Diplomacy

Laszlo turned his gaze to Anthony, the Great Bastard; this time, he was to represent Austria in negotiations with his father and brother.

This was a good opportunity for a father-son reunion, and it was specifically arranged by Laszlo.

Anyway, it was basically impossible for Austria and Burgundy to have a conflict of interest over Savoy—Laszlo didn't believe Philip dared to demand Savoyard territory south of the Alps from him.

"What is your father's attitude?"

"He hopes to gain the land he currently occupies, as well as Chambéry."

"Good, I agree in principle with the Duke of Burgundy's demands. The Duke of Savoy, as a traitor, will not receive the Emperor's protection. Let your father besiege Chambéry with confidence."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Philip was undoubtedly the hidden big winner of this war, invading the Geneva Lake region with almost no resistance, and now even threatening Chambéry, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy.

Once he captured Chambéry, the Duchy of Burgundy would become a solid shield for Laszlo.

The Duchy of Burgundy could not only help Laszlo attract the hatred and fear of the princes but also block the advance of the French.

For France to march into the Low Countries, Rhineland, and Italy, it would first need to overcome the hurdle of Burgundy.

Therefore, letting Burgundy take the northern territories of Savoy was a win-win, with Burgundy and Austria each winning once.

Laszlo mused, "I remember the Duchy of Savoy also has a canton north of the mountains, right?"

Aeching replied, "Yes, the Canton of Valais. The Duke of Burgundy did not send troops to attack this area."

"Anthony, do you know why?" Laszlo turned and asked.

"Your Majesty, to my knowledge, that region is located deep within the Alps, and my father does not want such an inconvenient territory."

Laszlo nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "No one likes mountains, except those barbaric mountaineers... How about we allocate this land to Switzerland to get them to agree to a truce?"

It was a worthless piece of land anyway, and it belonged to Savoy, so it was of no consequence to Laszlo.

Sigismund was a bit depressed, "Won't that be too cheap for them? We are clearly the stronger party."

"Giving this place to the Swiss won't significantly increase their strength. We can use this opportunity to sow discord between the Swiss and the French, and also increase the fear of the Swiss among the Swabian princes, preventing them from standing against you. This plan is actually feasible, but the French will certainly oppose it."

Hearing Aeching's analysis, Laszlo waved his hand and said, "As long as we reach peace with Switzerland, the French will naturally retreat. They probably don't have the heart to continue this war now."

The Italian War, lasting several years, ended in failure. The King's army suffered heavy losses, and the internal situation in France had begun to become turbulent.

Seeing that Savoy was about to fall, the shrewd Prince Louis of France seemed to be preparing to abandon this sinking ship.

It's just that he didn't know whether he would next go to Burgundy for help or directly return to his Dauphiné territory to put on another show of filial piety with his old father, Charles VII.

"Regarding the land south of the mountains, excluding the territories already given to Genoa and Montferrat, I plan to allocate the remaining Turin region to Milan. Aeching, what do you think?"

Aeching frowned and said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is inappropriate. After you ascended to the Duke of Milan's throne, most of the princes within the Empire felt fearful. If you were to annex Savoyard territory at this time..."

Laszlo slammed his hand on the table and said with a grim expression, "I only annexed a small Milan.

What do they have to be afraid of?"

Aeching was also quite helpless: "Your Majesty, although your rule over Milan is entirely legal, directly annexing a powerful state comparable to an Elector Palatine will inevitably cause panic among the members of the Empire."

"Hmph, if they want to be afraid, let them be afraid then. It's not just my Austria that's carving up Savoy!" Laszlo gritted his teeth, "Turin has been under siege for three months. It's a loss no matter who gets it. I might as well annex it myself and show those disobedient fellows the consequences of resisting the Emperor."

Seeing that Laszlo's mind was made up, Aeching no longer tried to dissuade him.

After discussing the peace talks, the delegation immediately departed for Geneva.

Laszlo led his army to continue stationing in Innsbruck, awaiting the results of the peace talks.

At roughly the same time, a storm was brewing in the French King's court.

After the news of the French defeat near Milan reached Paris, Charles VII suffered a stroke due to a rush of blood to his head. For a period afterward, he could only lie in bed, listening to officials verbally report state affairs, and entrusted all kingdom matters to Queen Marie of Anjou to handle on his behalf.

However, Queen Marie did not trust the most powerful duke at court, Duke of Armagnac.

She almost immediately sent someone to recall her younger brother, Duke Rene of Anjou (Good King Rene), to Paris to assist her in presiding over state affairs.

In the following days, the war party led by the Duke of Anjou and the peace party led by the Duke of Armagnac engaged in a long debate.

This also led to some French troops withdrawing to France, while others remained in Turin to fight.

Rene, seeing the immense resources invested in his son, the Duke of Lorraine, to contend for the throne of Naples, only to end in failure, was unwilling to give up and attempted to continue using France's power to meddle in Italy.

However, the Duke of Armagnac, who had the support of most nobles, believed that there was no point in continuing this war. France's allies had been defeated one after another, and fighting on would only lead to more losses.

Besides this issue, there was an even more sensitive topic of dispute between the two factions—the succession to Charles VII.

Ever since Prince Louis fled France after three failed rebellions, the nobles within the kingdom began to consider their future.

A disheartened Charles VII devoted more energy to nurturing his clever and obedient second son, Prince Charles, Duke of Berry.

He even often prophesied to his close retainers: "The Duke of Savoy is dealing with a fox; sooner or later, he will be completely devoured."

However, this prophecy doesn't seem very accurate now, because Louis hasn't acted against Savoy yet, but Savoy is already on the verge of collapse.

Everyone also saw that Charles VII had the intention of disinheriting the elder son and establishing the younger, and the nobles began to choose between the two princes.

The nobles who had previously "conspired" with Prince Louis remained staunch supporters of the Prince, and this included the Duke of Anjou.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Armagnac and his faction, harboring ambitions and hoping to gain power by manipulating the still-young Prince Charles, sided with the second prince, Charles.

Now that Charles VII was bedridden and it was uncertain if he would recover, these French nobles began to stir again.

Under the threat of excommunication from Pope Pius II, Duke Rene of Anjou had no choice but to back down, and the Kingdom of France finally decided to negotiate peace with Austria.

The representative for the peace talks was the neutral Duke of Bourbon, chosen jointly by both factions.

As a favorite of Charles VII, he did not suffer much punishment after the defeat in the Italian War and remained stationed with the army in Lyon, constantly monitoring the situation in Chambéry.

Now, he was to personally bring an end to France's humiliating Italian expedition.