"So, Your Excellency, is this how you took over the rule of the Duchy of Ksani?" Manuel looked at Crown Prince Virshel Kvenipneveli of the Duchy of Ksani, who was now bowing to him, and couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
Virshel had just respectfully recounted to Caesar the events after the fall of Lagvishi City, including the details of how he captured his father, who had intended to flee.
To be honest, Manuel thought it would immediately become a 'filial piety' situation when he heard Virshel shout, "He said, you can go now."
Fortunately, in the end, the Crown Prince of the Duchy merely knocked his old father unconscious with a sword scabbard.
However, this was also good; he would not have to deploy too many garrisons in Ksani to help maintain stability.
Since that was the case, he also fulfilled his promise at this time, allowing the Duchy of Ksani to continue to exist, and letting Virshel, as the Crown Prince, naturally assume the title of Duke of the Duchy ahead of schedule.
As for his father, Shalva I, besides ordering the old Duke to abdicate, Caesar made no other arrangements, leaving the middle-aged man to his son for him to dispose of as he saw fit.
From then on, all Georgian local governments at the Duchy level and above were controlled by Bosporus.
With the surrender of the Duchy of Ksani, the remaining Georgian separatist forces that had been waiting and watching all submitted their petitions of allegiance, and the Golden Horde did not question any of them, as if Muhammad Khan had never been involved in this dramatic change in the Caucasus.
Thus, Manuel's conquest of Georgia concluded with almost complete success.
Afterward, while ordering preparations for the coronation ceremony, Caesar also convened all feudal lords at the Duchy level and above within Georgia in Tbilisi City, spending several days discussing with them how to modify the existing feudal system.
Finally, after detailed discussions and a combination of soft and hard tactics from Bosporus, Georgia's new feudal system was established in the latter half of this month:
Although it was a new system, due to the conquest relying mostly on collaborators and the inability to penetrate the towering mountains of the Caucasus, Manuel mostly made minor adjustments to Georgia's previous system to maintain feudal rule over various levels of lords.
Georgia after the Bosporus conquest still implemented feudal decentralization; apart from the symbolic Tbilisi City, which would welcome several Roman officials, all other lands remained under the rule of Georgian feudal lords.
However, compared to before, their object of allegiance changed from the King to the Caesar of Bosporus, and at the same time, Caesar himself had the right to directly interfere with the vassals of vassals, meaning "my vassal's vassal is still my vassal."
Additionally, all vassals would join the Black Sea trade system led by Bosporus, and in wartime, they would also have to provide troops for military service to fulfill their duties as vassals.
Furthermore, the governmental ranks of Samtskhe, Imereti, Kartli, and Kakheti were unified into Principalities, but their rulers still retained their special titles; that is, the ruler of Samtskhe continued to be called "Atabeg," while the latter three retained the title "Prince."
At the same time, as the suzerain, Bosporus would station varying numbers of troops in major Georgian cities, fortresses, and passes to ensure the Autocratic State's control over the local area.
Currently, the rough idea is that the capitals of the major Grand Duchies will each have one or two hundred farmer-soldier garrisons, while strategically important locations like Gori, Mtskheta, and Sukhumi will have three hundred garrisons, and Tbilisi, as the political center of Georgia, will have five hundred garrisons.
Although these garrisons may seem small, under normal circumstances, they are sufficient to quell an uprising or conspiracy against Bosporus.
Regarding the arrangements for the various Duchies, after negotiation and compromise, the direct suzerainty of the Principality of Guria was transferred to the Samtskhe Principality; the suzerainty of the Duchy of Samegrelo was nominally given to the Imereti Principality, while the Duchies of Racha and Svaneti remained vassals of Imereti;
several coastal villages such as Adler and Sochi, originally belonging to the Adyghe Principality, were transferred to the Duchy of Abkhazia as a reward for Duke Arguni Shervashidze of Abkhazia convincing the Prince of Imereti to "abandon darkness for light," but the Duchy of Abkhazia also became a direct vassal of the Bosphorus Despotate; as for the Duchy of Ksani, it remained a vassal of the Kartli Principality.
In addition, according to the agreement reached earlier, as the price for persuading Bosporus to send troops, Ivan II of Samtskhe ceded the coastal town of Arkabi to the Bosphorus Despotate, in exchange for his own status being equal to that of the three major regions of Imereti, Kartli, and Kakheti.
Thus, the new feudal system for Georgia was completed.
After thoroughly establishing his own new system, Manuel would be officially crowned King of Georgia in Tbilisi.
After the Roman Caesar announced this decision, the feudal lords of the Bagration family were quite shocked, and former Crown Prince Vakhtang of Georgia even brought his third brother George and his recently released youngest brother David to persuade Manuel to change the coronation location to Gori City.
In response, Manuel merely smiled slightly, first stating that the matter was open for discussion to put them off, and then summoned Atabeg Ivan II of Samtskhe and Duke Arguni of Abkhazia, asking these two great nobles not of the Bagration family for their opinions on the matter.
Facing Caesar's inquiry, both expressed their firm support for him, saying, "Your Majesty became the common lord of Georgia through military might and benevolence; why care about the opinions left over from the previous dynasty?" Ivan II even said such words, and also expressed his willingness to send troops to help Caesar suppress the opposition.
Although he eventually declined their "kindness" because he knew what they were planning, he had also discerned the true attitude of the Georgian dukes and marquises.
Thus, Manuel's coronation ceremony as King of Georgia was decided to be held in Tbilisi, on the first day of next month, March.
Before that, however, he intended to visit King Alexander of Georgia, who had been under house arrest for a long time.
After defeating the invasion of the Black Sheep Dynasty, he had successively released the remaining children of Alexander I.
Only the former King of Georgia continued to be under house arrest in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi.
In the late afternoon of the last days of February, three days before Manuel was to wear the Crown of Georgia, the young Caesar, accompanied by only a few attendants, arrived at the Sioni Cathedral and met his defeated opponent, a man about the same age as his father.
At this moment, in the dim light of the setting sun, the old King, dressed in a monk's robe made of raw silk, knelt and prayed to the fresco of Saint George.
Disheartened by his defeat, Alexander's figure was much more stooped than when he sat on the throne, and his elongated shadow appeared particularly lonely and desolate.
Manuel, wearing a pure blue dalmatica, stood quietly behind him the whole time, patiently watching this scene.
It was not until Alexander finished chanting the Kyrie Eleison that the old man seemed to notice a visitor, turning his head slightly, his cloudy black eyes drifting unsteadily towards Manuel.
"This is our first meeting, I believe, Your Majesty Alexander," the young Caesar politely began, stating his identity.
Although he had achieved complete victory, out of courtesy and a faint sense of regret, he still addressed the defeated man before him with the respect due to a king.
"Your Majesty Caesar, you have achieved complete victory; what need is there to see a loser like me, who will pass away sooner or later?" Alexander's tone was subtle, but still contained a hint of unwillingness.
"No reason, just a simple desire to meet, nothing more," Manuel smiled faintly, then changed the subject, "Speaking of which, where do you think I will lead Georgia?"
"I don't know," Alexander's lips tightened bitterly, "I can only pray to God that it won't be destruction."
"It won't be," he said, making the sign of the cross as he looked at the fresco the old king had just prayed to, "I cannot promise a perfectly ideal outcome, but I promise to make Georgia a fertile land between two seas, from Abkhazia to Shirvan."
Three days later, at noon, Bosporus Caesar Manuel Gavras was officially crowned King of Georgia in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi City, donning the crown from the South Caucasus.