Two-Pronged Approach

"I plan to establish three army garrisons in Hungary," Laszlo said, gesturing on the map, "They will be located in Budapest (the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary), Pressburg (the regional capital of Slovakia), and Split (on the Adriatic Sea coast).

The Hungarian Border Guard will be broken down into three legions and stationed in these three areas.

These armies will normally be stationed at their garrisons, where, in addition to training, they will also cultivate land to supplement their military supplies.

Their military and supplies will be entirely covered by the Hungarian treasury, completely freeing them from reliance on the nobility.

I will directly appoint Royal Supervisors to manage them, and during wartime, I will assign commanders as needed."

Adolf stroked his chin in thought upon hearing this; it seemed the Emperor's plan had been well thought out.

The Hungarian royal domains were primarily concentrated in the western part of the Kingdom, specifically, the areas bordering Austria.

The locations Laszlo chose were distributed in the center of the Kingdom and two important border towns.

Budapest was a direct royal domain and also the capital of the Kingdom.

Pressburg was also a direct royal domain, situated at the border between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Archduchy of Austria; it was a critical town in northwestern Hungary, and the army stationed there could be easily controlled from Vienna.

Split, taken during the Italian War, was an important city on the Adriatic Sea coast, also belonging to the royal family.

Stationing troops in these places could greatly strengthen the Emperor's rule over Hungary, though it might alert the nobility.

However, considering that the Emperor's goal was to weaken the nobility, this point was irrelevant.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed a good method."

It could both centralize Hungary's military power under the royal family and give the Hungarian nobles no reason to cause trouble—after all, this army was almost entirely supported by the King.

Jacob also thought highly of this method: "Your Majesty, are you saying that apart from these three legions, all surplus troops will be disbanded?

This would save a large sum of money, and we would no longer have to subsidize the Hungarian army, which faces no threats."

"Hmm," Laszlo complained with a touch of helplessness, "Hungary is a powerful nation; logically, it should be fully capable of supporting over 20,000 troops, but currently, even supporting 10,000 troops is a heavy burden on the royal treasury."

"It seems weakening these Hungarian nobles is imperative," Aeneas sighed.

Laszlo's fingers tapped lightly on the table, and he said with a solemn expression: "Acting too aggressively will inevitably lead to backlash.

So, we need to take it slowly.

First, let's look at the different parts of Hungary; we have absolute say in the west, but from the middle Danube River region onwards, the situation becomes quite complex.

The Csák family, entrenched along the Danube River, is one of the oldest noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary.

As far as I know, this family has controlled this land for hundreds of years.

The lord, Chak István, is the instigator of the tax resistance movement, a typical opposition figure, and has strong manipulative power over the Hungarian Parliament.

Further south, in southern Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia, the great lord of the Károlyi family, Károlyi Mátyás, is the third-in-command of the Hungarian Border Guard, his status second only to Szilágyi and Matthias.

He has a conflict with my maternal uncle, Ulrich, who is also a great lord of Croatia and Bosnia, and therefore harbors animosity towards the royal family.

Another important noble in Croatia, Mihajlo Frankopan, who was appointed Governor of Croatia by my father, also has disputes with the Károlyi family and is quite friendly towards me as Emperor; he can be won over.

Stefan Kosača, the remnant noble of the Kingdom of Bosnia, controls the mountains of Herzegovina and has previously had unclear dealings with the Venetians, requiring vigilance.

Finally, in the eastern part of the Kingdom, the Transylvania region, there are Hunyadi Laszlo and György Batthyány.

Hunyadi is the Prince of Transylvania and for a long time served as the commander of my Royal Guard, but now he seems no longer loyal and has begun to act recklessly in Transylvania.

Batthyány is a great noble in Northern Transylvania with territorial disputes with the Hunyadi Family, and he can most likely be won over."

After the Emperor's explanation, everyone stared at the map in silence.

Except for the areas near Austria, the entire Kingdom of Hungary could be said to be full of hidden dangers.

In many regions, the royal domains and the territories of these great nobles were intertwined.

This time, the Hungarian Parliament that the Emperor had to face would probably not be easy.

"Your Majesty," Clement broke the silence, "Against the great nobles, we can only use their internal conflicts to divide and win them over; furthermore, we can target the lesser nobles and wealthy citizens."

"Hmm," Laszlo nodded slightly, "I had the same intention; how to do it specifically still needs careful planning.

However, considering the immense power of these arrogant nobles, I must prepare for both eventualities."

"Your Majesty means…?"

Adolf immediately grasped the deeper meaning in the Emperor's words.

"I need to make some preparations for a possible war, so as not to be caught off guard."

Jacob's face turned bitter upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, years of continuous warfare have already placed a heavy burden on the nation; another war at this time could lead to financial collapse."

It was more than just that; Hungary was an important link in the Fugger family's eastern trade.

If Hungary and Austria went to war, the Fugger family, deeply tied to the Habsburg Family, would inevitably be affected and suffer losses.

Laszlo sighed lightly and reassured them: "I originally did not wish to continue fighting and subject Austria to the suffering of war.

Having the troops from Bohemia and the Independent Army make basic preparations is merely for preparedness.

Rest assured, when I go to Hungary, I will try my best to exercise restraint and deal with the Hungarian nobles carefully."

"Your Majesty is wise."

The civil officials all breathed a sigh of relief and praised Laszlo, only Adolf's expression remained stern.

From his understanding of the Emperor, whenever such an order was given, a war was almost inevitable.

Now that Northern Italy was newly settled, the Austro-Hungarian Army stationed in Venetia could not be easily moved, and the Milanese army could not be sent to Hungary as reinforcements.

The only troops that could be mobilized were the Royal Guard, the Independent Army stationed in Vienna New City, the Saxon troops stationed in Kuttenberg, and the Bohemian troops stationed in Prague.

This would still amount to an army of 20,000, and once mobilized, the finances of Austria and Bohemia would again be under immense pressure.

Moreover, if a rebellion broke out in Hungary, it was hard to say whether surrounding powers would stir, especially the Ottoman, who had been quietly licking their wounds in recent years.

Bulgaria could not possibly withstand an Ottoman counterattack; the Emperor's rule there had not yet been strengthened.

Regent Frederick had not taken any practical or effective measures to strengthen Bulgaria's military power and border defenses.

He was only responsible for squeezing the Orthodox Christian herdsmen of Bulgaria for the Emperor, providing Austria with a meager annual tribute.

Adolf could only pray in his heart that this time, Emperor was truly just saying it.

In the latter half of the meeting, Laszlo and his ministers together formulated a plan to deal with the Hungarian nobles.

The effectiveness of the plan would only be seen after its implementation.

A large group of messengers was dispatched in all directions to convey the Emperor's decree to their destinations.

As for when Laszlo would actually depart for his eastern tour, only he knew.

The Hungarian nobles could not possibly come to Vienna themselves to invite the King to Budapest to convene the Parliament.