During the Imperial Conference, which had not yet established formal rules and regulations, the princes from all over the Empire often gathered only on the first day of the conference.
After all activities demonstrating their connection to the Empire were declared over, most princes would be eager to return to their comfortable castles to continue their leisurely lives.
Those princes who had little connection with the Emperor and no political demands even wished to leave immediately after completing the enfeoffment ceremony.
Ultimately, the so-called Imperial Conference was less a tool for the Emperor to manage and rule the Empire, and more like an alliance of princes convened by the hegemon within the Empire.
Although everyone was well aware of the fact that this Empire was on the verge of collapse, if they, being weak, did not have the protection of this large family called the Empire, they would likely be swallowed up by the many powerful nations eyeing them from the periphery.
To maintain this complex and large political alliance of the Empire, the princes would show due respect to the hegemon of the princes—the Emperor—as long as it did not harm their own interests.
Specifically, most princes would answer the Emperor's call to attend the Imperial Conference.
However, during the Imperial Conference, the deliberative process did not require the participation of most princes.
In fact, after the first day's "alliance" concluded, the Emperor would break down the Imperial Conference into several consecutive court gatherings.
The Emperor would selectively convene a portion of the imperial princes in batches to discuss important imperial matters, based on their status and their closeness to him.
Many princes who had almost no interaction with the Emperor might not even have the opportunity to be summoned by him.
Therefore, many princes began packing their bags and preparing to return home after the first day's ceremony.
However, this time, the situation changed significantly; the Emperor once again convened all imperial members who had arrived in Regensburg for the Imperial Conference on the second day.
The location was still the Old Town Hall in Regensburg, and this time, the number of people who came to the Town Hall was even greater than the day before.
The princes still sat in the Imperial Hall in the same order as yesterday, while representatives who were not qualified to enter the room were arranged to crowd outside the door to listen.
Laszlo was still seated on his throne, and in front of him was his advisor and secretary, Cardinal Bessarion.
This Cardinal would act as the Emperor's mouthpiece today, announcing the first resolution of this Imperial Diet, officially unveiling the prelude to imperial reform.
"Electors, imperial princes, imperial vassals, and representatives of free cities and villages from all over the Empire, today the Emperor has summoned you to discuss a matter of utmost importance, a resolution that will affect the imperial system."
Bessarion's old and resonant voice echoed through the Imperial Hall, drawing the attention of the princes.
Laszlo scanned the princes in the hall, all of whom were looking at him, and noticed curiosity, impatience, and some ill-intentioned gazes in their eyes.
"In all the Imperial Conferences, large and small, in the past, Emperors have always used court gatherings to discuss and handle imperial affairs.
While such a method can improve the efficiency of meetings, it goes against the original intention of convening the Imperial Conference and fails to widely listen to voices from all imperial ranks.
Therefore, His Majesty, the wise Emperor, has decided to establish a standardized Imperial Diet to replace the informal councils of the past." The Cardinal's words immediately sparked widespread discussion inside and outside the hall.
The high-ranking nobles in the front row sat quietly, carefully pondering the Emperor's intentions.
The lower-ranking princes in the back row began to whisper to each other, guessing the Emperor's intentions.
Outside the hall, it became a bit noisy, with representatives of the broad imperial lower nobility, citizens, and peasants expressing anticipation for the Emperor's reform measures.
In fact, at the previous Imperial Conference in Nuremberg, Laszlo had attempted to make some changes to the Imperial Conference.
However, due to his fierce conflict with Dietrich I, the Archbishop of Mainz at the time, coupled with Austria experiencing continuous warfare, no reform results were ultimately achieved.
Both the Imperial Diet proposed by the Emperor, which would be under his control, and the use of the Court of the Empire in Vienna as the highest imperial court, were rejected by the Archbishop of Mainz.
However, this time, everyone understood that the Emperor would no longer encounter such obstacles.
The current Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop Adolf II, ascended to power entirely with the Emperor's strong support.
Moreover, the Emperor had very ruthlessly executed Bishop Dieter, Dietrich I's chosen successor.
One must know that he was an Archbishop of Mainz elected by a majority vote, whose status was almost unquestionable, and the Electors also regarded him as one of their own.
However, the armies of the Emperor and Archbishop Adolf II broke through Mainz, captured him, and then publicly tried and executed him in Vienna.
This was almost equivalent to the Emperor executing a true Prince-Elector, the Imperial Archchancellor, and the Archbishop of Germania.
However, Pius II, who had long served as the Prince-Bishop of Brixen in Austria and later became a royal advisor, strongly supported the Emperor.
This made the fearful princes within the Empire dare not openly criticize the Emperor on this matter.
Now that the Emperor wanted to implement his reforms, the Archbishop of Mainz would probably be the first to jump out and express support.
After all, those who betrayed the Emperor generally did not come to a good end.
"The newly established Imperial Diet will be divided into three deliberative colleges: the College of Electors will have the highest status, followed by the College of Princes, and the Third College will be last.
The College of Electors, composed of the Empire's seven Electors, will be presided over by the Archbishop of Mainz, thoroughly discussing all imperial affairs and voting on resolutions.
The voting results will follow the principle of majority approval, abolishing the Electors' right of veto; this right will be transferred to the Emperor and the College of Princes.
Resolutions passed by the College of Electors, if not approved by the College of Princes, will be overturned.
The Emperor has the right to veto any resolution unfavorable to the development of the Empire.
The College of Princes will be divided into the College of Secular Princes and the College of Ecclesiastical Princes, composed of secular princes and ecclesiastical princes, respectively.
The Archduke of Austria will preside over the College of Secular Princes, and the Archbishop of Vienna will preside over the College of Ecclesiastical Princes.
Resolutions passed by the College of Electors will be voted on in the College of Princes.
If a general consensus can be reached and approved by the Emperor, the resolution will be officially recognized as imperial law by the Imperial Diet.
The Third College, composed of representatives from cities, imperial villages, and imperial nobles, will be presided over by the Emperor's representative.
After a resolution is passed by the aforementioned two colleges, the Emperor will send representatives to inform the Third College to solicit opinions; this college does not have voting rights.
After consultation, the Third College can submit proposals to the Emperor, which, upon the Emperor's approval, will become parliamentary resolutions for discussion and voting by the College of Electors and the College of Princes.
Now, please speak and vote in order of your seating."
According to the rules, the first to stand up and speak should be the Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop Adolf II.
Laszlo's gaze had already fallen on this greedy Archbishop.
His rule in Mainz had become stable, but his weaknesses were all in the Emperor's hands.
Adolf knew better than anyone how Dieter was jointly killed by the Emperor and him.
With the Emperor's ability to manipulate public opinion and twist facts, coupled with the formidable military power of the Habsburg Family, this Imperial Archchancellor would never dare to forget where he came from.
Moreover, the Emperor had already promised him increased power in the imperial government and some additional gifts during a secret meeting last night.
This led Archbishop Adolf II to ultimately follow his true inclinations, betray his own class, and express full support for the Emperor's resolution.
"I agree with His Majesty's proposal; the Empire should indeed provide a platform for more subjects to voice their opinions."
The princes, especially the other Electors, looked at Archbishop Adolf, who was avoiding the main point, with surprise.
Shouldn't the focus of this resolution be the Emperor's intention to restrict the power of the Electors? What on earth was this fellow talking about?
Archbishop Ruprecht of Cologne cursed under his breath, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The second to speak was Elector Ernst of Saxony, who proposed to expand the power of the Electors in the parliament.
However, Laszlo mercilessly rejected his proposal, and for this, the Elector of Saxony cast a negative vote.
Seeing the young Elector Ernst looking disgruntled, Laszlo felt that the plan to create internal conflicts in Saxony should be put on the agenda.
Subsequently, the Archbishop of Cologne and the Brandenburg Elector, who spoke next, firmly opposed all of the Emperor's proposals.
The Archbishop of Trier and the Elector of Munich, who followed immediately, were completely opposite to the previous two; they both accepted and approved the Emperor's proposal.
And Laszlo himself, as the King of Bohemia, cast the last and most crucial vote.
The final vote of the Electors was to pass this resolution.
Next were the debates and votes of the princes.
The Archbishop of Magdeburg and the Archbishop of Salzburg both showed ambition for the position of presiding over the College of Ecclesiastical Princes.
On the secular princes' side, the Duke of Saxony, the Margrave of Ansbach, and the Duke of Baden all hoped to become the president of the College of Secular Princes.
Of course, they all had one consensus: they could not let the Emperor's people completely control the College of Princes.
The Archduke of Austria controlling the College of Secular Princes, and the Archbishop of Vienna controlling the College of Ecclesiastical Princes—the Emperor's appetite and audacity astonished all the princes present.
After a long period of debate and negotiation, Laszlo finally reluctantly agreed to let the Archbishop of Salzburg preside over the College of Ecclesiastical Princes.
However, the Archduke of Austria had to be the presiding officer of the College of Secular Princes, because, apart from the Emperor and the Electors, no prince's status could be higher than that of the Archduke of Austria.
And the Third College… they actually had almost no power to speak, only to let the powerful figures in the hall decide their fate at will.
To demonstrate his impartiality, Laszlo finally allowed the representatives of Nuremberg and Frankfurt to speak and make proposals, and the result was, as expected, approval.
The conference was quickly dissolved, and Laszlo designated rooms in Regensburg's Town Hall for the various colleges to hold discussions and votes.
Early the next morning, the colleges were separately convened to discuss the next major topic—the establishment and division of Imperial Circles.
Eyczing, Austria's "Chief Minister," as the representative of the Archduke of Austria, was responsible for organizing and presiding over the College of Secular Princes.
Royal Advisor Bessarion, who was both the Pope's Imperial Legate and the representative of the Archbishop of Vienna, was responsible for monitoring the College of Ecclesiastical Princes on behalf of the Emperor.
And Laszlo himself, as the King of Bohemia, personally attended the meeting of the College of Electors held in a secret meeting room.
For Laszlo, this was, in a sense, a condescending act, but he still enjoyed the pleasure of personally playing with these Electors.
For example, at this moment, he spread a rough map sent by his attendant on the round table of the College of Electors, enjoying the surprised gazes of the Electors.
The Archbishop of Mainz, who was supposed to preside over the meeting, knew what he should do the moment he saw the Emperor.
After briefly introducing the topic, he handed over the right to speak to the eager King of Bohemia, Emperor Laszlo.
In fact, this also conformed to the tradition of the Elector's council for centuries.
The Archbishop of Mainz often had the right to speak and vote last, thereby demonstrating his important status.
"As early as two hundred years ago, my ancestor Rudolf I tried to establish a stable public order by reorganizing regional alliances, but unfortunately, his efforts did not bear fruit.
In the years that followed, several Emperors also made similar attempts, and similar organizations appeared in certain areas of the Empire.
However, without clear imperial legal protection, these organizations found it difficult to achieve the effects people expected.
It is precisely to maintain the stability of the Empire and protect the interests of the imperial subjects that I proposed this imperial administrative district reform plan."
Laszlo's righteous tone almost made the Electors present mistakenly believe that this Emperor was a great man who was wholeheartedly devoted to public service.
If it weren't for the fact that everyone was well aware of his deeds, they might have been deceived by the Emperor's performance full of righteousness. Laszlo didn't care much about their opinions and continued to promote his reform plan.
"As you know, I have already established three imperial administrative districts in Austria, Bohemia, and Swabia as demonstrations.
The final results show that the establishment of Imperial Circles can indeed promote peace and development in the regions.
With the Imperial Circles as units, you Electors can also play a more important role in your respective areas, assisting me in better managing this vast Empire."
The Electors remained silent, all staring at the map of the Imperial Circles division on the table, weighing the pros and cons in their minds.
Soon, several of them had the answer.
"In addition to the three existing imperial administrative districts, I intend to delineate eight more administrative districts.
Burgundy, Lower Rhenish-Westphalian, Upper Saxon, Lower Saxon, Upper Rhenish, Rhenish Electoral, Franconia, and Bavaria.
The scope covered by these administrative districts is marked on the map.
I will select the most prominent prince in each administrative district to serve as governor of the administrative district, responsible for managing the administrative district and accountable to the Imperial Diet."
Elector Frederick of Brandenburg was the first to see through Laszlo's intentions, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Putting all three ecclesiastical Electors in the Rhenish Electoral Circle, putting Brandenburg and Saxony together in the Upper Saxon administrative district, and Munich being under the Emperor's nose.
This way, the remaining imperial administrative districts would be isolated from them, making it easier for the Emperor to exert control and influence over them.
Moreover, with these Electors cooped up in the same administrative district, conflicts over regional leadership were almost inevitable.
As the saying goes, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers; the Emperor clearly intended to use this method to achieve his goal of killing with a borrowed knife.
But even if they saw through it, what could they do?
In just one night, the Emperor had fundamentally changed the voting pattern of the College of Electors through some unspeakable means.
The Elector of Saxony's attitude underwent a drastic change, and he began to support the Emperor's Imperial Circle plan.
Undoubtedly, the Emperor had promised him the position of Governor of Upper Saxony.
The attitudes of the other few remained unchanged from before; the Brandenburg Elector knew that no matter how much he insisted, he could not change the outcome, so he cast an affirmative vote.
Only the Archbishop of Cologne, who hated the Emperor, cast a negative vote, and the resolution passed six to one.
A day later, the two sub-colleges of the College of Princes also gave their voting results, and the resolution was passed.
After a few more days of discussion on the details of the imperial administrative districts, the first reform achievement was finally set in stone.
Next, among the topics of establishing the supreme imperial court, the imperial standing army, and universal taxation, Laszlo first chose the issue of levying a universal tax based on the Imperial Circles.
No matter how elaborate his plan was, money was always the foundation of everything.
The universal tax was theoretically supposed to support the expenses of the imperial government and maintain the Imperial Diet and the supreme court.
And supporting the standing army required another tax.
After deducting these expenses for imperial affairs, only then could Laszlo comfortably put the remainder into his own pocket for his personal spending.
How to make the princes willingly pay became Laszlo's biggest headache at the moment.