Since Laszlo issued the decree allowing privateering, Venetian merchant ships could no longer find a single safe route.
The Aegean Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the Adriatic Sea were swarming with pirate ships targeting Venetians, who could only helplessly split their escort fleet in the Aegean Sea, hoping to suppress the surging pirate waves along the Adriatic Sea.
However, this approach was not ideal; instead, by dividing forces to protect the Gulf of Venice, the defensive strength in the most pressured Aegean Sea weakened, gradually losing its ability to suppress the growing power of the Genoese.
In desperation, the Venetian government decided to activate an emergency plan, traditionally conscripting dozens of merchant ships, which, combined with a drawn-in escort fleet, formed a patrol fleet, hoping to rely on this fleet to clear pirates along the Adriatic Sea coast and protect the safety of trade routes.
The current Doge, Christopher Moro, even took the lead by personally contributing funds and raising a relatively ample sum from the Venetian oligarchy to provide wartime subsidies for these merchant ships.
If they didn't do this, even if the crews of these merchant ships were compelled by tradition to join the fleet, they probably wouldn't exert much effort in the process of clearing out pirates.
Although Venice could still monopolize Eastern trade from places like Egypt and Syria, many Eastern goods could also be transported to Europe by the Genoese through the Black Sea-Danube River trade network, which allowed Laszlo to selectively restrict Venetian goods.
Consequently, the interests of many Venetian merchants were harmed, and they naturally dared not express their dissatisfaction to the Emperor, so they could only curse the incompetence of the Venetian government.
Some merchants eventually chose to defect to Austria or other countries with their ships and crews to make a living, while the remaining merchants could only continue to maintain the Eastern Mediterranean trade network at great risk.
Of course, Laszlo did not dare to overly restrict hard currency luxury goods like spices, leaving the Venetians to profit from them.
There was no other way; who made the spices from India ultimately flow to the "final distribution centers" of Alexandria and Aleppo, and then be brought to the European continent by the Venetians?
If Laszlo truly levied excessive tariffs on spices, the price of spices within Austria would likely skyrocket, which would then cause widespread discontent among the nobility, and might even provoke unexpected changes.
Moreover, Laszlo dared not imagine the consequences of a spice shortage; in his first few years, even the Austrian court was both foul-smelling and fragrant, let alone other places.
To maintain their image and stay in good social standing, the nobility's demand for spices was astonishingly high; generally, the more spices at a banquet, the higher the host's wealth and status.
For this, Laszlo could only hold his nose and let the Venetians reap profits from spices.
Besides spices, saltpeter was in a similar situation; these two items accounted for over 30% of Venice's total trade profits, with a large portion of this income coming from Austria and other vassal states under Laszlo's rule.
Laszlo was well aware that this was an indirect way of aiding the enemy, so he dreamt of breaking the Venetian monopoly on Eastern trade.
He was not without countermeasures; the Venetians lacked gold and silver the most, and Laszlo controlled the vast majority of gold and silver mines in Europe, so he could compress Venetian profits in terms of pricing power, at least making them earn less.
However, using trade measures against the Venetians was ultimately not a solution; only by defeating the Venetians at sea could Austria truly achieve its rise.
After resting in Hallstatt for over half a month, Laszlo finally recovered his full spirit and fighting will.
He realized that his current expansion on land had almost reached its limit; in many places, such as large territories in the Balkans, he could not effectively control them, only able to delegate trusted members of the royal family to manage them.
Although Serbia and Bulgaria experienced constant minor disturbances under the management of his two uncles, fortunately, no major problems arose, and he temporarily had no energy to deal with those remote border areas.
Centered in Vienna, extending south to Milan, north to Poland, east to Transylvania, and west to Alsace, this vast territory, after more than a decade of development, had surpassed the overall national strength of the Ottoman Empire that once captured Constantinople, and had far outstripped France, which was still in civil strife.
It was a pity that Laszlo had not yet managed to integrate the many countries within this territory, but he believed that this day would eventually come.
Before that, he needed to continue strengthening Austria's power until it surpassed the Kingdom of Hungary and became the absolute core of the composite monarchy.
Austria had already expanded its territory significantly on land and was still in the process of assimilation; if Laszlo's maritime strategy could make progress, then Austria's economic and military strength would further increase.
Harboring such ambitions, Laszlo led his Imperial Guard south to the coastal Istrian Peninsula and temporarily stationed them at the Port of Pula.
"Your Majesty, this is the latest tax report; our losses are growing, and you see this..."
The Mayor of Pula presented two reports to Laszlo, his expression quite troubled.
It had only been a little over six years since this city was annexed by Austria, and its once prosperous port had gradually declined due to changes in trade routes.
However, compared to the Croatian port cities in the Dalmatia region that were recovered with it, Pula's situation was already quite good.
Those Dalmatian cities suffered from the Venetian island chain blockade, their maritime trade continuously declining, barely able to make a living.
As soon as Pula was incorporated into Austria, it automatically became Austria's second-largest port city, second only to Austria's sole previous port, Trieste.
To fully leverage the advantages of the Port of Pula, Laszlo spared no effort in investing resources to build roads, construct ships, and attract investment, finally revitalizing the declining Pula.
Along the entire eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, only two places were not blockaded by the Venetians and were directly connected to the vast Habsburg Family empire: the Trieste-Pula line and the Republic of Ragusa.
The former received many additional investments because it was directly subordinate to Austria, but Pula's good days lasted only a few days before the Emperor's privateering decree threw the Adriatic Sea into chaos.
Because many ship owners in the Port of Pula had close ties with Venice, not many ships responded to the call to plunder Venetian merchant ships.
However, many audacious privateers emerged in the neighboring Croatian coast of Istria and in Trieste, daring to raid Venetian merchant ships even in the Gulf of Venice.
This not only brought them utter destruction but also implicated many coastal ports.
Those privateer ships were annihilated by the Venetian escort fleet in the Gulf of Venice; not only them, but other passing Austrian merchant ships that encountered the Venetian patrol fleet were also likely to suffer.
If they were lucky, their goods were plundered, and their lives were spared; if they were unlucky, they perished at sea with their entire crew.
This was the Venetian counter-attack against Laszlo, using this retaliatory privateering to put immense pressure on Austrian and Croatian ports, thereby forcing Laszlo to revoke his insane privateering decree.
However, they clearly miscalculated; Laszlo calmly took the report from the Mayor's hand and quickly scanned it.
It recorded that the port's trade volume and tax revenue had evaporated by 30%, which was indeed a terrifying figure, but Laszlo's heart remained undisturbed.
Even if the Venetians completely blockaded all of Austria's coastal areas, and not a single ship could pass, Laszlo would not care.
Austria had only one port before and still managed to thrive; now that there were more ports, life would not be worse than before.
But the Venetians were different; they currently had no spare money to expand their warships and merchant fleet, and those Venetian bankers were suffering huge daily losses due to the continuous shrinking of the merchant ship fleet.
They provided loans to private ship owners and then extracted profits from each of their trade voyages, which required a long cycle for them to recoup their capital and earn more interest.
However, once a ship owner could not bear the pressure and fled, or unfortunately encountered a privateer ship at sea, the loaned money was completely lost.
The visible economic decline and rising prices caused Venetians to rush to the banks for runs, leading to greater payment difficulties and affecting the issuance of new loans, which in turn impacted maritime trade, which heavily relied on loans, forming a vicious cycle.
As long as the privateer ships in the Adriatic Sea were not completely cleared, the Venetians' confidence in the government and banks would diminish further until it hit rock bottom.
Of course, the Imperial Bank also suffered some losses due to this mutual privateering, but these were all within an acceptable range.
As long as they continued to wear down the Venetians, Laszlo believed there would eventually be a day when the other side would collapse.
"The Venetians are our eternal scourge; if we cannot take advantage of their decline to eradicate them once and for all, there will surely be endless troubles in the future.
As for the losses you mentioned, I will communicate with the Minister of Finance to see if a subsidy can be issued.
In short, you all must endure for now; this is merely the darkness before dawn."
"I understand, Your Majesty; afterwards, I will persuade more ship owners to see if they are willing to join this war."
Seeing the Emperor's indifferent response, the Mayor could only sigh lightly, expressing his support for the Emperor.
When the Croatian army conquered Pula, they had already purged the Venetian families in the city; now, most of the remaining ones were wealthy merchant families with some capital but no opportunity to be included in the 'Venetian Golden Book,' and this Mayor was one of them.
It was ironic; they once regretted not being able to be listed in the Golden Book and become nobles, but later, when the Imperial Army confiscated properties according to the Golden Book, they began to feel fortunate.
When the top Venetian elites were purged and a power vacuum appeared in Pula, they quickly seized the abundant inheritances left by the nobles and gained control of Pula, a city with boundless prospects.
However, so far, quite a few wealthy councilors had suffered huge losses, even losing their families, due to the Emperor's decree.
Yet, what could they do to resist the Emperor?
All they could do next was to continue to endure, waiting until their old master, the Republic of Venice, collapsed, upon which they could ride the Austrian tide to rise and accumulate vast wealth.
Laszlo looked at the very sensible Mayor with some surprise, then nodded with satisfaction and said, "This is destined to be a war of attrition; as long as Austria ultimately wins, you will also receive many rewards. This is my promise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After the Mayor left, Laszlo stood on the port's city wall, gazing into the distance; an Austrian merchant ship, risking its life, broke through the pursuit and blockade of Venetian patrol ships and successfully entered the Port of Pula.
Artillery roared on the city wall, forcing back the Venetian warships approaching the port.
This was Laszlo's idea; he had previously ordered the Imperial Guard's artillery to move their cannons onto the city wall to temporarily serve as coastal defense guns.
Although the range of these cannons was not actually sufficient to threaten ships at sea, they served as a powerful deterrent.
The sailors on the merchant ship, having survived the ordeal, were met with cheers from the crowd on the dock, receiving heroic treatment.
Compared to the merchant ships huddled in the port, afraid to venture out, the people on this ship were undoubtedly brave warriors.
However, the fate of warriors is often not good, especially now that the Gulf of Venice was completely blockaded by the Venetians.
Speaking of the blockade, Laszlo's gaze turned to the other side; along the Croatian coast near the Port of Pula, the Venetians controlled a series of islands, completely blocking the sea lanes.
This Dalmatian island chain caused far more severe damage to Croatian maritime trade than the losses suffered by Austria due to the blockade.
Laszlo brought the Imperial Guard to Pula precisely to break the island chain blockade, at least to allow Croatian ships to enter the Adriatic Sea.
Just then, a Frankopan Family messenger from Krk Island was brought to Laszlo's side.
"Your Majesty, Duke Ivan has already rendezvoused with General Dujam; their fleet should arrive in Pula tomorrow."
The messenger brought the news Laszlo most anticipated.
"Very good," Laszlo turned his gaze to the Imperial Guard commander beside him, "Ester, the task of capturing Cres Island and breaking the Venetian island chain blockade is entrusted to your Imperial Guard."
"Your Majesty, I will not disappoint you!"
Ester, a cavalryman by background, was actually unsure about island assault operations, but he believed in the Austrian Army's combat capability.
The entire Cres Island had a population of no more than five thousand; as long as the navy could escort the troop transports and deliver the entire Imperial Guard to the island, a rapid assault to capture the island would be no problem at all.
Laszlo hoped this surprise attack would set a good precedent for subsequent actions.
The assault on the island chain was not only to liberate the Croatian coastline and further enhance maritime power but also to dismantle Venetian transit stations, making their fleet's navigation in the Adriatic Sea more difficult, ultimately turning Venice into a complete isolated island.
If this entire island chain were occupied by Austria, he could also use it to further strengthen his control over Croatia, a triple benefit.
Of course, whether all of this was his beautiful fantasy or truly had a chance of realization would depend on the upcoming battle.