It is strange that the better part of Wallenstein's programme did not repel Ferdinand at once. But Ferdinand never made up his mind in a hurry when there were difficulties on both sides, and he was accustomed to defer to the opinion of his chief minister, Eggenberg. In November Wallenstein held a conference with that minister. He unfolded all his scheme. He would increase his army, if it were necessary, to 70,000 men. With such a force he would be able to avoid a pitched battle, always dangerous to troops not thoroughly inured to campaigning. By the occupation of superior strategical points, he would be able to out-manoeuvre the enemy. And then Ferdinand would be master in Germany. The whole of the Empire would be brought under contribution. There would be submission at home, and abroad no power would be strong enough to lay a finger upon the re-established Empire. [Sidenote: 1627. § 6. Ferdinand supports Wallenstein.] Eggenberg was easily persuaded, and when Eggenberg was won, Ferdinand was won. In January, Wallenstein was created Duke of Friedland, a higher title than that of Prince of Friedland, which he already bore, in token of the Emperor's approbation. If only Wallenstein could have shown Ferdinand the way to win the hearts of Germans as readily as he showed him the way to overpower their resistance, the history of Germany and of Europe would have been changed. [Sidenote: § 7. Preponderance of Wallenstein.] The resistance of the Protestants to the institutions of the Empire had hitherto failed. They had been weak because there had been something revolutionary in all their proceedings. And now those institutions, which up to this time had been working harmoniously, were giving signs of breaking-up. There was a little rift in them which might any day become wider. "Is the Emperor," asked Wallenstein, "to be a mere image which is never to move?" "It is not only the Empire," answered the representatives of the League, "which is bound to the Emperor. The Emperor is also bound to the Empire." There was nothing to reconcile the opposing theories. The Emperor who claimed to be something had been the tool of a few bishops; he would be, if Wallenstein had his way, the tool of a successful general. The Empire, in the mouth of the representatives of the League, meant not the populations of Germany, not even the true interest of the princes, but simply the interest of the bishops and their Church. [Sidenote: § 8. The campaign of 1627.]