Imperial Diet & Rules

[phonicsmonkey]

The Prinz rises to address the Kaiser and the Diet.

Father I am familiar enough with the secret ways of the city! I remember fondly from my childhood how you, my brother Henry and I would don our hunting capes and sally out in secret through some dark corridor for our private excursions.

I shall be here to address the Diet Session come rain or high water, Poles, Magyar, French or Italians, none shall halt my progress!

To business.

I hereby announce that Herr Jens Herden is to be elevated to Count of Budapest, with that fine city and her surrounds granted to him as his personal fiefdom within the Duchy of Osterreich.

This is a reward for loyal and constant service over many years and in particular recognition of his recent successes against our Magyar foe. Long may Osterreich, its Duke, Count and nobles resist the Reich's enemies and seize their heartlands for our own!

I urge you all to congratulate Count Herden who is a shining example of German martial talent.

[Nightbringer]

Jens Herden stands, now adorned with a a small circlet crown the looks to have symbols of the Kingdom of Hungary.

I am most honored to accept this count-ship. While I have not always gotten along with all of you, it has been my dearest wish to bring our empire to glory!

I thank my lord the Prinz for his kind words about my service, and promise that I shall continue it.
Count Herden bows to the assembled group.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I got this little trinket from the Hungarian Prince after cornering him in a back alley of Budapest. I think it helps send the message that we Germans are truly their betters, don't you?

[Cecil XIX]

The Diet Speaker addresses the assembled.

My lords, the Fourth Diet Session is upon us. We will now entertain discussion for a period of three days, ending on Friday, the first of April. God Save the Reich!

[Zim]

Elberhard steps into the Diet and looks around at all the empty seats. "Hmm, guess I'm the first one" he mutters to himself before sitting down in the Austrian section.

[The Celtic Viking]

A cough is heard from a dark corner.

"No, you're wrong, my friend. I am here, too."

Theodericus der Bartige pushes his chair back and approaches the center of the room. From the paper and pen left on his table, it is apparent that he had been busy writing while Elberhard had entered.

"I would like to turn to the Magistrate who spoke earlier and ask if I still need to propose an edict to authorize the capture of Stettin, even though I inofficially acquired the consent of the Diet to do so before. I suspect I do, but I feel I must ask anyway, for I would like to use my proposal for something else if I can."

[Nightbringer]

Jens Herden enters the room and gives those present a curt nod, he then walks over and joins Elberhard and quietly whispers a few words to him.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

ELECTORS!

We are living in dark times. This much is clear. We stand surrounded by enemies, enemies that collectively have more manpower and resources than us. Enemies that have the blessings of that Tuscan snake, Gregory. Enemies that, because of Gregory's deceptions, firmly believe that they are in the right in destroying us! This is the most dangerous kind of foe, Good Electors, and we unfortunately find ourselves facing many of them.

Despite this, despite the loss of more Dukes than I care to remember at this juncture, we are finally starting to make gains. While the French have ignored my peace missives, they seem to be leaving a stable front to our west. In the East, we are avenging ourselves, with the Margrave's army from Magdeburg ready to strike out against the Poles and Budapest only so recently having been conquered from the Hungarians. To the south, our efforts against Milan are seeing progress as well, as those rebels are busy impaling themselves against the foreign ruler of Provence.

*The Kaiser stands up and walks out from behind his desk, starting to get more animated.*

Here in the center though, you may have noticed that there is a quite large Polish army nearby, threatening our capital city which I have only so recently reclaimed for the glory of the Reich. Some of you have approached me about recalling your armies from the front in order to assist this effort. This will not be necessary. What is more important is that you defeat our enemies far from here and restore the Reich's glory. As for me...

*He starts making elaborate, sweeping hand gestures.*

Do not worry about me! I solemnly pledge, here and now, that I will NOT! LET! THIS! CITY! FALL!!! My soldiers and I will defend this city to the last!!! And at the end of the day, when the residents of the city are afraid to leave their homes not from fear of Polish butchery, but because of the atrocious smell emanating from all of the Polish corpses that litter the streets, this city will still be in Imperial hands! This I pledge to you now!!!

*The Kaiser pauses for a minute as the Diet chamber erupts into general applause.*

Now then, I see we have some administrative issues to take care of. First of all, the mercenary issues. Prinz Leopold has done an admirable job in this capacity over the past Diet session. However, the process could be streamlined. Too often Electors may find themselves in situations where they need to quickly hire the services of mercenaries and the Marshal's approval is simply too slow to come. Therefore, I propose the following Charter Amendment:

Charter Amendment 4.1: The "Marshal" section of Charter provision 6.12 is amended to read as the following (changes are in bold):

Marshal:
Term: Self-nominated and elected every normal Diet Session.
Powers:
(1) Sole control over the Reich's mercenaries.
(2) Can recruit and disband mercenary regiments in any army, can move mercenary regiments to and from armies or assign to/remove from an Elector
(3) Recruitment and upkeep are paid for by a pool of funds which is sustained by an income tax on all electors automatically paid each turn.
(4) If Electors who wish to hire mercenaries for their own use are willing to pay for them entirely out of their own pocket, then they do not have to go through the Marshal to hire them. The hiring Elector is responsible for the entire costs of the mercenary army.
Penalties:
(1) If the pool runs out, mercenaries are paid for out of the Marshal's treasury.
(2) The Kaiser sets the 'Mercenary Tax' rate for the pool.

The second issue we have to deal with is the future of the Houses. Currently, Austria is the only line that is set to continue. They also hold by far the most provinces. This is the sole reason why I have held off awarding more conquered provinces to the Prinz. Leopold, when you ascend to the Kaisership, you have a responsibility to leave your House and be an impartial ruler. I do not want the future of the Reich to be a powerhouse, unified Austria and a secondary Brandenburg-Bohemia. I wish to see Swabia, Bavaria, and Flanders reestablished. I aim to take the first step towards this when my next daughter comes of age.

Leopold, I will at some point speak to you in private about these matters, but for now I welcome an open discourse about how best to secure the Reich's prosperous and balanced future.

God save the Reich!