As two new reform decrees were disseminated to all corners of the Empire under the gradually improving imperial system, the political environment of the Empire was on the verge of a major change.
During the Nuremberg Imperial Conference, to facilitate the collection of public taxes, the Emperor ordered a grand census of all registered imperial estates, and subsequently compiled the "Register of Imperial Estates" based on it, stipulating tax quotas and troop quotas for each imperial estate with political rights, so that the Empire would always have the financial resources to maintain government operations and provide the Emperor with sufficient reserve troops.
And beyond the Imperial Diet and the Imperial Court of Justice, a brand new imperial government agency was established after this conference.
The Imperial Privy Council was a central agency that Laszlo decided to establish in response to the calls from various imperial estates, to handle administrative affairs throughout the Empire.
Previously, Laszlo's court had always performed the function of handling imperial affairs, specifically by exchanging envoys with Electors and regional governors, regularly reporting on the situation to promptly deal with events occurring throughout the Empire.
This method greatly increased Laszlo's workload, as there was another vast "Empire" that he needed to rule.
After deciding to collect public taxes, both Electors and princes demanded that the Emperor respect their due rights and allow them to participate more deeply in imperial politics.
For this purpose, Laszlo agreed to add a jury of judges to the Imperial Court of Justice in Vienna, with twelve judges nominated by the various regions, the Elector's Conference, and the Emperor to assist the High Justice of the Court in handling cases.
Then came the establishment of the Imperial Privy Council, which was to help Laszlo alleviate the pressure of administrative affairs. This Privy Council was much larger than the Austrian Privy Council, consisting of a total of twenty-nine members.
The Emperor appointed the Chairman of the Privy Council, each of the seven Electors nominated one person, and the House of Ecclesiastical Princes and the House of Secular Princes each nominated one person, making a total of ten people directly from the Imperial Diet.
Ten imperial regions, through holding conferences, each nominated one knight, doctor, or university professor as a representative, making a total of ten people from the imperial administrative regions.
Austria and Bohemia each had a special quota, and another imperial Duke, four senior imperial clerics, and two sincere and virtuous representatives from imperial free cities were selected, making a total of nine people from the major imperial estates.
Although Laszlo's self-serving intentions were almost openly displayed, most imperial estates did not express dissent.
On the contrary, this widely covered Imperial Privy Council quickly gained unanimous approval from the princes.
However, the establishment of the Privy Council was not without controversy. For example, there was a fierce debate between the princes and Laszlo regarding where the Privy Council should be located.
According to Laszlo's idea, this Privy Council should naturally be located in Vienna, because although the Privy Council held administrative authority over the Empire, he, as the Emperor, was ultimately the decision-maker.
Some princes with ulterior motives actually wanted to set up this institution in other places, such as Nuremberg or Frankfurt. Their idea was to divide the imperial power by being far from the Emperor.
Ultimately, the Privy Council was limited by its function to the Emperor's residence, meaning wherever the Emperor was, the Privy Council would be.
If the Emperor was away from the Empire for special reasons, the Privy Council would temporarily stay at its office in Nuremberg to manage imperial affairs.
This was a difficult decision for Laszlo, but being away from the Empire did not mean abandoning it, so he reached this compromise with the princes.
Thus, the central government, composed of the legislative, executive, and judicial bodies of the Empire, was established.
Although the true role of the Imperial Diet remained questionable, at least a clear framework was set up under the consensus of imperial political unity.
Locally, the increasingly perfect imperial administrative regions also meant that the Emperor's rule over the localities was no longer like a rootless plant; almost all imperial decrees could be effectively conveyed to every imperial estate.
At least the Empire now no longer looked like the scattered sand it once was. Laszlo was carefully piecing and gluing together this broken Empire in his own way.
Of course, the establishment of the organization did not mean that the Privy Council could immediately function.
Building a complete imperial government required a large sum of money, and this money would basically be allocated from the first collection of public taxes.
According to the agreement, only when the Emperor truly promoted general peace in the Empire would the various imperial estates have to bear this tax and the corresponding military obligations.
With most parts of the Empire maintaining peace, the eyes of the imperial princes were all turned to the northeast of the Empire.
Under the immense pressure from the Emperor, the Elector of Brandenburg, who was still contending with the Duke of Pomerania for Stettin, became the key factor hindering the achievement of imperial peace.
To end this "last internal war" before complete imperial peace was achieved, Laszlo dispatched Salzburg Archbishop Bernhard as his representative to Brandenburg to persuade the stubborn Elector.
Accompanying Bernhard was the representative sent by Elector Frederick of Brandenburg to attend the Imperial Diet. He was not allowed to exercise the Elector's voting rights, but this diligent envoy stayed until the last day of the Imperial Conference.
The two, with some attendants, set off directly from Nuremberg and headed north to Berlin, then were escorted by the garrison in Berlin to the Stettin front.
During this period, the poor road conditions and barren land of Brandenburg left a deep impression on Bernhard, who had come on a mission.
He had thought that Austria, as an eastern border region of the Empire, was already poor enough, but he did not expect the northern border region of Brandenburg to be even more dreadful.
No wonder Emperor Sigismund had unhesitatingly sold the Electorate and this territory to the Hohenzollern Family for four hundred thousand florins.
Under the circumstances at the time, this certainly could not be called a losing deal.
Frederick I, who bought this territory, and Frederick II, who rules here now, both spent great efforts during their reigns to consolidate the internal noble forces and try to expand their territory outwards.
Towards the strong neighbors to the south, Saxony and Bohemia, Frederick II almost had no ambition. In the end, he still chose the Dukes of Pomerania, the soft persimmon his father had squeezed a few times.
There was no other way; Brandenburg was simply too poor. If they could gain the port of Stettin and its prosperous city, the Elector's strength would undoubtedly increase significantly.
The only pity was that Pomerania was no longer in a state of division as it had been for decades.
The current Duke of Pomerania, Erick II, by relying on the good fortune of inheriting two childless estates, had consolidated the territories of the three Griffin Family branches, almost controlling the entire Duchy of Pomerania.
Wartislaw X, Erick II's brother, who was originally instigated by Elector Frederick, also chose to work with his elder brother against the Elector due to Erick's concessions.
The Duke of Pomerania, having largely completed the integration of his territory, quickly proved that his power was not weaker than the Elector's, especially since he also had the aid of the Teutonic Order behind him.
The two sides fought fiercely in the border area between Uckermark and Stettin, with more than twenty battles of varying sizes erupting, but no decisive victory was ever achieved.
In northern Uckermark, in the Brandenburg military camp, a breeze carrying gunpowder smoke and a hint of coolness swept through the quiet camp.
The soldiers had just experienced a skirmish, repelling an attack launched by the Pomeranian army and defending the territory of Brandenburg.
However, an invasion war turning into a territorial defense war had caused the morale of both commanders and soldiers to plummet.
In the first year of the war, they still held many advantages, and even the city of Stettin had been besieged three times, but their military strength was insufficient to storm the city.
As Pomerania's military forces were fully mobilized and reinforcements from the Teutonic Order joined the battle, the Brandenburg army gradually fell into a disadvantage, and the front line was quickly pushed back.
Just a year ago, the Elector and the Duke of Pomerania had signed a "Treaty of Soldin," in which the Elector recognized Erick II's rule over Stettin, and Erick II in turn had to recognize the suzerainty of the Elector of Brandenburg.
However, this treaty was quickly declared void due to the opposition of the Pomeranian nobility and the citizens of Stettin. The peace between the two sides lasted less than two weeks before war reignited and has continued to this day.
"How long will this war last?"
A knight led a small squad of soldiers out of the camp to carry out a mission. As soon as the team left the camp gate, his attendant complained in a low voice.
The knight turned to look at the attendant but did not reprimand him. This war had already entered its third year, and no one wanted to continue fighting.
"The Emperor's envoy will arrive here soon, and perhaps in a few days, this war will end."
The knight comforted his trusted attendant with these words, which also contained his own expectations.
"The Emperor? He never truly wanted to stop this war. What will be different this time?"
"Perhaps, but this is our only hope."
The team walked for a while longer when suddenly the sound of fighting came from the road ahead.
Realizing that something was wrong, the knight immediately led his squad to quicken their pace to the place where the fighting was happening. They quickly discovered two groups of people entangled in combat and a carriage bearing the Elector's banner blocked in the middle of the road.
One side was undoubtedly their comrades, while the other side looked like well-equipped, well-trained professional soldiers, or more appropriately, bandit knights.
"Damn it, it's those Wends! Everyone, follow me, kill all these shameless bandits!"
As the knight and his subordinates joined the battle, the originally advantageous bandits were quickly defeated and fled in disarray after leaving behind more than a dozen corpses.
Only then did a corner of the carriage curtain open. Bernhard and the Elector's envoy, still shaken, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the bandits repelled.
"Who were those attackers?"
Bernhard asked with a frown.
Although he had imagined the dangers of the front line before, he did not expect it to be so terrifying. If it weren't for this reinforcement that appeared out of nowhere, he might have died here today.
"The Wendish nobles of Uckermark, that is, the Slavs, instigated by the Duke of Pomerania, are currently launching a rebellion against the Elector.
Calling it a rebellion, it's actually just doing things like highway robbery. Yet, they know Uckermark like the back of their hand, making it impossible for the Elector to clear out these shameless bandits in time."
The Elector's envoy hated these foreigners but was helpless.
Bernhard was very surprised by this. This road was the Brandenburg army's logistics supply line. Supplies collected from Berlin would all be transported to the front via this road.
Now, even his imperial envoy's carriage could be attacked. Wouldn't Brandenburg's supply line be constantly exposed to danger?
Thinking of this, Bernhard suddenly felt that this mission might not be as difficult as he had imagined—the seemingly stubborn Elector was now also on the verge of collapse.
The knight, ordered to welcome the envoy, quickly escorted the carriage to the Brandenburg army camp.
Bernhard was safely escorted to the Elector's tent, where he met a haggard old man.
Elector Frederick, wrapped in a military robe stained with blood and dust, stood in the camp to greet Bernhard.
He did not stand perfectly straight, his back slightly hunched, not as tall and upright as rumored, and his figure was quite thin, his face haggard, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked to be in a state of near collapse.
It seemed the rumors were true; the Elector of Brandenburg could not bear the immense pressure and was on the verge of collapsing.
Bernhard recalled the rumor the Emperor had told him earlier; at the time, he hadn't quite believed it, but now it seemed the Emperor's intelligence network was terrifyingly accurate.
"Your Excellency, Elector, I come on behalf of the Emperor, and I come for peace."
Bernhard's voice was warm and resonant, carrying a convincing gentleness.
Frederick scrutinized the envoy before him, who spoke with an Austrian accent and wore a red cardinal's robe, and the tension in his heart eased a little.
A genuine Cardinal, and one of the four Archbishops of the Empire, the Salzburg Archbishop, he clearly realized that this time the Emperor was not being perfunctory.
Before the envoy arrived, he had already received news related to the two new decrees, which made his mood very complicated.
On the one hand, he did not want to give up this extremely valuable opportunity to expand Brandenburg's territory; on the other hand, he was already desperate about this war, and deep down, he was also looking forward to ending this war that had tormented him.
"Before this war began, we had already submitted the dispute to the Imperial Court of Justice," Frederick finally spoke, his voice hoarse and low, "but as you can see, this war still broke out and has lasted for three whole years."
At these words, Bernhard's expression stiffened. What the Emperor did back then was indeed not very honorable, but that was all in the past.
This time, the Emperor sincerely hoped to stop this brutal war.