In the end, Manuel, with a series of vague remarks, skirted around the topic.
However, this act further elevated his prestige, and the Pontus nobles became even more submissive to him.
After seeing off these Pontus nobles, Manuel called Vladimir and Badars to him again, instructing them to report the details of all aspects of quelling the potential rebellion.
Earlier, to display his power and deter the Pontus nobles, he had deliberately ordered his two subordinates to report only the results.
Now that they had left, as a monarch, he needed to know the specific details of this operation to refine his measures and apply them to future situations.
Speaking of which, how he was able to have his subordinates preemptively crush the conspirators planning a rebellion, this matter has to start from the meeting with David on the terrace a few days ago—
A few days after that, probably before he went to "inspect" the historian-scholars, he did send his troops, disguised as conscripted militia, to be stationed in the Muslim residential areas.
To cover his tracks, he deliberately concealed the true identity of these soldiers from the lords, regardless of whether they were Christian or Muslim.
That is to say, for the local lords, although they were somewhat dissatisfied with Caesar's arbitrary calling up of troops, since only militia were mobilized, their dissatisfaction was not excessive.
In this way, regarding these local lords who might cause trouble, the seemingly less capable militia neither put unnecessary pressure on the Christian lords with clear consciences, nor did they secretly force the Muslim lords with hidden agendas to solidify their intention to raise an army.
The result was that a few days later, probably while Manuel was focused on drafting laws, he had already had several elite units disguised and distributed among various Muslim communities.
Furthermore, having received intelligence from the covert department that many Turkmen lords were likely false converts, he specifically called upon his personal guard, the Philaka Legion, and similarly stationed them near the territories of these lords.
And after the code of laws for the Pontus region was completed, his predictions largely became reality.
It was probably when he completed the regional code and actually ordered the hanging of the so-called large oil portrait of Muhammad in the mosques that many Islam clerics in the Pontus region indeed began to collude with their fellow lords and incite the lower-class Turkmen Muslims, preparing to launch a riot.
Upon receiving this intelligence, Manuel, with a gentle smile, began his next step in planning.
This manifested in the grand banquets he hosted during this period, in the eyes of other orthodox nobles.
But in reality, his true purpose in doing so was to outwardly appear ignorant, and at the same time, he would take the opportunity at these banquets to spread baseless rumors such as "there will be more targeting of Muslims," "false converts will be purged," and "there is a list of potential rebels." This was to provoke the Muslims into rebellion.
After all, he had no intention of giving these rebels any reaction time, lest they adversely affect his economic plans too much.
Thus, under this series of provocations, the Muslims were ultimately forced to rise in rebellion at night, nearly half a month after the promulgation of the code, despite being ill-prepared.
They intended to expel the Romans and establish their own Turkmen Beylik or defect to Kandar.
They were then completely wiped out by the Bosporus Army, totaling 2,500 soldiers, who had already received accurate intelligence and were ready.
As a result, the rebellion of these Turkmen Muslims was crushed in its infancy before it could even cause a ripple.
The above is the specific cause and process of quelling this matter.
As for why their representative leaders were not arrested in advance, it was because Manuel needed to expand the scale of infidels to be purged later, more reasonably appropriate their land and property, and incidentally, establish more prestige among the Pontus nobles who harbored ulterior motives.
In short, this Muslim rebellion, which was accomplished yet caused no adverse effects, was thus suppressed by Caesar's covert operations.
Congratulations, congratulations.
After carefully listening to the detailed report presented by his subordinate, Manuel took the list of leaders who had truly participated in the rebellion, and with great interest, began to count their names and numbers, and started to think about how to thoroughly strip them of their existing land and influence with valid reasons.
With this thought, he began to meticulously review the list.
And when he read the section of the list concerning those who, though not directly involved in the rebellion, still provided some support, he saw a name that greatly interested him: Aksham-Sadin.
Manuel became completely curious about this.
To confirm whether this "Aksham-Sadin" was indeed the Mashriq scholar he had ordered the covert department to search for, Caesar quickly recalled Badars, the head of the covert department, and instructed him to thoroughly investigate and interrogate this person, while also cautioning him to avoid physical torture.
After issuing this personal order, Caesar once again focused his energy on reviewing the list and considering disposal plans.
Approximately on this day, he roughly drafted a preliminary plan for the final disposition: directly confiscate the land and property of the direct participants, while the indirectly involved upper and middle classes would be fined heavily and forced to convert to orthodox Christianity; the ignorant commoners directly involved would be forcibly removed from their communities, their social structure disrupted, and reduced to slaves, dispatched to various parts of Asia Minor under his rule to serve as mining and infrastructure laborers, with some selected to be sold in the slave market.
As for the indirectly involved commoners, those who cooperated actively would be encouraged to convert to orthodox Christianity to integrate into Christian communities, or serve in the Bosporus Army to offset their transgressions; the stubborn would be forcibly expelled, and if they refused, they would be treated as direct participants.
And as he finished considering the methods of handling, the results of the investigation into Aksham-Sadin also came out.
It was indeed that Mashriq scholar from Mesopotamia, who had a minor reputation in the Muslim world.
"Bring him here, I want to see him with my own eyes," Manuel said with a slight smile to his subordinate, "As for what message to convey? Just tell him this, 'Aksham-Sadin, you wouldn't want Muslims to be treated unfairly, would you?'"