Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 039 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 23 to 24 Concerning the oppressions of Achmath the Bailo and the plot th

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039 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 23 to 24 Concerning the oppressions of Achmath the Bailo and the plot th · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty nine of the Book of Sir Marco Polo,
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  Speaker 1: the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East,
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  Speaker 1: Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Lynn Thompson. The
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  Speaker 1: Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms
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  Speaker 1: and Marvels of the East, Volume one by Rusticello da Pisa,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Henry Yule, Book second Part one, Chapter twenty three,
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  Speaker 1: concerning the oppressions of Acma the Bailoh and the plot
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  Speaker 1: that was formed against him. You will hear further on
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  Speaker 1: how that there are twelve persons appointed who have authority
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  Speaker 1: to dispose of lands, offices, and everything else at their
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  Speaker 1: dead discretion. Now one of these was a certain Saracen
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  Speaker 1: named Akmath, a shrewd and able man who had more
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  Speaker 1: power and influence with the Grand Khan than any of
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  Speaker 1: the others, and the Khan held him in such regard
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  Speaker 1: that he could do what he pleased. The fact was,
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  Speaker 1: as came out after his death, that Akmath had so
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  Speaker 1: wrought upon the Khan with his sorcery, that the latter
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  Speaker 1: had the greatest faith and reliance on everything he said,
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  Speaker 1: and in this way did everything that Agmath wished him
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  Speaker 1: to do. This person disposed of all governments and offices,
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  Speaker 1: and passed sentence on all malefactors. And whenever he desired
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  Speaker 1: to have anyone whom he hated put to death, whether
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  Speaker 1: with justice or without it, he would go to the
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  Speaker 1: Emperor and say, such an one deserves death, for he
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  Speaker 1: hath done this or that against your imperial dignity. Then
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  Speaker 1: the Lord would say, do as you think right, and
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  Speaker 1: so he would have the man forthwith executed. Thus, when
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  Speaker 1: people saw how unbounded were his powers, and how unbounded
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  Speaker 1: the reliance placed by the Emperor on everything that he said,
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  Speaker 1: they did not venture to oppose him in anything. No
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  Speaker 1: one was so high in rank or power as to
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  Speaker 1: be free from the dread of him. If anyone was
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  Speaker 1: accused by him to the Emperor of a capital offense
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  Speaker 1: and desired to defend himself, he was unable to bring
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  Speaker 1: proofs in his own exculpation, for no one would stand
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  Speaker 1: by him, and no one dared to oppose Acmath. And
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  Speaker 1: thus the latter caused many to perish unjustly. Moreover, there
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  Speaker 1: was no beautiful woman whom he might desire, but he
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  Speaker 1: got hold of her, and if she were unmarried, forcing
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  Speaker 1: her to be his wife, if otherwise compelling her to
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  Speaker 1: consent to his desires. Whenever he knew of anyone who
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  Speaker 1: had a pretty daughter, certain ruffians of his would go
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  Speaker 1: to the fire and say, what say you, here is
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  Speaker 1: this pretty daughter of yours. Give her in marriage to
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  Speaker 1: the bilah Akmath, for they called him the bilah or,
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  Speaker 1: as we should say, the vice regent, And we will
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  Speaker 1: arrange for his giving you such a government or such
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  Speaker 1: an office for three years. And so the man would
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  Speaker 1: surrender his daughter, and Akmath would go to the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: and say, such a government is vacant, or will be
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  Speaker 1: vacant on such a day so and so is a
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  Speaker 1: proper man for the posts. And the Emperor would reply,
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  Speaker 1: do as you think best, and the father of the
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  Speaker 1: girl was immediately appointed to the government. Thus, either through
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  Speaker 1: the ambition of the parents or through fear of the minister,
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  Speaker 1: all the beautiful women were at his beck, either as
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  Speaker 1: wives or mistresses. Also, he had some five and twenty
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  Speaker 1: sons who held offices of importance, and some of these,
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  Speaker 1: under the protection of their father's name, committed scandals like
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  Speaker 1: his own, and many other abominable iniquities. This Akmath also
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  Speaker 1: had amassed great treasure, for everybody who wanted office sent
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  Speaker 1: him a heavy bribe. In such authority did this man
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  Speaker 1: continue for two and twenty years. At last the people
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  Speaker 1: of the country to wit. The Kathayans, utterly wearied with
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  Speaker 1: the endless outrages and abominable iniquities which he perpetrated against them,
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  Speaker 1: whether as regarded their wives or their own persons, conspired
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  Speaker 1: to slay him and revolt against the government. Amongst the rest,
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  Speaker 1: there was a certain Kathayan named chen Chu, a commander
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  Speaker 1: of a thousand, whose mother, daughter and wife had all
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  Speaker 1: been dishonoured by Akmath. Now this man, full of bitter resentment,
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  Speaker 1: entered into Parali regarding the destruction of the minister. With
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  Speaker 1: another Kathayan whose name was Van Chu, who was a
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  Speaker 1: commander of ten thousand, they came to the conclusion that
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  Speaker 1: the time to do the business would be during the
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  Speaker 1: Great Khan's absence from Kambaluk, for after stopping there three months,
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  Speaker 1: he used to go to Chandu and stop their three months,
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  Speaker 1: and at the same time, his son Chinkin used to
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  Speaker 1: go away to his usual haunts, and this Agmath remained
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  Speaker 1: in charge of the city, sending to obtain the Khan's
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  Speaker 1: orders from Chandu when any emergency arose. So Vanchu and
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  Speaker 1: chen Chu, having come to this conclusion, proceeded to communicate
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  Speaker 1: it to the chief people among the Kathayans, and then
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  Speaker 1: by common consent, sent word to their friends in many
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  Speaker 1: other cities that they had determined on such a day
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  Speaker 1: at the signal given by a beacon, to massacre all
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  Speaker 1: the men with beards, and that the other cities should
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  Speaker 1: stand ready to do the like on seeing the signal fires.
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  Speaker 1: The reason why they spoke of massacring the bearded men
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  Speaker 1: was that the Kathayans naturally have no beard, whilst beards
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  Speaker 1: are worn by the Tatars, Garisons and Christians. And you
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  Speaker 1: should know that all the Kafayans detested the Grand Khan's
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  Speaker 1: rule because he set over them governors who were Tartars
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  Speaker 1: or still more frequently Saracens, and these they could not endure,
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  Speaker 1: for they were treated by them just like slaves. You see,
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  Speaker 1: the Great Khan had not succeeded to the dominion of
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  Speaker 1: Cathay by hereditary right, but held it by conquests, and thus,
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  Speaker 1: having no confidence in the natives, he put all authority
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  Speaker 1: into the hands of Tatars, Saracens or Christians, who were
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  Speaker 1: attached to his household and devoted to his service, and
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  Speaker 1: were foreigners in Cathay. Wherefore, on the day appointed the
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  Speaker 1: AfOR said Vanchu and chen Chu. Having entered the palace
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  Speaker 1: at night, Vanchu sat down and caused a number of
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  Speaker 1: lights to be kindled before him, and then sent a
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  Speaker 1: messenger to Atmath, the Balo, who lived in the old city,
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  Speaker 1: as if to summon him to the presence of Chinkin,
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  Speaker 1: the Great Khan's son, who it was pretended, had arrived unexpectedly.
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  Speaker 1: When Agmath heard this, he was much surprised, but made
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  Speaker 1: haste to go, for he feared the prince greatly. When
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  Speaker 1: he arrived at the gate, he met a Tata called Kogatai,
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  Speaker 1: who was captain of the twelve thousand that formed the
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  Speaker 1: standing garrison of the city, and the latter asked him
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  Speaker 1: whether he was bound so late to Chinkin, who has
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  Speaker 1: just arrived. Quoth Kogatai, how can that be? How could
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  Speaker 1: he come so privily that I know nought of it?
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  Speaker 1: So he followed the minister with a certain number of
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  Speaker 1: his soldiers. Now the notion of the Kathayans was that
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  Speaker 1: if they could make an end of Agmath, they would
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  Speaker 1: have naught else to be afraid of. So as soon
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  Speaker 1: as Agmath got inside the palace and saw all that illumination,
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  Speaker 1: he bowed down before ban Chu, supposing him to be Chinkin,
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  Speaker 1: and chen Chu, who was standing ready with a sword, straightway,
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  Speaker 1: cut his head off. As soon as Kogatai, who had
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  Speaker 1: halted at the entrance, beheld this, he shouted treason and
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  Speaker 1: instantly discharge an arrow at Vanchu and shot him dead
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  Speaker 1: as he sat. At the same time, he called his
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  Speaker 1: people to seize chen Chu and send a proclamation through
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  Speaker 1: the city that anyone found in the streets would be
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  Speaker 1: instantly put to death. The Kathayans saw that the Tartars
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  Speaker 1: had discovered the plot and that they had no longer
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  Speaker 1: any leader since van Chu was killed and Chenchu was taken,
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  Speaker 1: So they kept still in their houses and were unable
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  Speaker 1: to pass the signal for the rising of the other cities,
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  Speaker 1: as had been settled. Kogatai immediately dispatched messengers to the
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  Speaker 1: Great Khan, giving an orderly report of the whole affair,
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  Speaker 1: and the Khan sent back orders for him to make
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  Speaker 1: a careful investigation and to punish the guilty as their
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  Speaker 1: misdeeds deserved. In the morning, Kogatai examined all the Kathayans
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  Speaker 1: and put to debt a number whom he found to
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  Speaker 1: be ringleaders in the plot. The same thing was done
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  Speaker 1: in the other cities when it was found that the
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  Speaker 1: plot extended to them also. After the Great Khan had
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  Speaker 1: returned to Kambaluk, he was very anxious to discover what
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  Speaker 1: had led to this affair, and he then learned all
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  Speaker 1: about the endless iniquities of that accursed Akmath and his sons.
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  Speaker 1: It was proved that he and seven of his sons,
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  Speaker 1: for they were not all bad, had forced no end
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  Speaker 1: of women to be their wives besides those whom they
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  Speaker 1: had ravished. The Great Khan then ordered all the treasure
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  Speaker 1: that Agmath had accumulated in the old city to be
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  Speaker 1: transferred to his own treasury in the new city, and
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  Speaker 1: it was found to be of enormous amount. He also
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  Speaker 1: ordered the body of Agmath to be dug up and
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  Speaker 1: cast into the streets for the dogs to tear, and
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  Speaker 1: commanded those of his sons that had followed the father's
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  Speaker 1: evil example to be flayed alive. These circumstances called the
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  Speaker 1: Khans at time atension to the accursed doctrines of the
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  Speaker 1: sect of the Saracens, which excuse every crime, yea even
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  Speaker 1: murder itself, when committed on such as are not of
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  Speaker 1: their religion. And seeing that this doctrine had led the
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  Speaker 1: accursed Agmath and his sons to act as they did
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  Speaker 1: without any sense of guilt, the Khan was led to
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  Speaker 1: entertain the greatest disgust and abomination for it. So he
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  Speaker 1: summoned the Saracens and prohibited their doing many things which
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  Speaker 1: their religion enjoined. Thus he ordered them to regulate their
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  Speaker 1: marriages by the Tartar law, and prohibited their cutting the
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  Speaker 1: throats of animals killed for food, ordering them to rip
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  Speaker 1: the stomach in the Tartar way. Now, when all this happened,
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  Speaker 1: Messmacho was upon the spot Chapter twenty four. How the
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  Speaker 1: Great Khan causeth the bark of trees made into something
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  Speaker 1: like paper to pass for money over all his country
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  Speaker 1: Now that I have told you in detail of the
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  Speaker 1: splendor of this of the Emperor's I shall proceed to
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  Speaker 1: tell you of the mint which he hath in the
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  Speaker 1: same city, in the which he hath his money coined
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  Speaker 1: and struck. As I shall relate to you, and in
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  Speaker 1: doing so I shall make manifest to you how it
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  Speaker 1: is that the Great Lord may well be able to
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  Speaker 1: accomplish even much more than I have told you or
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  Speaker 1: am going to tell you in this book. For tell
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  Speaker 1: it how I might, you never would be satisfied that
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  Speaker 1: I was keeping within truth and reason. The Emperor's mint, then,
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  Speaker 1: is in this same city of Kambalouke, and the way
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  Speaker 1: it is wrought is such that you might say he
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  Speaker 1: hath the secret of alchemy imperfection, and you would be right,
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  Speaker 1: for he makes his money after this fashion. He makes
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  Speaker 1: them take of the bark of a certain tree, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: of the mulberry tree, the leaves of which are the
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  Speaker 1: food of the silkworms, these trees being so numerous that
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  Speaker 1: whole districts are full of them. What they take is
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  Speaker 1: a certain fine, white bast still skin, which lies between
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  Speaker 1: the wood of the tree and the thick outer bark.
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  Speaker 1: And this they make into something resembling sheets of paper,
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  Speaker 1: but black. When these sheets have been prepared, they are
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  Speaker 1: cut up into pieces of different sizes. The smallest of
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  Speaker 1: these sizes is worth a half torni cell, the next
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  Speaker 1: a little larger one torna cell. One a little larger
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  Speaker 1: still is worth half a silver groat in venice, another
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  Speaker 1: a whole groat. Others yet two groats, five groats, and
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  Speaker 1: ten groats. There is also a kind worth one bizant
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  Speaker 1: of gold, and others of three bazants, and so up
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  Speaker 1: to ten. All these pieces of paper are issued with
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  Speaker 1: as much solemnity and authority as if they were of
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  Speaker 1: pure gold or silver. And on every piece of variety
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  Speaker 1: officials whose duty it is have to write their names
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  Speaker 1: and to put their seals. And when all is prepared duly,
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  Speaker 1: the chief of deputed by the Khan, smears the seal
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  Speaker 1: entrusted to him with vermilion, and impresses it on the paper,
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  Speaker 1: so that the form of the seal remains printed upon
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  Speaker 1: it in red. The money is then authentic. Anyone forging
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  Speaker 1: it will be punished with death. And the Khan causes
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  Speaker 1: every year to be made such a vast quantity of
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  Speaker 1: this money, which costs him nothing that it must equal
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  Speaker 1: in amount all the treasure in the world. With these
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  Speaker 1: pieces of paper made as I have described, he causes
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  Speaker 1: all payments on his own account to be made, and
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  Speaker 1: he makes them to pass current universally over all his
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  Speaker 1: kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power and
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  Speaker 1: sovereignty extends. And nobody, however important he may think himself,
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  Speaker 1: dares to refuse them on pain of death. And indeed
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  Speaker 1: everybody takes them readily. For whensoever a person may go
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  Speaker 1: throughout the Great Khan's dominions, he shall find these people
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  Speaker 1: of paper current, and shall be made to transact all
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  Speaker 1: sales and purchases of goods by means of them, just
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  Speaker 1: as well as if they were coins of pure gold,
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  Speaker 1: And all the while they are so light that ten
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  Speaker 1: bzantsworth does not weigh one gold and bazant. Furthermore, all
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  Speaker 1: merchants arriving from India or other countries, and bringing with
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  Speaker 1: them gold or silver, or gems and pearls, are prohibited
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  Speaker 1: from selling to anyone but the Emperor. He has twelve
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  Speaker 1: experts chosen for this business, men of shrewdness and experience
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  Speaker 1: in such affairs. These appraise the articles, and the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: then pays a liberal price for them in those pieces
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  Speaker 1: of paper. The merchants accept his price readily, for in
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  Speaker 1: the first place, they would not get so good an
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  Speaker 1: one from anybody else, And second they are paid without
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  Speaker 1: any delay. And with this paper money they can buy
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  Speaker 1: what they like anywhere over the Empire, whilst it is
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  Speaker 1: also vastly lighted carry about on their journeys. And it
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  Speaker 1: is a truth that the merchants will several times in
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  Speaker 1: a year bring wares to the amount of four hundred
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  Speaker 1: thousand bizants, and the Grand Sire pays for all in
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  Speaker 1: that paper. So he buys such a quantity of those
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  Speaker 1: precious things every year that his treasure is endless, whilst
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  Speaker 1: all the time the money he pays away costs him
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  Speaker 1: nothing at all. Moreover, several times in the year proclamation
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  Speaker 1: is made through the city that anyone who may have
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  Speaker 1: gold or silver, or gems or pearls, by taking them
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  Speaker 1: to the mint, shall get a handsome price for them.
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  Speaker 1: And the owners are glad to do this, because they
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  Speaker 1: would find no other purchaser gives so large a price.
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  Speaker 1: Thus the quantity they bring in is marvelous, though these
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  Speaker 1: who do not choose to do so may let it alone. Still,
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  Speaker 1: in this way, nearly all the valuables in the country
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  Speaker 1: come into the Kahn's possession. When any of those pieces
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  Speaker 1: of paper are spoilt, not that they are so very flimsy,
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  Speaker 1: neither the owner carries them to the mint, and by
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  Speaker 1: paying three percent on the value, he gets new pieces
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  Speaker 1: in exchange. And if any baron, or anyone else soever
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  Speaker 1: hath need of gold or silver, or gems or pearls
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  Speaker 1: in order to make plate, or girdles or the like,
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  Speaker 1: he goes to the mint and buys as much as
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  Speaker 1: he lists, paying in this paper money. Now you have
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  Speaker 1: heard the ways and means whereby the great Khan may have,
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  Speaker 1: and in fact has more treasure than all the kings
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  Speaker 1: in the world, and you would know all about it
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  Speaker 1: and the reason why. And now I will tell you
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  Speaker 1: of the great dignitaries which act in this city on
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  Speaker 1: behalf of the Emperor. End of Section thirty nine