As Manuel said when he finished reading the letter, King Jogaila of Poland indeed had no desire for the "revival of the 'Vahi Trade Route'" advocated by Bosporus. However, even so, Jogaila did not order a prohibition on the nobles under his rule from participating in this new trade route proposed by the Romans of Tauris; instead, he allowed them to act according to their own needs, as at any other time.
Serenus, who had met a setback in Kraków and confirmed the Polish King's lack of interest in the Bosporus's proposal, did not linger further. Instead, as planned with Caesar before his arrival, he continued his diplomatic journey eastward towards the Grand Duchy of Moscow. From Kraków to Moscow, this would again take several months.
During this time, it was possible that Manuel might even complete the reform of the entire Bosporus administrative system.
In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed. The Muslim of Anatolia were still embroiled in this year-long war, unable to extricate themselves, while external forces capable of influencing Asia Minor continued to suppress their desire to intervene, awaiting the opportune moment.
At this time, Manuel finally, in conjunction with his scholars, completed the compilation of the Constitutional General Law, which superseded the two bosphorus codes. During this period, in addition to overseeing this work, he frequently traveled back and forth between the Tauris Peninsula and Pontus, personally reassuring people of all social strata in both regions. At the same time, he diligently investigated the current conditions of these areas and discussed many institutional issues with the upper echelons who actively contributed to the Autocratic State.
Thus, at the end of 1435, on Christmas Day, the Bosphorus Caesar convened the noble dignitaries and key officials from both regions of the Autocratic State in advance to the council hall within Trabzon Palace. On that morning, he first promulgated to all social strata of the Autocratic State the comprehensive constitutional code, applicable nationwide, which had been completed after careful and thorough deliberation—
"Although this specific document contains only twelve articles, by its nature, it should still be considered a general constitutional code. However, this statement is ultimately too vague, so after discussions with the scholars and legal experts involved in its compilation, I have decided to give it a more suitable name—
"The 'Bosphorus Constitutional General Law,' abbreviated as the 'General Law.'"
Although this name was rare in the Middle Ages, it was not conjured out of thin air. Rather, Manuel and his scholars, drawing inspiration from the names of classic Roman law throughout history, assigned it as its exclusive designation. Since it existed as a general law that governed other laws, it did not contain detailed specific articles, and thus names like "Code" were rejected. However, as a constitutional law, it certainly could not be given a casual name. Therefore, in the final stage of completion, after much deliberation by Caesar and legal scholars, they ultimately decided to directly name it the "Constitutional General Law."
To match the status of this constitution-like code, Manuel then announced at the meeting that after the promulgation of this Constitutional National Law, both the Tauris version and the Pontus version of the bosphorus code would be demoted by one level, becoming laws applicable only within their respective regions. However, even so, the nominal status of these two versions of the code would still be higher than purely local laws.
Although this content was important, since its practical impact had not yet manifested, some of the nobles below began to yawn quietly out of boredom. Soon, however, their attention would once again be drawn to this Constitutional General Law.
Under the watchful eyes of the upper echelons below, Caesar Manuel publicly read out the specific contents of this General Law. The very first article stated directly: "By the testimony and grace of God, as the monarch ruling the entire Bosphorus Autocratic State, the Caesar's power is supreme, sacred, and inviolable."
Although similar phrases had appeared in the two previously promulgated codes, this explicit legalization of autocratic rule still shocked a group of Pontus nobles below, who had grown accustomed to autonomy. Some of them even widened their eyes at this moment, wanting to see if Caesar was going to add any unforeseen elements to this Constitutional General Law.
Fortunately, the next five or six articles were simplifications and summaries of some important contents from the previous two codes, such as recognizing private land ownership, declaring that legitimate private property must be protected, stating that the state religion is orthodox and unshakeable, establishing weights and measures, acknowledging private armies but stipulating that only the monarch has the right to call upon the army, and reiterating that deceiving the monarch, blasphemy, and treason are the three unforgivable major crimes, and so on and so forth…
Just as the nobles were about to lose focus again, the articles concerning tax law once more drew their attention back.
When the seventh article of the General Law, the principle of tax law, was read out, many nobles began to lose their composure, especially when it was mentioned that land was a gift from the monarch and the Holy Father, not a salary paid to them by the Autocratic State, and therefore landowners must pay taxes. At this point, some nobles directly voiced their opposition loudly from below.
This was understandable, after all, ever since the komnenos era and the disaster of 1204, within the East Rome system, due to the Roman monarchs' financial difficulties in dealing with various enemies at home and abroad, they eventually had to form the pronoia system, where the monarch granted land to loyalists and allowed them tax reductions or even exemptions to substitute land for salaries. As the pronoia system was promoted, this land system, originally intended for emergencies, gradually weakened the monarch until it was ultimately eroded and swallowed by external forces.
So Caesar had to change this. That being said, for Manuel, he was actually indifferent to land being consolidated in the hands of great landowners and nobles due to privatization, manorialization, and solidification. The royal family was also nobility, not to mention that as the current de facto head of the Gavras Family, he had, like the Komnenos emperors of old, abused his monarchical power to amass a considerable amount of fertile land under the family's name, enabling the Gavras Family's private assets to support the entire state.
Since the entire state was supported by him, it was only reasonable for him to enjoy privileges that others did not.
In any case, he was simply too lazy to go to the extreme of suppressing great nobles and landowners like Basil II. Manuel's demand was only one: whether noble or cleric, pay me money, pay me taxes!
But even with just this, there were still those who opposed, which truly angered him, sitting on the dais. After observing and confirming that the dissenters were actually a minority, he directly summoned the peasant soldiers who were maintaining order and had these few troublemakers thrown out of the council hall, simultaneously stripping them of most of their territories.
"Is there anyone else who objects now?" Manuel looked down at the now silent council hall, slowly revealing a gentle smile as he asked.