"So far, everything is complete." On a morning in early February 1435, Manuel, sitting in Trabzon Palace, wearing a tall, pointed hat (skiadions), looked out the window. With a calm expression and composed demeanor, he took the teacup offered by a servant, and gently sipped the clear tea inside, as if feeling a sense of tranquility that everything had been settled…
How could that be!
The moment he thought of the hidden dangers, both overt and covert, in Bosporus, he slammed the porcelain cup, from which he had just taken a sip, onto the table: the peasant rebels in his hometown of Tauris had not yet been cleared, the newly acquired Pontus region was in ruins, there were border Muslim Turk nomads with a tradition of plundering farms, and a series of military problems exposed during the recently concluded foreign war…
"So why was I putting on such a serene expression just now!!!"
"Ask yourself," at this moment, his wife, Barbara, the Bosphorus Caesar and regent-in-absentia, who was sitting opposite him in casual clothes, couldn't help but sigh, rubbing her forehead, "You were the one who dragged me here early in the morning, saying you wanted to have some kind of morning meeting to relieve your mood, and now you're making that face again.
"Seriously, in my personal opinion, although suppressing the rebellion is crucial, as I advised last time, if you rush to leave before the situation in Pontus is stable, it's hard to say that those ill-intentioned individuals in Asia Minor won't take the opportunity to do something. Although we currently have a military advantage in Pontus, our foundation is actually still shallow. Moreover, to maintain stability, you nominally rule the area in the form of a confederation…"
"'Oh, Manuel, you wouldn't want the Autocratic State to split, would you?' Is that what you mean?"
"More or less. By the way, Manuel, I've wanted to ask you this since we were in Theodosia: where on earth did you learn such things?"
"Ah, well, that's not important," facing his wife's questioning, Manuel's face broke out in a cold sweat, so he immediately changed the subject, "What's important is that Barbara, you seem to have become much wiser."
No sooner had he spoken than he received a chop to the forehead from his wife, though the force was essentially zero. "What nonsense! You minion of Lucifer, did you think I was an idiot before!?"
"Someone who, at 15, ran away from Constantinople in a fit of pique… Wow!" Before he could finish, Barbara, who had leaned closer, gave his ear a hard pinch. "You scoundrel, don't actually treat others as fools!
"Besides, I've been with you for so long, I've learned some things I didn't know before. And I also served as regent in Tauris for over a year and a half. At the very least, I can help out now. And honestly, whether now or in the future, I'd really like to help you more…" As she spoke, a barely perceptible blush appeared on Barbara's face.
Regarding this, Manuel's personal opinion was: My wife is amazing.
However, Barbara quickly thought of something and snapped out of that emotion, turning to ask him about another urgent matter, "Speaking of which, I feel like today is a bit unusual? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to discuss such important administrative matters with your cabinet members and the Pontus nobles, rather than with me?"
"Normally, yes." Regarding this, he first nodded in agreement, then shook his head and sighed, "But the cabinet isn't very sound right now. Serenus took leave to go back to Morea to get married on the day of the war; Arno has been in Tauris, probably swamped helping my father and solving the Autocratic State's economic crisis; as for Badars, Tukharovsky, and Falero, the three of them are military officers after all. Having them participate in this kind of administrative structure just feels a bit off? As for Pontus nobles like David Komnenos and Amiroutzes, I don't feel I can fully trust them yet. So in the end, it's just my beloved wife…"
"Stop with the sappy talk," Barbara interrupted him, her face blushing with shyness, though she was actually very happy inside, "Military nobles, huh? What did they do to you? After all, they'll have to be granted titles and distributed land later. Letting them learn now is better than having them mess up their own fiefs later, right?"
However, seeing her Little husband's hesitant, contemplative look, her mouth couldn't help but twitch. "Wait, wait, wait, you're not just planning to make them courtiers, are you? Even the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks wouldn't be so harsh!?"
"I haven't gone that far," Manuel's eyelids twitched as he defended himself.
"Let me remind you, while your so-called 'appanage' system had some appeal, if you want them to fully commit the rest of their lives to you, you'll need to offer something more tangible."
"I said I'm not that harsh and ungrateful! And don't use such strange-sounding rhetoric, alright? I'm Caesar, not a succubus!"
After Barbara gave him a look that told him to speak slowly, he first gave her an indignant glare before slowly explaining his thoughts, "Barbara, do you think the Pronoia system implemented by the komnenos era empire is still applicable today?"
After some thought, she decisively came to a negative conclusion, "Of course not. Rather, the current predicament of the Romans is largely related to the inability of the emperors after Komnenos to effectively control the holders of Pronoia fiefs."
"Therefore," he became serious when discussing this, "whether in Tauris or Pontus, I do not intend to adopt Pronoia or similar feudal fief systems. The thought of these scoundrels not only liking to evade taxes but also feigning compliance makes me incredibly angry!"
"I feel like you've veered off into something strange? Is the problem with Pronoia just not paying taxes?"
"In short, considering all reasons, I absolutely cannot repeat the mistakes made since the Angelos dynasty, and raise a bunch of parasites under my rule!"
"I feel like you're insulting my ancestors." After grumbling softly, she also seriously considered the problems he had just raised. After pondering for a while, she asked, "So how do you plan to handle it now? The meritorious officials and Pontus?"
To his wife's question, Manuel shrugged, offering his proposed solution, "Let's talk about the meritorious officials first. Rewards and titles will certainly be given, but in return, they will have to accept relatively strict supervision and constraints. They cannot do as they please on their own territories like the Frank, for example, abominable things like the right of the first night can never be granted."
"Wait, wait, wait, why did the topic shift to the right of the first night!? By the way, the right of the first night is a rumor, isn't it? After all, no normal lord who has received a good education would desire those ugly village girls, would they? That's too horrifying!"
"My not wanting to sleep with them doesn't mean I don't want the right to sleep with them," Caesar said half-jokingly.
"Saint Mary, it truly is you." Barbara couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed by her husband's "amazing" remarks.