Your Emperor, on my way here, I passed through southern Serbia under Ottomans rule, as well as the Balkan Mountains.
Many people there are very dissatisfied with Ottomans rule.
If you could provide some assistance, I could gather a peasant Crusade there to attack the Ottomans territories in Serbia and the Balkan Mountains."
John looked at the young and promising Emperor with anticipation.
He thought Laszlo, as the youngest Crusade leader in history, must be a devout, firm, and great monarch.
However, Laszlo's gaze suddenly became unfocused, staring blankly into space.
From Laszlo's perspective, he hadn't expected such an ordinary little priest to trigger an event panel, which immediately made him look at John in a new light.
Event: Miracle of Faith
Papal States' envoy John of Capistrano is a charismatic preacher and agitator.
Under his inspiring speeches, the peasants of Serbia and the Balkan Mountains have risen up.
With only a little aid, a peasant Crusade of 40,000 men can be at your disposal.
They are unwilling to fight too far from their homeland, but in the Balkan Mountains, even the Ottomanss will gain no advantage against these angry peasants.
Option One: Heaven Helps Me
Provide John with the necessary aid and dispatch a general to accompany John to Serbia to lead the peasant Crusade in an attack against the Ottomanss occupying Serbia.
Gain Modifier (Pious): Papal States approval +20, all heretic and heathen nations approval -50, missionary strength +1%.
Option Two: Unnecessary
Let the peasants stay peacefully in the fields.
War is a warrior's job; professional matters should be handled by professionals.
Neither priests nor farmers belong on the battlefield.
Gain Modifier (Benevolent Ruler): National rebellion -5.
This… Laszlo felt like this option was a trap.
Option Two seemed quite good; it reduced rebellion and meant fewer deaths.
However, war is no child's play.
If these Serbian peasants die less, Mehmed II will be able to concentrate all his main forces on the main battlefield.
Then, who will die more needs no explanation, right?
Trading these old farmers, who voluntarily offer themselves for death, for the elite warriors and noble lords of the Crusade—is this a multiple-choice question?
This is a fill-in-the-blank question!
Laszlo decisively chose Option One.
"Ulrich."
"Your Emperor."
"I remember your wife seems to be…"
"She is indeed the sister of Lazar, the last Despot of Serbia."
Ulrich immediately understood what Laszlo wanted to say and quickly interjected.
"Good, I will send you and this Mr. John to Serbia to organize and lead the peasant Crusade.
You should also handle the aid he needs.
Ulrich, this is an opportunity—" Laszlo looked at Ulrich with a meaningful gaze.
Ulrich suppressed the excitement in his heart and respectfully bowed, replying, "As Your Emperor commands."
"Thank you, Your Emperor." John expressed his gratitude to Laszlo, who responded very politely.
Now, this priest was no longer ordinary in his eyes; he was practically a living saint.
Look at the name of that event, "Miracle of Faith," tsk-tsk, not everyone can trigger such a spiritual legendary event.
Regarding Ulrich, Laszlo also conveniently provided a solution.
Years ago, when Albrecht II was still alive, Ulrich had claimed the throne of Bosnia based on an edict left from the Sigismund era, while the Hungarian nobles had always regarded Bosnia as their exclusive domain.
Later, through Albrecht's mediation, Ulrich acquired a portion of Bosnian territory, and then the entire Bosnia was annexed by the Kingdom of Hungary.
Although the matter was resolved peacefully, the seeds of conflict between the Hungarian nobles and Ulrich had already been sown.
Ulrich's greatest wish in this life was to acquire a piece of land and establish his envisioned Greater Cilli, or Slovenia, for the Cilli people.
To this end, he loyally assisted the monarchs and balanced the local nobles during the reigns of Sigismund, Albrecht II, and Laszlo V.
Due to his status as a maternal relative, these three Emperors trusted him greatly, which also allowed his power to continuously expand.
Sigismund's wife was his aunt, and Albrecht's wife, who was Laszlo's Old Uncle, was his cousin.
Such blood ties ensured that Ulrich was always an important member of the Emperor's court.
Power alone was not enough to realize his ambitions.
Therefore, Ulrich had more than once hinted to Laszlo to grant him more territory; he needed a return for decades of loyalty.
Laszlo was once very troubled.
What did Ulrich want? Croatia! Inner Austria! Even Bosnia!
Neither the Austrian nor the Hungarian people could accept his demands, and Laszlo was simultaneously the monarch of both the Austrian and Hungarian people.
Thus, the contradiction was very sharp.
Cilli was a very small county sandwiched between Austria and Hungary.
Although its Count Ulrich was Laszlo's most trusted chief advisor, Cilli did indeed hold a princely seat in the Holy Roman Empire's Imperial Diet.
Both Austria and Hungary hoped to annex this little guy, but the previous generations of Cilli Counts, through clever marriages of their daughters, ensured that the Cilli Family's bloodline spread throughout the surrounding royal families.
Thus, such a small family was able to survive independently, even acquiring large amounts of territory in Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans as a reward for their loyalty.
Sometimes, one cannot help but lament how these small countries struggle to the limit for survival.
The Cilli Family's last political investment was Ulrich marrying Catherine, the sister of the Despot of Serbia.
Unexpectedly, soon after, the Ottoman and Hungary divided Serbia, and the Serbian Despotate royal family was almost completely massacred in the chaos.
Ulrich's ambition to interfere in Serbian politics to gain benefits also came to naught.
He never expected that this Crusade would take such a turn, and after all the twists and turns, he would once again have the opportunity to intervene in Serbia.
Moreover, his good nephew Laszlo's words hinted, almost explicitly, at his intention to grant Serbia to him as a reward, which would elevate Cilli to a medium-sized nation!
Such a perfect opportunity, wasn't this what he had been desperately seeking for decades?
Experienced as he was, he quickly discovered Laszlo's intention—to curb the expansion of the Hungarian people!
Hungary had already swallowed Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.
If it were to also consume Serbia, then Austria and Bohemia combined would not be able to match Hungary's national strength.
In such a situation, Austria could very likely be assimilated by Hungary, which Laszlo could never accept.
The best solution was to release Serbia as a new component of the Habsburg Dynasty's territory, becoming the fourth part after Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia.
What Ulrich didn't guess was that when Laszlo first met him, he opened his panel to check, and there was a very fatal trait for a ruler: Trait (Withered Branch): Heir generation chance -50%.
Ulrich was already quite old, but he still didn't have a single descendant, neither legitimate nor illegitimate.
In fact, Laszlo had long known the truth of Old Uncle's boasting, but he wouldn't say it.
Not only because of a man's dignity, but more importantly, when Ulrich dies and the Cilli Family line ends, who will inherit the vast territories Ulrich acquired during his lifetime—the County of Cilli, the lands in Bosnia, the lands in Hungary and Austria, and even the Serbian lands he might acquire later?
It's so hard to guess.
Whenever Laszlo thought of this, the smile on his lips was hard to suppress.
Poor Old Uncle, just like the Milan Duke… a noble who can't produce sons, that's a good noble!