At this moment, besides the guards who would strictly obey his commands, Caesar's Tauris Army Commander Tukharovsky also heard Caesar muttering to himself.
And as for the strange maxims Caesar had just murmured, the Rus' Commander couldn't help but be startled in his heart, "What kind of words are these? Where did His Majesty read those words just now, from which ancient Eastern book?" Although he didn't quite understand what "innate" or "all things" or "nurturing people" meant, the tone alone made his hair stand on end.
If Caesar had known his thoughts, he would probably have found it extremely hard to maintain his composure. Fortunately, the Army Commander did not blurt out his thoughts on the spot.
As for why Manuel chose to take such a barbaric and violent action here today, it wasn't a whim; rather, it still involved his considerations.
In Manuel's eyes, corruption was not necessarily an intolerable problem.
For example, for Roman monarchs after the komnenos era, the state treasury and the family's, or even an individual's, private coffers were often conflated.
To give another example, for the civilian bureaucracy under Serenus and Arno, because they were not linked to the landed aristocracy under Manuel's rule, Caesar could tolerate minor alterations in account books, as long as he maintained control over the true situation of his subordinates, and he would not send all corrupt individuals directly to the gallows.
However, the army was different; absolutely not.
This was Manuel's sharp weapon and tool for dealing with complex domestic and foreign situations, and he would not tolerate any regression or corruption within them.
If the standing farmer-soldiers of Bosporus were to degenerate into useless rabble like the old farmer-soldiers of Constantinople, then he might as well sell all his territory, give up, and run to Italy to become a useless feudal lord like the Palaiologos branch in Montferrat.
This is also why he specifically chose to come to the veteran camp, accustomed to great storms, today, using such violent and bloody excessive means to make an example, deterring those scoundrels and nipping this trend in the bud.
But Manuel also knew that in the late Middle Ages, even if such problems were forcibly suppressed, they could not be completely resolved, as productivity was simply like that in those times.
However, he was confident that he could greatly alleviate and mitigate the problem.
After personally overseeing the entire execution process of these corrupt key offenders and watching their bodies hang above the camp, Manuel finally stood up amidst the dense and fervent gazes of reverence from his soldiers and made this resounding declaration to his army with utmost solemnity:
"Soldiers of the Autocratic State, my brave and fearless warriors, devout followers of the Holy Father, you have all seen it, these incompetent corruptors, the parasites of the army and even Rome, the good-for-nothings who exploited what was rightfully yours, have now met their deserved end.
Now I declare here that if in the future there are those in the army who live by sucking the blood and flesh of the company, like these insects, they shall all be dealt with as they were!"
At Caesar's declaration, all the farmer-soldiers present cheered loudly, echoing his words.
However, Manuel was very clear that the most important issue still remained unresolved.
And now, with the public's emotions stirred up, it was time for him to throw out the ameliorative solutions.
"But if it is just like this, then in the future, many potential corrupt elements will still trouble you, soldiers, and even new corrupt insects will emerge from the bad people among them.
So, in order to do my best to prevent you from suffering such hardships again, I am here to announce a major change."
As he spoke of this, Manuel, as if long prepared, waved his hand, signaling Badars to call Arno.
Less than a minute later, Isaac Arno, the Finance Minister of the Bosporus Tauris Department, walked slowly to his monarch, dressed in a simple yet dignified blue dalmatica robe, holding a deed whose contents were unknown.
Caesar, after smiling and gesturing to him, had Badars, as Commander of the Guard, take it and then handed it to himself.
Although the farmer-soldiers and veterans present had a slight urge to mock the mannerisms of the civil officials led by Arno, in front of their respected Caesar, they ultimately suppressed these thoughts due to their reverence for the monarch and the warnings from their superiors.
Manuel did not pay attention to this atmosphere, which he immediately noticed, as the conflict between civil and military officials was a cultural tradition that had subtly spread since the old Roman Empire era within the current East Rome cultural sphere.
As for changing or improving this aspect, Manuel felt that it was not yet the right time, and the rift between civil and military officials was also convenient, preventing them from uniting to cause trouble for him.
After less than half a second of thought, he immediately discarded such trivial ideas and instead, in front of all the soldiers, proclaimed the new measure he had decided upon yesterday:
"In short, I will expand the land that Grand Company farmer-soldiers are allowed to own as soldiers, from the original twenty to thirty Greek acres per household, to at least fifty Greek acres per household.
And according to military rank, the land that military households can own will also increase progressively: ordinary soldiers will be able to own fifty Greek acres; quadrumvir and quinquevir will have sixty acres; centurion will have seventy acres; kentarch will have eighty-five acres; and komes will have one hundred acres.
As for the squadron commanders above the komes, that is, the toirmarch and merarch of the old era, I will personally designate the military land they can own.
And above the squadron commanders, the vice-generals, generals, and even the Army Commander, will all receive hereditary fiefdoms personally granted by me.
As for the generals and commanders at the pinnacle of military office, they will all be granted officer titles and become nobles recognized by the Autocratic State and even all of Europe.
"Of course, this only applies to ordinary units directly involved in combat.
In addition, ordinary special units such as medics, messengers, surveyors, quartermasters, etc., will also be granted military land like ordinary units.
And those with slightly more important military positions, such as column leaders, second-rank soldiers, rear-guards, vanguards, defenders, and scouts, will start with the same amount of land granted to a centurion.
That's roughly it for now; later, I will have the scribes post the relevant rules in military camps throughout the country.
Because the new land grant regulations I am issuing this time apply to all Grand Company farmer-soldiers in the country."
As Caesar briefly explained, the field was incredibly quiet.
All the Bosporus farmer-soldiers were listening intently to the new regulations Caesar was enacting on the spot, and some literate ones even pulled out paper and pens from who knows where, beginning to record meticulously.
Because they knew very well at this moment that, as standing elites, their status in various aspects within the country was about to rise another notch.