Taking Advantage of the Situation

Eyczing arrived in Graz, the capital of Styria, in just two days, carrying Laszlo's handwritten decree.

He quickly found Count Letold von Stubenberg, the Governor of Styria.

When Eyczing met him at the provincial government office, the white-haired old man, over seventy years old, was struggling with illness to coordinate the tense situation.

"Count Letold, I have brought His Majesty's decree."

Inside the conference room, Eyczing and Letold sat opposite each other, the former directly stating his purpose for being there.

"His Majesty orders all subjects in the Styria region not to attack or cause any harm to Cardinal and Salzburg Archbishop Burkhard.

Those who violate this order will be considered to have severely violated the laws of the Empire and the majesty of the Emperor and Archduke of Austria,

and will be severely punished."

Letold was not as panicked as Eyczing had imagined; instead, he seemed relieved.

"Fortunately, you arrived in time, Sir Eyczing.

Several barons, unable to endure the oppression of the Salzburg Archbishop, are now preparing to resolve the issue by force.

I have temporarily restrained them, and this decree should make them abandon their crazy ideas."

Seeing Letold's exhausted appearance, which did not seem feigned, Eyczing was momentarily puzzled.

"The Salzburg Archbishop's letter mentioned that all this was instigated by you, and the Emperor was furious about it."

Letold paused slightly at the words, then showed a bitter smile.

"Sir, I only noticed this matter recently.

Although this matter is indeed somewhat related to me, I think the actions of the Salzburg Archbishop are the fundamental reason for the current situation."

"What exactly happened?"

"At the end of last year, on the border of the Salzburg territory, a baron and a bishop under Salzburg had a dispute over the ownership of a pasture.

Both parties ultimately decided to appeal, and according to the judicial privileges of the Church, the Salzburg Archbishop's ecclesiastical court heard the case.

Undoubtedly, the land was awarded to the Church.

The baron who suffered the loss came to me to appeal, but considering that the Emperor had instructed me to minimize border friction, I suppressed the matter.

Who knew that man would go back and gather several neighboring nobles to form a temporary alliance and begin to raise an army?"

"Just for a piece of land, they dared to attack the Archbishop? Why wasn't this reported?"

"I was misled at the time, thinking it was not a big deal, and that I could suppress it myself, and the Emperor was still in Regensburg for a meeting at the time, so I did not report it."

Hearing Letold's words, Eyczing coldly glanced at him, speaking mercilessly.

"I think you are truly senile. This matter was first brought to the Emperor by the Salzburg Archbishop, and no matter what, you cannot escape blame."

"This... this is completely the wicked filing a complaint first!"

A hint of resentment appeared on Letold's wrinkled face.

The Salzburg Archbishop, relying on the privileges granted by the Emperor, set up checkpoints on trade routes to levy heavy taxes on Styrian merchants.

Moreover, Salzburg merchants enjoy special privileges in many cities in Styria.

The Archbishop also controls the salt mines of Hallein and Schellenberg.

He used the royal-sanctioned tariff privileges to raise the price of salt in Styria, causing many nobles economic losses.

In addition, he has repeatedly interfered with legal disputes between Styria and Salzburg under the guise of ecclesiastical judicial privileges.

This is not a recent conflict; this situation has existed since the reign of the former Emperor Albrecht II.

The former Emperor once gifted the previous Salzburg Archbishop four royal castles, which led to a series of disputes over border and woodland usage rights.

This small friction is merely the fuse that ignited a series of conflicts."

Letold's accusations startled Eyczing; although he had not yet conducted an in-depth investigation, he already believed most of it. With the Emperor's prestige and power, which Austrian noble would dare to gather an army to attack a neighboring Imperial Prince without cause?

Letold's mishandling caused the aggrieved nobles to feel unable to seek justice from the Emperor, so they decided to resort to force.

"This matter could have been appealed to Vienna; the judges of the Court of the Empire would naturally give a fair judgment."

Eyczing looked at Letold with some disappointment. Regardless of the outcome of this matter, his position as governor was certainly not salvageable.

However, this old count seemingly had not many years left to live, so it might be better to replace him with a younger and more capable governor sooner.

"This is a sensitive period. The Emperor has just had a dispute with the Salzburg Archbishop in the Imperial Diet. If at this time the Emperor's vassals openly attack the Salzburg Archbishop, the head of the ecclesiastical princes, what would the princes think? What would the Roman Papacy think?

Have you considered these issues?"

"But, Sir Eyczing, those troublesome barons have not violated their covenant with the Emperor.

When Austria needed them, they provided taxes and soldiers to the Emperor, never defaulting.

Now they are merely trying to defend their rights, which is why they have taken such extreme actions..."

"Hmph, their actions completely disregard the interests of the state and the majesty of the Emperor, focusing solely on private gain. However, considering that they have not yet caused a major disaster, there is still room for maneuver in this matter.

You are to immediately dispatch people to convey the Emperor's decree throughout Styria, and then bring those few troublemakers with you to Vienna.

The Emperor will personally resolve their dispute with the Salzburg Archbishop."

"I understand."

Letold's mood calmed down. After entrusting the affairs of Styria to the Vice Governor, he took several summoned barons and followed Eyczing back to Vienna.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace in Vienna, Laszlo retrieved decrees and documents related to Salzburg from the royal archives from the past few years and began to study them carefully.

Before the Salzburg Archbishop arrived, he had to understand the ins and outs of the matter as much as possible so that he could make the fairest possible judgment afterward.

As Archduke of Austria, he certainly could not simply side with the Salzburg Archbishop to avoid trouble.

He would also not shield the nobles of Styria, especially when these fellows almost caused a diplomatic incident behind his back.

Even if these people were his loyal vassals, they had to pay a price for this.

Of course, reviewing cases and arbitrating disputes, the most important thing was to be pragmatic.

Only well-reasoned judgments could gain people's approval and avoid losing prestige and popular support.

For him, this was also a good opportunity to discipline the nobles of Styria.

He had been too lenient before, which led to someone daring to attack an Imperial Prince.

Although theoretically, both the Salzburg Archbishop and the Styrian nobles were his vassals, their statuses were completely different.

The nobles of Styria were merely vassals under the title of Archduke of Austria, while the Salzburg Archbishop could be considered highly esteemed even among dozens of Imperial Princes.

Although from the Salzburg Archbishop's submissive demeanor, it could be seen that the Archbishop's own power might not even be comparable to a few minor Styrian nobles.

However, as one of the seven Archbishops of the Empire, he represented the face of the Empire and even the Roman Church.

If a few minor nobles under Laszlo, whose names could not even be recalled, were to beat him up, the Church would probably argue with the Emperor for a long time again.

Laszlo was most afraid of trouble, which was why he was determined to resolve this troublesome matter as quickly as possible.

Among the dossiers concerning Salzburg on his desk, the vast majority were about salt mine issues.

The name Salzburg itself means "Salt City"; its abundant salt mines provide a large amount of fiscal revenue each year.

Laszlo had also coveted this place before, but after gaining control of many other mineral resources, he was no longer as interested in the mineral resources in this ecclesiastical territory.

However, his financial manager, Jakob Fugger, was still unwilling to give up this easily obtainable lucrative opportunity.

"Jakob, have you found what you were looking for?"

Laszlo, without raising his head, asked as he flipped through several documents regarding the judicial rulings of the Salzburg ecclesiastical court.

Most of the cases in his hand involved cross-border disputes between Austria and Salzburg, and without exception, the results always favored Salzburg.

For example, just half a month ago, a sensational property dispute case occurred.

One of Laszlo's hereditary royal attendants and a royal bailiff provided a loan of one hundred florins to a Salzburg merchant.

The two parties agreed to repay 138 florins after two years, but the attendant ultimately received less than one hundred florins in repayment.

He then filed a lawsuit with the Salzburg ecclesiastical court, and the initial ruling was that the Salzburg merchant needed to make up the outstanding amount, totaling one hundred florins.

This directly infuriated Laszlo's attendant, who immediately appealed to the Court of the Empire.

Laszlo was preparing to hear this case on the next court day, to make that shameless Salzburg merchant pay 150 florins, and soothe the attendant's wounded heart.

He just didn't expect such an incident to happen before that.

However, this also gave him a rough idea of the Salzburg Archbishop's character, and he now had a clearer understanding of what to do next.

Across from him, Jakob was searching through a mountain of salt mine dispute documents for that special document he had mentioned to Laszlo.

"This is... Your Majesty, look at this document!"

With an excited smile on his face, Jakob presented a long-sealed document to Laszlo as if offering a treasure.

Laszlo picked up the document and quickly scanned its contents.

"Since 1455, the Augustinian Monastery of Berchtesgaden has ceased paying the Salzburg Archbishop 500 florins annually for the Schellenberg salt mine exploitation rights tax.

The judgment was issued in 1463, and the monastery should repay all outstanding taxes within the next five years, and also pay 500 florins in tax annually for these five years.

That means it's exactly ten years this year, and they should have paid five thousand florins. How much have they repaid?"

Five thousand florins, this sum was enough to hire a thousand-man infantry unit to fight for a month.

Undoubtedly, this Augustinian Monastery certainly could not repay this amount.

"Your Majesty, to my knowledge, they have only repaid less than two thousand florins of the outstanding debt so far.

Unless they start printing indulgences like the Archbishop of Mainz and find enough commoners to buy them.

Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible for them to repay this huge sum within the stipulated period!"

Laszlo looked up, meeting Jakob's gleaming eyes.

Even though he was already quite old, the mind of this finance minister was still the most active in Laszlo's court.

Although he occasionally engaged in minor underhanded dealings, when it came to making money for the Emperor, he could honestly say that he had truly done his best.

"Then let the Imperial Bank lend to them. As for the collateral conditions, how about twenty years of salt mine exploitation rights?"

"Your Majesty, twenty years is too little; we should at least get fifty years of exploitation rights."

Hearing Jakob's immediate reply, Laszlo simply smiled faintly at him.

"Thirty years, fifty years will definitely scare them away."

"Alright, Your Majesty, as you command."

Watching Jakob, this old fox past fifty, leave the palace with light steps, Laszlo smiled and shook his head, continuing to study the situation in Salzburg.

Salzburg controlled two important salt producing areas, Hallein and Schellenberg.

Among them, the exploitation of the Hallein salt mine was entirely conducted by Hallein, the mining city of the Salzburg Archbishopric,

with virtually no room for intervention.

While the Schellenberg salt mine was slightly inferior to Hallein, its exploitation potential was still considerable.

However, due to the poor economic condition of the Augustinian Monastery, they were unable to invest too many resources to expand exploitation.

If Jakob were to take over the salt mine, as an Augsburg mining magnate, he would certainly be able to maximize the value of the salt mine and earn more income for Laszlo.

This would make Salzburg even less attractive to Laszlo.

Laszlo only hoped that future Salzburg Archbishops would be more well-behaved, so he wouldn't have to bother with managing relations with the Church.

From this perspective, the reckless actions of the Styrian nobles seemed to serve as a warning.

It was also good to let the Salzburg Archbishop clearly see the huge disparity in power between the two sides.

And to make him understand that in Austria, especially in the Styria region, many people already resented him. Let's see if this Archbishop and his successors dare to continue oppressing Austrians at will, relying on the Church's judicial privileges.

From Laszlo's perspective, any judgment he made would be reasonable, and would also make him uncomfortable.

As Emperor, he undoubtedly had to protect the safety and privileges of the religious princes.

As Archduke of Austria, he also could not dishearten his nobles.

It was often these situations of being caught in the middle that were most difficult, but Laszlo had long mastered the art of checks and balances.

A week later, the Salzburg Archbishop and the Styrian nobles who were preparing to attack him all arrived in Vienna.

At the trial in the Court of the Empire, with the Emperor personally present, Laszlo first calmed down the agitated emotions of both parties.

After listening to the statements from both sides, Laszlo decisively chose to punish both equally.

Since the Salzburg Archbishop had taken possession of the land, the land would belong to him.

However, he had to pay a substantial compensation to the Styrian nobles whose interests had been harmed for that land.

This was a result that neither party was satisfied with, but also one that both could accept.

Afterward, the Salzburg Archbishop accepted Laszlo's invitation to serve in the Austrian government.

As for the nobles who caused the unrest, they received a serious warning from Laszlo, but no further punishment.

The only one who suffered from this incident was probably the incompetent Governor of Styria, Letold.

He fell gravely ill and died shortly after being dismissed, and the position of Governor of Styria was taken over by a noble named Heinrich von Neipperg.

Since the military action only existed in the Salzburg Archbishop's imagination, this dispute naturally did not alarm the Pope.

When Paul II learned of the matter afterward, he even felt a little regretful.

He subsequently protested the Emperor's use of the Imperial Court to hear Church cases, and then there was no further development. A storm that could have led to serious consequences was quickly and completely quelled by Laszlo's swift response.

He also used this to establish a reputation for fairness in Austria.