After a brief preparation, Laszlo and Joanna visited the Innsbruck poorhouse together, comforting the people receiving care there.
Whether sincere or not, everyone expressed reverence and love for the Emperor, which greatly pleased Laszlo.
After that, he gifted a royal estate near Innsbruck and several houses in the city to the poorhouse.
At the subsequent Estates meeting in Tyrol, Laszlo still managed to temporarily appease the dissatisfaction of the Tyrolean representatives.
Relations between the two sides temporarily eased due to the establishment of the poorhouse and the Emperor's vague promises. This situation would likely continue until the next war broke out, at which point the Tyroleans would have the opportunity to verify whether the Emperor had deceived them.
Historically, the confrontation between Tyrol and Carinthia and the central government continued until the latter half of the 18th century, with the core of their struggle being the perennial problems of taxation and conscription.
It wasn't until Napoleon forced the Habsburg Family to cede Tyrol to Bavaria that the local people's patriotism was fully ignited. Unfortunately, they were powerless against Napoleon and the tens of thousands of victorious French troops.
After the Napoleonic Wars, Outer Austria and Swabia were completely lost, and only a large portion of Tyrol was recovered. However, the local people's identification with the Habsburg Family was strengthened.
Laszlo was unsure when he would be able to eliminate the strong localism in western Austria. After all, Tyrol, located in the heart of the Alps, naturally isolated itself from the wider world outside. Trying to integrate it into a larger collective through various means was undoubtedly a difficult endeavor.
But he would not give up, as Tyrol's continuous output of iron, copper, and silver was an important pillar for maintaining Austria's finances and national strength.
Especially in recent years, after Saxony's advanced mine construction techniques and silver-copper separation technology were introduced to Austria, the output of various minerals, especially silver, has continued to increase significantly.
Due to the astonishing proven reserves of silver and copper in Tyrol, a large number of miners from German regions were attracted here, with most of the rest going to Kutná Hora in Bohemia.
The influx of professional miners led to the spread of innovative technologies secretly developed by the Elector of Saxony's engineers to the southeastern part of the Empire, and even further east into Hungary.
This process sounds easy, but in reality, it took more than ten years for the technology to spread from North German to South German, even with the combined efforts of Laszlo and the Fugger Family. Natural dissemination would likely take even longer.
It's quite peculiar, actually. Miners in Austria and Bohemia, with their extremely rich silver reserves, failed to achieve technological breakthroughs first. Instead, miners in the Electorate of Saxony, with fewer silver reserves but an immense thirst for wealth, developed new technologies, continuously increasing the Elector of Saxony's wealth and power.
As for the Kingdom of Hungary further east, before Laszlo systematically introduced German miners, its mining and refining technology lagged behind the Empire by several decades, which was quite an eyesore.
Of course, they couldn't be blamed, as even with such backward technology, Hungary's gold production still surpassed all of Europe.
A hundred years ago, the Kremnica Mint could produce 500,000 florin gold coins annually at its peak. Today, this number has reached an average of nearly 800,000 gold coins per year.
The seigniorage and royal mining shares alone were enough to make Laszlo's hands soft. Good natural conditions truly allowed one to do as they pleased.
However, with the introduction of new technologies painstakingly developed by Saxon engineers, the mining output of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and Serbia is now flourishing even more.
Perhaps, once the new mine construction and refining techniques are popularized in the many major mining nations under Laszlo's rule, there will be no more insurmountable obstacles on his path forward.
However, such thoughts were merely for momentary satisfaction. Laszlo was not so naive as to truly rely on gold and silver to support an empire.
Historically, Spain, with American gold and silver exceeding the capacity of the European market, built the invincible armada and the Spanish Tercios that swept across the continent. It was truly strong, but ultimately, endless total war led to economic collapse, plunging it into an abyss of no return.
Laszlo felt he was already halfway down Spain's old path. Fortunately, although he possessed many precious metal mines, they did not completely overwhelm the output of other industries like handicrafts. Instead, the stable gold and silver production stabilized Austria's market, benefiting both commerce and handicrafts.
This was accompanied by a slight price increase and inflation, as well as a trend of counterfeiting currency throughout the South German region. Fortunately, these problems did not cause too much impact.
Now, Austria is enjoying significant dividends from the Tyrolean mines, not only stable and popular gold and silver coins for all Imperial merchants, but also large quantities of high-quality iron ore and copper-rich ore that support the metallurgy and forging industries.
It's not just Tyrol; a new iron mine was recently discovered in eastern Styria. Based on the collected samples, it can be roughly determined that this mine is rich not only in copper but also in lead and silver, which directly sparked a boom in Graz, the capital of Styria, where metallurgy and forging are dominant industries.
In the foreseeable future, the prices of various armaments, including cannons, produced by the Graz Armory, the Empire's largest arsenal, will decrease.
Of course, the production of agricultural implements, such as iron farm tools and heavy plows, will also benefit, allowing farmers to purchase suitable tools at lower prices.
This is probably what is meant by 'living off the land'.
Whenever Laszlo thought of these things, his resentment towards Austria's poor terrain gradually dissipated.
In the fertile Vienna Basin, the soil is rich loess and alluvial soil, currently capable of supporting its population.
Meanwhile, in the mountainous regions, which make up two-thirds of the country, various rich mineral deposits are constantly emerging, making Austria a central player in Central European metallurgy.
Compared to the textile exports that other countries with developed handicrafts and prosperous commerce focus on, Austria's armaments and other metal products hold a greater advantage and are extremely competitive.
Armor, swords, and even firearms crafted by the Empire's skilled artisans not only supply the Imperial Army but are also exported overseas, earning praise from muslims.
Recently, Laszlo has also been trying to connect with the Mamluk Sultan through Venetian contacts, planning to sell some outdated firearms and cannons via this route to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Egyptian infidels.
Although this was undoubtedly an act of aiding the enemy, to counter the threat posed by the Aq Qoyunlu, Laszlo could only resort to this simple and crude old method.
His past success in cooperating with the Karamanids created a path dependency. Anyway, the armaments sold would be used for infighting among infidels, and he and his partners could profit from it, making it a win-win—he wins twice.
After a brief visit to the mining town of Schwaz, Laszlo and his touring party soon set off westward. After a rugged mountain journey, they finally arrived in Constance in mid-June.
This famous city, once almost absorbed into the Swiss Confederation, now presented a very fragmented picture.
In the old town south of the Rhine River, the citizens' small council broke away from Constance and pledged allegiance to the Emperor.
In the new town on the north bank, the city council controlled most of the city, but the northern part of the city and Meersburg, across Lake Constance from the northern district, were the Bishop of Constance's territory.
The Emperor, the Bishop, and the citizens divided the city into three, and the entire Swabia regional council was also located here, making it a complete mess.
Despite the chaos, the city's conflicts were not too sharp—ever since the last Constance citizen uprising scared the bishop into fleeing by boat to Meersburg overnight for refuge, the bishop gradually stopped visiting the city in person, and his interference in municipal affairs significantly decreased.
This way, everyone managed their own affairs, and things were barely passable.
However, with the Emperor present, not only all of Constance but also the numerous Swabian Imperial Estates summoned would have to follow the Emperor's arrangements.
Due to lack of heirs, territorial transactions, and other reasons, the number of Swabian Imperial Estates had slightly decreased. The Swabian Knights' League and the Imperial Free Cities each sent representatives to meet the Emperor, while the Princes, Counts, and high-ranking clergy tried to attend the regional conference convened by the Emperor in person.
A significant portion of them would then travel with the Emperor to Aachen to attend the coronation of Prince Christopher as King of the Romans.
In the past, such a celebration would not have interested the Imperial Princes, but now, being invited to the coronation was a valuable honor, especially for the Imperial Estates of Swabia.
As the only region within the Empire whose territory was intertwined with Austria's, the various Estates of Swabia had never been able to escape the influence of the Habsburg Family.
During the century of dormancy after losing the struggle for the imperial throne against the Wittelsbach Family and the Luxembourg Family, the Habsburg Family successively encroached upon Alsace, Breisgau, and numerous imperial territories in Swabia.
Most of these territories came from exchanges of interests and compromises between the family and the then-Emperor, which ultimately led to Austria's current territories permeating Swabia like a sieve.
And Laszlo's trip here was to reorganize the territories of Swabia.
(Purple for Austria, blue for Free Cities, green for secular and religious Imperial Estates)
Previously, when the regions were divided, the numerous enclaves of the Archduchy of Austria located in Swabia were ultimately assigned to the Austrian Imperial Circle, thereby escaping imperial and regional obligations and losing their voting rights in the area.
Later, Laszlo successively purchased and inherited some territories that originally belonged to Swabia, and these lands were automatically incorporated into the Austrian region.
Initially, such methods indeed greatly strengthened the integration trend of Austrian territories at the imperial level, but they also gradually caused him to lose direct control over Swabia.
To reverse Austria's maverick approach within the Empire, Laszlo decided not to use his status as Emperor to exempt Austria from imperial obligations.
On the contrary, Austria and Bohemia should serve as examples for the Imperial States—to this end, these Austrian enclaves would all be integrated into the Swabian Imperial Circle in the next Imperial reform.
Correspondingly, the inter-regional territories of other Imperial Princes would also be re-divided according to local conditions.
The old method of controlling the Swabian Princes through the informal Swabian League was no longer viable, so Laszlo decided to make a big move.
The first step in integrating the Empire would begin with controlling Swabia.
After a day of meetings, the various Estates of Swabia reacted differently to the Emperor's resolutions.
The Bishops of Constance and Augsburg, as well as other high-ranking clergy, didn't seem to feel much, or rather, they hardly dared to oppose the Emperor's decisions.
Just before the expedition to France, the Emperor commissioned Imperial Chancellor Bishop John of Augsburg to thoroughly investigate cases of clerical overreach in Swabia and Bavaria, resulting in over a hundred church officials being interrogated and punished, with Rome showing no reaction.
This directly led the clergy of Swabia and Bavaria to submit to the Emperor.
Moreover, the 'Imperial Nomination Bull' announced by the Holy See a while ago deepened their fear of the Emperor.
Now, if a vacancy appeared in their holy office, the Emperor could directly appoint someone to replace them. If they angered the Emperor and some dirt was dug up, they could forget about working until retirement.
Unlike the various Estates of the Church who had already resigned themselves, the Knights' League strongly supported the Emperor's decision. The Imperial Knights were not particularly keen on the regions; what they truly cared about was the Emperor's protection.
Once Austrian territories were integrated into Swabia, it would no longer be difficult for them to cling to the Emperor's patronage to maintain their ancient rights and resist the annexation by major Imperial Princes.
Conversely, the Swabian Imperial Princes, especially the Duke of Baden and the Duke of Württemberg, who had close ties with the Emperor, looked rather displeased upon leaving the assembly hall.
Originally, the Emperor confined himself to the Austrian region, acting as a quiet behemoth, and everyone lived in peace. There was no problem.
But what did it mean to force Austrian lands into Swabia now? Just because these lands were in Swabia, did the Emperor want to gain representation and voting rights in Swabia?
Would he next appoint Austrians as governors of Swabia, eventually turning Swabia into an Austrian vassal territory?
Such doubts plagued the secular Imperial Princes of Swabia.
Even though the Emperor promised that the Austrian territories would fulfill regional and imperial obligations just like them, the impending drastic changes made it difficult for many to accept at once.
Even before becoming Emperor, members of the Habsburg Family were adept at encroaching upon imperial direct territories, from Imperial Knights to Imperial Counts, and even some unsupervised villages and towns were brought under their rule.
Now, the Emperor's power held an overwhelming advantage throughout the Empire. Even if the Emperor devoured Swabia, probably no one would dare to say anything.
For a time, thick dark clouds shrouded the sky of Swabia, and some had already pessimistically foreseen a future where the Emperor would single-handedly dominate Swabia.