Affairs Concluded

Laszlo stayed in Budapest for nearly a month, during which several parliamentary meetings were held.

Since Hunyadi Laszlo, the main proponent, first withdrew the bill on restricting serf migration, the most difficult problem was solved.

As for the various demands of the Hungarian social strata, Laszlo responded cautiously after careful deliberation.

Many reasonable demands were met, such as some cities requesting expanded autonomy or trade protection policies.

After they offered sufficient compensation or presented stakes that moved the Emperor, Laszlo agreed to some of their reasonable demands.

He rejected other demands that were detrimental to the unity of the dynasty's territories, such as adjusting the customs barriers between Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary.

He had to consider the overall development of the territories.

Hungarian grain and livestock, Austrian ironware and handicrafts, Bohemian textiles and ores.

These important commodities circulating within the dynasty's territories could bring a large amount of trade tax revenue to the royal family.

He was unwilling to easily change the current economic policy, mainly because he was reluctant to part with this money.

In addition, the pillar industries of each country were vastly different, and he needed to protect the healthy development of the core industries of Austria and its subordinate countries to maintain political and economic balance.

The clergy, however, did not have too many demands.

These fellows, in 1439, had used political pressure to force Albrecht II, who had just ascended the throne, to grant "Church nobles" complete tax exemption, on par with Hungarian nobles.

They then set their sights on the tithe, a sum of money that was originally supposed to be largely shared with the King, but now they didn't want to share it.

However, due to the strong suppression by the Hungarian religious leader, the Archbishop of Esztergom, who was also the Kingdom's Regent Veszter, such a demand ultimately did not truly materialize.

The clergy also lost the opportunity to incur King Laszlo's wrath, which would have made their future lives even more difficult.

However, their acquisition of tax exemption privileges was still remembered by Laszlo. When it came to tax reform in the future, besides the great Hungarian nobles, these greedy clergymen would not escape.

Among the lower nobility, not many could obtain seats in Parliament; they represented the interests of the lower nobility.

What these people cared about most was the selection of royal officials.

They hoped to gain the King's appreciation and promotion through various means—mostly by offering money.

Laszlo responded to their expectations as much as possible.

However, only a few could ultimately be employed by the King, and most of the lower nobility still suffered oppression from the great nobles in local assemblies.

Besides the three aforementioned strata, the great nobles, who occupied the majority of seats in Parliament, put forward the most demands, and they were varied and numerous.

A small number of reasonable requests received Laszlo's approval.

Those clearly unreasonable demands to expand noble privileges were unceremoniously and completely rejected.

Sitting in the carriage from Budapest to Belgrade, Laszlo was still savoring the sight of those nobles' impotent rage, their exasperated expressions as they accused him of violating the golden bull.

No matter how angry those nobles were, they could do nothing to him.

His thoughts shifted, and he recalled the scene of negotiating the division of the Hunyadi Family.

At that time, the self-satisfied Governor of Transylvania looked at his younger brother Matthias with an incredulous gaze, as if he felt betrayed.

Who was the betrayer after all? Laszlo had his own judgment in his heart.

The Emperor immediately demanded equal inheritance within the Hunyadi Family, citing Janos's failure to leave a will.

This greatly frightened Hunyadi, who immediately invoked Hungary's ancient traditions, stating that the system of equal inheritance was not applicable in Hungary.

After some bargaining, the Hunyadi Family's territories ultimately avoided the fate of being equally divided.

Hunyadi ceded the territories in Tames County, located in the Mures River basin, to Matthias.

This county was originally a royal territory; during the time of Sigismund, most of the land was sold, with only Szeged, the regional capital, remaining under royal rule as a royal free city.

The Hunyadi Family owned a town and a castle here, as well as large tracts of surrounding land, accounting for approximately one-third of the entire county.

In addition, Hunyadi also handed over many scattered small territories in Hungary proper to Matthias.

This included a castle in Srem County that was once royal territory and later bestowed upon the Hunyadi Family.

This castle was close to Srem County's capital, Sremska Mitrovica, the "City of Saint Demetrius," and was an important fortress on the southeastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary.

It was near here that the Teutonic Order's troops encountered difficulties from the Hunyadi Family's guards when they passed through.

This castle is only 70 kilometers in a straight line from Belgrade, located on the Sava River.

At Laszlo's strong insistence, Hunyadi finally agreed to cede this castle.

However, Hunyadi did not yield an inch of the Hunyadi Family's core territories, Hunyadi County and Tames County, these two large areas of southern Transylvania.

In addition, the Hunyadi Family's properties in the Severin region of the Wallachia Grand Duchy were not subject to division.

The Hunyadi Family controlled over half of the land within the Severin Banate, and the land passes between Hungary and Wallachia were firmly held by them.

From this perspective, the Hunyadi Family was also one of the top nobles in Wallachia, and their influence was even close to that of Prince Vlad, Vlad III of Wallachia.

In Serbia, the Hunyadi Family also had many properties; those were territories granted when Janos led his army to attack Serbia,

and were not included in the assets to be divided.

The more Laszlo tallied the Hunyadi Family's assets, the more shocked he became.

The Hunyadi Family had almost completely developed into a regional power, not just simply the chief noble of the Kingdom of Hungary.

This was also thanks to Janos's continuous campaigns in the south and north during his tenure as Governor of Transylvania.

He had fought Serbia, Wallachia, and even Moldavia, imposing the influence of the Kingdom of Hungary on these neighboring countries.

However, the more this was the case, the happier Laszlo became.

The more places Hunyadi interfered in, the more targeting and hostility he would naturally face.

If he were submissive and loyal, like his father Janos, dedicating himself to the Habsburg Family and the Kingdom of Hungary, there would naturally be no danger.

But if he were not honest, his troubles would be great then.

After a fierce discussion, Matthias ultimately received nearly one-fifth of the family's territories within the Kingdom of Hungary.

Although the total value of all territories was not enough for a Hungarian countship, if placed in the Holy Roman Empire, he could also be a regional magnate.

This was already a very good result in Hungary, which practiced primogeniture and partible inheritance among sons.

Other families' second or third sons, for example, either received nothing or only some very poor territories and titles that the eldest son was unwilling to inherit.

Especially since Janos had not left a will to distribute the family property, Matthias could still receive many territories, which could be said to be a huge profit.

Laszlo, of course, would not forget his agreement with Matthias.

Under the notarization of Archbishop Veszter and the High Justice of the Court, Hunyadi and Matthias signed a territory division agreement, and subsequently Matthias signed a territory exchange agreement with Laszlo.

However, the specific content of this agreement, mainly which Austrian territories would be exchanged, could only be determined after a reasonable assessment of the property values.

After the deal was reached, Laszlo immediately selected several loyal Hungarian officials to take over the new royal territories.

Matthias had no objection to this; after all, these lands would eventually go to the Emperor.

He also didn't have time to look at these lands, as he was about to follow the Emperor on his eastern tour to Serbia.

He was more looking forward to the Austrian territories he might acquire in the future; he believed the Emperor would not, and would disdain to, take petty advantage on such a small matter of property.

From now on, the Hunyadi Family would be divided into a Hungarian branch and an Austrian branch.

The fate of this prominent family, which rose rapidly like a shining meteor, would also be led to an unknown end.