A Day of the Empire

Regensburg, an Imperial Free City located in Bavaria, was now showing signs of decline.

Someday in the future, it would likely be sold at a low price to the Dukes of Bavaria by the Emperor due to bankruptcy.

However, at this point in time, Regensburg could still be called a prosperous imperial city. Although far from comparable to the imperial center Nuremberg next door, it was more than sufficient to host an Imperial Conference.

In the narrow and cramped Imperial Hall of Regensburg's Old Town Hall, people were already seated.

Looking around, all those present were gorgeously dressed Imperial nobles, wearing ceremonial robes representing their respective statuses, with their family crests embroidered in the most conspicuous places.

Noblemen wrapped in mink furs squeezed onto the long benches by the windows on both sides of the room, their sabers at their waists occasionally catching the cloaks of their neighbors, like two peacocks tangled in string, rolling their eyes at each other.

A Bishop's mitre was too tall, almost brushing off the Imperial emblem hanging on the wall as he moved, so he quickly reached out to steady it, only for the hem of his robe to almost trip someone passing by.

At the very front of the hall, in a place resembling a podium, there was originally an extremely shabby small stool, serving as the Emperor's throne.

However, the moment Laszlo saw that thing, he frowned and had someone replace it with an oak chair with a soft cushion, befitting his status.

Behind his "throne" hung several large banners.

Since Laszlo disliked using composite coats of arms, he could only display multiple flags simultaneously.

The yellow flag with a black double-headed eagle in the middle was the most prominent; to its left was the King of Bohemia's red flag with a white lion, and and to its right was the Archduke of Austria's red, white, and red striped flag.

These three flags, representing the highest power in the Empire, all belonged to the same person, so much so that even before the Emperor appeared, the princes dared not be too ostentatious.

Throughout the hall, Latin, German, and French mingled, creating a low hum.

Smoke billowed from the fireplace, enveloping the hall like a fairyland.

Only, this fairyland was not filled with celestial aura, but with a stuffy, foul smell, a mixture of sweat, spices, and some unidentifiable gases.

Although the conference had not yet officially begun, some princes, who had always had considerable conflicts, already met each other with fiery glares.

For example, the Margrave of Ansbach, Imperial Marshal Albrecht, and the Duke of Landshut, Louis IX "the Rich."

Their multiple clashes in Bavaria had led to deep-seated animosity.

However, here, they merely exchanged a few sarcastic remarks, which was much better than the situation with Marshal Albrecht's brother, Elector Frederick II.

Due to the Imperial Conference, Laszlo issued an edict requiring peace within the Empire, valid until the end of the Imperial Conference.

Coincidentally, this winter, the North German region experienced a massive blizzard, and the warring Brandenburg Elector and Duke of Pomerania took advantage of the situation, gladly accepting the Emperor's envoy's mediation and signing a temporary ceasefire agreement.

Although the fighting had temporarily ceased, the conflict still existed.

Originally, the Duke of Pomerania had lost his seat in the Imperial Conference since the family split.

However, Laszlo still invited Erick II, who controlled most of Pomerania, to attend.

For no particular reason, simply to annoy the Brandenburg Elector, who did not take him seriously.

When these two met in the Imperial Hall, the scene quickly spiraled out of control.

The Duke of Pomerania, Erick II, almost couldn't resist drawing his sword to duel the Brandenburg Elector, Frederick II.

It was the Guards soldiers maintaining order in the hall who timely separated the two, preventing a bloody conflict.

Then, the two disregarded all decorum and directly started cursing at each other in the hall.

The hot-blooded Erick's face turned red with anger, and he pointed at Frederick II's nose, cursing him for shamelessly occupying Pomeranian land.

Frederick, who suffered from severe depression, was much less aggressive. While maintaining his composure as one of the seven Electors, he mocked Erick's rudeness, saying he was like a half-breed of Viking and Slav.

The two's quarrel quickly subsided with the intervention of the princes, but the tense atmosphere did not dissipate.

And among this group of German princes, an aloof outlier was mixed in.

Namely, Count of Charolais, Duke of Burgundy's son, "The Bold" Charles, who participated in the Imperial Conference in the name of the Duke of Luxembourg and Brabant.

Originally, he had also invited the Duke of Lorraine from the Anjou family to accompany him, but the Duke of Lorraine, hating the Emperor for shattering his dream of being the King of Naples, refused to attend any Imperial Conference.

So Charles traveled from Rhineland to Regensburg with his Burgundy ally, the Archbishop of Trier.

He was not here to gain benefits for himself like these princes, but to privately meet with his good brother Laszlo to discuss how to deal with the treacherous Louis XI after the League of Public Weal war.

As soon as he thought of that perfidious scoundrel, the arrow wound on Charles's left shoulder began to ache faintly.

Charles swore that if he could catch Louis XI next time, he would personally kill him, lest he be played for a fool again.

Putting aside his worries, Charles waited for Laszlo to appear, observing the various facets of life, love, and hate among the Imperial princes with great interest.

The situation in the hall was roughly like this: while waiting for the Emperor to appear, people either cursed and ridiculed their enemies, or found two or three friends to show off a new treasure they had recently acquired, or boasted about some

"great deed" they had accomplished.

If one were to look down from the rafters, one would probably think it was a group of actors in splendid costumes, earnestly performing a farce titled "How to Quarrel Gracefully."

Even so, those seated here were envied and respected, for they all shared a common title: Imperial Princes.

Outside the hall, in a church near the Old Town Hall, those lower-ranking nobles who had no seats and were not qualified to enter, such as Imperial Counts, Barons, and Knights, as well as representatives from Imperial cities and villages, were basically huddled there waiting for an audience with the Emperor.

Only those whose status was above Imperial Counts, such as nobles of the Imperial Margrave level, including Count Palatines, Margraves—also known as Border Counts—and Landgraves, who were Counts with territorial sovereignty, were recognized by everyone as true Imperial Princes.

Above them were the Imperial Dukes, and above the Imperial Dukes was the unique Archduke of Austria within the Empire—a title fabricated by the Habsburg Family, and recognized nearly a hundred years later by the Habsburg's own Emperor Albrecht II.

Further up were the seven Electors, then the King of the Romans, and at the very top was the ruler of the Empire, the Roman Emperor.

Despite such a strict hierarchy, the Holy Roman Empire was not a true feudal empire in the proper sense.

In reality, these princes—excluding the Electors—were politically similar in status and independent of each other. They established small states in their territories, and the diplomacy and wars between these states were almost no different from those of independent countries.

And the Emperor and the Electors were regional powers above them; of course, how strong they were depended on who their opponents were.

A strong Emperor like Laszlo could challenge the entire Empire alone, while the weakest Elector in history, the Elector of Munich, couldn't even suppress his kinsman, the Duke of Landshut.

From Rudolf I of the Habsburg Family ending the Great Interregnum, to Charles IV establishing the Imperial system, and then to the decline of imperial power during the time of brothers Wenceslas and Sigismund.

By now, most people had realized that the imperial power, which had long fallen to rock bottom, was about to rise again.

This was an almost unstoppable tide, and the princes would all have to choose sides and clarify their positions in this reform sweeping across the entire Empire.

"By the grace of God, His Majesty Ladislaus I, Roman Emperor, King of the Romans, Italian King, Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Bulgaria, Milan Duke, and owner of numerous Imperial Counties, is here."

Albrecht of Bavaria, the Emperor's attendant and brother of the Elector of Munich, patiently read out a long string of titles.

The Imperial princes in the hall immediately fell silent, their gaze fixed on the doorway.

Laszlo, who had just finished handling the affairs of Regensburg and the surrounding areas, strode into the hall and settled onto his "throne."

His sharp gaze swept across the narrow hall, and the princes had already begun to applaud him.

The lowest-ranking Imperial princes squeezed obediently against the walls, with an aisle directly in front of him, dividing the princes seated in the middle into two distinct groups.

On his left sat the high-ranking secular Imperial princes, mainly secular Electors, Dukes, and special Margraves, led and presided over by the new Elector of Saxony, Ernst.

On his right sat the high-ranking religious Imperial princes, meaning the Archbishops and Bishops of the Empire, led and presided over by the Imperial Arch-Chancellor, the Archbishop of Mainz.

Just like the previous Imperial Conference held in Nuremberg, this opening was not peaceful either.

The enfeoffment ceremony, which should have taken place at the beginning of each Imperial Conference, had to be postponed due to certain issues.

Specifically, numerous Imperial Dukes raised objections to the Duke of Saxony, Albrecht, being ranked at the head of the Dukes.

However, the Elector of Saxony, Ernst, whom Laszlo had appointed to manage the secular Imperial princes, immediately stood up to defend his younger brother.

The quarrel that erupted between them gave Laszlo a headache.

At every Imperial Conference, the princes would demonstrate this traditional skill to him.

Normally, this was the only time all the princes would deliberate together; afterward, they would likely not sit together.

Yet, even for this one occasion, they could not tolerate their political status within the Empire being inferior to others.

"Your Majesty, why can this twenty-year-old young man sit before all the Dukes?"

The bravest Duke of Brunswick, Otto of the House of Welf, ignored the Elector of Saxony, who was trying hard to explain, and directly questioned the Emperor.

After all, Duke Albrecht of Saxony claimed his status was granted by the Emperor.

Laszlo glared at the indignant Duke of Brunswick and responded to his question with a tone full of imperial majesty: "The Duke of Saxony comes from the House of Wettin, the Elector of Saxony, whose status is noble enough, and the Duchy of Saxony, as one of the four great tribal duchies of German, should inherently enjoy a higher status within the Empire.

Do you Dukes believe your strength is superior to Saxony, or are you simply not taking me, your Emperor, seriously, which is why you question my decision?"

"Your Majesty, this... don't you think your favor towards the House of Wettin is a bit excessive?"

"I have my reasons for what I do, and it is not for you to point fingers," Laszlo tapped the floor with his scepter. "The Duke of Saxony's seat is befitting his status. If anyone disagrees with my decision, they may leave here now.

However, the crime of disrespecting the Emperor and disrupting Imperial order is unforgivable."

Several Dukes, who had intended to argue further, exchanged glances, then all chose to obediently shut up, and this brief quarrel ended.

The two Saxon brothers cast grateful glances at the Emperor, while the other princes were startled by the Emperor's strong stance.

After this small interlude, the enfeoffment ceremony proceeded.

The princes present came forward one by one, knelt before the Emperor, touched the Gospel, and followed the Archbishop of Mainz in reciting the oath of fealty to the Emperor.

Subsequently, Laszlo personally bestowed upon each prince their fief flags, signifying his recognition of their rule.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as Laszlo's brother-in-law, Charles.

Although he would inherit two Imperial Duchies and several Imperial Counties in the future, he was nominally still a vassal of the French King.

After some discussion, Charles was ultimately exempted from swearing fealty to Laszlo, promising only that he would respect and protect the interests of the Empire.

Such a promise drew ridicule from many princes, as everyone knew that the Emperor and the Duke of Burgundy had conspired to swallow up so many Imperial members. Charles's promise as the future Duke of Burgundy was quite ironic at this moment.

At the end of the enfeoffment ceremony, Laszlo announced the promotion of Count Eberhard V of Württemberg and Margrave Karl I of Baden.

He personally draped the ducal robes made of red silk over the two and bestowed crowns upon them, granting them full Imperial Ducal status from then on.

The Elector of Saxony, Ernst, then led the two to their new seats.

Their rank was now after the Duke of Jülich-Berg, but before the Elector Palatine and the Landgrave of Hesse.

The Duke of Baden, who served as the Governor of Swabia and had intermarried with the Habsburg Imperial family, naturally sat ahead of the Duke of Württemberg.

This time, no one raised any objections regarding the seating order.

Simultaneously promoting two Dukes astonished all the princes.

Anyone who paid attention to Imperial politics knew that the Emperor was rewarding them for their achievements in the war to pacify Switzerland.

Many princes who hoped to advance their own status saw an opportunity in this.

After such a long ceremony, the first day of the Regensburg Imperial Conference was drawing to a close.

As for the discussions on major issues concerning the future of the Empire, they would gradually unfold in the coming days.