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In order to gather the 200,000 silver marks he promised to the crusaders for helping him to become emperor , Alexios IV had to confiscate the properties of his enemies and of the church . He only managed to gather half the promised sum and this measures made him very unpopular.
In january 1204 Alexios IV was deposed folowing an uprising. Alexios V Doukas became emperor and stopped the negotiations with the crusaders. As a result , in april , Constantinople was taken .

WI the crusaders' attacks had been unsucessfull ( we can assume that an epidemic breaks out in the Frankish camp , or that they lose a part of their fleet in a storm , or that the Byzantines manage to bring more troops to defend the city before the final assault )?
Let's further assume that the emperor accepts to give them half the promised sum and some logistical support ( even though he can hold the capital , he can't stop them from sacking the rest of the empire ) and that the crusaders accept because they are weakened by the storm/epidemic/failed assaults/desertions.

Now that the crusaders are gone , how does the emperor deal with the other problems the empire has at this time?
The Ionian islands , Cyprus , Bulgaria and Cilicia had already been lost ;
The treasury is empty;
The quality and the quantity of the troops is low;
The navy is small;
Alexios Comnenos proclaimed himself emperor in Trebizond;
Leon Skourgos led a rebellion in Greece and proclaimed himself despot;
Alexios III , the emperor deposed by the crusaders , is in Adrianople , rallying his supporters;
The empire has aggressive neighbours.

Is it possible for the empire to become as rich and powerfull as it was during Manuel's reign , or do we need another POD for that?
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