After confirming their identities, Manuel quietly left the estate, because for him, the content of their conversation was not important, but knowing who Isaac was secretly meeting with was.
Returning to the family palace, Manuel specifically informed his mother and sister, "Isaac is at the annex estate. Oh, by the way, don't say I told you. I have something urgent to deal with right now, so I'll excuse myself." Manuel spoke these words like a machine gun, leaving them momentarily bewildered.
"Have Badars investigate it. No, if I have time, I'll personally mobilize my intelligence network to check their relationship, and how many adults Isaac has met that he shouldn't be seeing right now." Manuel thought with a gloomy face on his way back.
As a result, the next evening…
"Ah haha, hee ya lei…" Manuel collapsed in the bedroom of his residence, accompanied by delirious ravings.
No other reason, today's schedule was truly overwhelming for him: he woke up in the morning to resume command of the Philaka Legion, spent the morning assisting in the reorganization and training of officers in the old army, and in the afternoon went to Falero to learn the naval tactics of this era. During this time, he was even severely criticized for accidentally asking a few questions that lacked common sense.
Manuel also tried to retort, but Falero completely ignored his counterarguments, simply saying:
"His Highness the Prince Manuel, I point out your errors not to mock you, but to help you master the essentials and capabilities of naval warfare. If you truly don't wish to learn, you don't have to come here at all. My main task is to help you confront Kaffa's Genoese navy; as for teaching the Principality's navy, it is more at the behest of His Highness the Prince."
Alright, alright, Manuel looked at the naval officers around him who were diligently studying, suppressed the thought of "how much did you take from His Highness the Prince" in his heart, and continued to learn naval tactics.
To be fair, Venice's naval tactics at this time could be said to be among the top tier of Mediterranean countries. Even Manuel, who was a novice with no knowledge of naval warfare in his previous life, felt it was quite beneficial. This knowledge, combined with his understanding of warship structures from his past life, began to brew some new ideas.
However, for now, he still wanted to let his mind and body rest.
Unfortunately, he was destined to be busy all day today.
As he comfortably slumped on the bed, his servant knocked on the door, telling him that Badars had arrived.
It must be said that the intelligence network Manuel had established was indeed efficient; it only took one day to gather the information he wanted. This forced him to tiredly get up again and assume a dignified posture to greet his confidant.
After Badars entered, he delivered a concise and to-the-point report to Manuel after a few pleasantries. Manuel read it carefully and only then understood the situation of those matters.
Tatar incident: In May, the long-rampant Tatars again attempted to invade the Theodoro Principality. Unlike previous times, the number of troops dispatched this time was over 300. According to later investigations, the large number of people this time might be related to the fierce battle that occurred between the Tatar princes in Kizlyar. This battle severely weakened the power of all princes except Haji Giray, and their routed soldiers were the source of this group of Tatars. After these Tatars entered the territory, they burned, killed, and looted. The 500 garrison troops responsible for northern border defense were defeated. Patniko, upon learning this, specifically dispatched 1,000 militiamen to engage, but they were played like a kite for nearly a week. The matter eventually reached the highest level. Alexius tried to dispatch the Philaka Legion to quell it, and within half a day, the Tatars were completely annihilated. Afterward, the Philaka Legion's status within the entire army was significantly elevated.
Manuel was quite pleased with his legion's combat power, although he was a bit displeased that his father had directly mobilized it. As for the problem of the old army, Manuel had a rough idea of its level after a morning of drills, so he wasn't overly angry. After all, anger was useless; actual changes needed to be made.
Another report concerned the relationship between Patniko and Alexius. According to observations, although the two occasionally had differences over official duties and army combat effectiveness, this conflict was entirely within a normal range. In their daily relationship, they still maintained a good private friendship, with no major rifts.
Finally, there was the true attitude of the Principality's key officials towards the Philaka Legion. Alexius was quite satisfied with this elite legion established by his good son; Patniko was somewhat dissatisfied, but mainly because although this legion was nominally part of the army, its actual control was in the hands of members of the Gavras Family, led by Manuel. He was a bit unhappy about not having relevant command authority, but since it was Alexius's decision, he didn't show much dissatisfaction. As for the attitudes of the remaining key officials, they were somewhat intriguing; most of them had no particular opinion, simply believing that having a capable legion was a good thing; however, other nobles had quite a few complaints, as they worried that this legion might, on a whim of the Gavras Family, be ordered to teleport heavy cavalry and send them all flying.
To be honest, their concerns were not unfounded, as Manuel was currently drafting a land reform bill, planning to revise the responsibilities. However, this bill remained in long-term cold storage until Genoa was defeated.
"And Your Highness, this is information on Venice's Falero Family," Badars finally presented a brief history of the Falero Family.
"I see. I understand." After reading it carefully, Manuel was pleasantly surprised to discover a way for the navy to break the deadlock.
"Well done, Badars," Manuel praised. He suddenly had an evil thought: he wanted to train Badars Gavras, who was gifted in intelligence affairs, to become the Heydrich of the Roman Empire. As he thought this, he looked at Badars with burning eyes.
"Yes, Your Highness, the future, the future is bright," Badars noticed the strangeness in Manuel's eyes and started babbling nervously: Could His Highness have awakened some strange attribute?
"Don't be so nervous," Manuel awkwardly reined in his outlandish thoughts, then said with a solemn expression:
"Badars, go investigate some more things."
"Ah, is there more…?" Badars immediately felt his limbs twitching a bit.
"Yes," Manuel intentionally hid his face in the shadows at this moment, "Go investigate which officials or their relatives have met with my younger brother recently."