Charles's expectations were ultimately not met.
Times had changed. The Emperor was paying more and more attention to Imperial affairs, and was becoming more prudent, viewing the reform and integration of the Empire as an important goal.
For this reason, Laszlo no longer prioritized Austria's interests when conducting transactions related to Imperial interests, unlike in the past.
Given their alliance and the fait accompli, Laszlo ultimately accepted 60,000 florins to confirm the inheritance agreement for the Duke of Guelders title.
Regarding this land transfer, the situation was actually far more complex than imagined. Fortunately, Charles's father, Philip, had already made arrangements for these matters before his death, which significantly reduced the pressure on Laszlo.
Decades ago, Reynald, the last Duke of Guelders, died without an heir. The Duchy was inherited by Adolf II of the Jülich-Berg Family through marriage. However, when Adolf went to receive his enfeoffment from Emperor Sigismund, Arnold, a branch member of the Guelders Family, raised an army and usurped the Duchy's territory.
In the subsequent war, Arnold even defeated Adolf, the Emperor-recognized heir to the Duchy, multiple times despite being under an Imperial ban.
Ultimately, Adolf II, who failed to reclaim Guelders, died without an heir. By this time, it was already the era of Albrecht II.
His handling of the matter was much more flexible. First, he collected a sum of money from Duke Arnold, lifted the Imperial ban, and tacitly approved Arnold's rule over Guelders.
Then, the Emperor collected another sum of money from Duke Gerhard of Jülich-Berg, selling him the claim to the title of Duke of Guelders. For a long time thereafter, Duke Gerhard's documents referred to him as Duke of Jülich-Berg-Guelders.
Albrecht II took these two sums of money and immediately invested them in the war against the Ottomans.
Arnold and Gerhard, meanwhile, fought intermittently for seven years. The result was that Gerhard not only failed to take Guelders but was also pushed back by Arnold, suffering heavy losses and reluctantly abandoning his ambition to annex Guelders.
It was at this point that Philip III, who was extremely adept at seizing opportunities, intervened, buying the claim to the Guelders title from Duke Gerhard for a hefty sum—a transaction document that had been confirmed by the Emperor many years prior.
Later, a civil war broke out in Guelders between father and son. Charles led his army to exploit the weakness, forcing Duke Arnold, who had dominated his entire life, to submit and agree to hand over the Duchy to Charles after his death.
Therefore, the Burgundians actually obtained all claims to Guelders from Arnold, Gerhard, and the Empire simultaneously. Consequently, Charles's transaction to inherit the title of Duke of Guelders followed all proper procedures and did not cause much controversy.
Gerhard VII, the Duke of Jülich-Berg who had transacted with Philip years ago, was the current Governor of Westphalia. He himself could not deny the legality and reasonableness of this transaction.
And the Count of Cleves, who held considerable influence in the Westphalian region, was Charles's cousin and had always been part of the pro-Burgundian faction within the Empire.
Philip's meticulous planning for Westphalia made Laszlo sigh with admiration.
Such was the master diplomat; even years after his death, his legacy could help his son Charles remove obstacles to territorial expansion, and also allow Laszlo to avoid questioning from the Imperial Princes, stamping the inheritance agreement with a light heart.
However, on another matter, namely the issue of granting Charles an Elector seat, a dispute arose between Laszlo and Charles.
As one of only two territorial kings within the Empire, Charles dreamed of becoming an Elector. After resolving the threat from France, his ambition to expand his power also began to swell.
But Laszlo was now busily preparing to weaken the power of the Electors, even beginning to plan to curtail and restrict the authority of the Electoral College, and intending to weaken the many independent privileges enjoyed by Electors and Imperial Princes through the promulgation of a new Imperial constitutional decree.
For Charles to want to become an Elector at this time, wouldn't that be walking right into a trap?
"Are you saying that even 200,000 florins are not enough to buy a seat that should rightfully be mine?"
Charles's anxious voice echoed in the audience chamber.
"It's not about the money, Charles," Laszlo sighed helplessly. "As King of Burgundy, the privileges you enjoy are already on par with, and in some aspects even surpass, those of an Elector. I specially authorized you to establish the Mechelen Court as the supreme court within the Kingdom of Burgundy; isn't that enough?"
"That was in exchange for three times the Imperial taxes of other Imperial Princes."
Charles didn't buy it. On this matter, he even felt he was the one at a disadvantage.
Moreover, was he concerned about the rights that Electors held within their territories? Clearly not, because he and his father had possessed those rights ever since the Treaty of Arras was signed in 1435, when Burgundy separated from France.
What truly attracted him was the Electoral College's extremely high right to speak and its unique right to elect the Emperor.
In the tradition of the Kingdom of France, the Capetian Family had long ago replaced the elective monarchy with hereditary succession, while the Empire, due to the continuous regression of centralization, saw the Elector system become increasingly stable, almost unshakeable to this day, which greatly moved Charles.
Laszlo glanced at Christopher and Mary, the young couple sitting beside him, not daring to interject, and felt a bit conflicted.
If Christopher could truly inherit Burgundy, granting this Elector seat would be beneficial in the long run.
However, Laszlo had already sounded the trumpet for war against the Electors. If Charles were also to join the Electoral College, Burgundy would undoubtedly immediately become a huge obstacle to the integration of the Empire.
Even if Charles had no intention of opposing the Emperor, the Electors would find ways to instigate him to uphold the Electors' authority.
As the saying goes, where you sit determines what you see. At that point, even if Laszlo and Charles did not wish for a rupture, conflict would still occur.
Although a blunder like opposing the Emperor was unlikely to happen, it would ultimately have an extremely detrimental effect on their relationship.
Therefore, Laszlo could only refuse Charles's request for now.
To exclude Burgundy from Imperial reform, he had specifically granted Burgundy a great deal of autonomy, but he hadn't expected Charles, this simpleton, to still want to plunge headfirst into the Empire.
The waters here were too deep. Laszlo could tell at a glance that Charles couldn't handle it, but Charles clearly lacked such self-awareness.
"The seats of the Electors are determined by the golden bull, based on the kingdoms within the Empire and the German tribes, and are not suitable for arbitrary change."
Although that was said, in the period from the establishment of the Electoral College to the promulgation of the golden bull, the basic principles of the four tribes and four kingdoms had actually become blurred.
The three Archbishops served as Chancellors of the three kingdoms of Germany, Burgundy, and Italy respectively, and this did not cause much controversy.
Among the four germanic tribes, the Duke of Saxony continued to hold his position, the rights of the Duke of Swabia were transferred to the Margrave of Brandenburg, and the rights of the two Dukes of Franconia and Bavaria were both controlled by the Wittelsbach Family.
Later, Charles IV, in order to eliminate the threat of the Wittelsbach Family, assigned the rights of the Duke of Franconia to the Elector Palatine and stripped the rights of the Duke of Bavaria, transferring them to the excluded Kingdom of Bohemia.
The Habsburg Family of Austria, originally the second strongest power in the Empire, was completely excluded from this power game, forced to forge the Privilegium Maius to vent their dissatisfaction.
After that, the rights of the Palatinate were again stripped by Laszlo and returned to Bavaria.
The transfer of Elector rights was directly linked to political objectives, and the outcome depended entirely on the will of those in power.
Didn't the Austrians also jump around anxiously back then? Unfortunately, they ultimately missed out on the highest echelons of Imperial power, so it's not surprising that Charles was excluded, is it?
"But I remember that the Elector's seat was changed a few years ago, and I am only asking for equal privileges to your title as King of Bohemia. That's not too much, is it?
Just like the previous transfer of an Elector title, it would only require transferring the Elector seat of the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Burgundy, which is the Archbishop of Trier, to me."
Charles once again displayed astonishing wisdom, causing Laszlo to widen his eyes in surprise.
Charles likely hadn't revealed such thoughts to the Archbishop of Trier yet; otherwise, that archbishop could not possibly have maintained the current intimately ambiguous political alliance with Charles.
Just what did Charles think of his allies? Laszlo felt somewhat worried about this, but his stance remained unshaken.
"Doing this will inevitably affect the stability of the Empire, and such a major matter is not something I can decide alone. In the end, it must be discussed at the Imperial Diet.
I believe it would be best for you to temporarily abandon this idea. Burgundy's annexation of Gelre has already touched the bottom line of many Imperial Princes. I do not wish to continue provoking them at this time, and you should also understand my difficulties."
The Emperor's tone gradually became serious. Charles frowned, and the expression on his face turned somewhat gloomy.
This familiar evasion was something he hadn't heard from the Emperor's mouth for a long time. The last time Laszlo's attitude had been so firm was when their father and son had occupied Liège and Utrecht and forced Gelre to submit.
That time, Laszlo had been truly angry, but considering that Austria and Burgundy had to face the Ottomans and France on two separate fronts, the conflict did not fully erupt.
Later, the marriage between the two families, Charles's coronation, and the war against France brought the alliance into another honeymoon period.
Unfortunately, this time Charles's insatiable demand completely touched Laszlo's sensitive nerves, causing the atmosphere on the scene to immediately become tense.
Mary looked at her father with some concern and then quietly poked Christopher.
The newly crowned King of the Romans opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say a single word.
One was his father, the other his father-in-law—the two most powerful figures in the Empire. He currently ruled parts of Burgundy and Austria and might inherit all the territories of both sides in the future. At this moment, he could only shiver in the middle.
"Very well, Emperor. I hope that one day I can obtain power commensurate with my status. Please do not fail my expectations."
Even though he was unwilling, Charles was not so mad as to clash head-on with the Emperor to the bitter end.
Setting aside the military might of Hungary and the Eastern Empire occupying the Balkans, Burgundy might not even be able to handle the Austria-Bohemia-Milan combine within the Empire.
Moreover, the two sides had maintained an alliance for many years, and Burgundy had gained countless benefits.
If he fell out with the Emperor, the Emperor would definitely force him to spit out everything he had swallowed in the Empire in the past. As an ally, Charles knew Laszlo's methods better than anyone.
Glancing again at his daughter and son-in-law sitting next to the Emperor, Charles chose to back down.
Currently, his second wife's belly still showed no signs of movement. If he worked himself to death like this, it might all end up as a dowry for that brat Christopher, and the Emperor might even secretly mock him then.
Thinking of this, Charles suddenly felt it was all quite meaningless, so he took his leave of Laszlo and left the audience hall.
Charles's departure allowed Laszlo to breathe a small sigh of relief. He had been somewhat worried that a reckless man like Charles would persist, making it impossible for everyone to save face.
Fortunately, Charles knew some restraint. It wasn't in vain that Laszlo had placed Mary here to remind Charles that his heir was already a member of the imperial family.
"Your Majesty, my father..."
"His request is reasonable, but unfortunately ill-timed. Rest assured, the alliance between Austria and Burgundy will not be affected by this."
Laszlo gently smoothed over the worried emotions of Mary and Christopher.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Mary rose and bowed to Laszlo.
Laszlo simply nodded and said no more.
Soon, attendants brought two envoys before Laszlo's throne: the envoys from Cologne and Lübeck.
Seeing their flushed faces, it was likely that some unpleasantness had already occurred outside. Before the Emperor, however, the two became much more restrained.
Regarding the trade dispute in England, both sides held their own views. Cologne claimed that Lübeck was deliberately suppressing them, while Lübeck believed Cologne had broken the rules of the Hanseatic League.
As they spoke, the two began to argue again, only quieting down after being reprimanded by Laszlo.
Subsequently, Laszlo ordered Lübeck to allow Cologne to participate in the Hanseatic League assembly in Utrecht next April and announced that his envoy would mediate the conflict between the two sides at the assembly.
Before that, considering the dispute that had erupted between Cologne and the Archbishop of Cologne, Laszlo published an imperial document declaring comprehensive protection for the Free City of Cologne.
Until the Hanseatic League readmitted Cologne, Cologne's trade privileges within the Empire would be guaranteed by the Emperor.
Furthermore, centered on the Chapter of Cologne Cathedral, an alliance consisting of numerous Cologne fief-holding nobles, knights, cities, and monastic lands resisting the Archbishop of Cologne was officially taken under the Emperor's protection.
The executor of this resolution was the Governor of the Upper Rhine, Landgrave Henry of Hesse, who would serve as the protector of the Cologne Chapter's camp and provide them with assistance.
There was also a secret agreement between Laszlo and Henry: after the fall of Archbishop Ruprecht of Cologne, the Emperor would nominate the court advisor, Chief Justice of the Cologne Imperial Court of Justice, and Henry's younger brother Hermann to succeed as Archbishop and Elector.
Though the representative of Lübeck intended to dissuade the Emperor's resolution, he ultimately did not oppose it.
Because its authority was repeatedly challenged, Lübeck was currently mired in trade disputes with the cities of Rostock and Wismar in the Duchy of Mecklenburg; this case was also currently being mediated by the Emperor.
In order not to be at a disadvantage in the dispute, the representative of Lübeck did not dare to defy the Emperor's decision.
The representative of Cologne immediately expressed loyalty and gratitude to the Emperor. Although the help provided by the Emperor was achieved through the method of using one force against another, it was undeniable that the new decree provided Cologne with a powerful ally.
After the representatives of the two cities left, the new decree quickly spread among the Imperial Estates that had not yet left Aachen, accompanied by the Emperor's promise to "mediate the conflict between Cologne and the Archbishop of Cologne."
This move directly triggered a huge controversy among the Imperial Estates.
The Emperor claimed to be mediating, but what he actually did was escalate the conflict directly to the brink of war; yet, no one dared to stand up and criticize him.
Some princes had already sensed the Emperor's intentions and the seriousness of the matter.
More than two hundred years ago, two decrees issued by Frederick II favoring the ecclesiastical and secular princes had directly cut off the Emperor's interference in the territories of the various states at the root.
While limiting the Emperor's judicial jurisdiction, they also restricted the Emperor from building fortresses in the princes' territories and prohibited the Emperor from directly taxing those territories.
After the decrees were issued, there was still a chance for the original imperial power of the Empire to be recovered, but the subsequent Great Interregnum directly caused the process of territorialization of the various states to advance rapidly.
By the time the golden bull was issued, the territorialization of the states was a foregone conclusion. After another hundred-plus years of development, the Electors and princes at the top now intended to touch the authority in their territories that only an Emperor should possess, becoming powerful monarchs attached to the empty shell of the Empire.
Although the emergence of the Imperial Diet bypassed the restrictions of feudal law, allowing the Emperor to continue exercising judicial jurisdiction and taxing power within the Empire, these rights were fragmented and subject to great restrictions.
Clearly, the Emperor, who held absolute power, was not satisfied with this. He was looking for an opportunity to reclaim the supreme right of adjudication that originally belonged to the Emperor, and might even want to go a step further and reverse the territorialization of the states.
And the first target he chose to strike was the Archbishop of Cologne, with whom he had an old grudge.
This was undoubtedly a display of imperial authority and a test of the princes' bottom line.
For a time, the Imperial Princes staying in Aachen became anxious, everyone waiting for the final outcome of this dispute.