Planning

The Emperor, leading a large retinue of several thousand people, departed from Vienna and traveled along the wide avenue to Budapest, a city he had been away from for a long time.

The Imperial Guard encamped at the foot of Budapest Castle Hill, guarding the Hungarian Royal Castle.

When Laszlo entered the Royal Palace, Veszter, the Archbishop of Hungary, had already been waiting there for a long time.

This astute Archbishop represented Emperor Laszlo's authority in the Kingdom of Hungary, and in front of Laszlo, he represented the Hungarian clergy.

Compared to the nobles who were unwilling to obey the Royal Family, the clergy, who also occupied a large amount of land and wealth, were more willing to cooperate with the Emperor to maintain their superior status.

"Archbishop, you have worked hard these days."

Laszlo looked at the mountain of Royal Family accounts and political reports from all over the country piled in front of him, and could not help but say with emotion to the highly respected Archbishop beside him.

"Your Majesty, these are all my duties," Veszter bowed respectfully to Laszlo, "You are here this time because those nobles are clamoring for a Parliament, right?"

"Yes, but this matter is not urgent," Laszlo casually picked up a booklet recording the Royal Family's income, and after only a few glances, his brows furrowed even more, "Archbishop, since the 'turkey tax' stopped being collected, the Royal Family's financial income has shrunk by more than a third?"

Veszter replied with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, the Hungarian Crown lands only account for one-third of the country's land, and after multiple territorial expansions, it is now likely only one-fourth.

We can only collect taxes from the eastern part of the Kingdom and some areas along the Danube River, but we have to support the operation of the entire country." Laszlo picked up another ledger recording financial expenditures, and after flipping through some entries, he couldn't help but gasp.

"The annual military expenditure of the border army is still as high as 300,000 florin. I have been continuously disbanding troops, but I didn't expect that the reduction in military expenditure could not keep up with the sharp decline in tax revenue."

Laszlo's face was full of distress. Since the nobles began to resist taxes, Hungary's annual income has plummeted.

Not to mention reaching the previous level of 600,000 florin, even maintaining it above 400,000 florin would rely on increasing the taxes on peasants in the Royal Family's territories.

However, the army protecting all of Hungary was entirely supported by him. What about a 60% red line? The fact that the government had not collapsed was already a testament to the competence of the officials.

Laszlo clearly remembered that in history, Matthias, after years of suppressing rebellions, abolished the nobles' tax exemption privilege, and then, through vigorous development, made Hungary's annual tax revenue reach an astonishing one million florin, making it the strongest power in Eastern Europe after the Ottoman Empire.

This shows that Hungary still has great potential to be tapped.

"Your Majesty, this expenditure is indeed astonishing. However, this army is Hungary's barrier and is indispensable."

Laszlo sighed lightly: "How can I bear to disband these soldiers who have shed blood and made contributions to the country? But if this continues, Hungary's finances will eventually collapse.

Those nobles, relying on their privileges, repeatedly resist taxes, making the national treasury increasingly empty, and now they are even turning around and accusing me of excessive taxation!"

When mentioning the nobles, Veszter noticed a flash of anger in the Emperor's eyes.

He frowned slightly and agreed: "Those nobles only care about their own interests and completely disregard the safety of the country. Your Majesty, are you planning to continue to act on the army?"

Laszlo pondered for a moment and slowly said: "I do want to disband some troops to relieve financial pressure, but this involves many issues, and a slight carelessness could lead to serious consequences."

Veszter deeply agreed: "Your Majesty, this matter indeed requires careful handling. The most important thing when disbanding the army is to appease the morale of the army and ensure that the disbanded soldiers are properly settled. In addition, the standards for disbandment must be strict, so that the soldiers are convinced."

"That's right. I plan to give the disbanded soldiers a severance package and find them some ways to make a living," Laszlo thought of a good place, "For example, I plan to resettle some demobilized soldiers who do not have land in Hungary to Bulgaria, allocate land to them, let them farm in peace, and they can also serve as a reserve force in times of crisis.

If they are unwilling to go far away, they can also be arranged to serve as low-ranking officials in local areas, engaging in some public security maintenance work."

"Your Majesty is wise. This way, it can both alleviate financial pressure and prevent the disbanded soldiers from becoming displaced people, harming society."

Veszter thought of the mercenaries who followed Emperor Sigismund to conquer the Hussites decades ago, who were disbanded on the spot after the battle, and then these people turned into bandits, entrenched in the vast mountainous areas of northern Hungary, robbing and disturbing public order.

His successor, Albrecht II, spent a great deal of effort to completely quell these bandits.

"However, Your Majesty, have you carefully considered which armies to disband?"

"I plan to conduct a detailed investigation of the entire army to see who is truly loyal to the Royal Family," Laszlo always had a plan for this, "This time it's not just about disbanding the army; I plan to divide the border army into three parts, stationed in Pressburg, Budapest, and Split, retaining a total of nine thousand people."

"Your Majesty, what does this mean?" Veszter asked somewhat puzzled.

"Dividing the troops and stationing them will further reduce military expenditure and also guard the Royal Family's territories. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

"But Your Majesty, under such an organizational form, how should the command of the army be distributed?"

"The basic-level officers will remain largely unchanged, but the senior commanders will be appointed by me during wartime. Since these armies are supported by me, the King, they must naturally obey my command."

"This may cause concern and dissatisfaction among the generals."

Laszlo shook his head and said: "I will discern who is loyal and who is treacherous. However, they are all generals who have contributed to the country.

I will naturally not treat them unfairly. I can increase their salaries and give them more fiefdoms, but the control of the army must belong to me."

Veszter then felt relieved: "Since Your Majesty has already given it deep thought, I will naturally give my full support. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to command."

"I plan to entrust the work of demobilization to General Ester, the commander of my Imperial Guard. I need a large number of civilian personnel who can perform clerical work to assist in the investigation of the army. You go and organize some officials or clergy who are competent for this task to assist Ester, no problem, right?"

Ester was originally a general personally promoted by Hunyadi Laszlo, from a small noble family in Transylvania, but Laszlo could understand from his panel that he still maintained loyalty to the Royal Family.

Having such a general to mediate can greatly alleviate the tension between Laszlo and Hunyadi and Szilágyi.

"Of course, Your Majesty, rest assured, the Church will always support your holy rule over Hungary. May God bless you and Hungary."

Veszter bid farewell and left. Laszlo looked at the Archbishop's retreating figure, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The Kingdom of Hungary, such a giant in Eastern Europe, clearly had immense potential, but now it had become a burden on Austria, just as it had been centuries later in the original history.

For the rulers of the Habsburg Family, the Magyar nobles were an eternal topic that could not be avoided.

They enjoyed immense privileges but bore very little responsibility.

These privileges would also continuously expand with the failures of the Habsburg Family's foreign wars, eventually devouring the empire.

Laszlo would not allow this to happen. He wanted those nobles to obediently pay taxes to the King and abolish all those messy privileges.

However, if he did not want a major war to break out, all of this had to be done carefully, step by step.

Thus, while the Hungarian nobles were eagerly awaiting the convocation of the Parliament, the Emperor first issued the order to disband the army.

A large number of Royal Family officials, led by General Ester, first went to the border army's garrison in Croatia to investigate the more than five thousand soldiers stationed there.

Another eight thousand or so main forces of the border army were stationed in Split, where the work was also being carried out simultaneously, but the progress would be slightly slower.