At this moment, watching Caesar, who was calm and relaxed, and securely protected by his guards, the local nobles of Pontus couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety in their hearts.
Ever since they confirmed that this young man from the Gavras Family had defeated the White Sheep Dynasty, they had presumed he would truly be their monarch.
Therefore, these Trabzon nobles began actively searching for his "glorious deeds" in his old home of Tauris.
The result was obvious; many of them were terrified by the thunderous methods he employed in his directly administered territories.
Before the war with the Turk Muslims ended, they and this Roman monarch from Tauris could still stand together under the threat of being stripped of their titles and lands by their infidel enemies.
But now that the war was over, they began to secretly contemplate what to do for themselves, with the bolder ones even thinking of playing small tricks to obstruct their new monarch.
Manuel himself was not unaware of the intentions of these lords, great and small.
Although these minor actions were not actually worthy of his vigilance, Caesar still dispatched his secret agents in January to keep a close watch on them, lest some utterly embarrassing joke should arise, both domestically and internationally.
During this period, he also derived the optimal solution, balancing stability and centralization, based on the various reports submitted by his secret agents.
Returning to the present, as soon as Manuel finished speaking, he intentionally and with interest surveyed the Pontus noble lords present.
"Their reaction is as I expected," Caesar mused deep in his heart, "Never mind, I don't plan to govern with a heavy hand for now; I'll just create a prototype first."
Although he sighed inwardly, his expression remained unchanged outwardly.
After using this pause to ponder these trivial matters, he immediately announced his decision:
The first matters to be confirmed were those of the court.
Regarding court positions, since Trabzon's court system was relatively complete and had no major issues after expelling other forces, Manuel decided to temporarily maintain the status quo with no major changes.
The few changes worth noting were that he used the expulsion of the remnants of John IV and Alexander's Komnenos factions as a pretext to clear out a large number of overt and covert opponents, replacing them with many trusted confidants from the Tauris Peninsula and those gained after arriving in Asia Minor.
Those from "reclaimed" areas like West Armenia and Janik belonged to the latter category, with scholars like John Anagnostes, who joined from there and whose stance was favorable to him, being appointed to honorary sinecures such as official historians of Pontus.
Furthermore, regarding cabinet appointments, Manuel made no additional transfers nor did he specially establish a Pontus cabinet.
The only change was that he newly established a Minister of Finance and an Army Commander for Pontus, both temporarily vacant.
In other words, although Trabzon was nominally a co-dominion, Caesar did not intend to establish a new central authority there to maintain its independent status, except for the financial and military sectors which had to be separated due to geographical isolation.
Instead, he would use the original team to show that he intended to promote convergence between the two sides of the Black Sea, rather than divide and rule.
Then came the local affairs, which were of most concern to these lords, great and small.
In this regard, Manuel, to their surprise, adopted a gentle approach that they could still accept: the official implementation of the Bosporus Code was postponed until mid-year, meaning he gave these lords nearly three or four months to prepare.
The inherent rights of lord-landowners over their private property were guaranteed, but at the same time, just as in Tauris, he directly established the office of Commissioner, a position and its subordinate clerks directly copied from Tauris, to supervise them and the mayors who managed the cities.
Additionally, he clarified the various tax rates these lords were required to pay monthly and annually, though he also hinted that if taxes were not paid on time, Caesar might very well send troops to enforce coercive measures…
"One last point, as attested by the Holy Father, My vassals remain My vassals." Manuel concluded his instructions on local affairs with this statement.
Having said that, he temporarily stopped issuing further orders and instead observed the reactions of these local lords.
To Caesar's great satisfaction, these lords made no overt objections, at least on the surface.
After confirming their reactions, he felt even more confident in the policies he was implementing, though he was already quite confident to begin with.
Finally, there were the military measures.
As mentioned above, for geographical considerations, he would also appoint an Army Commander in the Pontus region.
Although this position was temporarily vacant because some of the old generals were not with him at the moment, Manuel had likely already decided which general would be promoted to the role.
As for the formal military system, he decided to fully emulate his old home in Tauris, establishing a standing army primarily composed of farmer-soldiers, supplemented by other auxiliary legions and conscripted militia units, to form a well-trained force of four to five thousand men.
At the same time, he also ordered the repair of the mountain and hill fortresses from Amasya to the Four Towns, filling the defensive lines that had been severely damaged in the recent war.
Although these measures touched upon the interests of the local Pontus nobles and lords, under the immense prestige brought by the war victory, Caesar's military deterrence, and his intentionally conciliatory measures, they were still able to convince themselves to accept them.
Therefore, no one voiced any opposition until the end of the court session.
This, in fact, made Manuel a little sullen: he had hoped to provoke some short-sighted individuals during this morning court, to make an example of them and catch some typical cases.
"I didn't expect them to be so obedient. Am I not some kind of devil?" Caesar couldn't help but think with a touch of helplessness.
However, he didn't dwell on this feeling much.
Instead, after the court session, he promptly began to implement these policies, for he knew that these would be the first steps towards the centralization of the Pontus region, and indeed, of Asia Minor under his future rule.
Although these decrees were still somewhat rough, he had to do his best to make them a good start, no matter what.
Over the next half-month, under his strong urging, these decrees were either well-implemented or prepared for implementation.
Just as he was about to change the situation of the infidels under his rule, various battle reports from his old home in Tauris interrupted his plans, forcing Manuel to prepare to return earlier than expected.
"Even with the advantage, will it still take three or four months to completely crush the peasant rebels?" Barbara worriedly summarized the core information of these battle reports to him that night.
"Too slow, too slow." Manuel frowned, shaking his head repeatedly, "It seems I'll have to put the Turk Muslim matter aside for now; I must quickly quell these reckless commoners and restore production in Tauris.
I'll have Badars prepare a ship soon, and I'll return as quickly as possible."