By this convention it was agreed, that Steinbock with his officers and men might be ransomed or exchanged. The price for the general's ransom was fixed at eight thousand German crowns;[94] a very trifling sum, but which Steinbock however was not able to raise; so that he remained a prisoner in Copenhagen till the day of his death. The territories of Holstein now remained at the mercy of the incensed conqueror. The young duke became the object of the king of Denmark's vengeance, and was fated to pay for the abuse which Gortz had made of his name: thus did the ill fortune of Charles XII. fall upon all his family. Gortz perceiving his projects thus dissipated, and being still resolved to act a distinguished part in the general confusion of affairs, recalled to mind a scheme which he had formed to establish a neutrality in the Swedish territories in Germany. The king of Denmark was ready to take possession of Toningen; George, elector of Hanover, was about to seize Bremen and Verden, with the city of Stade; the new-made king of Prussia, Frederick William, cast his views upon Stetin, and czar Peter was preparing to make himself master of Finland; and all the territories of Charles XII. those of Sweden excepted, were going to become the spoils of those who wanted to share them. How then could so many different interests be rendered compatible with a neutrality? Gortz entered into negotiation at one and the same time with all the several princes who had any views in this partition; he continued night and day passing from one province to the other; he engaged the governor of Bremen and Verden to put those two duchies into the hands of the elector of Hanover by way of sequestration, so that the Danes should not take possession of them for themselves: he prevailed with the king of Prussia to accept jointly with the duke of Holstein, of the sequestration of Stetin and Wismar, in consideration of which, the king of Denmark was to act nothing against Holstein, and was not to enter Toningen. It was most certainly a strange way of serving Charles XII. to put his towns into the hands of those who might choose if they would ever restore them; but Gortz, by delivering these places to them as pledges, bound them to a neutrality, at least for some time; and he was in hopes to be able afterwards to bring Hanover and Brandenburg to declare for Sweden: he prevailed on the king of Prussia whose ruined dominions stood in need of peace, to enter into his views, and in short he found means to render himself necessary to all these princes, and disposed of the possessions of Charles XII. like a guardian, who gives up one part of his ward's estate to preserve the other, and of a ward incapable of managing his affairs himself; and all this without any regular authority or commission, or other warrant for his conduct, than full powers given him by the bishop of Lubec, who had no authority to grant such powers from Charles himself.