Austria Conference

In the Emperor's study, Laszlo was meticulously examining maps, cross-referencing them with open land survey reports.

Land, wealth, and population held an immense allure for Laszlo, so much so that he set aside other matters to meticulously study this detailed territorial report.

Prior to this, he only knew that the situation in Austria was much better than in Bohemia and Hungary.

Within Austria proper, apart from the Habsburg Family, no other family possessed significant influence; there were no super-magnates like the Rosenberg Family in Bohemia or the Hunyadi Family in Hungary who could profoundly impact national politics.

The demands of the nobles were typically conveyed to the Archduke through the noble estate in the Estates Assembly.

This meant that in Austria, only nobles who loyally served the Habsburg Family and possessed certain talents had the possibility of ascending to high positions.

The understanding of "talent" was actually quite broad.

For instance, officials like Eyczing, a truly talented individual from a minor Austrian noble family—incidentally, Eyczing was chosen by Frederick as a representative of the minor Austrian nobility to serve in the Austrian Regency Court, later becoming Laszlo's chief advisor.

Eyczing has now successfully earned a noble title through his merits, joining the ranks of the upper nobility.

Another example is Jacob Fugger, a wealthy merchant who could solve Austria's financial problems and replenish the national treasury.

Although he hailed from Augsburg, his contributions were significant enough for him to hold a high position in the Emperor's court.

Regardless of the specific talent, the most crucial aspect was to make significant contributions to Austria and the Habsburg Family.

This made the Austrian nobles very eager to serve the imperial family, and they themselves possessed limited ability to resist the Archduke.

Throughout history, Austria had experienced only two rebellions in the past sixty years.

One was the Tyrol rebellion instigated by Sigismund von Habsburg, and the other was the Graz rebellion instigated by Albrecht von Habsburg.

Both rebellions were initiated by family members, which highlighted the harm caused by internal strife to Austria and the Habsburg Family.

However, all of this has now been quelled.

Sigismund was exiled to Outer Austria to live as a neighbor to the fierce Swiss, no longer daring to challenge the Emperor.

Albrecht was pierced by an arrow, and the grass on his grave has grown several times over.

The various constituent parts of Austria are now firmly in Laszlo's hands.

While examining the maps and reports, Laszlo discovered that the Austrian heartland around Vienna and the Tyrol region around Innsbruck were the areas with the largest proportion of royal demesne.

As the core territory of the Habsburg-Albrecht branch, the Austrian heartland wielded immense control.

Between Vienna and Linz, over seventy percent of the land was directly controlled by the imperial family.

In Tyrol, this proportion was even more exaggerated; a study of household registers revealed that over eighty percent of the populace in the Alpine Tyrol territory lived on directly administered imperial lands.

Even the composition of the Tyrol Estates Assembly differed slightly from other regions.

In most parts of Austria, people were divided into four estates: clergy, nobility, knights, and towns.

However, in Tyrol, the town estate was replaced by "Valleys and Courts."

Representatives of this estate came from the peasant communities living on directly administered imperial lands, managed by imperial bailiffs—that is, from the peasant communities on the direct demesne.

Therefore, Tyrol was the region with the highest loyalty to the Habsburg Family, apart from the areas near Vienna.

In Swabia and Alsace, there were the ancestral lands of the Habsburg Family, along with some scattered small landholdings throughout Swabia.

Some might consist of just a town and its surrounding lands, while others were larger, perhaps the size of a county.

They were entrusted to the guardian of Freiburg, the Emperor's rebellious cousin Sigismund, to manage, though his most important mission was to resist Swiss invasions.

In the newly conquered Venetia, many cities maintained a relatively free status, though the taxes they bore were much higher than those of free cities within the Empire.

As for the vast rural areas, they were divided between the Emperor and the new military aristocracy, with the Emperor still acquiring over half of the land.

In the "enclave" of Greater Poland, Laszlo only dispatched some imperial officials to supervise and oversee, with governance still primarily relying on the existing local nobility.

Finally, and most significantly, was the former Inner Austria, which belonged to Frederick.

This duchy was quite large, composed of the duchies of Styria and Carniola, and is now divided into two states.

Here, ecclesiastical lands were widespread, with monasteries or territories of religious princes everywhere, and the noble influence was much greater, with direct imperial land barely accounting for half.

Such a vast territory required a large number of bailiffs for management; they were dispatched as the Emperor's representatives to patrol and handle various affairs, demonstrating the Emperor's presence.

However, with the gradual improvement of the administrative system, Laszlo no longer needed to painstakingly select and appoint representatives to local areas.

The bailiffs gradually transformed into local officials, no longer constantly traveling for the imperial family.

After finishing all the reports in one sitting, Laszlo breathed a sigh of relief; having Austria as such a solid base was very reassuring.

He had originally planned to have the Royal Demesne Inspection Committee extend this work to Bohemia and Hungary.

However, just surveying the land and population of Austria incurred huge expenses, costing over a hundred thousand florins and taking more than half a year.

He decided to continue promoting this work when he had more money.

Nevertheless, the benefits of such a great investment were also evident.

The land survey severely cracked down on underreported land and tax evasion, leading to an increase in national tax revenue.

Surveying the land and drawing maps would make it easier to plan and utilize land in the future.

Laszlo was about to get up and stretch when the long-unseen event panel suddenly appeared before him.

"Event: A Unified Nation"

"The fragmentation of Austria has persisted for over a century, and the farce of internal strife has frequently played out.

Although the Duke of Outer Austria, the Duke of Inner Austria, the Duke of Upper Austria, and the Duke of Lower Austria were all referred to as Archdukes of Austria, their governance differed, often adopting completely distinct laws and policies.

This phenomenon continues to this day.

Now, the Emperor has acquired all the territories held by the Habsburg princes through inheritance, transactions, and warfare, reuniting Austria.

Each region has been divided into many states, each with its own independent Estates Assembly; they do not interfere with each other and are all accountable only to the Emperor himself.

Perhaps it is time to convene an All Austria Estates Assembly covering the entire Austria to discuss matters such as unifying laws, trade, and tax policies.

This will be a great endeavor, a significant step towards a unified centralized state."

"Option One: Convene the All Austria Conference!"

"Invite representatives from the Estates Assemblies of each state to Vienna for a conference.

It is time for people to clearly recognize the fact that the various parts of Austria constitute an indivisible whole!"

"Gain Modifier (Centralization): Autonomy of states decreases, loyalty of estates increases."

"Option Two: Another Hungarian Parliament? No!"

"We can continue to maintain the fragmented status quo of Austria, which is both convenient for royal control and avoids the strengthening of the estates' power threatening the monarchy.

Perhaps Austria will fall into fragmentation again in the future, but what does that have to do with me?"

"Gain Modifier (Four Archdukes of Austria): Resistance to governmental reforms decreases, control over Austrian states strengthens."

This event caught Laszlo somewhat off guard; logically, shouldn't this event have appeared when he acquired Inner Austria?

Does its current appearance mean that he has only now truly gained complete control over all of Austria?

Putting aside his doubts, Laszlo began to ponder; both options offered positive modifiers, but he hesitated for only a second before directly choosing Option One.

The Habsburg Family's power in Austria was so immense that the disgusting situation seen in Hungary would simply not occur.

Furthermore, he had already established a partially modified version of Albrecht II's "Austrian Succession Law" as the fundamental law of Austria.

This meant that in the future, no matter how other family territories were divided, Austria would absolutely not be fragmented again.

According to the law, the entire Austria would be inherited by the eldest son; any further fragmentation would only be a regression caused by unworthy descendants.

Subsequently, Laszlo summoned the Court Chancellor Aeneas, entrusting him with the task of convening and presiding over the All Austria Estates Assembly.