Inside the Emperor's temporary residence, Laszlo sat opposite the young Elector of Bavaria, Albrecht IV.
Compared to his time as an attendant in the court of Vienna, Al appeared much more mature now; he had not only grown a beard, but his temperament had also undergone a fundamental change, which could best be described as the so-called "dignity of an Elector."
His rule in Bavaria was very successful, and he had integrated the territories of the Landshut and Ingolstadt branches with almost no effort.
His early experience studying in Italy and serving in the Church of Milan made him adept at handling both administrative and religious affairs.
Within the Empire, the influence of the Elector of Bavaria had replaced and even surpassed that of the previous Elector Palatine, which simultaneously caused concern among the princes of neighboring regions such as Swabia and Franconia.
However, as the Imperial reforms gradually deepened, the influence of the Electors also began to be confined within their respective Imperial Circles. Consequently, the conflicts between the neighboring princes and Bavaria did not escalate as rapidly as they had in history, which would have otherwise led to multiple wars.
After initially completing the integration of his family's territories, Albrecht IV's ambition began to gradually reveal itself—he hoped to expand his family's lands through legal means.
Initially, he and his elder brother chose to support the Emperor within the Empire in exchange for the unification of the Duchy of Bavaria.
But shortly after that, the Emperor relied on the prestige and power gained from several local imperial wars—now collectively referred to as "Pacifying the Internal Strife of the Empire"—to force the princes to submit to him, and with the assistance of the Pope, he forcefully pushed through the Imperial reforms.
Originally, the Emperor's reform plan only included establishing an imperial fiscal system and a standing army supported by the imperial treasury, so that he could rely on the money and troops provided by the princes to sweep through foreign wars.
However, the Imperial Princes, having endured the Hussite Wars and years of war, unanimously prayed to the Emperor for peace. If the Emperor ignored their demands, the mandatory reforms would inevitably lead the Empire toward a full-scale civil war.
The Emperor clearly did not want to see the Empire plunge into misery again, so alongside the birth of the Common Penny system and Imperial Military Service, the Imperial Land Peace Decree, the Imperial Diet, the Imperial Court, and the Privy Council, as well as the Imperial Circle system serving the Emperor and the princes, also came into being.
Regardless of how many of these reforms had been implemented so far, the expansion of territory through war within the Empire was no longer permitted.
As a result, the Elector of Bavaria had to try his best to seek other methods of territorial expansion.
As for what kind of methods should be used, the nobles of the past had already tried them all.
He had already used the means of marriage; by getting engaged to the Emperor's eldest daughter, he successfully reclaimed nearly a quarter of the Bavarian territory occupied by the Austrians.
In that transaction, many Bavarian lands were still ceded to Austria. The Emperor even used this to carve out a piece of land in western Lower Austria, which, after being merged with the newly conquered Bavarian territories, established the State of Upper Austria as the second direct administrative unit of the Vienna government.
Another method besides marriage was to make a certain contribution to the Empire—that is, to achieve merits that would satisfy the Emperor—through which he could also try to request rewards.
Besides the two methods mentioned above, what remained was to use the exclusive rights of an Elector, such as the transaction taking place at this very moment.
"Al, given our relationship, I won't say much more. What will it take for you to be willing to vote in favor of Christopher being crowned King of the Romans?"
Laszlo threw out the core of the discussion without any hesitation, letting the Elector state his conditions first before slowly haggling.
Albrecht was very tempted by this, but when he saw the Emperor's calm face, the excitement in his heart immediately cooled down.
"Your Majesty, may I raise a small question?"
"Speak."
"You are now in your prime and have many years ahead to decide the issue of the succession to the throne. Why are you in such a hurry right now?"
"As for being in a hurry, it's not actually that urgent. If I can't persuade the Electoral Meeting to pass this decision, I can actually wait a few years before trying again."
Laszlo leaned back in his chair and spoke his thoughts without thinking twice.
"Then... what about the agreements you've reached with the other Electors?"
"If Christopher isn't elected, those agreements naturally won't count and will have to wait until next time."
Laszlo's answer left Albrecht dumbfounded. On second thought, the Emperor's time was indeed quite ample, meaning he wouldn't truly offer any significant interests to negotiate with the Elector. If it succeeded, it would be for the best; if not, he would try again next time, and the result would be the same. After all, only the Emperor himself could nominate a successor.
"What is the purpose of your attempt this time?"
"I am about to set out for France. If the successor to the Empire is determined at this time, wouldn't it be very helpful for boosting morale?"
"Is that so?" Albrecht nodded, feeling a slight sense of regret in his heart.
"Although this is just an attempt, I would still be very happy if there's a real chance to settle it. Well, have you thought of what conditions to propose?"
Laszlo's increasingly casual demeanor instead made Albrecht, who had initially prepared to demand a high price, start to back down.
Now it was his turn to be conflicted.
From the Emperor's movements, it seemed the Archbishop of Trier had been persuaded, while the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony had not yet made a move; thus, his vote would be the key to whether this matter could succeed.
If the Emperor were close to death, his tolerance for excessive demands would naturally be much higher. But now the Emperor was still full of vigor and only a few years older than him, so making excessive demands would only incur the Emperor's wrath.
If they failed to reach a consensus in this negotiation, the relationship between the two families might be affected. That wasn't important; the key was whether there would be such an opportunity in the future for him to gain something from the Emperor.
Reason told him that the Electors were the cornerstones of the Empire and their status should not be shaken by the Emperor, but intuition gave him the opposite idea.
What if, in the future, the Emperor intended to alter Charles IV's golden bull, just as he had done in Hungary? Would the Electors then be able to defend their authority?
Whether to seize more interests in that uncertain future or to grasp the present and gain something from the Emperor, the shrewd Albrecht quickly had his answer.
"Your Majesty, I heard that the widow of your uncle, Albrecht VI, passed away recently, and the territories of Burgau and Roggenburg that you previously granted to her have been reclaimed. It seems you even established a March there?"
"Burgau again..."
Laszlo shook his head somewhat helplessly.
The Duke of Württemberg wants it, the Augsburg city government wants it, and the Elector of Bavaria also wants it. This Austrian territory surrounding the Free City of Augsburg and the Bishopric is undoubtedly a piece of succulent meat that makes people salivate. Whoever controls this place controls the lifeblood of the Free City of Augsburg and can easily penetrate and influence every aspect of Augsburg.
After Albrecht VI, who used to rule here, raised a rebellion and fell in battle, Laszlo had left these surrounding enclaves to his widow, but recently these territories returned to his hands upon his aunt's death.
According to the professional valuation of the Augsburg city government, this land is worth 44,192 florin. This precise price made Laszlo believe that they had indeed seriously surveyed and assessed the value of this land.
But the problem was, if he sold this land, how would he influence Augsburg in the future?
That place is Austria's external commercial center, the most developed and prosperous Free City in all of South German, and the two major wealthy merchants who cooperate most closely with Laszlo both come from there.
The Elector of Bavaria and the Duke of Württemberg were very envious of this and had repeatedly asked Laszlo for this enclave, and this time was no exception.
"If Burgau won't do, what about Regensburg?"
"You also plan to make a move on the Imperial Free Cities? Even if we are allies, I must warn you that the rights of the Free Cities must never be endangered, otherwise you will certainly face my sanctions," Laszlo said seriously with a frown.
"I didn't mean that... I meant the land around Regensburg, which is the Upper Palatinate, and Abensberg."
Albrecht quickly explained. He did indeed have some designs on the two famous Imperial Free Cities of Augsburg and Regensburg near Bavaria, but he had accidentally spoken his true thoughts just now, which made him feel a bit annoyed.
"The capital of the Upper Palatinate is still in the hands of the Elector Palatine, and the other lands are basically ruled by the Count of Palatinate-Nordgau. I have almost no Upper Palatinate territory in my hands.
As for the Abensberg you mentioned, I remember it is the territory of an Imperial Count. I could issue an imperial decree to transfer him to be your vassal... But do you really not intend to take back those lands like Kufstein and Rattenberg?"
Laszlo had intended to complete this transaction using a few pieces of poor land near the Tyrolean mountains that he had previously obtained from Bavaria.
However, seeing Albrecht's shrewd appearance, he feared that the man no longer looked highly upon those barren territories.
"Those lands are your spoils of war and no longer have anything to do with Bavaria. If you can truly transfer the Count of Abensberg to be my vassal, I will cast a vote for Prince Christopher."
""
""
Albrecht also knew when to stop; in his view, the current agreement was already the best possible result.
He did not choose to demand Austrian land, but instead chose to bring the last remaining direct imperial noble around the Free City of Regensburg under his command.
In this way, Regensburg would be completely surrounded by the Duchy of Bavaria, and afterward, he would have plenty of time to penetrate that famous Imperial Free City.
Since there was no direct loss of land, the Emperor's relationship with him would not deteriorate, and his engagement to Princess Helena would unlikely be affected.
Laszlo pondered for a while and decided that this was indeed a worthwhile transaction, so he quickly reached an agreement with the Elector of Bavaria.
As for the opinion of the Count of Abensberg? There are hundreds more counts like him in the Empire. They have collective voting rights in the Third Chamber according to regional divisions, but the Third Chamber itself has no decision-making power, so they only come to meetings to await the arrangements of the Empire's upper elite.
And among the few imperial powers Laszlo held, it just so happened that there was a provision for transferring a direct imperial vassal to another prince.
One more or one fewer direct imperial count actually had no great impact; moreover, the connection between this count and Laszlo was only established through the Imperial Register, and before this, there was absolutely no relationship.
According to the contents registered in the roster, the count needs to provide four knights and thirty infantrymen to the Empire during wartime. Laszlo believed he could easily fill such a manpower gap.
With such thoughts, Laszlo once again sold out the interests of the Empire without any burden... Could this be considered selling out? He couldn't quite figure it out for a moment, but it was certain that Austria could profit from it, so in that light, it probably was a sell-out.
Anyway, he had done this kind of thing so many times that he was quite practiced at it and felt no psychological burden.
After settling Christopher's matter, Laszlo learned from Clement that the Burgundian representative requested to preside over the College of Secular Princes.
This gave him a whole new understanding of how much the Burgundians cared about saving face.
Charles is still facing off against Louis XI at the Somme River, yet his representative dares to delay the discussion and passage of imperial war resolutions in the rear due to seating issues.
One wonders what Charles, far away at the front lines, would think upon hearing of this.
According to Laszlo's estimation, he would probably think his representative did a good job?
War is urgent, but establishing the special status of the Kingdom of Burgundy in the first Imperial Diet after Burgundy joined the Empire seems even more important?
Unable to understand and having no other choice, Laszlo had to personally convene the College of Secular Princes early the next morning to put an end to this argument.
The Austrian representative remained the chair of the College of Secular Princes, while the Kingdom of Burgundy's position was moved to the top of the college, pushing down the Kingdom of Denmark.
One is one of the four legitimate kingdoms within the Empire, and the other is an external power occupying imperial territory; for Laszlo, there was no factor worth hesitating over regarding how to arrange the seating.
Although the Danish envoy was still unwilling, he had to accept the Emperor's ruling, and the Burgundians were also temporarily satisfied with this arrangement.
Thus, on the second day of the conference, the secular princes finally began to seriously discuss the issue of the imperial war.
Having resolved the farce, Laszlo then immediately convened the Electoral College, and under the astonished gazes of the other three Electors, he gathered four votes, firmly placing the title of King of the Romans on Christopher's head.