As Pope Eugene IV in Rome welcomed the Christmas morning, Bosporus Caesar Manuel in Constantinople, on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean, also attended a short service with several priests in the Church of the Holy Apostles.
And when the citizens of Constantinople who attended the service saw this Roman king, who had achieved great merits, liberated many Roman lands, and was the only one in a hundred years to reverse the continuous decline of the Roman state, they were all surprised and enthusiastically stepped forward after the service, eager to catch a glimpse of him.
Compared to the previous indifference of the citizens towards him, this situation was a stark contrast. After Manuel's triumphant return to Constantinople, having defeated the Ottoman Turks, he was enthusiastically supported by many citizens of Constantinople, and Western Europeans from abroad even began to call him "King of the Romans."
After greeting each of these citizens of Constantinople, Manuel was about to smile and head to the municipal council to remotely handle matters of Bosporus. At this moment, he caught sight of the nephew of Chief Minister Lucas Notaras, Avelon Lucas Notaras, the son of his brother John Lucas Notaras, who had been killed by the Ottoman, and politely waved to him. But upon seeing him, the other party merely frowned slightly, gave a stiff nod, said hello, and then turned and left.
This was understandable. After all, although Manuel, after his triumphant return from the Battle of Varna, nominally only provided military protection to Constantinople without interfering in internal affairs, he deliberately indulged his supporting factions within the city. Thanks to his good relationship with several high-ranking priests of the Hesychast faction, many Hesychast clerics who adhered to Roman self-identity began to preach to the citizens of Constantinople with his tacit approval and indulgence: that Manuel, not Constantine XI, who had suffered a disastrous defeat in Macedonia, should be the one everyone looked to.
This naturally angered others who supported the Palaiologos imperial family, including the Lucas Notaras family, one of the imperial family's most loyal supporters. Therefore, after unexpectedly encountering the Bosporus Caesar, this member of the Lucas Notaras family chose to ignore and avoid him.
But Manuel did not show much displeasure or anger; instead, he revealed an inscrutable smile, quietly took out a piece of paper from his sleeve with unknown notes on it, glanced at it a few times, and then put it back.
After the service at the Church of the Holy Apostles, Manuel hurried to the municipal council. He had already scheduled an imperial council there for the beginning of the last ten days of this month.
The Caesar arrived in the inner chamber of the municipal council around noon. After looking around and confirming that most of his cabinet members were present, he announced the formal opening of the imperial council.
First, he was briefed on the newly acquired territories. "Your Majesty, since the area north of the Pontic Mountains was recovered, in accordance with Your Majesty's tax exemption and land reclamation decrees, the local Christians have begun reconstruction under your guidance. The situation is currently good, and there have been no disturbances from Turk tribes from the Anatolian interior."
Upon receiving the Prime Minister's report, the Caesar was greatly pleased. Since the peace treaty with the Ottoman was finalized, Manuel had sent people to consolidate his rule over the newly assigned territories on the southern Black Sea coast of Bosporus. His measures included, but were not limited to, exempting all taxes for orthodox Romans in the area for three years, confiscating the land of Turk Muslims and distributing it equally among orthodox Christian small farmers, sending reliable officials to guide the restoration of production to protect farmers from holy fire disease and reclaim wasteland, and stationing Bosporus troops in various cities, fortresses, castles, and passes in the area.
From the current situation, all the measures he had implemented were quite successful.
After several rounds of discussion on the issue of the new territories, his Prime Minister, after a brief hesitation, raised a controversial question, "Your Majesty, regarding the ownership of Bithynia, what has Emperor Constantine said?"
As Serenus said, in the peace talks at the end of last month, the Ottoman had ceded Bithynia to the Roman Empire in the treaty. Therefore, theoretically, this strategically important area across from Constantinople should have been handed over to Constantine XI, as Emperor, to be managed by his appointed personnel.
But in reality, Bithynia had been under the control of the Bosphorus Despotate since the end of October this year, and Manuel had no reason to hand over such a strategically important area. He was here to revive Rome, not to do charity.
So, in this situation, he proposed a measure: the area would be garrisoned by Bosporus troops, while administratively, it would be jointly managed by personnel sent from Constantinople and Trabzon. In short, it was similar to separating sovereign power from administrative power.
Therefore, his Prime Minister's mention of this did not surprise the Caesar. In response to Serenus's inquiry, Manuel very simply had his Commander of the Guard retrieve several unsealed letters and hand them to his Prime Minister.
Serenus took them, quickly scanned them, and understood the actions of the two monarchs: Manuel and Constantine had quickly reached a consensus on the ownership of Bithynia, through the plan led by Manuel.
So what was the cost? Serenus read to the end of the letter and found that at the very end, the two monarchs subtly mentioned Constantine's return to the city and a clear plan. However, what particularly concerned him was that these letters did not mention Manuel's return to his country.
After understanding something, Serenus said no more. But his Caesar, with a sharp gaze, handed over another letter at this moment, gesturing for his Prime Minister to read aloud the part he indicated.
"Serenus, read this part." The Caesar, with a displeased expression, handed him a recent letter from Mistras. And the Prime Minister, upon receiving it, immediately read out that part as the Caesar intended,
"By the grace of God... In summary, I have decided that Mark Eugenicus, Metropolitan of Ephesus, shall proceed to take up his post immediately after the stabilization of Ephesus; at the same time, John Eugenicus shall be transferred to take up the post of the new Metropolitan of Chersonese."
The former Metropolitan Oulophin of Chersonese had died a week after the Battle of Varna, so his ecclesiastical position was naturally vacant. And upon reading this, a surprised Serenus glanced at the recipient, seeing the name of the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Joseph II.
"This is?" The Prime Minister couldn't help but feel incredibly confused.
"Consider it a secret." Manuel narrowed his eyes slightly, not revealing the source of the letter to him.
As mentioned before, many Hesychast priests had turned to his side, including the leaders of that faction, headed by the Eugenicus brothers. And as mentioned before, the peace treaty they signed with the Ottoman contained many traps laid by the Sultan. Bithynia was one of them, and the ownership of Smyrna was another: Smyrna was actually under the control of the recently re-established Aydin Beylik, while the Knights Hospitaller controlled other coastal ports. Yet, in the treaty, the Knights Hospitaller were to receive Smyrna.
This led to a conflict between these two parties, who were previously allies, but for now, they could not immediately turn hostile due to the Ottoman's power being right next door.
However, in earlier correspondence between Constantine and Manuel, there was mention of the latter mediating relations between the two parties to reach a consensus and jointly resist the Ottoman. But in this letter from the Patriarch, the Basileus's attitude seemed somewhat inconsistent with what was previously discussed, which inevitably led to some unsettling thoughts.
And in Manuel's view, this was definitely Constantine XI's intention, aiming to find a way to make him obediently return to Anatolia or the Tauris Peninsula.
Seeing the Caesar's indignant gaze at this moment, the Chief Minister finally asked, "So, Your Majesty, what do you intend to do?"
"What to do? We'll see. Is my Brother-in-law not waiting for me to finish mediating between Aydin and the Knights Hospitaller before he steps in?" Manuel sneered, "Then let him stop fantasizing for now."
"As for the Eugenicus brothers, Mark will naturally have to remain in Constantinople as long as Ephesus is not peaceful; since John has been appointed Metropolitan of Chersonese, then, by extension, he is also a member of my cabinet. Given this, isn't it understandable for him to remain by my side to remotely handle the religious affairs of Tauris?"
After hearing the Caesar's speech, his cabinet members all cast admiring glances at their monarch's appropriate actions. And after receiving the approving looks from his subordinates, Manuel turned his head towards his Prime Minister,
"Serenus, whose side will you stand on?" Saying this, the Caesar looked directly into his Prime Minister's eyes, as if trying to extract something from them.
Even after so many years, Manuel had not forgotten the fact that Justinian Serenus, his current Prime Minister, had a close relationship with Constantine XI and still maintained non-official contact with him. Previously, he was happy to see this, but as the situation turned, he felt it necessary to make some changes.
While Constantinople was experiencing a seemingly peaceful but subtly tense Christmas, in the court of Edirne, the Ottoman capital, the old Sultan Murad II looked at the high-ranking Janissaries and several high-ranking court officials who had burst into his bedchamber, as well as Grand Vizier Halil Pasha, who was forced to stand at their head with a helpless expression, and a very bitter smile appeared on his face. Minutes earlier, they had orchestrated the forced abdication of the Sultan.
"Gentlemen, have you come to force me to step down?" Thinking of what had happened before his reinstatement, the Sultan's smile became even more sorrowful.
But completely unexpectedly, these pillars of the Sultanate, after a brief hesitation, all knelt before him, presenting their petition for this forced abdication:
"Allah above, Sultan, please lead us against the infidels one more time!"