

After listening, Marin nodded in agreement. It seems that Edward has indeed grown a lot over the years. Unlike when he just came out of the Tower of London, he was a novice. After thinking about it, Marin said:

"Although I did this, I can never admit it. You know, Your Majesty, my Grand Duchy of the North Sea is on land. And France is the most powerful country in Europe. If Louis XII takes anger on me, my The Grand Duchy of the North Sea is over. Moreover, it was actually for the good of England. After all, if the French forces really came to the British Isles and wanted to drive them away, it would be extremely difficult. Even, I One would suspect that the French wanted to annex England."

After taking a sip of red wine, Edward nodded and said:

"Yes, I'm sure the French have ambitions to annex England. After all, for over a hundred years, the kings of England have called themselves the kings of France, and the kings of France have called themselves the monarchs of England. To be honest, I'm not afraid to offend the French. But, The timing is not right. If I have already occupied London, even if I kill all the seven or eight thousand French soldiers, I don't care. But at this juncture, it is easy to make that French army our enemy!"

"How about my army enter Yorktown and then attack the French at night and kill them all?" Marin suggested.

Edward shook his head and said:

"No, it would be great if we could continue to use that French army against Henry now. In this way, I don't feel bad for any of them who lose in the dog-eat-dog battle!"

After Marin listened, he held his chin and said casually:

"Well, let me think of a way for you..."

...

Ten minutes later, Marin suddenly woke up and asked:

"Your Majesty, did any of your guards take leave to go home after logging in to England?"

"What do you mean?" Edward was puzzled.

Marin said confidently:

"You first think about whether you have gone home to see your family..."

Most of Edward's men were French, and the rest were German mercenaries. But there were also many opponents of Henry VII who followed Edward, all of whom were the widowers of the York family, or the enemies of Henry VII. At first, they were all in exile in France. When Edward was in exile in France, these people gathered around Edward. Of course, many are civilian officials, not all combatants. There were also many who served as Edward's guards. After all, Edward trusted his countrymen more than those who were clearly sent by Louis XII. There were dozens of English exiles who served as guards for Edward.

After thinking about it, Edward said:

"When I was in Chester County, because I had no intention of going south to fight immediately, at that time, several guards did ask me for leave, saying that they wanted to go home and have a look..."

"That's great!" Marin said excitedly, slapping the table sharply.

"Why?" Edward was puzzled.

So Marin told Edward a good story——

The protagonist of the story is called Cao Mengde. When this guy was fighting against a prince named Yuan Shu, the 170,000 army was short of food...

"What? 170,000 troops? Are you kidding?" Edward was shocked.

"The 170,000 army is not a fiction. In that country in the east, hundreds of thousands of troops can be mobilized at will."

Edward listened straight out:

"With an army of 170,000 people, food and grass alone can kill a monarch of a big country like the king of France..."

"There is no shortage of grain in the East!" Marin said, but did not tell why the East produced more grain than Europe - that is a technical topic and a secret.

Of course, that's not true either. The agricultural technology of ancient China is indeed much more advanced than that of Europe, but the grain output is also limited. In times of war, the army's food is often forcibly taken from the people. Therefore, even if the people planted food during the war, they would be plundered and eventually starved to death. Therefore, in times of trouble, the population will drop sharply.

Marin goes on to describe-

Seeing that because of the lack of food, the military's heart is fluctuating, and the slightest carelessness will lead to mutiny... So, Cao Mengde came up with a poisonous plan - borrowing grain and grass officials to use them... Then, the unlucky Wang Yu urged the grain manager The Cangguan was killed by Cao Mengde... Cao Mengde showed Wang Yao's head to the public and lied to the soldiers that he was greedy for military rations, and I had already killed him... Then, the military's morale stabilized...

"However, after killing the quartermaster named 'wanghou', the 170,000 army is still short of food..." Edward said inexplicably.

"Whatever, you're right. But those soldiers don't understand. They thought that if they killed Wang Yu, there would be no shortage of food! Also, their grievances are gone, and there will be no more mutiny... There is an injustice, and a debt to the owner, as long as the responsible person is found and punished, everyone's resentment can be eliminated..."

Edward nodded and said:

"Understood, you mean, you want me to 'borrow' the head of a guard who went home to visit relatives to appease the anger of the French?"

"That's right, that's what I meant. In particular, the family visiting relatives put the blame on him in the south, saying that he was a spy sent by Henry VII, who leaked the plan and led to the defeat of the French army. In this way, those French The generals will not resent you..."

"Understood..." Edward began to bow his head to recall...

After a while, he suddenly raised his head and said:

"I remembered that one of my guards, Allen, lives in Worcestershire in the south. When our army was stationed in Chestershire, this guy came home to visit relatives. Moreover, this person is not me. Absolute confidant of..."

Marin nodded-very good, the pot-bearer has been found, and it's time to start the knife...

The next day, Marin took five thousand soldiers and accompanied Edward back to York City. After returning to York City, Edward immediately ordered the arrest of the guard Alan, and questioned in front of many French officers:

"Alan, why did you betray me?" Edward said with a look of hatred. Marlin secretly gives a thumbs up - good acting...

Originally, Marin and Edward thought that Allen would be stunned, and then, before Allen's guards could react, they would stab him with a knife, creating an established fact. But what the two of them didn't expect was that the guard Allen was actually frightened, and stammered:

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, how did you know?"

"What?" Now it was Marin and Edward's turn to look confused. Originally, I just wanted to find a scapegoat, but I didn't expect to actually catch a spy...

But Marin quickly reacted - looking for an Allen, although he must have betrayed Edward, but he confessed so easily, he should be a novice. Moreover, this kind of frustration will not really know Edward's real plan.

Marin was right. When Alan went home to visit his family, he happened to be caught by Henry VII's men who went to the countryside to collect food. Then, Alan, who couldn't stand the torture, told some secrets of Edward's army. However, since he was not Edward's close associate, he naturally didn't know the real secret. For example, the existence of Marin's army, he did not know.

Later, officers under Henry VII took Allen's family hostage and forced Allen to return to Edward to continue to be a spy and provide information for Henry VII's army. Unexpectedly, not long after I came back, I was caught by Edward... And, unfortunately—this was purely an accident...

Marin felt that enough was enough. If the interrogation continued, it would not be the result they wanted. So, after he winked at Kayla, Edward's trusted bodyguard, Kayla raised the knife in a rage and slashed:

"You bastard, let you betray your majesty!"

Then Alan was hacked to death...

In the end, Edward told those French officers who didn't know about it in a somber tone—it was all to blame for this guy, who leaked our army plans to the false king Henry in the name of going home to visit relatives. Then Henry made preparations to transfer all the fleets in the Irish Sea to the English Channel and defeated the French fleet...

The French officers saw with their own eyes that Allen admitted that he had leaked the information, and naturally had to believe it. Moreover, they did not know how much France lost in this naval battle. If they knew that the French army was almost wiped out, they would probably go and whip Ellen's corpse...

Three days later, under the deliberate omission of Henry VII, the French envoy landed from Liverpool, crossed the Pennine Mountains, and came to York City to inform the French soldiers of the bad news. Originally, the messenger turned the French soldiers and Edward against each other. But Edward asked the guard Allen to take the blame, but Allen admitted his betrayal on the spot... So, in the end, the French soldiers did not blame Edward, and decided to help Edward defeat Henry VII, the evil monarch who slaughtered the French...)!!