Re: Imperial Diet
It is not a question of difficulties, Otto, it is a question of finances. As you have said yourself, the Milanese island settlements will have to be converted to towns before they can become prosperous. This will take many years and thousands upon thousands of florins before the Reich even begins to see a return on its investments. I find it unlikely that these places would even make up the costs of converting them and constructing trade facilities before the next election for Chancellor.
Contrast this with Venice, which is already the most prosperous trading city in all of Christendom, Zagreb, a well developed city in its own right, and Ragusa, a castle of a quality to rival any in the Reich. These places will immediately bring wealth to the Reich, while the Milanese islands will only drain the Reich further for many years to come. This is simply poor economics, especially if we can obtain tribute from the Milanese as well!
If we cannot obtain a ceasefire on favorable terms, Edict 5.15 does not require that we sign one at all. However even in that situation it is still in our best interests to delay any move on the islands until the other fronts have been stabilized and the treasury reinforced, for the same reasons as before.
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