by Boris Zubry
In our world, you do not deny food to a hungry, and you protect the weak at the moment of weakness. We all have days like that. We are only people. They helped us, we helped them, and that is how the horde stays together and strong. We are strong and very powerful. I am the Great Khan, but they have the own Khans, the warlords, and the tribal leaders. Even if I did not like them and preferred to boil them in the hot oil, I would show respect and honor them every time I see them. They have the honored place at my table, and I always welcome them. I do not always like that, but I do it every time. But, if they break the rules, they boil in hot oil. It happens, sorry to say, way too often. I really hate it when it happens, but I have to maintain my power no matter what. We have the laws, and we follow them even when the member of the own family is involved. If I must be harsh, so be it. But, if I could be friendly, that would be my choice.
The silk shirts and silk, in general, were the luxuries all my soldiers and the Tatars had to have. Silk, in many instances, was better against the arrows than the armor. It was proven. Everyone in Central Asia and the Middle East knows that but not everyone is using it because of the cost. But we do. The flying arrow is not perfect and spins and quite fast. When it hits the lightness of the silk spinning it into some kind of a knot, the energy gets all wasted on that. The silk takes it all, protecting the body inside. Of course, it did not work like that all the time, but most of the time. In the worst case, the arrow would not penetrate as deep as it could have. That’s what we saw a thousand times, in every battle. I noticed that a bolt from a good crossbow shot from a close distance might penetrate silk fifty percent of the time, if not more. But, from the same distance, it would penetrate the body armor almost always. So, there is a safety benefit.
Thus, I made sure that all my warriors, regular soldiers, and the Tartars, wore silk shirts in the battle as the standard equipment. Therefore, every campaign we went through hundreds of thousands of silk shirts. I spent a fortune on that but Subutai supported me wholeheartedly, and Ogedei allowed that luxury. He thought it was a good policy. Ogedei kept supplying us with silk from China. His Chinese soldiers wore silk shirts as well. This was very practical. I think it came from China in the first place. Chinese are very innovative in many regards. I do not believe we would be as powerful as we are if not for the Chinese and their knowledge of many things. They support science and practice it religiously. Again, religion has a secondary place in their society, but science is very supported and acknowledged there. Science comes first. Thus, we have the gun powder, cannons, crossbows, the silk shirts, noodles, rice, paper money, bamboo spears, printing and the liberal philosophy that is not always humane, but we try. The Chinese are so different from us in many respects, yet they are so close. They taught us a lot, and we pay back with kindness, treating them better than some others. We are a part of the Chinese empire, and China is a part of our empire.
Yes, we always have to choose what enemy should be closer to us because they are all enemies in the end. They would stick a knife in your back given a chance, so do not give them that chance. You never know who an enemy is more - your friend or a foe. Keep your friends close and the enemies even closer. Keep your eyes and the ears open and have a lot of spies on the payroll. There is no such thing as too many spies, and the knowledge of what people are doing is priceless. Use the stick and the carrot, always both, and they would stay somewhat loyal to you. No one is totally loyal to you, but the hopes and the threads together could make it somewhat workable. Threaten families. Hold hostages. And, promise rewards.
One should never lie about either of it. Always deliver what was promised, good or bad, so people will know what was coming. Keeping your word to the point is your integrity. Keep your word even if you do not like the situation. In the swamp full of prowling predators masquerading as your friends, one has to learn the rules, master them well and then, better the “friends.” One had to do it every time if to survive. That’s what the grandfather used to say time and time again. Was he wrong? He knew it so well, he learned it well. He taught us well. And Subutai was the master of the game. He has the acute feeling of something going wrong. He could feel the plot brewing and the plotters getting ripe. They should know it by now and be smarter yet, we have something brewing all the time. Stupid but what can you do. Usually, it happens in faraway camps where our control is somewhat weaker. So, we put more spies in hoping that someone would inform us in time. What a waste, what a waste but you cannot avoid it. That life in the modern world. No matter how much power and wealth you possess, you want more and then, you lose. Does greed ever pay in the end? Should we ask the greedy ones?
Would I plot a revolt? Would I revolt against my own blood? No, not unless my life is threatened already. And even then, I’ll try to resolve the issue peacefully. Ogedei knows that. All of my relatives know that, and that is why they trust me more than the others. I rather stand with them than to betray my own. If they go against each other, I would not take the side or better yet stay with the legitimate claim. That’s how it should be. I would never go against Ogedei or anyone in his place if it were done in our old tradition. The Great Khan had to be elected with all in power, presenting their claims and voting. There should be nothing held against the claimant if no treason was committed. People should be free to speak. There should be no backstabbing, and I’ll be the first to punish the offender. That’s my honor. If we want to run the empire with as fewer problems as possible, no revolts, famine, or the plaque epidemics, we have to learn the way of peace among ourselves. And that is the hardest thing. That’s what the grandfather said. So far, we were lucky and avoided significant disasters but only because of our shrewdness. The hotheads may get you the breakfast, but the cool heads will get you the dinner and the place to rest. Patience is actually more of a virtue than one may think.
If we lost a soldier - killed, injured, crippled, in one of our campaigns and his family has no other provider, we pay a pension to his family for many years ahead. If the soldier is dead, we try to marry his wife to another family, so she and the kids would have a home. We try to do it right with all our people and spare no expenses. How else could you run the empire as complicated as ours, with so many different people and customs and be successful? We have to consider so many things, everything. I do not know any other way, and we are successful.
A family that received a small one-time payment for the killed warrior is allowed to follow the horde for as long as they want and participate in the spoils. They can tend the animals, nurture the wounded, work in any other way, and be trained to become soldiers. Out of respect for the killed and injured fighters, we would kind of adopt them, allowing them and the families to be a part of our lives. They could not stay inside of our camps (that’s reserved for the active warriors), but they could set their own camp within an hour ride from us. Yet, they could visit any time they liked providing that they did not interfere with our routine. They are welcome to the food and the shops traveling with us. They could freely move around but not stay overnight. Could we take that chance? Good question. Why would we if there was a question? We have to be smarter than that. Sometimes we know those people well but not always. We did not want any extra problems to worry about. What if they were with the other side, whatever that side was. We hoped they were not, but we had to be couscous.
Many, like the Khazars, were always welcome and not limited at all. We knew who they were and what they stand for. The Kazakhs, Buryats, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tadjik, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Tuvans, Mordvins, Kalmyks, and the others were trusted but not all the time and not completely. They could be with you for years, intermarried, related and betray you at a moment’s notice or without one. One day they stay with you, bleed with you, die with you, and the next day, they stick a knife under your ribs. Yet, they were a part of the horde, and I respect that. We would give them the odd jobs to do like minding the animal herds, fixing, and mending things. They did an excellent job because they were paid for it and respected. A good worker is
like a good soldier; both were valuable and well respected. Also, we keep these people responsible for protecting the trains with our loot and the supplies. The honor would not allow them to steal but, if they did, the punishment was severe, and the family would not be reimbursed for the lost one. They know it, they think about it and rarely break the rules. Only a foolish one would take that chance. A cut off a limb is much worse than a death sentence, and that’s the punishment. You would be slowly dying for a very long time, cast off from your clan and everyone knows what you’ve done. Your honor is in question, and that is a shame for the whole family, the entire tribe.
Thus, for tending the trains, we would dispatch a skeleton crew of a few soldiers, and the rest of it would be the Tatars or the others. It’s a good deal all around. I do not spread too many trained soldiers around, and the others have a paying job. They can earn the keep and be proud of it. Also, the trains are well manned and are rarely attacked by the wild tribes. For the people on the train, it is much safer than, let’s say, in the regular Tumen. There is some danger but not much. Thus, they serve as the soldiers with the pay almost of the soldier, but the risk is somewhat less. Sometimes we allow their families to stay with the train but not the prominent families. That could be too much. If the family has some children that could help, I am all for it. I always assign a herd of animals to the train so, the children can take care of it and then, they have plenty to eat. The supply trains were self-efficient almost all the time, but there were only a few of them. I could not put everything on one supply train. That could be too chancy even for us. Who said that the brigands could not raise a few hundred horsemen and attack the train. It was possible. The attraction was too high. If it were attractive and large enough, they would, and they even tried it once or twice already. Then, I would need five hundred men or so to escort and protect it. That would be too much. No, the smaller trains that could move faster and defend themselves adequately were the best solution. It worked out fine. My soldiers had a family to go to, good food, women and our herds of animals were taken care of. I rarely had problems with the supply trains or the loot trains. I just kept rotating people there, just in case. I did not want anyone to get too comfortable, too lazy. But, I supported it all, and they paid me back in kind. I know I am feared, and I hope I am fair. Loved… I doubt that. That was not too important to me.
Ogedei Khan and some of my other close relatives wanted to participate in the division of the spoils from Europe so, they invested whatever they could. There was money, people, supplies, weapons, and whatever else we may need. They tried to cover every aspect of the prolonged war, the multitude of people involved, the distances, customs, languages, supplies, weapons, fortifications, and most of all, the advice. They were close and available to me when I needed the help. Ogedei Khan sent me one thousand Chinese soldiers from his own army. Also, I received from him a herd of two thousand heads of cattle and five thousand lambs. A few thousand goats and the grain came a few months later. There were another two thousand Chinese soldiers and five hundred Koreans. In addition to that, Ogedei sent me one hundred doctors, one hundred blacksmiths and one hundred tailors with a wagon train of silk, leather and the rough cotton material used for the padding to wear under the leather battle dress and under the saddles for the horses. We also had wagons and wagons of raw iron for the weapons and the armor repair. Weapons and armor came separately. That was huge, the King gift. It also demonstrated the level of his trust and support.
All of that was a valued gift and not just from the cost point of view. It was political as well. Still, many people had to be employed to produce so much of it. And, the raw materials… It was not cheap. No, Ogedei did not spare the expenses, and he was genuine. That was an open demonstration of the care, and I needed that. He really wanted to help. Everyone wanted to help and be counted. I know, I know, they see a lot of profit from my expedition, but that is only if we succeed. We could fail. It is unlikely, but it could take much longer, and we may need much more resources. Supplies could become a problem. People could become a problem. Our columns would stretch for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. I could pay the bills but in the middle of the war this stuff, anything, was not easy to obtain. Ogedei gave it to me from his personal domains, and that was very friendly of him.
I liked Ogedei always, and I think he was my best and the most powerful relative. Just a few months ago, I heard that one of my cousins was planning a coup while Ogedei was visiting his horde for the wedding ceremony of the cousin’s daughter. I did not think it was right, and I did not think it was honorable. Subutai and I were present there, and without even saying anything to Ogedei, I ordered the arrest of the entire family of the cousin. Then, it was reported to Ogedei, and he held the court. The cousin was found guilty and executed, but his family (only the women) were spared and ordered to live with the family of a new groom. That was a wedding, after all, and goodwill should prevail. I think Ogedei was overly lenient, leaving so many conspirators alive, but that was his judgment, and I accepted it. Women were not guilty. Children were not guilty. Slaves were not guilty.
Life is quite complicated in the steppes. It is like sailing in the uncharted waters; the underwater dangers were just waiting for you anywhere you turn. There you have to combine the knowledge that you acquire and the sense of survival that you inherit. The spies will bring you the information. Thus, education and you have to trust your feelings. The first feeling is usually the right one. Maybe it happens that way because it comes from the gods. Don’t override your feelings with overthinking. You may lose at that. Subutai was good with trusting the emotions, and so is I. Between two of us, we win most of the time. Well, we win all the time. In our state and in our business, if you lose even once, you lose your life. You have to win all the time just to survive. I guess, we were destined to rule and that is why we do it so well. Just don’t be soft or lazy. That’s a losing proposition, and I do not want it. I try not to make any spontaneous decisions. I listen to my brain, the logic, the feelings. The heart is good but only as of the first response, the immediate reaction. I always step back and think the situation over. Often, my decision after that is entirely different. Lives usually were spared or not. That’s how it swings to extremities, and you cannot go to more extreme than that. Lives in and lives out – that’s it, that’s the extent of it. I do not think about it, and I do. How can you really not to think about lives? What is more important?”
President Vagabundi could not put the pages of the diary down. He was reading it with such fascination that even the food was forgotten. Who needs food when one of the most important people in the history of your country talks to you over the centuries of ups and downs, mostly downs. For five hundred years, your country was nothing but a pimple on the collective ass of the world yet, he was living at the peak. He created that peak and managed it for a while. He took it to unprecedented heights. He was at the top of the world. He was the one to follow, yet, one had to know the truth to understand it and make the decisions. Some decisions were severe, often too harsh to swallow. And, there it was, in black and white. In his own words and most likely, written in his own hand. That was really the voice from the past. It was fantastic, unreal, ghost-like. The President drank some kumis. No, no food, no hard drinks, just the kumis. That was the real Mongolian food, and that is how this document should be handled – the Mongolian way. Was there any other way for President Vagabundi? In Mongolia? At the present time? When so many things were at stake? When he had to make some tough decisions, and only the ghost from the distant past could honestly counsel him? Ghost… This was something not too many presidents ever experienced. Did anyone ever experience anything like that? Ever? Arban could not recall an example that would satisfy the question. He got up, walked around the room, stopped, considered, and sat down again. Batu was not just one of the most infamous butchers in the history responsible for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the dead. He burnt down half of Europe and rearranged the present societie
s. He smashed the old barriers and build new ones. He was the most powerful hurricane of death, torture, slavery, and hope. He also was a visionary, philosopher, thinker, educator, warrior, strategist, statesman and now, the writer. He was well ahead of his time, basically in everything. How was it possible in combination with that destruction? And, Subutai probably was the pillar of his strength. We do not make people like that anymore, but there was quite a few of them back then, starting with Genghis Khan. Was Batu much lesser than the greatest khan of them all? Kumis and the goodwill were not enough. Genes. You needed the right genes for anything and for making the heroes specifically. That’s where it was hidden. The genes… That was the time for the heroes. Was he the fire that burnt the green shoots of the civilization to nothing delaying the development for many years to come? Or, his fire had removed the dead brush and the undergrowth and let the green shoots to grow freely, to develop, to flourish? Did he remove the old so, the new could push forward? Yes, he was fortunate to read it, even to see it. He was lucky.
“Almost two hundred relatives had joint me at Sarai Batu (my capital camp (Ulus – unitary sovereign state) in the last two-three months. Each of them had at least a hundred warriors accompanying him. Also, there were members of the family, servants, craftsmen, and slaves. Each of them came with a caravan and a herd of animals. They had their own supplies. I did not have to give them anything, but they were ready to share with me if I needed it, anything. I could use the help if they really meant it. Frankly, I could build a Tumen, if not two, just out of my relatives, but it would be the worst Tumen ever. Though some of them were good soldiers, they all had something against each other and would fight among themselves rather than with the enemy. My relatives were not here for the common goal of the war. They came over only for the campaign and expected some high positions and proper rewards. If I would give them that before the war was over, they would find an excuse and go away now. They were loyal only up to a point. What I usually did was appointing them as the military leaders (garrison or area commanders) and the tax collector to the regions that were not occupied yet. When we take that place, it’s yours to manage in one capacity or another. That was the motivation for them to stick around for the long run. Back home, they were the youngest in the family and inherited or would inherit nothing. That’s what you get when you have too many children and too little to give. Still, children were your power. That’s the clan that unlikely would betray you. You need your children, and they need your inheritance. Yet, their future back home often was not full of gold. Only if you were a part of the successful military campaign, you could get ahead, earn a piece of land and a steady income for the whole family. So, they stayed with me hoping for the reward, and they fought for it hard. If they were true to me, in the end, they succeeded.