The latter half of the Privy Council meeting included several proposals regarding the strengthening of ties with Bohemia.
In addition to the previously renovated road connecting Prague and Brno, another important trade route—the one leading from Linz to Prague—became the core of the discussion.
Upper Austria and Lower Austria are directly connected by the Danube River waterway. If a smooth road were constructed between Bohemia and Upper Austria, merchants and travelers would benefit, and the transmission of government decrees would become more rapid.
However, just planning this project would take a significant amount of time, and there was still the task of partitioning Bohemia to complete before that, so it was temporarily shelved.
In contrast, Emperor Laszlo quickly thought of another feasible way to improve the efficiency of information transmission.
After the meeting, Baron Ruggiero, the Postmaster General who had come to Vienna to report on his duties, was summoned by Emperor Laszlo.
This minister had only recently returned from far-off Besançon in the west and had barely rested before being called into the palace.
When Ruggiero entered the Emperor's reception room with a face full of fatigue, the latter was leaning on a lounge chair facing the fireplace to warm himself.
It seemed he had been waiting for some time; Emperor Laszlo was currently holding several Imperial documents sent by the Archbishop of Mainz, taking advantage of this gap to adjudicate some disputes within the Empire.
Noticing Ruggiero entering the room, Emperor Laszlo put down the documents and motioned for the minister to come closer.
"You've worked hard helping Christopher set up the postal system for the western territories during this period."
Seeing a tired, weather-beaten face, Emperor Laszlo's tone couldn't help but soften.
Ruggiero was overwhelmed by the favor and hurriedly thanked the Emperor, replying respectfully, "Serving your family is my honor and mission. It would be wonderful if I could be of help to His Majesty Christopher."
According to the agreement signed between the Taxis family and the Emperor in Innsbruck, the Emperor granted their family the right to monopolize postal operations. In exchange, their family business would be integrated into the government system as a whole, becoming the key to communication between Vienna and local governments.
Subsequently, the entire postal network of Austria was integrated bit by bit by him. Now, it covered the whole of Austria like a spider web, much like the communication network their family operated in Italy.
More than two hundred years ago, south of the mountains, they obtained the protection of the Pope and made deals with various states to build the Rome-Milan-Venice communication network in Northern Italy.
And now, north of the mountains, the Emperor provided them with abundant resources that were previously unimaginable.
Opening up the market north of the mountains was originally very difficult, but now with the entirety of Austria as a foundation, Ruggiero had even greater goals.
Coincidentally, the Emperor's goals happened to align with his own.
Therefore, Ruggiero always maintained a dedicated attitude toward the various collaborations with the Emperor.
"How is the construction of the postal network in the west coming along?"
"Thanks to your blessing, progress is going smoothly. Most of Austria's western territories are close to the upper reaches of the Rhine River, and from Bregenz to Freiburg in Breisgau, they are connected by waterways.
Therefore, in addition to traditional riders delivering letters and goods, I have also signed contracts on behalf of the royal family with some shipowners in Bregenz, Constance, Basel, and Freiburg. Communication time between the western territories has been significantly shortened."
"What about Franche-Comté? And the Rhône Valley further west? Establishing effective means of communication is necessary for remote enclaves."
Emperor Laszlo asked the question he was most concerned about. Although he had given Christopher a bunch of titles for the newly conquered territories, communication efficiency was a crucial factor in whether he could actually establish rule there.
"The postal system in Franche-Comté has been initially established. Local cities, monasteries, and inns run by merchants have been a great help.
The road to Lyon needs to pass through Burgundy. King Charles, at his daughter's request, granted our messengers the right to cross Burgundy and allowed us to find willing partner transit stations in cities like Dijon.
The postal route connecting Lyon has been opened. The remaining territories still need some time to be reorganized and organized.
In addition, His Majesty Charles also intended to invite me and my family to Burgundy to establish a complete postal system for him, but I declined."
Speaking of this, Ruggiero felt a bit of pride, though he then carefully observed the Emperor's expression.
"Poaching my people now, is he? That fellow Charles..."
Emperor Laszlo was almost amused by Charles's move, but on second thought, he understood Charles's pain.
Although the passage between the Low Countries and the Burgundian heartland had been opened, Burgundy today still maintained a dual-core rule.
Brussels and Dijon managed the eastern and western parts of the kingdom, respectively.
The Burgundians had neither the will nor the energy to build high-quality roads connecting the capital with important local hubs like Austria did, and even a nationwide communication system had not yet been established.
It was no wonder Charles would covet Emperor Laszlo's Postmaster General.
This King of Burgundy had always been a vanguard of centralization. A treasure that could guarantee and accelerate the transmission of government orders and improve control over regions was exactly what he had been pursuing.
"However, there's no harm in cooperating with Charles. I'll write to him later to ask if he's willing to establish a massive postal network connecting Austria and Burgundy. Your workload might double by then."
"This... Your Majesty, I will do my best."
"I'm just teasing you. No rush on the Burgundy side. I heard your expansion in Swabia suffered quite a setback?"
Ruggiero nodded with a grimace and complained indignantly, "Your Majesty, our counterparts in Swabia are too barbaric. We clearly obtained authorization from the local princes, yet the local messengers chose to disrupt our business through murder.
We have already lost more than twenty messengers. Many were intercepted and killed shortly after leaving a transit station. The loss of many important letters has damaged our reputation, and messengers are no longer willing to go to Swabia to deliver mail."
"That is truly unfortunate news," Emperor Laszlo said, rubbing his forehead with a bit of a headache, having no immediate solution for this. "Let's suspend the attempts to expand business within the Empire for now. The focus of the Royal Post Office should still be on the western territories and the Bohemian region that was recently incorporated into Austria.
The construction of the postal network in Bohemia and Moravia must also be put on the agenda. Once you have planned out the required funding and personnel support, propose it, and the Privy Council will review it.
The more important routes are those leading to Jindřichův Hradec Castle, Prague, Kuttenberg, and Brno. These need to be completed as soon as possible. The current efficiency of message transmission is still too slow."
"Leave it to me, Your Majesty." Ruggiero quickly regained his spirits and began to envision the future development of his family and company.
Since Bohemia had become the next piece of the puzzle, could Hungary be far behind?
As for the Empire, those regions not under the Emperor's rule were inhabited by nothing but germanic barbarians, which broke Ruggiero's heart.
In his view now, even the Magyars, as long as they remained obedient to the Emperor's rule, were friendlier and more civilized than the Germans.