Hunyadi's Power

Laszlo sat back at his desk, resting his chin on his hand, pondering the problems of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In truth, the situation in Hungary did not change suddenly overnight.

This was a relatively long process. After the Crusade ended, some Hungarian nobles, using various excuses, either delayed or outright refused to pay taxes.

This tax was the "turkey tax" passed by the Hungarian Parliament during Albrecht II's reign.

Nobles were not required to bear military obligations and could freely choose whether or not to serve as commanders in the army. In exchange, Hungarian nobles were required to pay taxes twice a year to support the large Hungarian Border Guard.

At that time, the Hungarian Border Guard also maintained its troops by exploiting commoners in border areas and plundering Serbia and Bosnia.

After the Crusade ended, the size of the Hungarian Border Guard was significantly reduced. In contrast, almost all nobles refused to pay the "turkey tax" starting from 1457.

While resisting taxes, many nobles began to expand their private armies, and some Hungarian lords with poor relations even erupted into armed conflict.

However, while all this was happening, Laszlo had no time to deal with them.

The continuous wars consumed his energy, and he simply lacked the ability to restrain these arrogant Hungarian nobles.

Even as Emperor and King, Laszlo could only reprimand these tax-resisting nobles at the annual Hungarian Parliament meetings, without taking any concrete action.

Archbishop Veszter continued to diligently manage the Hungarian Royal Domain for Laszlo, recruiting technocrats and strengthening the administrative system.

One-fifth of the income from the Hungarian Royal Domain had to be transferred to Vienna, with the remainder used to maintain the normal operation of the Kingdom's government and to pay the Hungarian Border Guard.

After the "turkey tax" became defunct, this military pay was jointly borne by Laszlo, Croatians, and Bosnia. Even so, Laszlo still had to lose money each year.

This was also the reason why Laszlo always brought a contingent of the Hungarian Border Guard whenever he went on campaign.

He consumed the military strength of the Hungarian Border Guard through continuous warfare, reducing the financial burden on the Hungarian government.

He also cultivated a group of emerging military nobles loyal to the Habsburg Family within the Hungarian Border Guard.

The Dalmatia region along the Adriatic Sea was captured by the Hungarian Border Guard, and Laszlo awarded most of the land to meritorious Hungarian warriors in exchange for their loyalty.

This battle-hardened army is now divided into two forces: one part, led by Hunyadi, is stationed in Croatia,

while the other part, led by Szilágyi, is stationed along the Adriatic Sea.

This army is now giving Laszlo a major headache.

This was not an ordinary army, but an army that had rendered great service. If they had not fought bravely in desperation during the Battle of Varna, the outcome of the Crusade would have been dire.

Laszlo was psychologically unwilling to destroy it with his own hands.

Moreover, this army was jointly created by Albrecht II and Janos.

However, after Janos's passing, his most trusted deputy, who was also his brother-in-law, Szilágyi Mihály, naturally inherited the position of Hungarian military commander, serving as the overall commander of the Hungarian Border Guard.

His son, Hunyadi Laszlo, also gained the recognition of the soldiers and officers through his valiant actions in several battles, and there were subtle signs of him potentially replacing Szilágyi.

This uncle and nephew did not have conflicts over power struggles; instead, they were exceptionally united.

This was what bothered Laszlo the most.

If this continued, the Hungarian Grand Marshal would almost become a position monopolized by the Hunyadi Family—in fact, he planned to give Matthias more military training after he returned from studying in Italy, and even intended to reserve the future position of Hungarian military commander for him.

Not only the position of military commander, but also the position of commander-in-chief of the Hungarian Border Guard, were all monopolized by the Hunyadi Family.

Laszlo, of course, would not forget that the Hunyadi Family was currently the most powerful noble family within Hungary.

When Janos was alive, he tried his best to restrain the expansion of the Hunyadi Family's power, but when Hunyadi Laszlo inherited the family business, he wished he could annex all of Transylvania in one go.

Many minor nobles trembled under his oppression, forced to kneel in submission.

In Hungary, minor nobles had no representation; only when their power reached a certain level could they enter the Hungarian Parliament and have a say.

No one would speak for the weak nobles; they could only watch as Hunyadi annexed their lands,

and with a few minor tricks, a wealthy minor noble could be bankrupted and forced to sell their assets.

As for armed resistance, facing the heavily armed General Hunyadi, and his uncle Szilágyi, which noble would dare to contend with them?

Laszlo picked up his pen and wrote "Hungarian minor nobles" on the paper, paused, and then added "Saxony immigrants," "Croatia," and "Bosnia."

The expansion of the Hunyadi Family would certainly cause panic and dissatisfaction among some people, and these were all allies he could win over.

Minority ethnic groups within Hungary would also not be content to be dominated by the Hungarian; if Greater Hungary could be dismantled in the process, the dynasty's rule would be even more stable.

Divide and conquer, unite the weak against the strong—that was his method.

Why was Laszlo so confident that he could divide and dismantle the Hungarian opposition?

Because he knew that such things had happened in the original history, and he also knew that the Hungarian nobles could never be a united collective—otherwise, they would not have been defeated by the Ottoman in a single battle.

Historically, Janos had no intention of expanding within Hungary; he devoted almost all his energy and financial resources to Hungary's border defenses, attempting to block the Ottoman invasion.

In 1456, Mehmed II's army advanced, with its vanguard pointing directly at Belgrade. Janos felt his strength was insufficient, so he convened the Hungarian Parliament, trying to seek support from the Hungarian nobles and the King.

However, the nobles unanimously accused Janos of ill intentions and denounced him as an ambitious schemer,

refusing to provide assistance.

Laszlo V had already fled Budapest and sought refuge in Vienna with unimaginable speed upon hearing the news of the Ottoman army leaving Constantinople.

Janos, who received no assistance, successfully routed Mehmed II's army at Belgrade through extreme resilience and a miracle of faith, leaving Mehmed with a lifelong unforgettable scar.

Two weeks later, Janos died of plague in Belgrade. Laszlo V immediately led an army of eight thousand men from Vienna directly towards Transylvania, controlled by the Hunyadi Family, attempting to crush the Hunyadi Family and then reclaim large tracts of land in Transylvania.

The rest of the story need not be elaborated; in Laszlo V's brief political career, he never made even one correct decision.

Ultimately, he faded into the long river of history, and those who knew him would only mock him as a cowardly wretch, a despicable villain.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the current Laszlo.

However, this was also a very good negative example for Laszlo to learn from.

He also had to suppress the power of the Hunyadi Family, and along with that, he had to dismantle the existing Hungarian Border Guard.

Afterward, he would build a truly loyal Hungarian army.

Even for Janos's sake, he could not be lenient this time.

However, these matters could not be rushed. Having just gone through the Italian War, Laszlo still needed a lot of time to consolidate the gains from this war and allow Austria a period of stable and peaceful development.