After chatting with his old friend Serenus, Sfrantzis went to visit Caesar Manuel and presented a gift from Constantinople for his son, the Basileus's newborn nephew: a manuscript map of the Roman Empire's territory during the time of Michael VIII, with large lettering marking the major cities of the empire at that time, perfect for a child to learn from.
"Saint Mary, please convey my sincere thanks, and that of this child Marcus, to my Brother-in-law, the Basileus of Constantinople." Although it might not be very valuable in the prosperous Bosphorus Despotate of today, Manuel and his wife Barbara, who was holding little Marcus beside him, still thanked the in-law for the gift with proper etiquette and sincerity.
Since his Brother-in-law was so sincere, why not give some return gifts in kind? And now might be an opportunity…
After Sfrantzis left the palace, Manuel, having thought of the above, looked at his eldest son, Theodore, who was almost 7 years old, upon returning to his bedchamber. This young child, under his nurturing, had already shown an agility and sharpness beyond children his age, which truly pleased and delighted him. Therefore, at this moment, he pondered for a moment and made a bold decision:
"Theodore, how about finding a time to go to Constantinople to see your godfather uncle?"
In response to his father's idea, little Theodore just stared blankly with his brown eyes, the same color as his father's, and asked in confusion:
"Huh?"
"Constantinople," he, as a father, knelt down and gently stroked his eldest son's head, "This is a place every Roman must visit at least once in their life. What's more, your uncle is the Roman Emperor, wouldn't it be great to go for a month or two?"
Unfortunately, little Theodore still looked as if he half-understood, half-didn't, scratching his black hair with a puzzled expression, "Then, Father, if Constantinople is so amazing, why don't our whole family live there all the time?"
"Hahaha," Manuel smiled helplessly, "You little rascal, wait until later."
"Mother." Hearing that he might be away from home for a month or two, little Theodore looked at his mother with a bit of fear.
"It's only a month or two, and it's not like you haven't seen your uncle before." Barbara hugged her son and gently stroked his head.
"Yes," speaking of his Basileus uncle, little Theodore's eyes immediately lit up, and he clapped his hands, "He seemed to have taken us to that Morea Peninsula before, and sometimes he's even better than Father…"
"Ungrateful child!" Before he could finish, Manuel, amused and exasperated, lightly tapped his son's head with a hand chop.
The next day, before Sfrantzis returned to his country, Manuel asked him to convey his intention to let Theodore visit Constantinople for a month or two. This matter quickly received a response from Constantine XI within a week. The following month, after reaching an agreement with him, little Theodore, accompanied by his Chief Minister uncle Serenus, took a boat to Constantinople, excitedly preparing to receive a month of education from his godfather uncle.
While arranging family affairs, Manuel also focused his attention on closely monitoring the international situation. During this period, he soon learned that in mid-February of this year, Elizabeth of Luxembourg, reluctantly and under the mediation of the Papacy, signed a peace treaty with Władysław III, returning the Crown of Saint Stephen and recognizing the legitimacy of the latter's claim to the Hungarian throne.
However, this widow of Albrecht II also left a fallback for herself and her son, namely, to have Ulaslo I and the Hungarian Parliament recognize that, until the former had offspring, her son, the "posthumous child" Ladislaus von Habsburg, would be the first in line to the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary. The only remaining issue in the Hungarian civil war was that although Frederick III verbally acknowledged Władysław's kingship, he still refused to sign the relevant documents in writing as Holy Roman Emperor to recognize the matter.
But that no longer mattered; he couldn't cause any more trouble anyway. At least with the Hungarian civil war having settled down, this powerful Eastern European nation now had enough time and energy to recuperate and prepare to launch a counterattack against the Ottoman, who still occupied several important fortresses in the south.
And when Manuel fully understood the entire situation in early March, he keenly smelled the signs of how the situation would develop next. Therefore, that afternoon, the Caesar immediately secretly ordered the supervisor of firearms to have the military industry department mass-produce bronze cannons and matchlock guns for military use.
Due to years of compiling cannon data, the Bosphorus Despotate had accumulated experience and expertise in debugging and improving cannons based on statistical data, mastering the ability to independently mass-produce small and medium-sized cannons, which was something other countries, including Venice and the Ottoman, lacked. If it weren't for the fact that information about producing large quantities of military supplies was not difficult to leak in the bright Middle Ages, and thus fearing that Venice and the Ottoman would learn from them, he would have long since ordered the mass production of these improved cannons.
In addition, he frequently went to the training grounds to drill soldiers, personally commanded his legions, maintained control over the army, and ensured that he would not become detached from it. Furthermore, he also repeatedly summoned his generals and high-ranking craftsmen from the military industry department to discuss improvements to various military equipment in the country.
During this period, Manuel finally figured out a method to introduce something similar to caracole cavalry in advance: using improved crossbow cavalry as a temporary substitute.
After his improvements, the crossbow cavalry carried short-barreled firearms and short crossbows. The former was used for a single shot, mainly for follow-up shots; the latter utilized the crossbow's structure to support continuous firing, pulling the trigger upon encountering an enemy, continuously shooting arrows, and then retreating when the situation called for it.
As auxiliary cavalry, the power and role of these improved crossbow cavalry on the battlefield were not as great as the caracole pistol cavalry of later generations, and the weight of the crossbow would also limit their effectiveness, requiring them to be deployed with light cavalry and heavy cavalry. But with a short gun, they possessed a certain emergency capability on the battlefield and would not be immediately at the mercy of the enemy after losing cover. Of course, due to the limitations of matchlock gun performance, these firearm crossbow cavalry could only hold out for a little longer until reinforcements quickly arrived.
After issuing the directive to establish this auxiliary branch of the military, the Caesar in the Trabzon Palace began to explain the benefits of this design to his Chief Minister beside him, but the Chief Minister, who lacked interest in military organization, paid more attention to other things.
"By the way, Your Majesty, why is there a rye ergot on your table?" Serenus looked at the grain on the Caesar's table with a puzzled expression.
"Well," speaking of it, Manuel narrowed his eyes and smiled mysteriously, "This is a wonderful, magical grain that will be used soon."