What Manuel wanted was obvious.
After organizing his thoughts, he immediately took out a blank sheet of paper, picked up a quill, and wrote a personal letter to the Finance Minister and the Bank President who had been left on the Tauris Peninsula.
Excluding greetings and prayers, the main content was very concise: he temporarily granted them certain administrative powers in this area to forcefully sell state bonds to the Tauris magnates.
After finishing the letter, he shifted his remaining energy back to the development of trade and economy, such as the Black Sea trade routes.
To his surprise, yet within reason, even though he had not yet officially contacted the Mamluks, merchants and envoys from the Mamluks had already shown their interest in Black Sea trade.
Among the reports presented to him, many reported the Mamluks' strong enthusiasm for trading with the Black Sea coasts owned by Bosporus.
This was not surprising, as for the Mamluks, the most crucial slave trade routes nowadays basically had to pass through Bosporus's territory, and Bosporus's trade policies and the efforts of slave traders were worthy of Egypt's favor, with the best quality Circassian, North Caucasus, and even Rus and Latin slaves all coming from Bosporus.
As for the reason, it was thanks to the Autocratic State's effective utilization of the convenience brought by its Adyghe vassals, allowing it to gain deeper control over the source of slaves.
In addition to the slave trade, other commodity trades were also flourishing between the two nations.
For example, fruit products favored by the Black Sea Romans, because they could easily ferment to produce alcohol, also began to circulate in small circles among the Egyptian nobility; and the still-thriving woodlands of Pontus and South Tauris also helped Bosporus dominate the timber trade…
However, among these, what Manuel himself was most optimistic about was the arms trade.
After Caesar's personal guidance, the cannons that had been reprocessed by Bosporus's professional craftsmen were entirely sufficient to sell at high prices in the markets of Cairo, Damascus, and Alexandria, bringing considerable profits to the Autocratic State.
In contrast to the popularity of cannon trade, due to a thorough distrust of the Mamluk administrative system, coupled with the fear that Ottoman spies could easily infiltrate Egypt or Syria to obtain desired intelligence, Manuel had consistently kept the firearm trade closed and firmly listed it as a prohibited item.
This way, even if smuggling could not be suppressed, it could at least provide some restraint from an official standpoint.
Excluding these concerns about arms, Manuel was very happy to see an expansion of trade with the Mamluks.
After roughly reviewing these reports on trade with the Mamluks, he continued to regard the Mamluks as a potential major player in Black Sea trade, just as he had thought before.
Finally, in response to the Mamluk's attitude, Manuel decided that evening to successively dispatch trade envoys to establish official contact with the Mamluks.
It was conceivable that as long as the Mamluks did not respond negatively, he would immediately expand the Black Sea trade route dominated by Bosporus.
Just as he was happily planning to go play with his beloved daughter, Justiana, before returning to his bedroom for the night, Manuel received a completely unexpected message.
"'Princess Barbara is unwell, with repeated vomiting and even fainting.'
" Upon receiving the message from the Saracen physician, who was the royal physician for the Gavras, Manuel immediately could not sit still, turned around, and, accompanied by two guards, ran to the other end of the Trabzon Palace in less than five minutes.
Within these five minutes, because he was too anxious and ran too fast, the two seasoned guards almost lost him.
When he rushed to his wife's bedside at the fastest speed, the physicians and guards present were almost startled by his overly intense expression.
Fortunately, Caesar quickly managed his expression, putting on his usual calm demeanor, and peacefully asked the physicians to elaborate on his wife's current condition.
As the leading Saracen physician narrated, Manuel quickly understood his beloved wife's current situation: although the cause was unknown, it could probably be confirmed that she had shown symptoms of occasional vomiting a few days after arriving in Pontus, which was when Manuel was busy dealing with the attempted Muslim rebellion under his rule; and although this series of symptoms were intense, they basically improved within half an hour; only today's reaction was particularly severe, causing her to directly faint.
These descriptions also gave Manuel some thoughts: as far as he knew, Barbara had uncharacteristically experienced seasickness during this voyage.
If so, could these symptoms after her arrival in Pontus be a combination of seasickness after-effects and acclimatization issues?
But she hadn't shown similar symptoms when she had taken an even rougher boat trip to the military camp last time?
Could it be a parasitic infection?
Just as his thoughts were gradually becoming chaotic due to anxiety, a subsequent clarification from an old Greek physician present calmed him down.
"Your Majesty, according to the descriptions in medical texts and our diagnosis, Her Highness may possibly be pregnant again…"
"Is that true!?" Before the words were finished, Manuel immediately let out a relieved whisper of joy.
Coincidentally, Barbara woke up at this moment and saw her Little husband and the physicians surrounding her bed.
Upon learning their purpose, she very directly recounted her physical condition and the familiar feeling once again.
And according to Barbara's description, it was obvious that she was indeed pregnant again.
This truly relieved Manuel and everyone else present, and he immediately sought the physicians' advice to help his wife recuperate.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, as long as I use the infallible bloodletting therapy, Her Highness will surely overcome this difficulty." One of the Roman Catholic Latin physicians among the group stepped forward without hesitation.
And no sooner had he finished speaking than he received Caesar's personal response, though unfortunately, it was not praise.
"Guards, take this quack out." With Caesar's command, the Latin physician was dumbfounded as Caesar's guards restrained his limbs and threw him out of the room on the spot, even discarding his medical license.
"Ah haha…" Witnessing this scene, even Barbara awkwardly chuckled.