Later, after inspecting the naval warships that day, besides the Theodore, Manuel also bestowed the names Gavras, Mangup, and Alexius on the other three main warships in the harbor. Before leaving, he once again tallied the current size of the Autocratic State's navy: all the visible warships, large and small, totaled around fifty. If state-owned merchant ships and family-owned vessels that could be mobilized in wartime were included, it could expand to nearly seventy. While still not comparable to the naval power Venice, this number and quality of naval strength were enough to suppress the current Ottoman Sultanate. This was, of course, if one ignored the fact that it was primarily composed of small ships.
"Your Majesty, do we still need to expand the navy?" Before their departure, Admiral Falero inquired about naval development.
After a moment of contemplation, Manuel cautiously declined his suggestion, "For the current situation, it is better to build more small ships and galleys. As for building large warships, try to delay it as much as possible. We cannot risk arousing the suspicion of the Venetians. For now, let's proceed like this."
"Yes, Your Majesty." As a former Venetian who had immigrated to the Tauris Peninsula as a fallen noble, Falero knew how sensitive his former motherland's authorities were to maintaining their naval hegemony in the Mediterranean. And the Bosporus, currently allied with the Republic of Venice, needed to avoid secretly targeting its ally's navy due to their apprehension of the Autocratic State's navy, in order to truly defeat the Ottoman Sultanate.
Soon, spring passed. Under Manuel's governance, the Autocratic State's prosperity was maintained, and commerce boomed. Traces of Bosporus merchants could be seen everywhere from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Alexander. And as early summer arrived, through his diligent efforts, his beloved wife Barbara finally became pregnant with his third child.
Just as he was overjoyed and meticulously caring for her with his medical knowledge, news from Europe reached him—news about the Kingdom of Hungary.
As Manuel had expected, not long after Władysław III, King of Poland, was officially crowned Ulaslo I, King of Hungary, in Pest in the Kingdom of Hungary in July of last year, a civil war quickly erupted between him and the Habsburg supporters. The birth of the posthumous son, Ladislaus, also gave the Habsburg faction the confidence to continue opposing the Polish faction.
In this situation, although the three regents left by the former King of Hungary, Albrecht II, ultimately chose to quickly switch their support to Władysław for the benefit of Hungary, the western and northern regions of the country still sided with the Habsburg, with Ulrich II, Count of Cilli, as the representative figure.
Conversely, the eastern regions, including Transylvania, supported Władysław and his faction, with Hunyadi János being the most prominent. As one of the leaders of the Polish faction, he repeatedly repelled the Habsburg armies with his military talent.
As a result, in less than half a month, by the end of last year, Ladislaus's mother, Elizabeth of Luxembourg, had to hire Hussites mercenaries from Bohemia to maintain the Nitra mines under her control.
To the Habsburg's relief, the Hussites mercenaries demonstrated excellent combat capabilities even outside Bohemia, quickly occupying many territories in the central and northern regions, causing some nobles who originally supported Władysław, led by Masoban Władysław Nicholas and Hungarian Primate Szekcsi Dénes, to switch sides to her.
However, to pay the mercenaries, Elizabeth had to pawn the crown, transfer guardianship of her newborn son to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and at the beginning of this year, transfer her private Hungarian territory, Sopron County, to the Habsburg Styrian branch, to which Frederick III belonged. This action alienated many Hungarian nobles who supported Ladislaus, and the two important officials who had previously switched sides quickly changed their stance, returning with their factions to support Władysław.
Even so, the western territories and Ulrich II remained steadfastly loyal to her, but due to the weakening of the Habsburg faction, they could not achieve a true victory. When Ulrich II was defeated in February of this year and attempted to flee to Pozsony, he was directly captured by a Polish army on the outskirts and subsequently imprisoned at Władysław's request. Finally, after two months of imprisonment, seeing no hope of victory, Ulrich II was released on the condition of swearing allegiance to Władysław. The Habsburg faction was severely weakened, and Ulaslo I was one step away from becoming the true King of Hungary.
"Next, Pope Eugene IV should step in to mediate, right?" Before flipping to the end, Manuel gently set the file aside, smiling with interest.
"Indeed, Your Majesty," Commander of the Guard Badars, who was responsible for organizing and presenting the file, nodded in response.
"I see," Manuel confirmed, then narrowed his eyes and rose, "After some time, I also plan to go and appease and drill the soldiers. In a few more years, the time will be ripe."
Meanwhile, in Constantinople, Cardinal Isidore, sent by the Roman Curia, was actively giving a speech on a high platform in the Forum Tauri, advocating for church unity. However, the Romans in the city were not very interested; besides a few clerics who shared his views, there were almost no others in the audience. Until, as he spoke, his words gradually became amusing—
"So tracing its origins, Latins and Romans are fundamentally the same people, of the same culture. Under God's protection, there is no essential difference between us. Not to mention that the split between the Eastern and Western Churches back then was merely an accident…"
As he spoke, he finally caught the attention of the citizens of Constantinople in the Forum Tauri. Soon, these Romans went from confused to shocked, then to furious, gathering at the Cardinal's platform.
Just as Isidore thought these Romans were moved by his words, a rotten cabbage was thrown at his face, followed by the citizens' curses and shouts of anger:
"Lucifer without a mother, you dog-bred heretic, weren't you satisfied with not killing all of us in 1204!?"
"Where do you Latin dogs, who have forgotten your ancestors by imitating the Frankish barbarians, get the nerve to rub shoulders with us Romans!?"
"You Latin bitches, worse than pigs and dogs! Don't think we don't know what you wretched dog-eunuchs did to us in 1204…"
In the end, Isidore could only hastily flee the square, escorted by the guards promptly sent by Emperor Constantine, to avoid being beaten to death on the spot by the angry populace.