In the next few years, apart from fighting a war in England and sending troops overseas, Marin would lie dormant in Germany for a long time, waiting for the Wars of Religion to come. Then, the war for the annexation of northern Germany began.

However, there is a big problem with this—that is, the wars of religion broke out too late......

According to Marin's memory, it was only in 1517 that Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses, which officially set off the Reformation. However, in the early days, the strength of the Lutherans was somewhat weak, and they were preserved under the protection of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony.

It was not until the middle of the 16th century that Lutheranism grew in northern Germany. This is so because of the gradual improvement of Lutheran doctrine. Of course, it was not a progressive improvement, but an improvement adapted to the needs of the princes.

The main elements of Martin Luther's Reformation were:

(1) The core of the ideology is "justification by faith".

(2) All men are equal before God and the Bible. This was in fact an opposition to the prerogatives of the Holy See and the bishops, and was most hated by the Catholic Church.

(3) The only basis for faith is the Bible. "It reflects the aspirations of the rising bourgeoisie for freedom, equality and anti-feudal ideas." (Actually, the reading of the previous sentence is the interpretation of some crappy politicians, and it is no different from the P sentence.) The real core of this article is to deprive the Holy See of its right of interpretation and adjudication, so that the secular forces of Germany can be liberated from the oppression of the Holy See. The core idea is the struggle for power, the conflict between the German feudal lords and the Holy See. It has nothing to do with any bourgeois P. Because, in these years, Germany was still an agricultural area, commerce was not very developed, and Mao's bourgeoisie. Even if there were merchant leagues such as the Hanseatic League, they had little say in German political life. It is the princes and nobles who really have the right to speak in Germany. ）

(iv) Reducing churches and monasteries, simplifying religious ceremonies, and advocating that priests could take wives. This is a good one, and many monks who have moved their hearts should like it, and it is no wonder that some Catholic clergy support Protestantism. This one is equivalent to liberating their crotch......

(5) Secular power is higher than clerical power, and ultimately dominates clerical power.

(6) To establish the Church of the German nation.

……

In fact, Martin Luther opposed Catholicism in his early days, mainly because of the exploitation of the German region by Catholicism, which caused great disasters to the German people. Therefore, the early Martin Luther's thought was mainly focused on the first three. Its core idea was to oppose the Holy See's interference and control of the German region.

However, this kind of thinking is certainly good for the German people, but it is not good for the powerful German princes and nobles.

It was not until later, when Martin Luther added a fifth idea, "secular authority is superior to clerical authority, and ultimately dominates clerical power," that a radical change occurred.

After this idea became public, many German princes changed their attitude and began to support Lutheranism, especially in northern Germany, where the Catholic Church was weak. Because, this is of great benefit to those princes.

The most important of these was Martin Luther's belief that tithes should be levied by secular monarchs, not by the Catholic Church......

Now the princes have blown up, what is the tithe? That's one-tenth of the income of the entire population! In ancient Europe, there was no other type of tax for the whole people other than tithes. The kings and princes relied mainly on the output of their own domains and the taxes they paid in commerce. So, the aristocracy tended to be in a poor financial situation, while the church was well-off.

Why is the church so nourishing? And not because of the tithes levied on the whole people? It's a huge cake!

In any case, in the territory of ordinary princes, there are still tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. If there are 50,000 laborers in the territory, and each person earns 2 pfennig per day, then each person earns 12 gold coins per year. If there is a labor force of 50,000, it is 600,000 gold coins. And tithes are one-tenth of everyone's income, so the annual income of this lord is 60,000 gold coins......

But in fact, in Germany, except for the lords of those regions with developed commerce, the princes of those purely agricultural vassal states had an annual tax of far less than 60,000 gold coins. Many princes, the annual tax revenue is only a few thousand gold coins. Of course, those princes, if they had relied on taxes, would have starved to death. They are generally sustained by the output of their estates.

But when you get the right to tithe, it's very different. A powerful vassal state with a population of more than a million like the Elector of Saxony, not to mention the commercial taxes, is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year. Counting the commercial tax and territorial income, it properly reaches more than one million gold coins per year......

You must know that today's France, such a powerful country, has an annual fiscal income of only more than one million gold coins......

Therefore, after Martin Luther put forward such a view in the middle and late periods, especially after proposing that the princes should collect tithes, many princes took a 180-degree turn in their attitude, quickly joined the Lutherans, and began to "dominate the church", in fact, confiscating and robbing the church's property......

Then, the Schmalkalden League was formed......

This alliance is, in effect, an alliance of robbers who rob the church of its wealth. Of course, later generations of political books portrayed them as heroes who resisted oppression......

……

Marin remembers that the First Schmalkalden War broke out around 1546. The army of Charles V, defeated the army of the Schmalkalden League. The main thing was to defeat the leader of the Schmalkalden League, Elector Johann of Saxony. Frederick's army. This John. Frederick was the baby not long after Frederick III's brother John was born when Marin occupied Wittenberg...... After the victory of Charles V, he deposed John. Frederick's position as Elector, and gave his position to the descendants of George, Duke of Saxony......

Of course, in the Second Schmalkalden War, the Protestant League defeated Charles V and signed the Peace of Augsburg, which established the principle of "religion follows the state" and recognized the right of the princes of each state to freely choose whether to convert themselves and their subjects to Catholicism or Lutheran Protestantism. Later, because of this principle, Protestantism gradually grew. In the "Thirty Years' War" of the 17th century, the Protestant forces finally defeated Catholicism, and the power of the Holy See was completely declined. Since then, the authority of the Holy See has ceased to exist, and the monarchs of Europe have finally been freed from the spiritual shackles......

……

It's just that there is a big problem here - by the time the First Schmalkalden War broke out in 1546, Marin was already 68 years old at that time, and he was an old man, so he couldn't tell if he was still alive. It's only 1505, and 41 years are still 41 years before 1546, so where can Marin wait?

When the time comes, let alone Marin, even Little Caesar will have to be in his forties......

Marin couldn't wait, so he decided to start early......

How to start it in advance? Of course, he sent spies to contact Martin Luther early and "guide" him to generate the idea of the Reformation earlier.

Then, most importantly, it was important that Martin Luther, early in the Reformation, put forward the idea that secular authority was superior to clerical authority, and ultimately dominated the clergy, and that the princes should control the collection of tithes......

As long as this point is raised, not to mention that Frederick III would support Martin Luther, most of the other princes who were not religious enough would also support Martin Luther. Because, wealth moves people's hearts. The princes were generally poor, and if they had been given the right to collect tithes......

In this way, Martin Luther's Reformation may be greatly accelerated. It didn't have to wait until 1546 for the wars of religion to break out early. Then, Marin could laugh and use the name of defending the Holy See to annex the fiefs of the Protestant princes. Reasonable and legal, and with the support of the Pope. When the time comes, as soon as the Pope is happy, he can be crowned a king......