An International Scandal

Apart from the news of Rosenberg's death, some of the latest intelligence from the Empire and France also caught Laszlo's attention.

The eastern tour party departed Belgrade in late February, traveling along an ancient Roman road towards Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

Inside the carriage, Laszlo was reading the summary of various countries' activities in February, compiled by Eyczing, primarily focusing on major, sensational events that were easy to investigate.

First and foremost was the change in the Palatinate's war situation, which was what Laszlo cared about most.

Following the fall of the Upper Palatinate territory, the Elector Palatine's territories west of the Rhine River were almost entirely lost, with only Zweibrücken still stubbornly holding out under Gunter's siege.

Meanwhile, a small interlude occurred on the other side of the Rhine River.

Adolf dispatched troops from Mainz to retake several towns that Dieter had ceded to the Elector Palatine.

The Elector Palatine ambushed this army in Lorsch, almost completely annihilating the Mainz forces.

Logically, this should have been another painful defeat, and Laszlo should have been frustrated.

However, Adolf quickly offered an explanation, providing a reason for his failure.

He claimed that only a small portion of the Mainz army he sent out were his direct subordinates; most were locally conscripted troops from Mainz.

He further asserted that his action was merely to weaken the influence of the subordinate bishops within the Mainz Archbishopric, effectively using them as a tool to eliminate rivals.

Laszlo wasn't sure if this was Adolf's attempt to save face, unable to bear the responsibility for the defeat, or if he truly intended it this way.

However, according to Gunter's report, Adolf had agreed with them not to independently attack the Palatinate's core territory on the east bank of the Rhine River.

And towns like Lorsch were precisely located on the east bank of the Rhine River, very close to Heidelberg, the center of the Palatinate.

It seemed that Adolf, having experienced the crushing defeat at Seckenheim, should not make such a foolish mistake of underestimating the enemy again.

This Adolf was ruthless; to consolidate his rule in Mainz, he would do anything.

Laszlo was now somewhat worried whether he was raising a jackal, but considering the vast power disparity between them, he put his mind at ease.

However, Laszlo remained cautious. He planned to make arrangements later to gather compromising information on Adolf, ensuring Adolf would never dare to defy him, the Emperor.

Subsequently, he refocused his attention on the intelligence in his hand.

That cannon fodder unit from Mainz was not entirely useless; at least they helped Adolf and Gunter gauge how much strength the Elector Palatine still had.

Now, Adolf had confirmed that the Elector Palatine's army size would not exceed three thousand, a military force they could easily handle.

Gunter had already planned to combine forces with Adolf and march south to attack the Palatinate's core territory after capturing Zweibrücken, the last Palatinate fortress west of the Rhine River.

Laszlo was quite satisfied with their steady and methodical operational plan.

This time, the Imperial Army was serving as the absolute main force in the attack on the Palatinate. If there were another major defeat like the Battle of Seckenheim Forest, Laszlo would truly suffer from high blood pressure.

Aside from the war in the Palatinate, the gossip from France attracted Laszlo's attention even more.

"Tsk, tsk, as expected of France..."

Laszlo flipped through the intelligence in his hand with a pleased expression, exclaiming in wonder.

Leonor, sitting beside him, leaned over curiously and asked, "My dear, what makes you so happy?"

Laszlo directly showed the page in his hand to Leonor, sharing the rare interesting news with the Empress.

The pleasure of mocking France is hard for most people to resist.

Originally, Leonor wasn't interested in the military and state affairs that Laszlo often paid attention to, but the intelligence on the paper immediately piqued her interest.

"Oh my goodness, this kind of thing..."

After reading just a few sentences, Leonor gasped in surprise, covering her mouth, and a blush appeared on her pretty face.

This intelligence reported a major earthquake in French politics.

Duke Armagnac, a significant political rival of Louis XI, was publicly tried in Paris and convicted of treason, rebellion, and incest, then exiled by Louis XI.

In fact, the first two charges were fabricated; Louis XI, the 'Universal Spider,' added them because he disliked Duke Armagnac. The most crucial charge was the third one.

This Duke Armagnac, Jean V, was also a 'wolf man.'

He had an illicit relationship with his sister, Isabelle, and they had more than one child together.

When this matter was exposed, it attracted widespread attention and strong condemnation from French society.

Not only that, Jean V also forced the Bishop of Cambrai to forge a papal dispensation, attempting to legitimize his relationship with his sister.

Upon seeing this, Laszlo was shocked. This 'sister-con' was truly in love; he went to great lengths for a happy life with his sister.

Unfortunately, the more desperate he was, the greater his mistakes. When this matter was exposed, his crimes became unforgivable.

Louis XI was delighted. Duke Armagnac, who had always made him wary and was a loyal supporter of his brother, turned out to be such a morally corrupt fool.

Thus, Louis XI, in response to public opinion, held a public trial for Jean V in Paris.

With multiple charges combined, Duke Armagnac was eventually exiled.

He himself was forced to flee to Aragon, while his territories were forcibly seized by the Crown.

There was still one suspicious point about this matter.

That is, after Duke Armagnac was exiled, his brother, Jacques d'Armagnac, was granted the title of Duke of Nemours and received a large portion of the family territory.

Laszlo could almost imagine the melodramatic scene of the younger brother betraying his sibling and siding with the king for power.

After his laughter subsided, Laszlo's expression turned serious.

Upon careful thought, this was actually bad news for him, especially when combined with a previous piece of intelligence.

The intelligence concerning France that Eyczing had sent earlier mentioned that Louis XI had acquired Roussillon and Cerdagne from Aragon through an agreement.

The reason for this agreement dated back even further: King Juan II of Aragon poisoned his eldest son, Prince Carlos, which sparked a large-scale rebellion among the Catalans.

The weakened Juan II was unable to suppress these rebellions.

Therefore, in desperation, Juan II decided to cede the most rebellious regions of Roussillon and Cerdagne to the French King in exchange for the French King lending troops to help him quell the internal rebellions.

Louis XI was currently preparing for war in Paris; it was said that all the Ordonnance Companies lost in the Italian War had been replenished.

Moreover, the number of Ordonnance Knights was even greater than during the reign of his father, Charles VII.

He was about to lead his army south to suppress the rebellions in Roussillon and other areas, and then advance into Aragon to quell its internal strife.

After this, it was feared that Aragon would remain dependent on France until a new monarch ascended the throne.

Facing such a weak Aragon, King Ferdinando of Naples still chose to send troops to Sicily, even without Laszlo's support.

In the past few years of war, he had almost controlled the entire island of Sicily.

Laszlo had no desire to interfere with these matters, nor did he have many opportunities to intervene.

After the death of the ambitious Alfonso V, the 'Magnanimous,' his two successors, his son Ferdinando, the 'Bastard,' and his brother Juan II, the 'Fratricide,' were far inferior to him.

It was truly lamentable. Both of them were tormented by the French King after his death; one could say it was a form of retribution.

Thinking about these matters, Laszlo found he couldn't laugh at all.

Louis XI had been on the throne for only a year, yet he had already taken several active measures such as expanding territory, expelling political rivals, strengthening centralization, and expanding the army.

Laszlo first learned about this monarch in Hugo's famous work, 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.'

He never expected that this monarch, who lived in legend, would now become his opponent.

No wonder he was historically given the cool title of 'Universal Spider.'

This was a more formidable opponent than Charles VII.

Laszlo only hoped that Philip the 'Good' and his brother-in-law Charles could withstand the pressure, create more trouble for Louis XI, and disrupt his process of strengthening French centralization.

In this process, Laszlo was determined to provide the greatest help he could.

However, at present, France's internal contradictions were still accumulating, and he himself had to deal with various domestic problems.

This had become a race.

Whether Laszlo would first complete the internal integration of the Habsburg Dynasty, or Louis XI would first defeat the various French vassals and consolidate power, would directly determine the ultimate ownership of European hegemony.