"Your Majesty, the contents of this agreement are vastly different from what you promised years ago. You are destroying Bohemia's ancient political traditions!"
Lestovitz, the designated envoy of the Bohemian Diet, was currently confronting the Emperor anxiously in the palace audience hall.
More than ten years ago, it was he who had rushed from Prague to Vienna overnight to announce to the people that the Bohemian Diet recognized Laszlo as the King of Bohemia.
At that time, he was still serving under Ulrich von Rosenberg, the Lord of Rose Castle, and had never imagined that Bohemia would end up in its current state.
Had they known things would turn out like this, they would never have chosen the ambitious scion of the Habsburg Family as their king.
Laszlo raised his hand to signal the envoy to remain calm, then explained unhurriedly, "This agreement is not intended to strip the Bohemian Diet of all its power, but rather to integrate and allocate existing resources so that the country can develop better."
"As the most prosperous region under my rule, Bohemia has long been far from the political core. This is not conducive to the long-term development of Austria and Bohemia, which is why I have decided to make this change."
"Bohemia's local diets still retain the right to consent to taxation, but the annual tributes collected from the regions need to be allocated reasonably."
"As long as this agreement is signed, the expenses of the Bohemian Army will henceforth be fully borne by the Vienna government, the military will be subject to constraints, and Bohemians will have the right to participate in Vienna's political affairs."
It sounded tempting, but the envoy quickly saw through the Emperor's true intentions.
Over the past decade or so, despite various internal and external limitations, the Emperor had persistently expanded his territory.
Most of these newly conquered lands would not bring much benefit to Austria for ten years or even longer, and might even yield negative returns.
However, the Emperor's authority reflected by the new territories and the massive growth of the Habsburg Family's international influence were obvious to all.
During the decade or so of gritting his teeth to maintain confederal rule, the Emperor had relentlessly established monarchical authority across all territories, set up new dynastic institutions, and continuously strengthened central control over old institutions.
The governor's offices, which originally belonged to the various duchies under the rule of the Archduke of Austria, were gradually transformed into local agencies managing regional royal domains and overseeing regional affairs, establishing strong direct links with the new Vienna government.
As the Emperor's authority grew, the various regional estates that had originally dominated each area were also re-divided according to the Emperor's wishes. Several Austrian states were born based on the old ducal boundaries, and the power of the reorganized estates in each state was greatly weakened.
With the establishment of the All-Austrian Estates, a supreme council covering all of Austria broke the previous situation of separate rule by the duchies, providing the foundation for Austria to implement unified currency, cultural, economic, and military policies.
Clearly, this was just a small test for the Emperor. His true goal was likely to one day build a supreme council over all Habsburg territories to better extract resources from the vassal states to support Austria, with the Kingdom of Bohemia being the first victim of this plan.
Even though the population, economic strength, and level of development of both Bohemia and Hungary exceeded those of Austria, they were now facing the fate of being annexed by a smaller state. How could the Bohemians accept this?
"You split the Kingdom of Bohemia into three before; you were preparing for this moment, weren't you? The Kingdom's Court Chancellery, composed of representatives from Bohemia and the two outer provinces, was demoted by you to the Department of Bohemian Affairs. Now that the Bohemian state is being annexed, the Kingdom will cease to exist. Your calculations are truly shrewd."
Lestovitz's expression was complex, and at this moment, he didn't care about being offensive. He only hoped the Emperor could understand the Bohemians' love for independence and freedom; making them bow their heads would not be so easy.
Laszlo raised an eyebrow and stared at the seemingly gutsy Bohemian envoy, not speaking to refute his words.
If there was one area where the Habsburg Monarchy had an advantage compared to France, it was regional fragmentation.
Unlike the fragmented interest groups in France that could form a League of Public Weal from time to time, even winning over lower-level nobles and ultimately subverting the kingdom's regime, the fragmentation in the various lands under Habsburg rule was literal.
Starting from Austria as the core, the various vassal states were all separate powers waiting to be integrated, and there was essentially no political connection between vassal states like Bohemia and Hungary, which meant that the local powers in each place were not interconnected.
The local nobles of the various vassal states also could not form interest groups strong enough to threaten the foundation of the rule through lineage or shared interests, as they might in a traditional monarchy.
This gave Laszlo the opportunity to divide and conquer them one by one, using pilot-style partial reforms to gradually encroach upon territories outside of Austria, transforming lands inherited through lucky marriages into parts of Austria.
In terms of power alone, the central government in Vienna, which had the right to mobilize resources from the vassal states within certain limits, could undoubtedly crush isolated local forces. Consequently, local diets lacked the ability to bargain with the central government.
If the central government went too far, the local forces still had the option of rebellion. Laszlo did not intend to have another Conquest of Bohemia, so he chose to use slightly gentler means.
It was very clear from the composition of Bohemia's local military, government agencies, and the Austrian government agencies that, at this stage, maintaining rule over the region was impossible without the nobles and clergy who held actual power at the grassroots level.
The Habsburg Monarchy was essentially still built on the sharing of power between the monarch and the estates.
Under such a structure, it was necessary to make some concessions and compromises, but unfortunately, the Bohemians didn't seem very appreciative.
"I have said it before: everything is for the future development of Bohemia. Taking a step back, don't forget the foundation on which the Bohemian local diets exist today."
Laszlo's words immediately exposed the awkward current situation of the Bohemian local diets, causing the envoy's firm stance to soften significantly.
Since the suppression of the first Hussite Uprising, the Bohemian Diet, composed of a coalition of the Cup faction and Catholic nobles and excluding the clergy, no longer enjoyed the trust and support of the Bohemian people.
After the second suppression of the Hussites, the Cup faction was purged, the Catholic nobles regained control of the Diet, and the clergy and burgher classes were introduced into the Diet according to the Austrian system to form the four estates.
Because the influence of Huss had never left Bohemian soil, and the secretly roaming Bohemian Brotherhood had still not been completely wiped out, many people simultaneously harbored a dislike for the Catholic faith and a distrust of the remaining Hussites. This led to the isolation of the Bohemian Diet within society.
Even though fifty years had passed, many Bohemians still missed Master Huss. Even Laszlo could not reverse the persistence of this spiritual legacy.
For these reasons, those Bohemian nobles could no longer rouse the people's revolutionary enthusiasm to support their rebellion.
Furthermore, the Bohemian Army was still stationed in Prague, watching like a tiger. Any spark of resistance would likely be extinguished as soon as it appeared.
The Emperor did not fear the threats of local forces, but if the positions were reversed, the situation would be quite different.
The Emperor possessed great power. Having an army meant he could levy taxes directly without the Diet's consent. If this led to a rebellion, the Emperor could use the opportunity to reshuffle the deck.
Although it sounded crazy, the Bohemian nobles had not forgotten the fate of the Hunyadi Family and the crop after crop of rebelling Hungarian leeks... the fate of the Hungarian nobles. The Emperor had never feared military confrontation with nobles who refused to obey.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider. The Kingdom of Bohemia and the Archduchy of Austria should be ruled by two equal governments. What you are doing is a violation of the liberties of the Bohemian Crown as stipulated in the golden bull."
"Bohemia's freedom bred the Hussites, which ultimately brought profound disaster to the Empire."
"Years ago, my father formed an alliance with my grandfather, Emperor Sigismund, and fought desperately in the five Hussite Crusades. Later, I led the elites of Austria and Hungary to completely wipe out the Cup faction rebels, returning Bohemia to the orthodox faith."
"Does Bohemia, which repeatedly sought help from Austria and Hungary, still expect to retain its rights to freedom?"
"The estates of Moravia and Silesia have already accepted the terms I proposed; they don't seem to care much about the liberties of the crown you speak of."
"Furthermore, the crown of Bohemia belongs to me. You only enjoy protection and privileges under my rule. I hope you do not forget this."
Laszlo's words left Lestovitz completely speechless.
Indeed, Bohemia proper plus the two outer provinces of Moravia and Silesia constituted the complete Kingdom of Bohemia. Unfortunately, the other two states besides Bohemia proper had very submissively accepted the control of the Vienna government.
Even in Bohemia proper, the Austrian and Hungarian military nobles selected by the Emperor were not necessarily of the same mind as the local faction.
As long as the Emperor compensated them slightly for their losses, those people would likely immediately switch sides and become loyal royalists.
"Fine, but the Bohemian Estates I represent still hope to retain the right to apportion and levy taxes. You only need to specify how much tribute you wish to receive from the land of Bohemia, and we will provide it in full according to the agreement."
"Then, the taxes you collect must be subject to the supervision and audit of the Court Chamber. Any taxation that violates the law will be prohibited."
"Your Majesty, this..."
"Or do you intend to welcome the Royal Tax Officials who will enter Prague with the army?"
"No, Bohemia can no longer endure another brutal war! I will take your decree back to Bohemia, and Prague will provide an answer as soon as possible."
"I will send my advisor with you to Prague. If you reach a conclusion after your discussions, sign the agreement I have provided and act according to the new rules."
The envoy of the Bohemian Diet left, and Laszlo's tense face finally relaxed a bit.
After a long while, he let out a sigh of relief.
He had done plenty of things like exerting political pressure on the estates.
But exerting pressure outside of the relatively submissive Austrian estates was a gamble for Laszlo.
Of course, the Bohemian nobility and church forces had been crippled long ago during the years of the Hussite Wars and could not escape their military and political dependence on him. This was also an important reason why Laszlo dared to play this way.
In fact, merging into Austria would not have a major impact on the lives of the Bohemians.
Austria's taxation and administrative powers were confirmed through agreements signed with the estates of each state, and these agreements also stipulated a series of special rights for each state's estates.
Although Laszlo still intended to establish a completely unified system in Austria, completely abolish all agreements, regulations, privileges, and exemptions established with the estates of each state, and ultimately abolish all estates to achieve true absolutism, it was impossible.
Austria's deep representative tradition meant that although the Archduke had the advantage in most cases, he could not monopolize all power, even with the help of a bureaucratic system.
Moreover, Bohemia had experienced a long interregnum of several decades after the death of Wenceslaus, and the influence of local diets had long since penetrated every corner. They could actually integrate quite smoothly into the Austrian system—a collection of many small local diets under one supreme council. The key was whether they could accept the jurisdiction and control of Vienna.
In Austria and Bohemia, the balance of power between the estates and the royal government had begun to tilt. The central government was starting to hold more and more power, and the Emperor's arbitrary rule became easier.
In Hungary, where the representative tradition was also deep and the system even more complete, the extreme aristocratic decentralization based on medieval laws and institutions was once even considered impossible to eliminate.
The reason was that Hungary's estate rights were not actively shared by the monarch; rather, the nobles had hanged the queen through rebellion and forced the king to issue the golden bull granting them various privileges.
Later, the House of Anjou continuously devolved power to secure their position, making Hungary's Diet and county administrations the greatest obstacles to centralization.
Sigismund became the straw that broke the camel's back for Hungarian royal power; he caused the royal domains to shrink significantly. It wasn't until Laszlo repeatedly fought various wars with the Hungarian nobles that the scale of the royal domains returned to a higher level.
Laszlo pried at the foundation of the Hungarian system by implementing a new golden bull, but he also secretly stirred up more discontent.
He was not ignorant of this and had been making preparations. If Austria's expansion could be successfully realized, suppressing Hungary and the Empire would naturally be no problem.
The layout on the Empire and Austria sides was slowly unfolding, and Hungary, which had completed a round of reorganization earlier, seemed fairly peaceful for now, which saved Laszlo a lot of trouble.