The Rise of the European Emperor

The two hundred plate knights in Scotland lost very badly. Usually, facing the light cavalry, the plate knights armed to the teeth would easily defeat the opponent. No matter how bad it is, you have to scare your opponent away.

However, I didn't expect that this time, they kicked the iron plate - the clockwork fire carbine, which is specially used to fight plate armor knights...

The scout cavalry riding on Arabian horses first rode their horses and retreated for a long distance under the pursuit of the Scottish plate knights. Then, the horses of the Scottish knights lost their strength...

Originally, the Scottish knights were fully armed and rode their warhorses to escape, which consumed a lot of physical strength of the warhorses. Now, after turning around and chasing for a while, I just can't run anymore. If you don't rest for ten or twenty minutes, you can't run again.

Taking this opportunity, Mackenson commanded the 500 scout cavalry to slowly lean up, and raised the clockwork carbine, aiming at the Scottish knights...

The Scottish knights were knocked off their horses with a chaotic sound of gunfire. Although very few were directly killed, most of them were injured and could not get up for a while...

Mackenson was not at ease, and asked his subordinates to reload the clockwork muskets, then raised the gun and carefully leaned up...

There were indeed rebels, some Scottish knights who were not injured, waving big swords, wanting to see what the scout cavalry were, but they were directly knocked to the ground by platoons of guns, and countless bones were broken...

Then, 200 Scottish knights with high martial arts skills were captured in such a humiliating manner. Except for a few killed, most of the Scottish knights were wounded and captured...

Afterwards, Mackenson thought of the "suspected big fish" that escaped, and hurriedly led most of the people to continue chasing north, leaving some to escort the injured Scottish knights back to the camp.

However, halfway through the road, Mackenson was surprised to find that Maric was heading south with a group of thieves and a dozen or so men in plate armour tied up in various shapes. Those people seem to be the "big fish" who escaped under the cover of those Scottish knights.

And what makes Mackenson extremely jealous is that this "big fish" is actually the king of Scotland!

You must know that even though Marin's greatest achievement was to ambush and defeat the knights of Charles VIII, he still let Charles VIII run away. Like Maric, capturing a king alive is simply extraordinary.

"You bastard, this time you have developed. If you capture the king of Scotland, you can at least change to a baron!" Mackenson said with red eyes. For a moment, Mackensen even wanted to kill Maric's people and swallowed the credit himself. In the end, he suppressed this greed.

Anyway, he defeated 200 Scottish knights, and the credit was enough to be promoted to hereditary knights. Before, Mackenson was only a knighthood of ordinary knights. He is Sauer's cronie. After Sauer was promoted, he became a minister, so naturally he didn't have to lead the team to scout in person. As a result, Mackensen, who was more able to be promoted, took over his command of the scout cavalry regiment.

When Mackenson's men led a group of Scottish knights back to the Scottish camp, the fighting in the Scottish camp was not over. Because the Scots are well prepared, some people wear clothes and weapons before going to bed at night. They each formed small formations and resisted for a long time, causing more than a thousand casualties to Marin's army. This was a record-breaking experience in Marin's night raid.

But fortunately, Marin's men have a high armor rate. Even ordinary soldiers wear iron-clad wood-chip armor, which has good protection. So, even though the casualties exceeded a thousand, most of them were wounded. With alcohol, gold sore medicine and gauze treatment, most people can still be saved. No more than 100 people actually died.

Looking at the 200 Scottish knights being carried back, Marin suddenly felt in his heart. So he beckoned and called the military doctor. These military doctors were all disciples of Mo Zhigen and Battelle. They were familiar with Mongolian medical techniques, and they were best at bridging bones and injuries from falls. Therefore, these broken-boned Scottish knights, it is right to hand them over. After all, these knights are all people with a certain wealth, and the ransom can reach a few hundred gold coins... As an expensive "meat ticket", Marin is obliged to ensure that they will not die...

When Maric came back with King James IV of Scotland, Marin's mouth widened in surprise - Nima, this time he caught a king, it was a big deal...

...

Although the Scottish soldiers were well prepared, they resisted stubbornly. However, facing twice as strong an enemy and being surrounded by divisions early, no matter how brave they were, they could not avoid the fate of failure.

Not long after James IV was taken back, the entire Scottish camp fell...

Marin and Edward, with James IV, who was bound by five flowers, entered the Chinese army tent that originally belonged to James IV...

At this time, James IV also knew the identity of Edward and Marin. So, after entering the tent, he growled:

"Edward, what do you mean? You let the great enemy Henry VII not attack, why did you attack me? We are in the same camp! If you attack your allies like this, you will be despised by all nobles!" James IV decided to take the lead , To refute Edward from the righteousness, it is best to let the other party let him go.

Edward was already prepared, and he replied calmly:

"Your Majesty James, I remember that you and your army were not invited to enter England, right? Your march this time is an invasion of England. As the king of England, I have an obligation to stop your invasion!"

"I'm here to help you, how can you deal with me?" In order to escape, James IV began to quibble.

"Help me? Hehe, didn't you see the white rose flag at the head of Newcastle City? That's the symbol of my York family. The White Rose battle flag hangs at the head of Newcastle City, indicating that this is my territory. You still insist on attacking, it's an ally's How?" Edward responded with a sneer.

Suddenly, James IV was at a loss for words. Yes, Newcastle's Chief of the Guard, Siwager, made it clear at the outset - we are the people of His Majesty Edward. As a result, the Scottish military was ignorant and continued to attack, which is indeed not what the allies should do.

After James IV was settled down, Edward began to discuss with Marin what to do with James IV. Edward is also feeling very difficult now. If James IV died on the battlefield, it would be easier to say. Now that the other party has been captured alive, he can't do anything to him. And the previously planned method of shipwreck murder, as Marin said, "can't be two." The nephews who murdered him should be criticized at most. Murder the king of a country, but to be isolated and hostile all over Europe. Even if you want to kill, you have to start cleanly, and you have to get rid of yourself.

"Archduke Marin, you say, what should I do with this James IV?"

"Change money! King, it's worth a lot of ransom!" Malin's eyes were filled with gold coins.

"In exchange for money?" Edward was suddenly full of black lines - what I want is Scottish territory, not money! So he suppressed his anger and said:

"I want Scotland, not money!"

Marin shook his head directly and said:

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, it is not advisable to annex Scotland until England is stabilized. Otherwise, you will have even more headaches!"

Edward nodded. He also knew that it was not advisable to annex Scotland before securing England, otherwise it would be easy to die. However, he is not reconciled:

"But if we miss this opportunity, it will be difficult for us to seize James IV next time..."

Indeed, it is easy to catch a wild king in the wild, but it seems a little too difficult to break through other people's capitals and capture other people's kings...

In fact, before that, Emperor Shinra was able to capture the King of England. Richard I was in a hurry to return to the country to quell the rebellion. He disguised himself as a businessman and passed through Vienna. There were not many troops around him, so he was easily captured.

Marin suddenly turned his head and smiled slightly:

"Why did you let him go?"

Edward was stunned and said:

"You mean to imprison him like this?"

Marin shook his head and said:

"It's such a waste. We can imprison him and demand a huge ransom from Scotland. You know, a king should be worth a million gold coins..."

"One million gold coins..." Edward was a little dizzy, he had never seen so much money. According to the current exchange rate, one pound is equal to 4 gold coins, which is equivalent to 250,000 pounds.

Of course, this pound is impure. Because of the decrease in the purity of currency, one pound is now only equivalent to 170 grams of pure silver, which is equivalent to 4 gold coins, which is not as valuable as in the early years.

"Of course, when Richard I was captured by Emperor Henry VI, didn't he also ask for 150,000 marks (equivalent to 100,000 pounds) of sterling silver?"

At that time, the silver was not seriously adulterated, and the purity was still guaranteed. Of course, a pound of silver does not refer to 453.59 grams of silver, but in the troy system, which is only 373.242 grams (equivalent to 12 ounces). And because silver coins are not pure silver (pure silver is too soft to be minted, silver dollars are mixed with copper to ensure hardness), so one pound at that time was equivalent to 350 grams of pure silver (much better than the current 170 grams per pound) ).

Marin asked for 1 million gold coins, equivalent to 250,000 pounds, which was more than 20% more expensive than the ransom of Richard I. But taking into account the price increases over the centuries, it is not more expensive than Richard I's ransom.

"However, can Scotland afford a ransom of 1 million gold coins? What's more, there are thousands of prisoners of war..." Although the number of prisoners of war has not yet been counted, Edward estimates that it can also be exchanged for a ransom of hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Woolen cloth.

Scotland has a population of only 500,000 because of its rugged terrain and underdeveloped agriculture. At that time, in order to repay the ransom of 150,000 marks in England, Richard I was reduced to the level of robbing himself with the army, and thus died. Therefore, Edward seriously doubts whether the Kingdom of Scotland can come up with 1 million gold coins... With those prisoners of war, Scotland must not be able to pay the ransom...

"Just to make them unaffordable, so you can hold James IV for a long time. If you don't pay the ransom, you won't let him go back. In this way, I reckon it will take many years. And after these years have passed, you must be in prison. Have a firm grip on England. Wouldn't it be better to send troops to annex Scotland in the name of Scotland's unwillingness to pay the ransom?"

"What a brilliant idea!" Edward's eyes suddenly lit up.

Indeed, he cannot just kill James IV. However, he could demand a huge ransom that a Scottish kingdom could not afford to make Scotland unable to repay. In this way, Edward had reason to detain James IV for a long time. As a result, the Kingdom of Scotland has been without a leader for a long time. James IV originally had two younger brothers, but both died, and neither left any descendants. In this way, Scotland will be leaderless for a long time. Even, James IV has no descendants. In this way, as long as the time is ripe, England can indeed easily annex Scotland...

"But I can't kill James IV. He is alive, and it is still a threat to me annexing Scotland..."

"Then tear up the votes... We will use James IV as a hostage, keep extorting the kingdom of Scotland, and drain the finances of the kingdom of Scotland, so that they have no money to support the army against England. Finally, the other party does not want to pay all the ransom. Swallowing Scotland in the name. As for how to deal with James IV... Your Majesty, you can send killers to lurk in Scotland. After you put James IV back in the country, send killers to kill him halfway. In this way, not in England What happened inside, you can shirk the blame, and the opponents who put the blame on James IV are..."

"Assassination of James IV in Scotland? Good idea!" Edward's eyes lit up. James IV had no children, no brothers or nephews. As long as he dies, Scotland will have no legal heir. At that time, it will be easier for England to send troops to annex Scotland...

But Edward thought about it and said:

"No, I remember that King James II of Scotland had a young son named Alexander, the Duke of Albany in the Kingdom of Scotland. He had an heir named John, who is the current Duke of Albany. We killed James IV, and it didn't happen to be given to Albany. Is there a chance for Duke John to inherit the throne? If this guy is there, my annexation of Scotland will still have an impact."

After thinking about it, Marin said:

"This is simple. The killer you sent to assassinate James IV deliberately left the logo of the Duke of Albany on the scene. In this way, when you marched into Scotland, based on this clue, you directly insisted that John the Duke of Albany sent someone to assassinate James IV. to seize the throne. You came 'out of justice' to avenge James IV and put to death John, Duke of Albany. By the way...take over the entire kingdom of Scotland..."

"High, it's really high!" Edward extended his thumb in admiration...

Afterwards, Edward and Marin, the embarrassed pair, conducted detailed consultations on the shameless plan of "extorting first, then tearing up votes" against the King of Scotland. After the negotiation, both of them gave out a wretched smile of "hehe"... In the camp, a gust of wind blew through...