Ultimately, Aksham-Sadin succumbed to Manuel's persuasion and coercion, choosing to accept his terms and temporarily staying in Pontus under his watchful eye.
Manuel, surprisingly, kept his word this time. After confirming that the scholar had honestly settled into a manor on the outskirts of Trabzon as he had arranged, he granted a certain degree of amnesty to the Muslims under his rule, as he had previously sworn.
Roughly a week after the failed Muslim rebellion was quelled, or more than half a week after Aksham-Sadin's conversation with Manuel concluded, the final disposition of the Muslims under the Autocratic State was decided after a discussion led by Caesar and the Pontic nobility and high officials.
According to their discussion, Manuel, as he had originally intended, confiscated the land and property of the leading participants, executing some, expelling others, and exiling still more.
The fate of the directly involved middle-ranking figures was largely similar; they, like their upper-class kinsmen, would become penniless paupers with no land or corpses hanging on the walls of Trabzon.
However, for indirectly involved participants and lower-class commoners, the final treatment was more lenient than initially planned.
Indirectly involved middle-ranking figures would be subject to heavy fines but could retain their original faith.
As for the directly involved ignorant commoners, while they would be forcibly removed from their communities and their social structure disrupted as originally conceived, those who did not violently resist the Bosporus Army would not be reduced to slavery.
However, the stubborn fanatics and nomads who actively opposed Christian rule were not so fortunate; they and their families would become officially recognized slaves of the Autocratic State, dispatched to various parts of Asia Minor to serve as mining and infrastructure laborers, with some even being sold in slave markets.
Furthermore, Bosporus would actively encourage these Muslim commoners to convert to orthodox Christianity by offering Exemption from punishment and the preservation of their communities, or by encouraging them to serve in the Bosporus Army to atone for their sins.
After this series of dispositions, which was considerably milder than originally anticipated, the large-scale religious inquisition that could have potentially affected nearly 100,000 people, while nominally retained, would in reality only severely impact fewer than 10,000.
However, this was enough, because after the final judgment, a large number of Islam clerics and lords who had previously held significant political influence in Pontus were completely suppressed by the Christian magnates of Bosporus; nearly a quarter of the mosques were demolished or converted into churches, and their power was transferred to the long-suppressed Christians.
A few shrewd individuals who did not participate continued to protect themselves, or even converted to orthodox Christianity shortly thereafter, transforming into military aristocrats of Bosporus.
Among the recognized Turkmen Muslim tribes, many, in order to maintain their interests, sent orthodox tribesmen to serve in the Bosporus Army, becoming an existence similar to Christian armies in Islam countries.
Incidentally, for the sake of stability, the so-called portraits of the Prophet in front of mosques were not formally preserved by administrative means but were ambiguously left in a vague position.
Muslim clerics who wished to curry favor with their Christian monarch would hang these portraits, while those who felt they could not compromise on doctrine would resolutely enforce the so-called iconoclastic doctrine.
In this way, the annual imposition of dozens of additional dukats in taxes on temples without portraits became a common occurrence under Caesar's playful attitude.
And a hundred years later, the Muslims in these mosques displaying portraits of the Prophet, with the tacit approval of the Roman Empire, developed a heretical sect of Islam that adhered to iconolatry—but that is a story for another time.
Regardless, Manuel ultimately stabilized the predominantly Turk Muslims within his borders through a combination of firmness and flexibility.
After this, he once again devoted his energy to economic trade.
"Hmm, it seems the economy of the Autocratic State will improve considerably," Caesar Manuel smiled with great satisfaction approximately three days later, after a rough perusal of the list of confiscated lands and properties that had belonged to Muslims.
"With this money, lasting until mid-year, or even until autumn, is absolutely no problem. Saint Nicholas bless, Holy Father and Son bless."
After smiling and offering a prayer in his heart, he reluctantly averted his gaze from the list, which seemed to spontaneously yield ducats, and began to read another financial report from Tauris.
The upper part of this financial report was rather dull; apart from specific calls and amounts received, it was merely a recitation of items that Manuel could recite with his eyes closed.
However, its latter half significantly invigorated Manuel, as the Bosporus Bank, which he had personally established, was beginning to operate according to his vision.
Let's briefly digress here to explain the commands Manuel had issued to the key officials in charge of the Bosporus Bank at the time—
At that time, he gave the following instructions to Isaac Arno, the Finance Minister, and Carlo de Medici, the designated bank president: immediately proceed with the practical implementation of the Bosporus Bank, for which all preparations were complete.
Based on the principle of caution and the current economic situation of the Autocratic State, the first operation of the Bosporus Bank upon its activation would be to issue debt equivalent to over ten thousand ducats of the Autocratic State's current debt, which could be circulated in the market.
These debts were dually endorsed in terms of credit by the Autocratic State and Caesar himself, and the bank would "encourage" the existing wealthy households and lords of Tauris to purchase them to resolve the current financial problems.
Of course, in return for these debt purchasers, these issued debts would carry a certain interest and a predetermined maturity date; if not repaid by the due date, the interest on these debts would double.
This might sound very familiar to modern people—government bonds.
In other words, His Majesty Manuel, facing economic problems, thought of the modern economic knowledge he knew from his previous life and planned to issue government bonds through a medieval bank to attempt a "new loan to repay old loans" type of financing to overcome the difficulties.
This way, he could also temporarily avoid the embarrassment of tax policies.
As for orthodox doctrine? Alas, of course, it was to be followed flexibly.
However, in practice, the Bosporus Bank's issuance of bonds did not achieve very outstanding results.
As of the time his Finance Minister wrote to him, only about 500 ducats worth of bonds had been purchased by the wealthy merchants and lords of Tauris.
Manuel quickly understood the reason: ultimately, they were skeptical of this advanced economic measure and worried that it was another method for him, as monarch, to seize money and raise taxes.
"You don't trust me that much, do you? Am I going to owe you money? As long as the Black Sea trade route is opened, everything will be fine."
Thinking this, Manuel couldn't help but feel both angry and amused.
At this point, he could only resort to some coercive administrative measures.