Arno and Carlo were utterly confused by these words: how did their Caesar deduce economic development trends from the successful issuance of bonds by the Bank?
However, in the end, they kept this question to themselves. After all, even if they didn't quite understand, since Caesar said so, there must be his own reasoning behind it.
Thus, Manuel's personal oversight of the bond issuance led by the Bosporus Bank concluded successfully. From today onwards, the Bosporus Bank, fully controlled by the Autocratic State, officially commenced operations in Tauris. In the coming years, the Bosporus Bank will also act as the spokesperson for Caesar, or rather, the Autocratic State's will, engaging in various economic activities and appearing in all sorts of venues.
However, for now, what is called the Bosporus Bank is merely a front for the Gavras Family, which has no experience in finance, to make money in a novel way, in the eyes of those deeply established Italian banking families. Venice shared the same sentiment, so on the day the Bosporus Bank was established, they immediately sent the young nobleman Gracio, an old acquaintance of the Romans in Tauris, to Bangkok Pu City to deliver congratulations to Manuel, acting on the orders of the Black Sea Consul.
Manuel, for his part, showed no significant negative emotions towards this message, neither physically nor mentally. On the contrary, when he met Gracio, he was quite obsequious, speaking highly of him and the Venice behind him, and using various arguments, some substantiated and some not, to persuade them to support the future actions of the Bosporus Bank.
These words naturally reached Gracio's ears. Coupled with the conclusion reached after discussions among the high-ranking officials in the Venetian Black Sea Consular district before his arrival—that the Bosporus Bank would only be guided by Venice to become an aid to the esteemed Republic—he readily agreed to the request of the Roman monarch before him.
After seeing off this Venetian, who had a close relationship with their Autocratic State, Manuel couldn't help but smile inwardly. Judging from Gracio's performance, Venice probably hadn't discovered his true intentions. If subsequent developments continued in this manner, then all the better.
This is good too. Before he reveals his true needs, he will first make his bank restrain itself and appear weak, disguised as a simple institution that only operates domestic lending and borrowing. But when he truly needs it, it will inevitably be endowed by him with some functions unimaginable to people of this era.
Over the next few days, Manuel personally toured Tauris to visit his territory. During this time, he also gained a deeper understanding of the carrying capacity of the land under his rule. Based on this understanding, he roughly confirmed that the stability of Tauris had returned to pre-war levels, which finally put his mind at ease.
Now, he just needed a group of people to come as he envisioned, and his purpose for returning to Tauris would be completely fulfilled.
In the early morning of early July, a group of Muslim "merchants" from Cairo arrived at Afrita Port in Bangkok Pu. Here, they would discuss an important matter, a significant economic and trade issue, with Bosphorus Caesar who had invited them.
Half an hour later, in Bangkok Pu Palace—
After brief greetings and pleasantries, Caesar Manuel, dressed in a blue dalmatica, along with his Commander of the Guard and the Finance Minister of Tauris, delivered his final words to them: "To those who have come from afar, may the Holy Father bless you equally. Now let us get to the point: the scope of trade between our two sides, it is time to expand it."
Manuel's interlocutors at this moment were naturally those "merchants" from Cairo. However, in reality, they were not ordinary merchants, but a Mamluk special envoy team sent from Cairo by order of Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Barsbay, whom Manuel had persuaded after actively contacting the Mamluks for several months. Besides the servants and attendants, the most important members were three close confidants of the Sultan: Emir Yusuf ibn Aziz al-Din Jaqmaq, General of Alexandria; Ibn-Ali Abdul al-Ma'mun, the Ustadar (literally "master of the house," whose function after the Baibars reform was similar to a finance minister); and Muhammad ibn Muhdi, the Qadi (the judge in the Islamic world, often held by jurists before the collapse of the Abbasid dynasty).
The reason why the Mamluks incredibly stood at the negotiating table with him today to discuss trade, in addition to Manuel's strenuous inducements, was also because Sultan Barsbay was very interested in expanding commerce. After all, whether in this era or in the official history of Manuel's previous life, Barsbay had a rather famous nickname, "the Merchant Sultan."
Because since Barsbay came to power, he had strived to improve the economic environment of Egypt at that time and the corrupt politics among the Mamluks, consolidating the Sultan's military and administrative status and authority. One series of manifestations was his vigorous development of trade, lowering tariffs to attract merchants, ensuring Egypt's irreplaceable position in Eastern Mediterranean trade until it became the monopolist of most of the Eastern trade, even causing friction and conflicts with some European countries (mainly commercial Republics like Venice and Genoa). In addition, he also diverted the Indian Ocean trade route through Jedda Port, introduced and monopolized sugar and pepper, and even established good diplomatic relations with Indian Sultanates such as Bengal.
Militarily, Barsbay invaded and conquered Cyprus between 1424 and 1426, capturing King Janus of Lusignan and forcing him to pay tribute. This is a major reason why Cyprus is depicted as a Mamluk vassal state or one that received its guarantee of independence in some later historical maps.
However, apart from the excellent achievements mentioned above, Barsbay's other aspects were truly not commendable: he was short-tempered and extremely greedy, and a major reason for his proficiency in trade was his personal enjoyment of profiting from it; and while developing Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade, the Sultan forcefully destroyed the ancient Aidab Port, leaving it completely deserted; and even under his rule, Egypt experienced famine and the Black Death in 1430…
Even so, among the self-indulgent, humanoid Sultans of the late Mamluk period, Barsbay was already considered a relatively normal, even outstanding, one. Because he not only genuinely tried to improve the Sultanate's economic situation through commerce but also built schools and mosques, and was generous to the common people—at least relative to other Mamluks.
In short, Manuel specifically targeted this point, which is why he made great efforts to contact and befriend the other party. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, Barsbay, who was already in his later years, didn't have many years left to live. If he didn't get things done quickly while this Sultan, who was devoted to trade, was still in power, it would not be so easy afterward.