The firewood in the fireplace burned brightly, and Laszlo leaned back in his reclining chair, staring at the flickering flames in a daze.
These past few days, envoys from as close as Ansbach and Lithuania, and as far as England and Denmark, had come to express their concern.
These powers each harbored their own ulterior motives, merely hoping to profit from him through a new marriage. Of course, he held the same thoughts, and thus rejected numerous proposals for alliance.
He would not make a decision easily until he confirmed which marriage would benefit him the most.
Ultimately, the interests of Austria and the Habsburg Family would always come first in his heart.
To say he wasn't sad would be a lie, but Laszlo could numb himself with busy affairs. He still had countless government matters to handle, and Austria's many enemies had not yet been eliminated. He could not relax for a moment.
"Your Majesty, the touring party has assembled."
Laszlo's new attendant, Wolfgang of Bavaria, came to his side and gently reminded him.
The young attendant looked at the emperor's solitary back with a sympathetic gaze.
"Hmm, let's go."
Laszlo put down his wine glass, straightened his black casual clothes, and walked out of the palace gate.
On an autumn morning, the mist gradually dispersed, revealing vast fertile lands of the Danube River basin.
Laszlo's touring party quickly left Vienna.
His destination for this trip was Hallstatt, a small town directly under the Crown, which had previously been a cherished retreat for Austrian monarchs due to its beautiful scenery.
To relieve mental stress, Laszlo accepted his advisor's suggestion to spend the winter there.
Soon after, the touring party arrived at their first stop, a royal manor west of Vienna.
The hereditary court steward, Vit, who was personally supervising the tenant farmers during the autumn sowing, quickly brought several experts under him to greet the emperor's carriage.
"Your Majesty, you have arrived?"
Vit's face bore a joyful smile. He had been in charge of agricultural work in the Austrian heartland for over a year, and now was the time to report his achievements to the emperor.
Thanks to God's blessing, the diligent labor of the farmers in the latter half of last year and the first half of this year had yielded good harvests.
"I've come to see how the manor is developing."
Vit naturally took the horse's bridle, leading Laszlo along the manor's main road towards the autumn fields.
"Your Majesty, agricultural development in the model manors you designated has been very smooth. The yield of barley and oats harvested this summer alone increased by nearly 40% compared to last year, and the in-kind taxes collected have also significantly increased.
In other villages and manors, the promotion of new farm tools and farming methods is still somewhat slow, but more and more farmers are beginning to accept them."
Vit reported his work achievements over the past year, showing a troubled expression when he got to the last point.
There was no help for it; the three-field rotation required by the emperor was still slightly different from what the farmers generally knew.
The cultivation plan for the fields—one field for grain, one for fodder or legumes, and the remaining one fallow—an arrangement proven effective in practice, was largely accepted by the farmers.
However, the promotion of fertilizer production and use was considerably slow.
Although people knew that sheep manure could fertilize fields, typically lords would bring their manor's sheep flocks to spend the night in their fallow land, which generally resulted in higher yields on the lord's land than on the farmers'.
Laszlo, by establishing a redemption mechanism, had directly allocated all his demesne as copyhold land to tenant farmers who paid for it, and thus no longer needed to exploit farmers through such means.
Moreover, his territorial income was now largely based on land rent. The more the farmers' land produced, the more share he received. Therefore, he began vigorously promoting fertilization methods.
Human and animal waste, and the roots and stems of pasture grasses, were mixed together and fermented to create highly effective fertilizer. Spreading these fertilizers on fallow land and repeatedly tilling the soil with iron plows would result in a significantly increased yield when the fallow land was cultivated the following year.
For example, this year's spring fields were last year's fallow fields, which led to a significant increase in the yield of barley, oats, and other crops sown in spring.
However, the use of fertilizer alone should not be enough to achieve such an exaggerated 40% increase in yield.
Laszlo looked around, and the autumn fields by the river had expanded considerably since his last visit.
Several canals diverted water from small tributaries of the Danube River into barren land, transforming previously difficult-to-cultivate land into fertile soil, which was now repeatedly tilled by iron plows, becoming good farmland.
This was probably a masterpiece created by the Milanese hydraulic engineers.
"The cultivated area of the manor seems to have expanded to its limit, and the enthusiasm of the tenants for production is quite high."
Laszlo watched the farmers sowing winter wheat in the fields, and his mood improved slightly.
"This is all thanks to your enlightened rule; they often sing praises of your virtues.
Of course, the four Saxony wheeled plows in the manor are also an important reason for the rapid cultivation of the fields.
Unlike most iron plows that serve as communal tools and require a fee for use, the farmers of this manor clearly recognized the benefits of the iron plow. They pooled their money to purchase so many iron plows, which greatly improved the efficiency of cultivation.
Farmers who previously could only cultivate one copyhold with wooden light plows can now generally cultivate two or even more copyholds, and the quality of cultivation is significantly better.
Under the influence of your decree encouraging reclamation, the area of the three large cultivated fields has greatly expanded."
"There hasn't been any unfairness in the distribution of land, has there?"
Although Laszlo was pleased with the large-scale expansion of cultivated land, he was also keenly aware of potential problems.
"Your… Your Majesty, the farmers have generally received strip fields of varying quality, but some differences are inevitable."
Vit looked troubled by this question.
Tenant farmers received one unit of copyhold land (a unit of area, roughly the maximum field area a common farmer could cultivate), but what they actually received were several strip fields distributed across three large cultivated areas.
Fertile land near the river was naturally desired by everyone, while poor land near the hills or far from water sources was avoided by all.
Laszlo had specifically set rules for land division to prevent wealth disparity among tenant farmers caused by human factors.
If one person received only poor land while another received only fertile land, the difference in harvest would become very obvious within a few years.
If this phenomenon began to spread, Laszlo would have to worry about how many corrupt officials were among his bailiffs.
He gazed at Vit, saw his loyalty, and thus grudgingly believed his explanation.
"Hmm, but you've reclaimed so much new land; is the manor's manpower truly sufficient?
"Your Majesty, this manor has received quite a few immigrants from the Swabia region from last year until now, a total of nine households. They are the main force for reclamation.
Your preferential policies have attracted many immigrants, and now I'm somewhat concerned whether Austria's land will be enough to accommodate them."
"There are still large tracts of barren land in the Inn River valley of Lower Austria and Upper Austria that have not been reclaimed.
In the future, you must also keep an eye on this. If some village communities no longer have enough land to accommodate immigrants, settle them on undeveloped land, provide them with seeds, farm tools, and plowing oxen, and let them reclaim the land themselves.
If even barren land is not enough, you can find ways to drain swamps in river valleys or cut down some less important forests to expand cultivated land—but all these actions must be reported to the Imperial Chancellery, understand?"
"I understand, Your Majesty."
All the forests in Austria were the private property of the Archduke, and poachers and wood thieves would be executed if caught.
Although Laszlo did not place much importance on these powers, he could not ignore them, for these trivial powers symbolized the authority of the Archduke of Austria.
Regarding immigrants from Swabia, although the resistance to his recruitment of immigrants from Swabia had lessened considerably after the establishment of the Imperial Circles, he still occasionally received polite protests from local imperial estates.
In reality, Laszlo was helping them. After the Black Death, the situation of farmers had greatly improved due to labor shortages, and after the 15th century began, the population entered a period of rapid growth.
However, Europe's population level now was only barely on par with 150 years ago, though this number was already quite large.
Considering Europe's agricultural level and environmental issues, the next crisis of overpopulation was not far off.
Especially in places like Swabia, where tiny principalities were numerous, a region roughly the size of Austria actually had over seventy independent lords of various sizes. They spent every day racking their brains on how to exploit every bit of value from the people in their narrow territories.
Yet, the farmers of Swabia were more fertile than any other. According to German traditional inheritance law, when the next generation had multiple children, the property would generally be divided equally.
As land was divided, it became smaller and smaller, and gradually farmers could not support themselves, eventually becoming serfs to be exploited by their lords.
Swabians unwilling to accept this fate generally chose one of two paths: emigration or becoming mercenaries.
In the original timeline, 80% of German mercenaries came from Swabia, and even then, Swabia eventually experienced large-scale peasant uprisings due to overpopulation.
Now, Laszlo was recruiting large numbers of Swabians into the Austrian army and attracting immigrants from Swabia to Austria, Hungary, and even the Balkans, which effectively alleviated local population pressure and reduced the risk of peasant uprisings.
By this calculation, those imperial estates of Swabia should actually thank him, but this was impossible, because Laszlo was siphoning off their potential serfs.
Laszlo would not blame these people for their shortsightedness; he simply continued to send people to Swabia to recruit immigrants, sending these impoverished Swabians to the distant East with Austrian colonial teams.
The increase in grain production made Laszlo's thoughts become active.
Previously, the output of the royal domains was sufficient to support his army, but not enough to cover the vast expenses of the court.
If agricultural technology throughout the Danube River basin could be improved like in the model manors, the income from the royal domains would undoubtedly see a significant increase, and his resources would clearly grow.
'It's far from enough to just manage these large manors well; the hundreds of village communities and manors throughout Upper and Lower Austria should gradually adopt these improvements.
And don't forget about integrated farming and animal husbandry. In recent years, the textile industry in cities like Vienna has been gradually rising. Raising more sheep appropriately can increase the manor's income; just tell them they can earn more money.
If you encounter any difficulties, report them promptly, and I will find a way to resolve them.
For the development of the manor, one cannot just look at the income; the lives of the tenants must also be guaranteed.
The fixed taxation I set is both good and bad for them; they actually bear a great deal of risk. If there's a bad year, or the Danube River floods once, many might starve to death.
Therefore, in years of good harvest like this one, the royal manors should at least increase their grain reserves to cope with potential future famines.'
"I have noted everything, Your Majesty."
Vit looked at the agricultural advisor accompanying him, who had already written down the emperor's instructions verbatim.
Laszlo then checked the manor's account books. The grain collected in the first half of the year was approximately 3200 scheffels, enough to supply 180 soldiers for a year.
This was more than what some barons earned in a lifetime...
Laszlo owned about 30 such manors in Lower Austria, and there were also many royal manors in Upper Austria, which had recently been separated from Lower Austria.
In the past, to maintain Habsburg hegemony, or rather for his own selfish reasons, he had ruthlessly exploited the people living on this land, leading to widespread resentment in various Austrian states.
Many people were displaced, either flocking to cities to seek a glimmer of hope or wandering into the wilderness to become prey for wild animals.
Now, with stable taxation and domestic conditions, and the promotion of various new agricultural decrees and technologies, the lives of Austrians have genuinely improved.
Although their ability to withstand risks was still very low, at least they lived much more comfortably than in the first few years of Laszlo's reign.
And for Laszlo, this was already very satisfying.
After concluding his inspection of agricultural development, Laszlo soon embarked on his journey to Hallstatt.
However, while still on the road, he first received two battle reports from Vienna.
Karaman Bey Bilal Ahmed led a large army to raid Konya, but was outmaneuvered by the old fox, Mehmed II.
In fact, the main Ottoman forces had retreated only as far as Ankara and stopped there, but Karaman's reconnaissance had clearly been inadequate.
Just as the Karaman army was preparing to besiege Konya, the Ottoman army returned, and the two sides arrayed their forces outside Konya, engaging in the Second Battle of Konya.
This time, the forces on both sides were roughly equal, but the Ottomans's Wagenburg tactics and more advanced firearms once again inflicted heavy losses on the Karaman army.
After a period of fierce fighting, Bilal Ahmed grew timid and retreated with his army under the cover of his imperial guards. Mehmed II, who had also suffered significant losses, feared an ambush and did not pursue deeply.
Laszlo deeply regretted this.
However, he would not make it easy for the Ottomans until the last drop of Karaman blood was shed.
Another battle report came from the Low Countries: Charles's army cleared out the rebels in a field battle in less than a month, and the rebellious son of the old Duke of Gelre was also beheaded by Charles during the battle.
Thus, Gelre falling into Burgundian hands was only a matter of time.
Laszlo wasn't afraid that the Burgundians wouldn't pay, but he wouldn't easily forget Philip's trick of feinting to the east and attacking to the west.
In the future, Christopher must make Marie pay dearly for it.