The process for the Venetian to open new navigation routes was far from easy.
After leaving their comfort zone, they found it difficult to accumulate various goods for sale to the East through the Empire's developed trade network, or even the large quantities of grain needed by the city.
Although the trade of luxury goods like spice and silk always had a market, the increased transportation costs and the risks along the way caused the price of spice sold to France and Iberia to generally multiply several times; otherwise, they wouldn't earn much profit at all.
This was merely the impact of Austria blocking the Empire's trade routes, which was already fatal enough for the Venetian.
Historically, after the Ottoman Empire annihilated the Mamluk Sultanate, it cut off the source of Venetian spice trade from the Levant and Egypt, causing spice prices to increase by more than eight times due to exorbitant transit taxes. Coupled with Portugal's discovery of new routes, Venice's spice imports plummeted by two-thirds within a decade.
From then on, Venice was completely relegated to a second-rate minor power, barely surviving by relying on its geographical advantages.
Unfortunately, Laszlo could not maintain the trade blockade policy as long as the Ottomans, because he himself could not obtain much spice. The small share that the Genoese got from Eastern trade was not enough to satisfy even Austria, let alone the vast market of the Empire.
For this reason, Laszlo could only choose to conduct wartime commercial negotiations with the Venetian.
The Venetian's most familiar partner, the head of the Augsburg Chamber of Commerce and Austria's Minister of Finance, Jakob Fugger, visited Venice with a mission. Upon his arrival, Doge of Venice Moro was both surprised and delighted, immediately meeting with this distinguished guest.
"Lord Fugger, I have often heard your name and admired you for a long time. I never expected that we would meet under such circumstances," Moro said, taking a sip of the fine Bordeaux wine gifted by the King Charles VII, with a touch of emotion to Fugger, who sat opposite him with a solemn expression.
People always said that Venice dominated maritime trade, but what supported their vast trade network were the numerous trade goods and the massive market from the Empire.
Augsburg was undoubtedly the center of the Empire's market and an indispensable link in Venice's trade hegemony.
Decades ago, before the Fugger Family rose to prominence, they had already established ties with the Venetian, obtaining financing permission in Venice through various means.
When their assets were only a few thousand florin, the Fugger Family's ancestors dared to provide large loans to Venetian merchants to purchase pepper, and through their network of connections in Augsburg, they assisted Venetian merchants in selling these precious spices, thereby earning huge profits exceeding 35%.
Soon, the Fugger Family shifted from its original industrial-first strategy to a financial-first one, as the speed at which money made money was unimaginable to an ordinary person.
However, since Jakob Fugger inherited the family business, he observed that the financial industry often experienced downturns due to factors such as wars and shortages of gold and silver supply. Therefore, he boldly refocused the family's development on industrial growth again.
Specifically, he once again heavily invested in the family's traditional textile industry, occasionally participating in investment projects to accumulate wealth, awaiting an opportunity to rise.
It wasn't until the Habsburg Family, his long-cherished major client, finally recognized his value that the two parties immediately began deep cooperation.
This time, he extended his reach into the most promising mining industry—gold, silver, copper, iron, salt. He opened whatever mines were profitable, following the Emperor's footsteps to make a fortune.
As the scale of silver mining in Tyrol and Kuttenberg gradually expanded, the Fugger Family's lending business flourished even more.
Of course, the Imperial Bank, which he invested in and managed, also thrived.
Now he no longer needed to earn money through the Venetian, but many Augsburg merchants still relied on Venice's maritime trade for their livelihood.
To prevent the market from being destroyed, Fugger still personally came at the Emperor's command. The Doge of Venice's friendly attitude lightened his mood considerably.
"Matters between nations are always so chaotic and complex, and they are beyond your and my control.
When I was young, my father sent me to Venice to learn your advanced commercial techniques, and my eldest son also studied in Venice for several years, so I have a good impression of this city and the Republic.
However, I am now serving the Emperor, so our negotiations cannot be mixed with too much personal sentiment.
I will be direct: the Emperor has decided to lift the embargo on specific goods, allowing you to sell your goods to the Empire."
Fugger's words made Moro's eyes light up. The seventy-year-old excitedly pressed, "Has the Emperor agreed to negotiate peace with us?"
"No, there's no such thing," Fugger mercilessly shattered Moro's illusion, stating gravely, "The Emperor launched this war to punish you, and he will not give up so easily.
This is a list of non-prohibited items, and the tax rates for various trade goods are also listed on it. These Venetian goods will not be seized or confiscated upon entering Austrian territory, but we will only open a very few specific ports to Venetian ships."
After all, the two countries were at war, and Venetian merchant ships were enemy vessels. If a merchant ship disguised as a military vessel infiltrated an Austrian port to cause damage, it could result in significant losses.
Designating specific ports for Venetian trade goods to land was also for the convenience of customs inspection and valuation, followed by the collection of corresponding taxes.
Moro took the list from Fugger's hand, scanned it, and found that it mostly contained precious trade goods that Austria and its dependencies could not produce.
However, this was also Venice's main source of trade income.
It was not difficult to tell from Fugger's tone that while he claimed to be there for negotiations, he was merely informing the Venetian of this decision.
As for whether the Venetian dared to trade through Austrian territory, that was entirely up to them.
"The Emperor is surprisingly benevolent, only imposing a 20% transit tax on spice," Moro scoffed sarcastically, "but for us, there's no better option."
"I must remind you that the transit tax for goods like spice and saltpeter is only accepted in kind."
Fugger sneered in response. If the Emperor were truly benevolent, he wouldn't have started this war that affected countless people.
"This... well, I understand."
When under someone's roof, one must bow one's head, Moro reluctantly accepted the fact.
In terms of the spice trade, the Mamluk were middlemen, and Venice was a third-tier middleman. These spices came from India, changing hands multiple times and undergoing dozens of rounds of taxation, making their prices astonishingly high to begin with.
If the Emperor proposed that Austria handle the next stage of the re-export trade, Moro and the Venetian Senate would never agree, because then the final pricing power and the lion's share of profits would go into the Emperor's pocket.
However, Austria did not have a trade network as developed as Venice's, so Laszlo did not forcibly block overland trade routes to compel the Venetian to comply.
In this way, the Austrian collected transit taxes, the Venetian earned money selling spice, and as for the merchants within the Empire, they desperately needed these goods. The transition from no supply to some supply would naturally satisfy them, and they had no choice but to accept price fluctuations caused by the war. Everyone had a bright future.
Moro then submitted the Emperor's terms to the Great Council of Venice. Although the risk was great, these Venetian nobles could only take a gamble.
While the trade route in the Western Mediterranean could indeed mitigate some losses, such a route—high risk, long duration, low profit—was truly unsatisfactory.
Thus, the council ultimately approved the Emperor's terms.
Soon after, Laszlo's decree reached Venetia. Coastal ports like Aquileia, where Venetian trading posts had been sealed, began to reopen and were placed under the scrutiny of professional tax officials.
At the same time that Venice began to restore its overland trade network, the armies of Bulgaria and Serbia had converged and moved south, their forces directly targeting the large Venetian colonies in Greece.
The Venetian forces stationed in Athens and Modon, among other places, were the first to launch an attack on Morea from both the north and south.
Although the war in Greece had just begun, for Laszlo, it had already entered garbage time.
His Balkan vassal states, like rabid dogs, began tearing at Venice's territory in packs, and all Austria had to do was guard its coastal defenses and continue to develop.
In Vienna, inside a reception room at Hofburg Palace, two middle-aged men sat waiting for an audience with the Emperor.
One of them was plump and well-groomed, looking like a wealthy country gentleman, while the other, though appearing much less affluent, still had better economic conditions than the average commoner based on his attire.
"Mr. Hindepeg, aren't you nervous at all? We're about to meet the Emperor..."
The poorer-looking man asked his waiting companion.
The rich man, Hindepeg, naturally replied, "Dona, what's there to be nervous about? Haven't you paid enough taxes?"
"How could that be?" Dona's emotions were a bit agitated. "I paid every single florin of my annual 40 florin tax!"
Upon hearing this, Hindepeg smiled. Compared to the 750 florin he paid annually, Dona's contribution wasn't even a fraction.
"You guard the Drau River every year, collecting taxes from passing rafts and small boats. It's not easy to gather 40 florin."
Hindepeg's words carried a hint of arrogance, making Dona unwilling to say anything more to him.
The two were sitting together simply because they were from the same hometown and both were tax collectors from Villach, a city in Upper Austria.
Their tax farming contracts were both expiring this year. Previously, the review and renewal of contracts were handled by the Minister of Finance, but this year, the Minister of Finance happened to be on a business trip to Venice, and the Emperor, on a whim, decided to personally review the tax situation in the Villach region.
Austria's tax system, after ten years of development, was now initially complete, roughly divided into three independent systems, all under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court's Finance Committee.
In the territories of nobles and the church, the tribute taxes levied on them through the Estates Assembly were generally collected by officials appointed by the local rulers themselves, with Laszlo occasionally sending bailiffs to inspect the situation.
In the royal demesne, tax officials and treasurers were responsible for managing the state treasury's income and expenditure and the royal private treasury's income and expenditure, respectively. Beneath them were several tax collectors responsible for the specific collection of taxes.
Among them, the treasurers and tax officials for each region were personally selected and appointed by the Emperor, mostly technocrats with specialized knowledge, while the tax collectors were mostly recruited by the Minister of Finance, primarily from the wealthy burgher class, with most of them responsible for collecting indirect taxes.
At the beginning of their tenure, they would sign a tax farming contract with the Emperor. The Minister of Finance, after evaluating the value of a certain tax station, would sign the contract with the tax collector in the Emperor's name.
Tax collectors were required to pay a fixed amount of "tax" in advance each year, for example, Hindepeg had to pay 750 florin, while Dona had to pay 40 florin. These funds would flow into the state treasury, becoming part of the national fiscal revenue.
Then, the tax collectors obtained the operating rights of the tax station.
Hindepeg's tax station was the Lieserhofen tax station in Villach. Many merchant caravans traveling from Austria to Bavaria passed through here, so he paid the most among all tax collectors in Villach.
Dona, on the other hand, received the tax station on the Drau River, which flowed through Villach. He could collect taxes from passing small boats, a task that was not easy and yielded relatively less tax revenue.
However, given Dona's financial standing, securing this contract was already a stroke of luck.
As long as they paid the required taxes to the government, no matter how much tax they collected in a year, they could keep the rest for themselves.
However, the Emperor's Royal Demesne Supervisory Committee dispatched inspectors to collect feedback from travelers and merchants passing through tax stations to ensure that tax collectors were not abusing their authority to collect taxes indiscriminately.
Generally speaking, as long as it wasn't too excessive, the Emperor would turn a blind eye.
At this time, having just emerged from the Middle Ages (questionable), suitable trade routes were extremely scarce, making the operation of tax stations undoubtedly a highly profitable business.
As long as they didn't act recklessly by overcharging or engaging in smuggling, the lives of tax collectors usually improved steadily.
Hindepeg had earned a lot in recent years, especially after the Landshut War, when trade between Austria and Bavaria became more frequent, which made him enthusiastic about renewing his contract.
As for Dona, although his work in recent years had been arduous, often requiring him to pursue smugglers and tax evaders on the river, his life was indeed slowly improving, so he also did not want to lose this valuable public office.
Not long after, someone came to summon them, bringing them before the Emperor.
Their superior, the tax official of Villach, stood beside the Emperor, awaiting orders. Seeing the two approach, he immediately handed them two contracts.
"As before, taxes are to be paid on Saint George's Day in April each year, and you will then be granted the right to collect specific taxes, as in the past."
"Hindepeg, in light of the increase in trade between Austria and Bavaria, your total tax amount will be raised to 800 florin starting next year."
"Dona's tax remains unchanged."
"If there are no objections, please sign the contracts."
The tax official informed the two of the Emperor's decision.
Hindepeg took the new contract and looked at it, feeling some dissatisfaction. This was the second time the Emperor had raised the tax amount upon renewal, and his renewal contract duration was getting shorter and shorter.
He looked at Dona next to him; like his previous contract, this one was also for five years.
His own contract, however, was only for a short two years, and perhaps in two years, the Emperor would again take the opportunity to raise the total tax amount.
"What, do you have any dissatisfaction with this?"
Laszlo looked at the hesitant Hindepeg with a meaningful gaze.
"Your Majesty, I am not dissatisfied with this, but is the increase in the tax amount perhaps too frequent?"
"That's not the case," Laszlo patiently explained, "This is a decision reached after a professional evaluation by the Imperial Court's Finance Committee."
"If you do not wish to renew, you may certainly put down the contract, and I will pay you an additional sum as a reward for your loyal service over the years."
"As for the operating rights of the Lieserhofen tax station, there are still many people eyeing them."
It was the same old saying: if you don't do it, plenty of others will. Since tax outsourcing, Laszlo's pressure to find personnel had significantly decreased. Although this system had obvious drawbacks, the new system was operating very smoothly so far.
Laszlo was committed to transforming Austria from a "territorial state" under feudalism into a modern "fiscal state," and the first step was tax specialization.
King Charles VII of France had already completed the same work before 1450, leveraging the opportunities created by the Hundred Years' War.
He formalized the collection of regular and special taxes, the definition of tax officials' functions, and behavioral norms, all through decrees.
Because of this, his prodigal son, Louis XI, had vast amounts of tax money to squander, which made Laszlo extremely envious.
But no matter how much he envied it, that was France. The transformation of Austria could only be carried out step by step by Laszlo, and fortunately, it was finally beginning to show results.
"Your Majesty, I'll sign!"
Hindepeg's expression was complex as he struggled for a while, but ultimately, he couldn't let go of the temptation of tax collection rights.
Laszlo was very satisfied with such a sensible tax collector.
After seeing off the tax collectors who earned him money, Laszlo looked at the latest statistics showing a 150,000 florin surplus in the state treasury and fell into contemplation.
With such a large sum saved this year, how should he spend it?