Outside Budapest, tents stretched as far as the eye could see, as the first wave of Crusaders from Austria had arrived at the foot of the Hungarian royal city.
The people of Hungary were now accustomed to the arrival of the Austrian army; in earlier years, the Archduke of Austria would almost annually lead the Austrian army into Hungary to demonstrate his power.
However, this time, they had come to Hungary for an even grander objective.
From atop the city walls, Hungarian officials closely followed the Archduke of Austria, looking out at the tens of thousands of elite troops from Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary gathered below.
Three thousand Bohemia, six thousand Hungary, and over ten thousand Austria, Plus from Austria and Bohemia, there were over twenty thousand volunteers, and several thousand Hungarian-Croatia volunteers assembled outside Budapest.
The vast army completely filled the open ground between Budapest Castle Hill and the Danube River.
Laszlo stood on high, silently watching the army below, which was hurriedly assembling; from this height, they looked like tens of thousands of ants crawling on the ground.
Although he had informed the army in advance to prepare for inspection, it was clearly very difficult to coordinate such a large force.
Currently, these were essentially his direct troops, and their performance was already like this, let alone how the private armies of the nobles he had summoned for help and the volunteers would behave once they joined the main Crusader force.
Although the quality of the conscripted troops was relatively poor, the long-trained standing army performed well.
They maintained relatively complete formations, armored and armed, awaiting the Archduke of Austria's inspection.
With such an army, Laszlo was confident that he could now walk across Europe unchallenged.
However, infighting with the nobles within the Empire was neither challenging nor particularly meaningful to him.
But attacking the Ottomans was very different; as long as the threat from the East could be eradicated, the Habsburg Family would surely become the overlords of all Europe.
To be honest, the goal of becoming the overlord of Europe seemed to have been achieved, but the more this was the case, the more Laszlo worried about potential threats.
He could not miss any opportunity to eliminate his enemies; otherwise, when they truly realized their only chance of victory and united, Austria would be in great trouble.
Occasionally, he would reflect on whether his actions were too aggressive, especially since in recent years, strange theories like the 'Burgundy Ottomans theory' and 'Austria Ottomans theory' had even begun to circulate within the Empire.
These bizarre theories likely originated from the Swiss.
During the last Crusade, the Swiss refused the Archduke of Austria's summons, for which they were widely criticized within the Empire.
However, they soon began to seek excuses for this, the most absurd of which was equating the Burgundy, who were constantly expanding their territory within the Empire, with the aggressive Ottomans.
Coincidentally, at that time, the Swiss Confederation had many border conflicts with the Duchy of Burgundy, so the federal leadership used this to mislead the populace and other subjects of the Empire, claiming that their struggle against the Burgundy was also a Crusade in another sense...
Later, the Empire's army destroyed the Swiss Confederation, and it is unknown who then transplanted this exact narrative onto Austria, comparing the Archduchy of Austria to the Ottoman Empire and constantly promoting the 'Habsburg threat theory,' which greatly angered Laszlo, leading him to explicitly prohibit such destructive rhetoric.
Because such claims were truly too absurd, coupled with the Holy See's strong condemnation of the Swiss, everyone merely treated them as a joke and they did not attract much attention.
"Your Majesty, the army's logistical supplies have been fully gathered, and we have set up many supply stations between Budapest and Arad to store these materials.
Upon arrival in Arad, the army's supplies will be the responsibility of the Governor of Transylvania."
Vitéz reported his work results to Laszlo, but Laszlo vaguely felt that Vitéz seemed a bit dissatisfied with the current situation.
Indeed, after all, Laszlo had initially recruited him by promising him the position of Chief Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary, responsible for managing the entire kingdom.
However, now the governors of various regions basically reported directly to the Archduke of Austria, which meant that the decrees of the regency cabinet could hardly extend beyond the Hungarian homeland.
It would be more appropriate to call him the Governor of Hungary than to say he managed the entire Kingdom of Hungary.
Because past King of Hungary often had to deal with numerous affairs in Central, Eastern Europe, and even the Balkans, their management of Hungary tended to be neglected.
This led to the creation of the powerful position of Governor of Hungary, and before Laszlo's era, this position was almost permanent.
During Laszlo's reign, many also referred to the leader of the regency cabinet as the Governor of Hungary; the two positions indeed shared many similarities in function.
However, considering that the title 'Governor of Hungary' might be understood as a prince or duke in other regions, Laszlo ultimately did not continue to use this position, which had existed for hundreds of years.
After all, with him as the King of Hungary, having another Governor of Hungary felt strange, sounding as if he had personally chosen an executive vice-king—perhaps that title would be closer to reality.
Laszlo was somewhat fortunate about this: while the great nobles of Hungary were powerful, by his era, some of the original characteristics of the Hungarian official system still remained.
Although a significant portion of the county governor positions had been converted into hereditary count titles, at the level of governor, or rather, duke, no super-nobles emerged in any region who could monopolize this status.
Historically, after the Hunyadi Family achieved its first hereditary rule in Transylvania, a host of prominent ruling families emerged, such as the Zapolya and Bátori, some of whom even claimed the Hungarian royal crown.
However, Laszlo thwarted the Hunyadi Family's attempt to dominate Transylvania, ensuring his control over the entire Kingdom of Hungary.
Now, the Frankopan Family in Croatia also showed similar tendencies, but the threat they posed was far less than that of the Hunyadi Family, so Laszlo temporarily did not intend to intervene forcefully.
The most crucial point was that Ivan VII, the current head of the Frankopan Family, although eager for power, also knew how to gain promotion.
Among the already assembled Hungarian army, there were many warriors from Croatia, and Ivan himself, as the Governor of the Kingdom of Croatia, even personally led the Frankopan Family's private army into battle.
Such loyal performance naturally pleased Laszlo, and coupled with the Frankopan Family's outstanding performance in the war against the Venetian, Laszlo's doubts gradually dissipated.
"Excellent, Vitéz. We indeed command a large army now, but the Ottomans's experience tells us that these forces alone are far from enough to take Constantinople. Have the remaining troops been fully assembled?"
After completing the conscription of the Austria, Laszlo conducted a major grouping of the nearly 20,000 recruits.
Some were screened out due to quality issues, and among the remaining, those with war experience were assigned to combat units—this part was probably less than four thousand.
The remaining over ten thousand were all assigned to auxiliary forces or even labor, primarily responsible for logistics.
Of course, he couldn't really let the Austrian be on the front lines as cannon fodder, as Austria's population was already the smallest among the three main countries.
The so-called conscription of tens of thousands of people was all for show to his subordinates, to let everyone know that he was serious about taking Constantinople, which also made it easier to persuade more people to participate in the Crusader expedition.
To find cannon fodder, he still had to go to Hungary, which was forced into "overpopulation."
As for why Hungary, despite occupying a large plain and having a territory comparable to France, had less than half of France's population and was still said to be overpopulated, one would have to ask the numerous nobles scattered throughout Hungary.
Laszlo's reforms did change the fate of some common people, but many still suffered from the slavery and exploitation of the Hungarian nobles.
This was a systemic issue at the root of the Kingdom of Hungary, an old problem accumulated over many years, which could not be eradicated by one or two reforms.
"Your Majesty," Vitéz said with a troubled expression, "This is precisely the issue I need to report to you..."
"What? Can't a vast Hungary gather thirty thousand warriors willing to join the Crusade?"
Laszlo raised an eyebrow, asking somewhat puzzled.
"No, thirty thousand is not a lot. During this time, the numerous recruitment centers we set up have already gathered nearly forty thousand knights and commoners who volunteered to join the expedition.
A few of them are professional soldiers, but the vast majority are serfs.
A Cardinal sent by the Holy See commissioned some minor knights to gather Crusaders in the eastern part of the Kingdom, and they assembled a considerable army outside of our plan.
This is an army of over ten thousand people, assembled under the Holy See's edict, mostly composed of farmers, as well as wandering students, zealous monks, and parish priests.
In less than a month, they had already gathered an army of this size.
Now the nobles have begun to protest; they only pledged to cover the military expenses and logistical supplies for the originally planned forty-five thousand people in their own country, and they strongly demand the disbandment of those armies organized by farmers."
Vitéz said with a headache; he had only received news of this recently, and before this, he had never imagined that the Crusader fervor in the Kingdom of Hungary would be so intense.
Thinking about it now, the Archduke of Austria had, after all, promised freedom and land to the serfs participating in the Crusade; how could that not drive them to madness?
Many people fled their lands with their families, intending to follow the army eastward to try their luck. Most of them lived in poverty, finding no way to escape the nobles' servitude, and thus had no choice but to make such a decision.
Moreover, the reason people were more enthusiastic this time than during the previous Crusade was probably because many had previously feared the Ottoman and were unwilling to follow the Crusaders to their deaths in the East.
But now, the Archduke of Austria could almost be said to have victory in his grasp, coupled with the priests' fervent preaching, which led to the current situation.
Laszlo was also somewhat speechless at this point. Seeing the popularity of the Crusader movement in Hungary, this was the normal phenomenon. Indeed, the people of Austria lived too comfortably, and thus even their religious fervor had diminished considerably.
"I will write to the Pope to inquire about this matter. If possible, I will ask him to revoke the edict.
Regarding this, I think we need to reach an agreement with those noble lords in the Parliament; an uncontrolled army must never be allowed to exist.
First, send officials to try to gently persuade them to return to their lands. If they are unwilling to disband on their own, then we may have to resort to some coercive measures."
Laszlo was now also somewhat worried that this might lead to a rebellion, but he glanced at the tens of thousands of troops below, who had largely been brought into order, and his heart immediately felt much calmer.
"Your Majesty, if a rebellion occurs during the Crusade, the foundations of the Kingdom may be shaken."
"What do you mean?"
"Take them to Bulgaria."
Vitéz's idea was clear: these gathered people were precisely the Kingdom's hidden dangerous elements. Taking advantage of this opportunity to send them to the Balkans would both alleviate internal pressure within the Kingdom and replenish Bulgaria's population.
The biggest drawback would probably be causing dissatisfaction among some nobles, which was precisely what the Archduke of Austria had least to worry about.
"Tens of thousands of immigrants, that's not something that can be decided on a whim."
Laszlo admitted that he was indeed somewhat tempted, but this matter clearly required another detailed plan.
Thinking of this, he began to resent the Pope in his heart. Paul II had issued similar edicts in the Empire, Hungary, and its various Balkan dependencies, but only in Hungary had he specifically sent envoys from the Holy See to assist in organizing the army.
Could Laszlo blame him for having any ill intentions? Yet, now this troublesome situation had arisen, giving him a massive headache.
"Tens of thousands more people mean tens of thousands more mouths to feed. They cannot cover their own supplies and expenses; if we take them, we will probably only watch them collapse along the way.
For now, the main approach for surplus volunteers should be to persuade them to return. However, clergy, artisans, and other special talents can be given preferential treatment; if they are willing to settle in Bulgaria or the newly conquered territories, then these people should be taken along."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Having made up his mind, Vitéz immediately dispatched envoys to Szeged and Arad according to Laszlo's command. The former was the original assembly point for the Crusaders recruited in the central part of the Kingdom, while the latter was the gathering point for the Crusaders organized by the Holy See.
To nip any potential chaos in the bud, Laszlo did not linger long in Budapest but soon led his army along the predetermined route through the Kingdom of Hungary, constantly sending people to the East to understand the situation during this period.
Szeged Royal Free City, Central Kingdom of Hungary.
Although Laszlo had received messages from several messengers on his way, claiming that the officials sent to persuade the volunteers to return to their lands had ultimately failed, he still led his army to the vicinity of Szeged with a glimmer of hope.
According to the original plan, fifteen thousand selected conscripts were supposed to join his army here and depart westward together.
However, upon arriving outside Szeged, Laszlo was quickly astonished by the chaotic scene before him.
A large number of volunteers who wished to join the Crusaders but were rejected for various reasons had set up a massive camp outside the city, unwilling to leave.
It was estimated that at least ten thousand rejected individuals were still gathered outside Szeged, setting up tents and temporarily settling near the training camps of the selected Crusader warriors.
These people came from almost all walks of life, with the vast majority being impoverished farmers. Some could find temporary work in the prosperous Szeged to support themselves, while many others could only beg for a living.
Such a large number of "vagrants" inevitably affected the public order in Szeged, with a significant increase in theft and robbery incidents.
If not for Szeged's tall and sturdy city walls and the city-defending army organized by the city council, these rejected individuals might have already formed an army and forcibly occupied the town.
"Your Majesty, this is simply a disaster," Ester, the Guards commander accompanying Laszlo, exclaimed upon seeing the sight.
Such a large-scale exodus of subjects was indeed a huge loss for the noble lords in the central region, and not just the central region; in Arad, not far east of Szeged, and Transylvania, vagrants also gathered, and their scale was even larger.
Laszlo remained silent. Riding his steed, he led a portion of his elite Guards through the camps set up by the rejected individuals, their tents made of rags occupying all the open spaces along both sides of the road.
It was fortunate that it was mid-May, with summer approaching and higher temperatures. Otherwise, these flimsy tents would not have been able to shelter their inhabitants from the wind and rain. In a cold winter, there would have been countless more bodies outside the city.
Well, even now, there were quite a few bodies.
Some people in this camp had already died due to lack of food and clothing. To prevent plague, their bodies were dragged to the wilderness and hastily buried; some were even left exposed in the wild, becoming food for wild beasts.
As he watched these vagrants, who preferred to be displaced rather than return to the servitude of their lords, they also noticed the Emperor's arrival.
The Emperor's Guards maintained vigilance along both sides of the road, holding back the surging crowd so as not to disturb the Emperor.
Thus, the vagrants knelt along the roadside, continuously pleading for the Emperor's mercy and grace.
Among the crowd, several priests boldly requested Laszlo, shouting that they hoped the Emperor would take them to the East, claiming that everyone here was a devout believer and should not be denied entry to the Crusaders for any reason.
Led by these priests, the people also began to petition the Emperor, hoping to become members of this Crusader expedition.
They looked like drowning people grasping at their last straw, desperately fighting for a chance at life.
Laszlo had seen such scenes before, but each time it made him uncomfortable for quite a while.
If the Kingdom of Hungary under his rule were stable and its people prosperous, how could there be so many impoverished farmers eager to join the Crusaders?
They came here to join the Crusaders for two reasons: the religious redemption promised by the Pope, and to escape the shackles of barren land and the endless oppression of their lords.
Although Laszlo's new laws had provided a path for serfs to seek freedom, the price of buying freedom was still too expensive for many.
It was not difficult to understand that they hoped to use the momentum of the Crusaders to escape their generational fate of servitude.
But how should Laszlo respond to them? The royal officials who had arrived before him had already shown his stance, which was to persuade these unselected people to return to their lands and resume the unbearable lives they had before.
From Laszlo's perspective, wasn't this a form of benevolence?
Because embarking on the path to the East meant a near-certain death for these people, while staying in Hungary would allow them to continue living peacefully.
It was a pity that people could not understand Laszlo's good intentions, or rather, they were unwilling to understand. After all, for a farmer who had been honest and hardworking for most of his life, how much courage would it take to leave the land where his family had lived for generations and embark on an adventure with an uncertain future?
Laszlo's gaze swept over the people constantly pleading with him. He did not respond to them, only urged his horse forward, and soon led the Guards through the gates of Szeged.
It was not until the city gates closed that Ester, who had held back for a long time, finally couldn't help but advise Laszlo: "Your Majesty, these vagrants are a hidden threat. Do we need to mobilize the army to… disperse them?"
Ester actually wanted to say "suppress," but seeing the Emperor's inscrutable attitude, he chose a milder word.
"No, not for now. I need to reconsider this."
Laszlo also began to seriously consider Vitéz's earlier proposal.
If he forcibly dispersed these volunteers with military force, it would deal a considerable blow to his prestige.
While considering the matter, Laszlo followed the city government officials to Szeged's city hall.
There, he met two counts from the central region of the Kingdom, who had been waiting for him for a long time, as well as Ernest, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was responsible for coordinating logistics in Szeged.
These two counts were currently serving as county governors in two areas adjacent to the Szeged Royal domain, and their jurisdictions had seen a large number of volunteers wishing to join the Crusaders.
Therefore, from the moment they met Laszlo, these two counts looked troubled. If they hadn't been truly overwhelmed by pressure, they would not have been eager to face Laszlo, a powerful monarch known for his "brutality" in noble circles.
"Your Majesty, we implore you to compel these farmers to return to their lands, to labor in their manors."
"Of course, this does not mean we do not support the Crusaders. We will supply all the money, grain, and other materials you request.
It's just that you should also be very aware that we, and other nobles, have a great deal of land that needs farmers to cultivate.
Now, more and more farmers are fleeing the land, leading to labor shortages in many manors, which may affect the upcoming agricultural harvest and even impact the Kingdom's tax revenue."
"Yes, and the gathered vagrants pose a serious threat to the Kingdom's order. We are very worried that a rebellion centered in Szeged might break out."
The two spoke in concert, packaging the true intentions of their noble group as utterly benevolent, while shifting all blame onto the fleeing farmers.
Laszlo immediately understood that these two individuals were representing the noble lords in the Parliament to pressure him, but because his power was too formidable, what should have been words of pressure sounded more like pleas coming from their mouths.
"Maintaining the security of Christendom and crusading against the Ottoman Turkish heretics is my responsibility as the Guardian of the Faith.
These people have responded to the call of the Holy See and me, willing to join the Crusaders to defend the faith. This is moving, and I will not easily deal with them. This matter still needs careful consideration."
At these words, the two noble representatives who had been pushed forward became somewhat anxious.
The Emperor's power was already strong enough, and if he were to lead this Crusader expedition, his prestige among the populace would likely rise even further, and these "oppressed" nobles would probably never have a chance to rise again.
Moreover, the concentration and growth of power among the farmers who joined the Crusaders had already instilled fear in many nobles.
If they could gather under the name of the Crusaders, they could also gather under the name of resisting rule. Once a large-scale uprising occurred, the lives and property of the nobles would be completely unprotected.
Out of such fear, the nobility had also split into two factions.
Most nobles hoped to use coercive means to restrict farmers from leaving the land, but this was explicitly forbidden under the Kingdom's new laws. They could only hope that the Emperor would agree to their demands.
Other nobles and the government bureaucracy reached a consensus, believing that the crowds gathered and hoping to join the Crusaders were the greatest threat to the Kingdom's stability. If they were sent away, then the Kingdom of Hungary would remain relatively stable for a long time to come.
The two individuals currently before Laszlo were undoubtedly representatives of the majority of the nobility.
"Your Majesty, your indulgence could very likely lead to social unrest in the Kingdom, so this matter must be resolved as soon as possible!"
Such concerns were not unfounded. As a major European country with the most frequent peasant uprisings, the hatred between nobles and farmers in the Kingdom of Hungary was almost irreconcilable.
If these rioters gathered in Szeged and Arad were not properly handled, they could turn their weapons at any moment against the nobles in the Kingdom who had oppressed them for so long.
Only thirty years had passed since the great uprising in 1437, which nearly led to Transylvania breaking away from the Kingdom to become a peasant republic. The power unleashed by the gathered farmers still left a deep impression on the Hungarian noble lords.
With the implementation of new tax laws in recent years, the impoverished farmers at the bottom suffered increasingly severe exploitation, making it almost impossible for them to survive.
This was also the fundamental reason why this Crusader expedition was able to gather so many volunteers.
The Kingdom of Hungary had indeed entered its so-called golden age, watched by all, with some chroniclers even calling it another "Golden Age" of the Kingdom of Hungary after Louis the Great.
However, all superficial glory came at a price. Ultimately, it was the farmers at the bottom of the Kingdom who, with their blood and sweat, supported an economically prosperous and militarily powerful European strong nation.
Laszlo naturally had anticipated such a situation, which is why in previous years, he did not hesitate to fight the nobles to implement the "Farmer Protection Edict," which had some effect.
Unfortunately, some fundamental contradictions cannot be eradicated through such edicts and reforms. Hungary's large population base ensured that there would always be many oppressed serfs, who were now on the dangerous verge of eruption.
The Crusader expedition launched at this opportune moment provided an outlet for their grievances. If Laszlo chose to collude with the nobles to suppress them at this time, it would likely cause a huge backlash later.
Adhering to the philosophy of "if you can't solve the problem, then solve the people who cause the problem," Laszlo already had a plan in mind.
"I will handle all of this. I am more concerned about the stability of the Kingdom than any of you."
Laszlo did not intend to waste any more time with these two spokesmen for the noble faction. He quickly ordered the two counts to be shown out.
Subsequently, he immediately summoned Ernest, who was waiting outside. Ernest represented the regency cabinet and held the same opinion as Prime Minister Vitéz, hoping to send all these vagrants willing to join the Crusaders, without exception, to the Balkans.
As long as the discontented people left, there would naturally be no risk of rebellion.
Generally, Laszlo called this act "emigration," but this time he was going to take tens of thousands of people.
"Vitéz, is it possible for us to take these vagrants to the Balkans and settle them?"
"Your Majesty, don't forget that Bulgaria experienced a major rebellion just a year ago, losing countless people. As far as I know, the border Guards sent to help suppress the rebellion also lost thousands of conscripted peasant soldiers, and now there is a manpower shortage at Timisoara Fortress.
If you take them with you and gradually find opportunities to settle them along the way, it is absolutely feasible."
"I know there's a severe manpower shortage in the Balkans right now. I'm asking about logistics and supplies."
"We can certainly buy grain. In a few months, the first harvest of the year will bring a large amount of grain into the market. The problem is where the money to buy the grain will come from.
You can allocate some from the royal treasury, and I can also contact some merchants for you to secure a loan.
This matter originated with the Pope, so perhaps the Pope should also bear a portion of the costs. Anyway, as long as we can sustain them until they are settled in the East, all problems will be resolved."
As the person truly responsible for coordination, Ernest's plan sounded much more detailed than Vitéz's offhand suggestion.
In his opinion, tens of thousands of farmers were not really tens of thousands of standing troops. Keeping them fed enough not to starve to death until they reached the Balkans would be quite simple.
It was May now, and they were in Szeged. By July, they could cross the Danube River through the Iron Gates into Bulgaria. Perhaps the farmers themselves carried enough provisions.
"Good, let's do that."
Laszlo carefully considered it. Taking these people would both alleviate internal conflicts in Hungary, weaken the power of the nobles, fill the manpower gap in Bulgaria, and subtly introduce some new elements. This deal was well worth it.
So, he wrote another letter to the Pope, who had not yet replied, intending to retract his previous opinion and ask the old man for some gold coins.