About half a month later, in the morning—
In the city of Kiev, belonging to the Kingdom of Lithuania, the current King of Lithuania, King Sigismund Kęstutaitis, was in his Kiev palace, stroking his long white beard, receiving guests from the Bosphorus Autocratic State to the south.
Having settled the minor details with the Roman envoy in front of him, he chuckled as if pondering the other party's thoughts, then, to the other party's surprise, changed the subject slightly, "Those matters can be put aside for now. Here, I have a personal question I'd like to ask Serenus."
"Emperor Sigismund may speak," the Roman envoy before the Lithuanian King, Justinian Seresnus, had no intention of refusing.
"Then allow me to express my private concern," King Sigismund asked seriously, "How did your Bosphorus know that our Lithuanian monarch generally tours Ruthenia in the summer and stays in Kiev for a period?"
This question stumped Serenus for a moment. It wasn't that he was instructed by his Emperor to come to Kiev at this time, but rather that their delegation, and even their Emperor, hadn't thought that far ahead. The reason for their specific stop in Kiev was simply because it was the largest city along the Dnieper River in Lithuania, convenient for rest and stay during their journey.
But he couldn't just say "it was an accident" here. Setting aside the issue of pride, it was hard to say whether the Lithuanian King in front of him would believe it.
Therefore, after a complex thought process lasting a full second in his mind, Serenus smiled and replied, "Emperor Sigismund, perhaps this is the will of the Holy Father."
As for his answer, although the Lithuanian King still harbored doubts, he did not press the matter. Afterward, they moved on and continued to discuss trade matters between Lithuania and the Bosphorus.
At the same time, in Trabzon, one of the Bosphorus's capitals located on the southern shore of the Black Sea, far to the south of Lithuania, the Pontus census, which lasted several months, finally concluded. Now, Manuel had his servant take the Pontus population brief handed over by Badars, gently placing it on the wooden desk in front of him. After commending his subordinates and dismissing them, he immediately opened the report and began to read it.
Overall, the results made Manuel somewhat uncomfortable. According to the report from this census, even after he had successively annexed parts of West Armenia, Janik, and Amasya in the recent war, the total population of Pontus was just over 3 million. Calculating by religion, even with recent converts, the Christian population of Pontus accounted for only about 3/4. Among these, Eastern Orthodox, who adhere to the state religion, made up less than 70%, while Armenian Apostolic Church followers accounted for about 30%. The remaining small portion consisted mainly of Catholic and other vague Asia Minor heretical sects. As for the remaining 1/4 of infidels, the majority were naturally Muslims, who were hostile to the state religion, with a very small minority being Jewish and adherents of steppe religions who still clung to their original beliefs.
In terms of cultural ethnic groups, the greek-speaking population of Pontus numbered over 1.6 million, while Armenians were less than 800,000. These two groups formed Manuel's base. The nearly 600,000 people outside of them were the foreign ethnic groups he considered unstable elements. Among these foreign groups, Turks, or Turkmen, accounted for nearly 2/3 or more, while Kurds remaining in West Armenia were less than 1/3. This was after Manuel had already carried out a round of massacres during the war and dealt with a large number afterward. As for the remaining negligible proportions, they were very small ethnic groups such as Jewish, Latins, Laz, and Georgians.
Feeling a bit sweaty, Manuel couldn't help but have a servant hand him a handkerchief to wipe the faint cold sweat on his face. This population issue, well, it wasn't exactly healthy; one could only say it was a mess. Recalling that even in his homeland and rear base, the Tauris Peninsula, Greeks and Goths at most only accounted for about 70-80%, his expression immediately twisted into a lump, as if he had eaten something indescribable.
After a more careful consideration, Manuel thought of the specific situation in the Bosphorus's non-directly administered governorate territories on the northern shore of the Black Sea and the vassal state of Adyghe. He couldn't help but sigh with a clearer understanding, clutching his forehead. Due to geopolitical constraints, he had largely abandoned hardline measures there, only encouraging orthodox priests to proselytize, so the area was still predominantly Muslim Tatars, followed by orthodox Tatars. As for the latter, to maintain stability, the original tribal social structure was preserved, so the Adyghe area is still dominated by orthodox Adyghe Circassian. Although these two parts separately did not pose a significant threat, together they still represented a population of over a million.
After contemplating these population issues, Manuel's already twisted expression became even more unsightly. It was simply too much; the complexity of the domestic religious and cultural landscape was like a weak, ticking time bomb, only slightly better than some later societies propped up by national leaders, not to mention the harsh reality of being surrounded by powerful enemies. If he could not, in his lifetime, seize a central city on the Bosphorus Strait and allow East Rome culture to gain absolute dominance, then his Bosphorus Autocratic State would likely fall apart directly after his death. If he were even unluckier, it was very possible that the nobles of the two regions would drag his relatives into a classic Roman civil war, then blow up the vast autocratic kingdom back into the Theodoro Principality, which had been cowering on the Black Sea coast.
Thinking of this, Manuel's hair stood on end, because he now had a deeper understanding of the perilous nature of his situation.
The only thing he could be thankful for was that from the moment he decided to march on Trabzon, he had been preparing to truly defeat his lifelong arch-enemy, the Ottoman Sultanate.
Now, Manuel was even more convinced that for the next decade or several decades, he absolutely could not make any mistakes, whether in principle or even in detail. He and his Autocratic State were currently walking on a tightrope; a slight misstep would send them plummeting into the churning waves below, with no hope of ever recovering.
"This is truly, nerve-wracking, and a huge headache," Caesar thought with a bitter smile at noon today, having calmed down slightly. Fortunately, a report from the intelligence department temporarily diverted his attention.
"A brief on Ottoman Sultan Murad II's various offspring to date?" Manuel softly read the title, and then smiled inscrutably.
"Interesting."