In most circumstances, having the rich and powerful of a society against you is a death sentence. For one Alexios Apokaukos, its an opportunity to eliminate your opposition in one go and cement control. For while John could pull a good bluff, Alexios knew how to counter that with the use of an excellent propaganda campaign. Upon hearing the news that many nobles publically announced their support for John, Apokaukos’ first decision was simply to officially confiscate the oppositions’ assets (estates, properties, businesses, etc), and any wealth they left in the capital and the surrounding countryside that had been under Regency control. Following that, he made the fortunes, whatever they may be, of whatever opposition that remained outside his control (most of Macedonia and Greece) public knowledge, with heralds being paid to focus on spreading this news in the poorest areas under regency control. [2] (As a highly influential player in the bureaucracy, the man had access to the records of nearly every landowner. Where the land was, how much it was worth, and who owned what.) Following that, he declared each and every one of them an enemy of the state and declare their lands all confiscated and that the lands would be given to the loyal people of the empire, with a preference to the loyal soldiers of the regency.
The result was exactly as he expected. The poor, destitute from the abuses of the aristocracy flocked to his side in droves, swelling the army to numbers that would have been unfathomable a few years ago. Within a few weeks, Alexios gained an army. An angry, bloated, undisciplined, untrained, and under equipped army, but an army nonetheless.
This spread of knowledge continued outside the countryside. Both by herald and word of mouth, the imperial decrees that told the landowners were free game spread far and wide. The Regency forced had hoped to fan the flames of rebellion however way they could. Thus they began to up their message, painting the aristocracy as abusive, greedy, out of touch and disloyal denizens who would seek to take away the one true emperor who was willing and able to aid his subjects. This was followed by Alexios pressuring Patriarch John into excommunicating the Regency’s opponents and using the church as a tool of mobilization. The likening to the aristocracy to hated figures such as Judas, for example, was common. All of this worked… better than it should have.
What began as a method to bolster their numbers and demoralize their opponent's base soon became a full fledged revolution. Anti Aristocratic revolts popped up left and right in the coming years. Mobs of peasants and urban workers demanding change attacked landed estates, seizing their land dividing it among themselves. Extreme polarization of the population occurred on an unprecedented scale. Either one was with us or with them. ‘Anti-Kantakouzenism’ became the rallying cry of many, and anyone who was accused of it would face their wrath. They took to the streets, demanding change. And if they cannot be given it… they took it.
Alexios had hoped to direct the rage and repression of the urban masses to support his position by providing a cheap source of soldiers. Instead he ignited a revolution. [3]
[1] All of this is OTL.
[2] Alright I want to clear this up right now. When the term ‘Revolution’ is used, its best for you not to think “Russian Revolution”. Better you think “German Peasants revolt of 1524”. There are going to be similarities with both but please do not think this is just having Socialism in the 1300s. I use revolution because purple prose is fun.