Wordplay?

Laszlo quickly scanned the second draft of the Golden Bull, penned by Janus.

He needed to determine if the contents of this bull were worthy of receiving the golden seal, making it Laszlo's first powerful bull.

The power here did not come from the Golden Bull itself, but from Laszlo's resolve.

Once he affixed his seal as the King of Hungary and Roman Emperor, the contents therein would have to be enforced.

Unless... unless he was defeated by the Hungarian nobles, in which case it would be a different matter.

Looking at the bull in his hand, Laszlo frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with some of its contents.

Janus cautiously observed Laszlo's expression. Seeing the Emperor's eyes lowered, his heart sank, realizing the situation was not good.

As expected, Laszlo's tone was not friendly when he spoke.

"Janus, didn't I say this bull needed to be tougher, to break the nobles' tax exemption privilege?"

Laszlo pointed to a certain part of the bull and questioned Janus,

"Why are you trying to fool me like this?

Changing 'one-thirtieth tax' to 'Royal Treasury Tax,' and 'Chamber of Commerce Tax' to 'Trade Tax,' isn't this just playing word games?"

Janus quickly explained to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, this is more than just wordplay.

In reality, ancient documents always contain numerous logical loopholes, whether in legal provisions or the noble privileges stipulated by the Golden Bull.

We only need to make a few small changes to make all levels of the Kingdom pay taxes obediently, without too much complaint."

Laszlo was noncommittal about Janus's words.

Scholars are like this, always thinking of using circuitous methods.

Creating new names to abolish tax exemptions was certainly a method, but for Laszlo, it was not enough.

He needed tougher measures. He now had over twenty thousand elite soldiers poised for action, ready to flatten Hungary at any moment. Raising troops for a thousand days to use them for a single day.

If he didn't take this opportunity to completely suppress the Hungarian nobles, he would be in trouble later.

Laszlo continued reading and found that Janus had not completely defied his instructions.

In addition to using name changes to abolish the nobles' tax exemption privileges, the bull also explicitly pointed out some unreasonable tax exemptions.

Many regions, cities, and noble families had their tax exemption privileges explicitly abolished, making many previously exempt entities subject to taxation again.

This clause primarily targeted great nobles, some free cities, and the specially named Governor of Transylvania district.

He nodded slightly, this looked good. He could already imagine the grim faces of the nobles in the Hungarian Parliament when they saw these reform clauses.

"Reforming the tax system—changing from collecting by 'door' to collecting by 'household.' Did you consult Ernust about this clause?"

Laszlo's eyes lit up when he saw this reform measure.

Janus breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying: "Yes, Your Majesty. Lord Ernust said that collecting by 'door' often leads to tax evasion such as underreporting population and harvests. If we can collect by 'household,' we can expand the tax base and combat tax evasion."

The so-called 'door' referred to house doors and shop doors; past taxes were collected based on the number of doors.

Whereas 'household' referred to the actual population and number of residents of families living behind the doors.

Taxing based on 'household' could prevent nobles and cities from falsely reporting the number of doors to evade taxes.

Laszlo then began to look at the next clause.

This clause did not correspond to the content of the 1222 Golden Bull, but rather to the 1460 'Hungarian Parliament Farewell Letter.'

Its content was to abolish the 'turkey tax' and introduce a 'Royal Special Tax' targeting farmers.

This tax explicitly targeted all farmers in Hungary—excluding Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia—in other regions.

During times of war in the Kingdom of Hungary or when public construction was needed, the King had the right to convene the Hungarian Parliament to levy taxes.

"Hiss, that's ruthless," Laszlo said with some concern at this point, "but if we levy heavy taxes on farmers like this, it could very likely trigger large-scale rebellions."

"There is indeed such a risk, Your Majesty, but the next clause is compensation for the farmers, which should appease their anger."

Janus reminded Laszlo to continue reading.

Laszlo looked down, and as expected, the next clause proposed laws restricting additional exploitation of farmers by nobles.

For example, reducing farmers' six days of corvée labor per week to three days, and restricting the arbitrary levies of great nobles.

These clauses sounded satisfying, but in reality, they would be difficult to implement.

"This clause needs further supplementation: the Hungarian Royal Court will hear cases violating this decree, to make those nobles restrain themselves."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

This was the last clause regarding tax reform, and Laszlo was largely satisfied with this part.

Although the initial wordplay tactic was somewhat ridiculous, it did have some merit.

The meaning of holding the ultimate right of interpretation was that whatever he said, it was so. Even if others wanted to refute it, they would have to weigh their own strength.

From this perspective, these reform measures could be said to be a combination of firmness and flexibility.

There were still some aspects not covered, which could be supplemented later.

Laszlo also checked some other clauses.

Regarding judicial power, Janus changed the clause "The King shall not imprison a noble without a proper trial presided over by the Chief Minister" to "Cases involving nobles shall all be tried by the Royal Court, and the King shall have the final say."

Regarding military power, the original Golden Bull stipulated that "Nobles only need to serve the King for 15 days a year and can refuse to fight abroad" was changed to "Strictly limit the number of private soldiers according to the size of noble territories; those with excessive private soldiers will be considered traitors."

Of course, while restricting private soldiers, this clause almost exempted nobles from military obligations, instead clarifying noble officer privileges.

Finally, and most importantly, the clause concerning the nobles' "right of resistance."

This clause stated that "If the King violates the Golden Bull, then nobles and bishops have the right to lawfully resist, and should not be prosecuted for treason."

Without a doubt, this was a clause that had to be abolished.

Janus's modification to it was: "Nobles and bishops, regardless of the reason for resisting the King, shall be considered traitors and shall be tried by the Royal Court."

There were also some less important clauses, such as the one that had annoyed Laszlo for many years: "The King of Hungary shall convene the Hungarian Parliament at least once a year."

This clause was modified by Janus to: "The King may convene the Hungarian Parliament at will, and it may be convened by the Chief Minister or Regent."

"Excellent!" Laszlo put down the draft of the bull and said to Janus with satisfaction, "You have not disappointed me, Janus. This bull is well-drafted."

"Your Majesty flatters me. It is my honor to serve you."

Janus said humbly, bowing deeply to Laszlo to express his gratitude.

"I have seen your petition regarding the reconstruction of the University of Pécs. I agree to your petition, but the actual reconstruction of that university will probably have to wait for some time."

Hearing Laszlo's words, Janus's face showed surprise and delight, and he said happily: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting my wish."

After Janus left, Laszlo picked up the bull again and reviewed it repeatedly, making some minor modifications to it.

Only after he could find no more problems did he order his confidants to copy the bull, making seven identical copies.

After the bull was announced and passed in the Hungarian Parliament, he would affix his seal to it.

Only then could this bull truly be called the Golden Bull.

As for whether the nobles in the Hungarian Parliament would allow this bull to pass, Laszlo's lips curled into a cold smile at the thought.