Bohemia. Setting foot on this land again, Laszlo almost didn't recognize the sights.
Many years ago, when he led his army north, Bohemia's prosperity was evident to all.
When he led his army away, he left behind only shattered lands, displaced people, and omnipresent stakes for burning at the stake.
To say he felt no guilt would be impossible, but he harbored not a single shred of regret.
The Bohemian heretics were too dangerous for him; it was no exaggeration to say they were like a thorn in his side.
Only by clearing out the heretics could Austria and Bohemia enjoy long-lasting peace.
After the war, he also implemented many compensatory measures.
Tax reductions, land redistribution, and encouragement of immigration had a very significant effect on restoring Bohemia's population and economy.
However, these self-serving policies soon brought about other conflicts beyond religion.
The conflict between German immigrants and native Bohemian Slavs became sharper than ever before.
As early as the end of the last century, the large influx of German immigrants introduced by the Luxembourg dynasty had intensified Bohemia's ethnic tensions.
Germans could be seen in most Bohemian villages, where they were often isolated or even bullied.
However, in more prosperous areas, German immigrants would band together to form German communities.
Whether in Prussia, or in Bohemia, or even in Transylvania, thousands of miles away, German immigrants stubbornly resisted the exclusion by native residents in this manner.
Facts proved that the colonizing ability of the Germans was first-rate throughout Europe.
Large-scale German immigration was often accompanied by numerous privileges granted by the monarch and their unique German traditional law, the Magdeburg Law.
German immigrant cities in eastern Hungary all followed this set of laws for self-governance, and the same was true in Bohemia.
Early German settlers in Bohemia, in addition to many monks, also included artisans and merchants.
Relying on privileges and advanced technology, they quickly gained control of many Bohemian cities and important resources.
German miners were ubiquitous in the mines of Kuttenberg and Sudetenland.
In Bohemia, German privileges were evident in all aspects.
The Church, which controlled one-third of Bohemia's land, had most of its high-ranking clergy as Germans.
Among the nobility, many powerful figures were Germans from the Empire.
Even at Prague University, German students held a much higher status than native Bohemian students and enjoyed many privileges.
All of this changed dramatically with the appearance of that man—Jan Huss.
While Huss's ideas for Church reform were widely praised in Bohemia, a group of extremists also emerged from the crowd.
These Bohemians directly equated the elimination of Church private property with the elimination of Germans.
Many Bohemians even claimed, "Everyone has virtues, except Germans."
Huss, however, was very wary of this dangerous idea. He often told people, "I prefer a virtuous German to a Bohemian scoundrel."
He hoped to use this approach to warn people not to be blinded by hatred and discrimination.
This idea transcended the inherent nationalistic color of the Hussite movement and later gained the fervent support of peasants in the Empire, Hungary, and other countries.
However, unfortunately, with Huss burned to ashes by the Catholic Church in Constance, no one could restrain the surging public opinion and long-accumulated hatred in Bohemia.
Consequently, during the First Hussite Wars, whenever Hussite armies captured a town, they carried out cruel purges of the local German immigrants.
They were not even satisfied with the killings in Bohemia proper; a portion of the Hussite rebels marched north into the Sudeten Mountains in Silesia, slaughtering most of the German immigrants protected by the Silesian dukes.
This action directly led to the Silesian dukes later joining the Imperial Army when Laszlo's forces besieged Prague.
With the fall of Prague and the subsequent years of purges, Hussites became an unspeakable taboo in Bohemia.
However, the hatred deeply rooted between Bohemians and Germans had reached an almost irreconcilable point with the outbreak of the two Hussite Wars.
Unless this generation and the next generation of Bohemians all pass away, Bohemians will never forget the suffering brought by the two Crusades.
Regarding this, Laszlo had almost no solution, apart from thinking until his head ached every night.
To retain Bohemia, the proportion of German immigrants must be increased.
If German immigrants are to be attracted, they are not fools; they will not leave their homes for no reason to start a new life in an environment where Germans are generally hated.
Therefore, granting privileges is indispensable. Whether it is tax exemption or judicial privileges, these are direct infringements on the interests of the native Bohemian residents.
Without weakening German immigrant privileges, it is impossible to appease the Bohemians.
Once immigrant privileges are weakened, the German immigrant population will undoubtedly decrease sharply.
One must know, without privileges, how could German immigrants possibly contend with over a million native Bohemians?
However, once German immigrants decrease, the Bohemians, after recovering their strength in the future, will inevitably launch another rebellion.
Whether it is breaking away from the Empire or from the control of the Habsburg Family, these are highly probable outcomes.
Moreover, the conflicts in the Bohemian region have long transcended ethnicity and are intertwined with religious factors.
Although the Hussite faction disappeared, Huss's ideas are still widely circulated among the Bohemian populace.
Among them, the part about striking at Church corruption, with the return of the Catholic Church, once again resonated with the Bohemians.
Although Laszlo often spoke of eliminating Huss's influence, he himself was deeply conflicted about it.
He even often dreamed of a ghost in a grey robe wandering the land of Bohemia.
Whenever this happened, Laszlo would inwardly curse that terrible Hungarian Sword Saint, the Nicopolis long-distance running champion, and also his maternal grandfather, Sigismund. When he betrayed Huss and allowed him to be burned, he probably never imagined it would take him a full twenty years to pacify Bohemia, did he?
And even calling it pacification, he actually left behind the huge mess of the Cup faction.
As a result, Albrecht II, who had a heavenly start, had to struggle under the dual pressure of the Hussite faction and the Ottomanss.
He also managed to repel the Poles who were attacking Bohemia.
This series of heavy pressures directly led to Albrecht spending little energy on Imperial affairs throughout his life.
The only significant impact he had on the Empire, the 'Religious Agreement of Mainz,' was still for the purpose of restricting Church reform.
By the time these messes reached Laszlo, the Cup faction had already deeply rooted itself in Bohemia.
Although he militarily destroyed the Cup faction's government, he could not exterminate the Cup faction believers, who constituted the majority of Bohemia's population.
Ultimately, he could only use the Inquisition to force most Bohemians back to the Catholic Church, using the method of killing a chicken to warn the monkeys.
Even the Tábor faction, which had been extinct for many years, still had remnants, and the Cup faction was naturally no exception.
They merely lay dormant for a time; some fled to Poland, and the Moravian Brethren, a mixture of both factions, continued to spread Huss's ideas in Moravia.
They even sent some missionaries to northwest Hungary, but they were quickly wiped out by the ruthless Hungarian local nobility.
Compared to the vast poor serfs of Hungary, the lives of Bohemians were still too fortunate.
To quell the hatred in the hearts of Bohemians, there was no good way; only time. Laszlo could only believe that time would heal everything.
Before that, he had to ensure Bohemia's stability, and this required relying on the devout Bohemian Catholic nobles who had submitted to him. The undisputed leaders among these nobles—the Rosenberg Family—now seemed to be struggling to bear this heavy burden.
And what made Laszlo think this was the messenger he was currently receiving.
Several days had passed since the touring party left Brno, and only half of the journey to Prague had been completed. Laszlo and his entourage were resting in a small town near the main road.
Here, he received a messenger who had pursued him, reportedly all the way from Vienna.
"You are a representative of the Freistadt City Council?"
Laszlo looked at the middle-aged man dressed as a merchant before him, quite curious about his purpose.
Freistadt was an important hub at the border between Lower Austria and Bohemia, and also the city that collected and remitted the most Austrian-Bohemian customs duties.
Laszlo had a very deep impression of such an important border city.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I have come at the command of Lord Pilgrim Wal to report a serious smuggling case to you."
With that, the messenger pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket, displaying the coat of arms with crossed swords to Laszlo; the Austrian shield in the center of the emblem was particularly prominent.
Laszlo nodded slightly. This was indeed the family crest of Pilgrim, the Freistadt city governor he had appointed.
Since the messenger's identity was not in question, the nature of the smuggling issue he spoke of was very serious.
Thinking of this, Laszlo's expression immediately became serious.
"Tell me the specifics of the smuggling problem."
"Yes, Your Majesty, this matter primarily involves an important Bohemian family, the Rosenberg Family."
The messenger paused intentionally at this point, observing the emperor's reaction.
Laszlo sighed lightly. Although he had long anticipated it, when he actually heard the name, a few more emotions stirred within him.
The stakes involved were actually easy to deduce because Freistadt's trade route directly connected with South Bohemia.
The only party with the motive and capability to execute a smuggling scheme was the Rosenberg Family.
Initially, Laszlo had granted large tracts of land in South Bohemia to Marshal Ulrich von Rosenberg, who had achieved great military feats for him.
Afterward, he arranged for all the main members of the Rosenberg Family to hold important official positions in Bohemia.
Marshal Rosenberg himself commanded the Bohemia, his brother Peter controlled the Bohemian finances,
and even his son John was appointed Governor of Silesia, becoming a powerful regional official.
A few years ago, Marshal Rosenberg passed away, and although the Rosenberg Family's power was somewhat weakened, their position as the foremost noble family in Bohemia remained unshakable.
After dealing with the Hunyadi Family, Laszlo had constantly faced numerous rumors, claiming he was ungrateful and could not tolerate meritorious officials.
Although Laszlo did not take these unfounded accusations to heart, being called a heartless and ungrateful monarch was still unpleasant for him.
Among his three major non-Habsburg trusted officials, the Hunyadi and Cilli families had already "perished," leaving only the Rosenberg Family still enjoying his favor.
Therefore, he had still intended to leave a way out for the Rosenberg Family, but he never expected them to walk straight into trouble themselves.
"The Rosenberg Family… This is the most powerful family in Bohemia. Are you sure they are involved in this matter?"
"Absolutely, Your Majesty. Recently, we have discovered many smuggling groups using forest paths and disused waterways to transport goods from Austria to Bohemia.
These people don't pay even a single florin in customs duties. After a long investigation, we finally found their tracks.
Lord Pilgrim personally led a raid on a smuggling ring, confiscating all their smuggled high-tariff Italian goods.
Here, you can see the confession of the culprits."
The messenger presented an envelope to Laszlo, who opened it. His eyes flashed with a momentary ferocity, but quickly returned to normal.
The confession clearly stated that people from the Rosenberg Family were behind the smuggling.
Moreover, they had established a rather complete smuggling chain, extending from Northern Italy all the way to Prague.
In the Bohemian section, Peter IV von Rosenberg, who served as the Bohemian Finance Manager, played a central role.
In the past two years, they had evaded at least thousands of florins in transit tariffs through this method.
Through this smuggling route, the Rosenberg Family virtually controlled Bohemia's high-end goods market, making immense profits.
"You have worked hard; you have done very well. I will deal with this matter seriously later.
Al, fetch a bag of reward money for this messenger."
Laszlo's face held a smile, yet there was no trace of amusement in his eyes, causing the hearts of all present to pound.
"Go back and tell Pilgrim that his annuity will increase from two hundred florins to three hundred florins, and tell him to cut off all smuggling routes leading into Bohemia!"
"Thank you for your generosity. I will relay your verbal command to Lord Pilgrim exactly as it is."
Clutching a bag of silver groschen, the messenger lightly found his fast horse and galloped towards the Austrian border without daring to delay in the slightest.
Meanwhile, Laszlo had already begun to consider how to deal with the Rosenberg Family.
He had already given them enough honor and favor, but unfortunately, after the old marshal's death, this family seemed to have forgotten the source of their current power and status.
Laszlo had originally wanted to let them depart gracefully, but evading a huge sum of taxes was an act of malice no less severe than Hunyadi's withholding of Transylvania's tax revenue.
This was no longer just testing Laszlo's bottom line; it was treating Laszlo's bottom line as a string to be plucked at will.
Logically speaking, the Rosenberg Family enjoyed so many favors that they should not have been short of money.
Perhaps they were extravagant, or perhaps they were insatiably greedy. Regardless, this was an excellent opportunity for Laszlo to reclaim power.
As for those rumors? Laszlo had never cared much about them, and now that he held the moral high ground, he would pay even less attention to such talk.
The ones who had fought alongside him to build the empire were Janos, the old Marshal Rosenberg, and his maternal uncle Ulrich.
They were all gone now, and Laszlo no longer felt much affection for these families.
Since they had committed such a serious crime, they naturally needed to pay the corresponding price.