The Future of Hungary

Great nobles from all over the Kingdom gathered in Budapest, and the Hungarian people welcomed the Emperor's triumphant return with the grandest celebration.

The border crisis that had plagued Hungary for decades finally ceased to exist, making it a day for everyone to celebrate.

Inside the castle palace in Budapest, Laszlo convened the first cabinet meeting after the war.

Due to Janos's death in battle, the cabinet responsible for managing Hungary suddenly lost its backbone. Although Szilágyi took over the position of Military Governor, the regency would certainly not be handed to him.

The one temporarily presiding over state affairs was another old minister, Archbishop Veszter. At this moment, he had just finished reporting to Laszlo the financial surplus and deficit of Hungary after this Crusade.

The Ottomans reparations combined with the plunder had already exceeded Hungary's entire year's tax revenue. Aside from the severe losses in border guard troops, the Kingdom of Hungary could be said to have reaped a huge profit this time. With such a large sum of money, they would soon be able to rebuild the border guard.

"Rebuild the border guard?" Laszlo slightly raised his eyes. "The era of border guards is over. Now, it is the Crusade lords in Bulgaria who are guarding our frontiers for us. This money must first be used to pay pensions to the families of the fallen soldiers, then a portion will be kept for the Hungarian treasury, and the rest I will take back to Austria. Szilágyi."

"Your Majesty, how may I serve you?" Szilágyi's expression was somewhat stiff. Laszlo's words just now clearly indicated a desire to weaken the Hungarian army. Among Hungary's neighboring countries, only Poland and Venice might break out into war with them. Poland was separated by the Carpathian Mountains, and the Venetian only occupied the Adriatic Sea coast, so the length of the Hungarian border that needed defending was not long.

Therefore, maintaining a border guard of 40,000 men was no longer necessary.

"The border guard will retain a force of 30,000, consisting of 10,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry. This new border guard will henceforth be stationed in Croatia and Bosnia, constantly on alert against the Venetian."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Although unwilling, Szilágyi still agreed. He had no capital to challenge Laszlo; the lifeblood of the army—military pay and supplies—were all in the hands of Emperor Laszlo.

Archbishop Veszter was quite satisfied with this order. Reducing the border guard could greatly alleviate Hungary's financial pressure, and the extra money could be used to develop Hungary, making the country stronger.

He spoke up to remind him, "Your Majesty, at the recently convened parliament, many nobles and clerics proposed electing a new regent to manage Hungarian affairs. What do you think...?"

Laszlo was about to respond when a new event panel suddenly popped up before his eyes, causing him to pause slightly.

"Event: The Future of Hungary"

"With the Ottomans expulsion, the strategic goal of protecting Hungary has been achieved. The Habsburg Dynasty's rule in Hungary is more stable than ever before, enjoying the support of almost all Hungarian people.

Janos's passing means there are no longer any nobles within Hungary who can challenge the King's authority. This will be an excellent opportunity to bring Hungary completely under our rule."

"Option One: Royal Hungary"

"Abolish the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian Cabinet. Divide Hungary into seven states according to the Austrian administrative model. Each state will establish local estates assemblies, and Austrian bureaucrats will be appointed to work with local nobles to form governments to manage each state. The Vienna Estates Assembly will be jointly formed by representatives from the five Austrian states and the seven Hungarian states. The system of electing the King of the Kingdom of Hungary will be abolished, and it will be renamed Royal Hungary."

"Gain Modifier (Royal Hungary): Archduchy of Austria all strata loyalty -5%, Royal Hungary all strata loyalty +5%, Hungarian regions separatist rebellion tendency -20%"

"Option Two: National Autonomy"

"The Kingdom of Hungary has a massive population of nearly four million, while Austria's population is only one-fourth of that. Rashly merging family territories will lead to endless disasters. Austrian interests will be infringed upon. Austria is the treasure of the Habsburg Dynasty; Hungary is merely a shield. Maintain the status quo."

"Gain Modifier (Austro-Hungarian Autonomy): Kingdom of Hungary all strata loyalty +10%, Imperial Reform progress growth +10%"

"Option Three: Dual Monarchy"

"Dispatch Austrian bureaucrats to form the Kingdom of Hungary's de facto government and legislative bodies. Re-establish the Croatian Parliament and the Bosnian Parliament, weakening and hollowing out the status and authority of the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian Cabinet. Allow our trusted ministers to assist us in governing Hungary."

"Gain Modifier (Integrated Personal Union): Austria all strata loyalty +5%, Hungary all strata loyalty -5%, Hungarian separatist rebellion tendency +20%"

These three options gave Laszlo a headache.

Option One would peacefully annex Hungary, causing the Kingdom of Hungary to disappear directly, and Hungary would become a geographical term, existing as an equal part with Austria.

Option Two, maintaining the status quo, also had many benefits, the most important of which was the bonus to Imperial Reform, which Laszlo greatly needed.

Additionally, while ethnic issues haven't fully emerged in this era, national discrimination has existed since ancient times.

Austrian have always looked down on Hungarian and Bohemian, how to put it, like outsiders, beggars, second-class citizens.

This perception also led to a very poor life for non-German who immigrated to Austria.

This situation was not unique to Austria; in Bohemia, Czech would often isolate German immigrants living in Bohemia. During the Hussite Wars, the rebels even carried out a brutal purge of all German immigrants. It could be said that the hatred between Czech and German was almost irreconcilable.

In Hungary, although not as severe, the overall xenophobic tendency was equally evident.

Achieving ethnic integration was quite difficult because Austrian German were naturally close to the Holy Roman Empire; that was their German extended family, while Hungarian and Czech were quite the opposite.

Hungarian have long been suppressed and attacked by the Holy Roman Empire, and for the past eighty years, they have been continuously ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. They like strong emperors as their rulers, but they dislike German.

Czech fought desperately to break away from the Empire; they had completely broken ties with the Empire during the Hussite Wars, and now they had no sense of belonging to the Empire.

Option Three was even more radical than Option One, a direct forced annexation, merely allowing it to retain the title of Kingdom, but internally making it a component of Austria, and also implementing separate governance in Croatia and Bosnia, directly expelling Hungarian influence from these two regions, further weakening Hungary's influence.

Doing so would undoubtedly provoke the anger of the Hungarian, but for Laszlo, absolute control meant he could more easily mobilize more Hungarian resources. Even if he squeezed them dry, the Hungarian would be helpless and could only choose to rebel.

So, was Janos the biggest obstacle to the Habsburg complete control over Hungary?

With him, the nobles could unite around him to resist the King's attempts at centralization, and Laszlo Hunyadi, who inherited Janos's fief and title, clearly lacked such prestige and strength.

Laszlo couldn't help but sigh. Janos was indeed a double-edged sword. Fortunately, he had already completed his mission and gone to heaven; otherwise, Laszlo would have had to fight Janos to push for reforms in Hungary.

Where would the Kingdom of Hungary go from here?

What would the future of the Habsburg Dynasty look like?

Laszlo fell into deep thought