History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0448/04485.txt

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$Title{Travels Of Marco Polo
Part VIII}
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$Author{Polo, Marco}
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$Subject{city
khan
manzi
province
idolaters
tell
three
trade
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cities}
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Title:       Travels Of Marco Polo
Book:        Book Second: Of Kublai Khan, Great Khan Now Reigning, His Great Puissance
Author:      Polo, Marco

Part VIII

Chapter LX

Journey Southward Through Eastern Provinces Of Cathay And Manzi

Concerning The Cities Of Ho-Kien-Fu And Of Chang-Lu

     Ho-Kien-Fu is a noble city.  The people are idolaters and burn their
dead; they have paper money, and live by trade and handicrafts.  For they
have plenty of silk from which they weave stuffs of silk and gold, and
sendals in large quantities.  There are also certain Christians at this
place, who have a church.  And the city is at the head of an important
territory containing numerous towns and villages.  A great river passes
through it, on which much merchandise is carried to the city of Cambaluc, for
by many channels and canals it is connected therewith.

     We will now set forth again, and travel three days towards the south,
and then we come to a town called Chang-lu.  This is another great city
belonging to the great Khan, and to the province of Cathay.  The people have
paper money, and are idolaters and burn their dead.  And you must know they
make salt in great quantities at this place; I will tell you how 'tis done.

     A kind of earth is found there which is exceedingly salt.  This they dig
up and pile in great heaps.  Upon these heaps they pour water in quantities
till it runs out at the bottom; and then they take up this water and boil it
well in great iron caldrons, and as it cools it deposits a fine white salt in
very small grains.  This salt they then carry about for sale to many
neighboring districts, and get great profit thereby.

     There is nothing else worth mentioning, so let us go forward five days'
journey, and we shall come to a city called Tsi-nan-fu.

Chapter LXI

Concerning The City Of Tsi-Nan-Fu, And That Of Tai-Ting-Fu, And The Rebellion
Of Litan

     Tsi-Nan-Fu is a city of Cathay as you go south, and it belongs to the
great Khan; the people are idolaters, and have paper money.  There runs
through the city a great and wide river, on which a large traffic in silk
goods and spices and other costly merchandise passes up and down.

     When you travel south from Tsi-nan-fu for five days, you meet everywhere
with fine towns and villages, the people of which are all idolaters, and burn
their dead, and are subject to the great Khan, and have paper money, and live
by trade and handicrafts, and have all the necessaries of life in great
abundance.  But there is nothing particular to mention on the way till you
come, at the end of those five days, to Tai-ting-fu.

     This, you must know, is a very great city, and in old times was the seat
of a great kingdom; but the great Khan conquered it by force of arms.
Nevertheless it is still the noblest city in all those provinces.  There are
very great merchants here, who trade on a great scale, and the abundance of
silk is something marvelous.  They have, moreover, most charming gardens
abounding with fruit of large size.  The city of Tai-ting-fu hath also under
its rule eleven imperial cities of great importance, all of which enjoy a
large and profitable trade, owing to that immense produce of silk.
     Now, you must know, that in the year of Christ 1262, the great Khan had
sent a certain baron called Litan Sangon, with some eighty thousand horse, to
this province and city, to garrison them.  And after the said captain had
tarried there a while, he formed a disloyal and traitorous plot, and stirred
up the great men of the province to rebel against the great Khan.  And so
they did; for they broke into revolt against their sovereign lord, and
refused all obedience to him, and made this Litan, whom their sovereign had
sent thither for their protection, to be the chief of their revolt.

     When the great Khan heard thereof he straightway despatched two of his
barons, one of whom was called Agul and the other Mangutai; giving them one
hundred thousand horse and a great force of infantry.  But the affair was a
serious one, for the barons were met by the rebel Litan with all those whom
he had collected from the province, mustering more than one hundred thousand
horse and a large force of foot.  Nevertheless in the battle Litan and his
party were utterly routed, and the two barons whom the emperor had sent won
the victory.  When the news came to the great Khan he was right well pleased,
and ordered that all the chiefs who had rebelled, or excited others to rebel,
should be put to a cruel death, but that those of lower rank should receive
a pardon.  And so it was done.  The two barons had all the leaders of the
enterprise put to a cruel death, and all those of lower rank were pardoned.
And thenceforward they conducted themselves with loyalty towards their lord.

     Now having told you all about this affair, let us have done with it, and
I will tell you of another place that you come to in going south, which is
called Tsi-ning-chau.

Chapter LXII

Concerning The Noble City Of Tsi-Ning-Chau

     On leaving Tai-ting-fu you travel three days towards the south, always
finding numbers of noble and populous towns and villages flourishing with
trade and manufactures.  There is also abundance of game in the country, and
everything in profusion.

     When you have traveled those three days you come to the noble city of
Tsi-ning-chau, a rich and fine place, with great trade and manufactures.  The
people are idolaters and subjects of the great Khan, and have paper money,
and they have a river which I can assure you brings them great gain, and I
will tell you about it.

     You see the river in question flows from the south to this city of Tsi-
ning-chau.  And the people of the city have divided this larger river in two,
making one half of it flow east and the other half flow west; that is to say,
the one branch flows towards Manzi and the other towards Cathay.  And it is
a fact that the number of vessels at this city is what no one would believe
without seeing them.  The quantity of merchandise also which these vessels
transport to Manzi and Cathay is something marvelous; and then they return
loaded with other merchandise, so that the amount of goods borne to and fro
on those rivers is quite astonishing.

Chapter LXIII

Concerning The Cities Of Lin-Ching And Pei-Chau

     On leaving the city of Tsi-ning-chau you travel for eight days towards
the south, always coming to great and rich towns and villages flourishing
with trade and manufactures.  The people are all subjects of the great Khan,
use paper money, and burn their dead.  At the end of those eight days you
come to the city of Lin-ching in the province of the same name of which it is
the capital.  It is a rich and noble city, and the men are good soldiers,
nevertheless they carry on great trade and manufactures.  There is great
abundance of game in both beasts and birds, and all the necessaries of life
are in profusion.  The place stands on the river of which I told you above.
And they have here great numbers of vessels, even greater than those of which
I spoke before, and these transport a great amount of costly merchandise.

     So, quitting this province and city of Lin-ching, you travel three days
more towards the south, constantly finding numbers of rich towns and
villages.  These still belong to Cathay; and the people are all idolaters,
burning their dead, and using paper money, that I mean of their lord the
great Khan, whose subjects they are.  This is the finest country for game,
whether in beasts or birds, that is anywhere to be found, and all the
necessaries of life are in profusion.

     At the end of these three days you find the city of Pei-chau, a great,
rich, and noble city, with large trade and manufactures, and a great
production of silk.  This city stands at the entrance to the great province
of Manzi, and there reside at it a great number of merchants who despatch
carts from this place loaded with great quantities of goods to the different
towns of Manzi.  The city brings in a great revenue to the great Khan.

Chapter LXIV

Concerning The City Of Si-Chau, And The Great River Karamuren

     When you leave Pei-chau you travel towards the south for two days,
through beautiful districts abounding in everything, and in which you find
quantities of all kinds of game.  At the end of those two days you reach the
city of Si-chau, a great, rich, and noble city, flourishing with trade and
manufactures.  The people are idolaters, burn their dead, use paper money,
and are subjects of the great Khan.  They possess extensive and fertile
plains producing abundance of wheat and other grain.  But there is nothing
else to mention, so let us proceed and tell you of the countries further on.

     On leaving Si-chau you ride south for three days, constantly falling in
with fine towns and villages and hamlets and farms, with their cultivated
lands.  There is plenty of wheat and other corn, and of game also; and the
people are all idolaters and subjects of the great Khan.

     At the end of those three days you reach the great river Karamuren,
which flows hither from Prester John's country.  It is a great river, and
more than a mile in width, and so deep that great ships can navigate it. It
abounds in fish, and very big ones too.  You must know that in this river
there are some fifteen thousand vessels, all belonging to the great Khan, and
kept to transport his troops to the Indian Isles whenever there may be
occasion; for the sea is only one day distant from the place we are speaking
of.  And each of these vessels, taking one with another, will require twenty
mariners, and will carry fifteen horses with the men belonging to them, and
their provisions, arms, and equipments.
     Hither and thither, on either bank of the river, stands a town; the one
facing the other.  The one is called Hwai-ngan-chau and the other Kwa-chau;
the former is a large place, and the latter a little one.  And when you pass
this river you enter the great province of Manzi.  So now I must tell you how
this province of Manzi was conquered by the great Khan.

Chapter LXV

How The Great Khan Conquered The Province Of Manzi

     You must know that there was a king and sovereign lord of the great
territory of Manzi who was styled Facfur, so great and puissant a prince,
that for vastness of wealth and number of subjects and extent of dominion,
there was hardly a greater in all the earth except the great Khan himself.
But the people of his land were anything rather than warriors; all their
delight was in women, and nought but women; and so it was above all with the
king himself, for he took thought of nothing else but women, unless it were
of charity to the poor.

     In all his dominion there were no horses; nor were the people ever
inured to battle or arms, or military service of any kind.  Yet the province
of Manzi is very strong by nature, and all the cities are encompassed by
sheets of water of great depth, and more than a crossbow-shot in width; so
that the country never would have been lost, had the people but been
soldiers.  But that is just what they were not; so lost it was.

     Now it came to pass, in the year of Christ's incarnation, 1268, that the
great Khan, the same that now reigneth, despatched thither a baron of his
whose name was Bayan Ching-siang, which is as much as to say "Bayan Hundred
Eyes." And you must know that the king of Manzi had found in his horoscope
that he never should lose his kingdom except through a man that had an
hundred eyes; so he held himself assured in his position, for he could not
believe that any man in existence could have an hundred eyes.  There,
however, he deluded himself, in his ignorance of the name of Bayan.

     This Bayan had an immense force of horse and foot entrusted to him by
the great Khan, and with these he entered Manzi, and he had also a great
number of boats to carry both horse and food when need should be.  And when
he, with all his host, entered the territory of Manzi and arrived at this
city of Hwai-ngan-chau - whither we now are got, and of which we shall speak
presently - he summoned the people thereof to surrender to the great Khan;
but this they flatly refused.  On this Bayan went on to another city, with
the same result, and then still went forward; acting thus because he was
aware that the great Khan was despatching another great host to follow him
up.

     What shall I say then?  He advanced to five cities in succession, but
got possession of none of them; for he did not wish to engage in besieging
them and they would not give themselves up.  But when he came to the sixth
city he took that by storm, and so with a second, and a third, and a fourth,
until he had taken twelve cities in succession.  And when he had taken all
these he advanced straight against the capital city of the kingdom, which was
called Kinsay, and which was the residence of the king and queen.

     And when the king beheld Bayan coming with all his host, he was in great
dismay, as one unused to see such sights.  So he and a great company of his
people got on board a thousand ships and fled to the islands of the ocean
sea, while the queen who remained behind in the city took all measures in her
power for its defense, like a valiant lady.

     Now it came to pass that the queen asked what was the name of the
captain of the host, and they told her that it was Bayan Hundred-Eyes.  So
when she wist that he was styled hundred-eyes, she called to mind how their
astrologers had foretold that a man of an hundred eyes should strip them of
the kingdom.  Wherefore she gave herself up to Bayan, cities and fortresses,
so that no resistance was made.  And in sooth this was a goodly conquest, for
there was no realm on earth half so wealthy.  The amount that the king used
to expend was perfectly marvelous; and as an example I will tell you somewhat
of his liberal acts.

     In those provinces they are wont to expose their newborn babes; I speak
of the poor, who have not the means of bringing them up.  But the king used
to have all those foundlings taken charge of, and had note made of the signs
and planets under which each was born, and then put them out to nurse about
the country.  And when any rich man was childless he would go to the king and
obtain from his as many of these children as he desired.  Or, when the
children grew up, the king would make up marriages among them, and provide
for the couples from his own purse.  In this manner he used to provide for
some twenty thousand boys and girls every year.

     I will tell you another thing this king used to do.  If he was taking a
ride through the city and chanced to see a house that was very small and poor
standing among other houses that were fine and large, he would ask why it was
so, and they would tell him it belonged to a poor man who had not the means
to enlarge it.  Then the king would himself supply the means.  And thus it
came to pass that in all the capital of the kingdom of Manzi, Kinsay by name,
you should not see any but fine houses.

     This king used to be waited on by more than a thousand young gentlemen
and ladies, all clothed in the richest fashion.  And he ruled his realm with
such justice that no malefactors were to be found therein. The city in fact
was so secure that no man closed his doors at night, not even in houses and
shops that were full of all sorts of rich merchandise.  No one could do
justice in the telling to the great riches of that country, and to the good
disposition of the people.  Now that I have told you about the kingdom, I
will go back to the queen.

     You must know that she was conducted to the great Khan, who gave her an
honorable reception, and caused her to be served with all state, like a great
lady as she was.  But as for the king her husband, he never more did quit the
isles of the sea to which he had fled, but died there.  So leave we him and
his wife and all their concerns, and let us return to our story, and go on
regularly with our account of the great province of Manzi and of the manners
and customs of its people.  And, to begin at the beginning, we must go back
to the city of Hwai-ngan-chau, from which we digressed to tell you about the
conquest of Manzi.

Chapter LXVI

Concerning The City Of Hwai-Ngan-Chau

     Hwai-Ngan-Chau is, as I have told you already, a very large city
standing at the entrance to Manzi.  The people are idolaters and burn their
dead, and are subject to the great Khan.  They have a vast amount of
shipping, as I mentioned before in speaking of the river Karamuren.  And an
immense quantity of merchandise comes hither, for the city is the seat of
government for this part of the country.  Owing to its being on the river,
many cities send their produce thither to be again thence distributed in
every direction.  A great amount of salt also is made here, furnishing some
forty other cities with that article, and bringing in a large revenue to the
great Khan.

Chapter LXVII

Of The Cities Of Pao-Ying And Kau-Yu

     When you leave Hwai-ngan-chau you ride southeast for a day along a
causeway laid with fine stone, which you find at this entrance to Manzi. On
either hand there is a great expanse of water, so that you cannot enter the
province except along this causeway.  At the end of the day's journey you
reach the fine city of Pay-Ying.  The people are idolaters, burn their dead,
are subject to the great Khan, and use paper money.  They live by trade and
manufactures and have great abundance of silk, whereof they weave a great
variety of fine stuffs of silk and gold.  Of all the necessaries of life
there is great store.

     When you leave Pao-Ying you ride another day to the southeast, and then
you arrive at the city of Kau-yu.  The people are idolaters and so forth.
They live by trade and manufactures and have great store of all necessaries,
including fish in great abundance.  There is also much game, both beast and
bird, insomuch that for a Venice groat you can have three good pheasants.

Chapter LXVIII

Of The Cities Of Tai-Chau, Tung-Chau, And Yang-Chau

     When you leave Kau-yu, you ride another day to the southeast through a
constant succession of villages and fields and fine farms until you come to
Tai-chau, which is a city of no great size but abounding in everything.  The
people are idolaters and so forth.  There is a great amount of trade, and
they have many vessels.  And you must know that on your left hand, that is
towards the east, and three days' journey distant, is the ocean sea.  At
every place between the sea and the city salt is made in great quantities.
And there is a rich and noble city called Tung-chau, at which there is
produced salt enough to supply the whole province, and I can tell you it
brings the great Khan an incredible revenue.  The people are idolaters and
subject to the Khan.  Let us quit this, however, and go back to Tai-chau.

     Again, leaving Tai-chau, you ride another day towards the southeast, and
at the end of your journey you arrive at the very great and noble city of
Yang-chau, which has twenty-seven other wealthy cities under its
administration; so that his Yang-chau is, you see, a city of great
importance.  It is the seat of one of the great Khan's twelve barons, for it
has been chosen to be one of the twelve Sings.  The people are idolaters and
use paper money, and are subject to the great Khan.  And Messer Marco Polo
himself, of whom this book speaks, did govern this city for three full years,
by the order of the great Khan.  The people live by trade and manufactures,
for a great amount of harness for knights and men-at-arms is made there.  And
in this city and its neighborhood a large number of troops are stationed by
the Khan's orders.

     There is no more to say about it.  So now I will tell you about two
great provinces of Manzi which lie towards the west.  And first of that
called Ngan-king.

Chapter LXIX

Concerning The City Of Ngan-King

     Ngan-King is a very noble province towards the west. The people are
idolaters (and so forth) and live by trade and manufactures.  They have silk
in great abundance, and they weave many fine tissues of silk and gold.  They
have all sorts of corn and victuals very cheap, for the province is a most
productive one.  Game also is abundant, and lions too are found there.  The
merchants are great and opulent, and the emperor draws a large revenue from
them, in the shape of duties on the goods which they buy and sell.

     And now I will tell you of the very noble city of Siang-yang-fu, which
well deserves a place in our book, for there is a matter of great moment to
tell about it.

Chapter LXX

Concerning The Very Noble City Of Siang-Yang-Fu, And How Its Capture Was
Effected

     Siang-Yang-Fu is a very great and noble city, and it rules over twelve
other large and rich cities, and is itself a seat of great trade and
manufacture.  The people are idolaters and so forth.  They have much silk,
from which they weave fine silken stuffs; they have also a quantity of game,
and in short the city abounds in all that it behooves a noble city to
possess.

     Now you must know that this city held out against the great Khan for
three years after the rest of Manzi had surrendered.  The great Khan's troops
made incessant attempts to take it, but they could not succeed because of the
great and deep waters that were round about it, so that they could approach
from one side only, which was the north.  And I tell you they never would
have taken it, but for a circumstance that I am going to relate.

     You must know that when the great Khan's host had lain three years
before the city without being able to take it, they were greatly chafed
thereat.  Then Messer Nicolo Polo and Messer Maffeo and Messer Marco said:
"We could find you a way of forcing the city to surrender speedily";
whereupon those of the army replied, that they would be right glad to know
how that should be.  All this talk took place in the presence of the great
Khan.  For messengers had been despatched from the camp to tell him that
there was no taking the city by blockade, for it continually received
supplies of victual from those sides which they were unable to invest; and
the great Khan had sent back word that take it they must, and find a way how.
Then spoke up the two brothers and Messer Marco the son, and said: "Great
prince, we have with us among our followers men who are able to construct
mangonels which shall cast such great stones that the garrison will never be
able to stand them, but will surrender incontinently, as soon as the
mangonels or trebuchets shall have shot into the town."

     The Khan bade them with all his heart have such mangonels made as
speedily as possible.  Now Messer Nicolo and his brother and his son
immediately caused timber to be brought, as much as they desired, and fit for
the work in hand.  And they had two men among their followers, a German and
a Netsorian Christian, who were masters of that business, and these they
directed to construct two or three mangonels capable of casting stones of
three hundred pounds' weight.  Accordingly they made three fine mangonels,
each of which cast stones of three hundred pounds' weight and more.  And when
they were complete and ready for use, the emperor and the others were greatly
pleased to see them, and caused several stones to be shot in their presence;
whereas they marveled greatly and greatly praised the work.  And the Khan
ordered that the engines should be carried to his army which was at the
leaguer of Siang-yang-fu.

     And when the engines were got to the camp they were forthwith set up, to
the great admiration of the Tartars.  And what shall I tell you?  When the
engines were set up and put in gear, a stone was shot from each of them into
the town.  These took effect among the buildings, crashing and smashing
through everything with huge din and commotion.  And when the townspeople
witnessed this new and strange visitation they were so astonished and
dismayed that they knew not what to do or say.  They took counsel together,
but no counsel could be suggested how to escape from these engines, for the
thing seemed to them to be done by sorcery. They declared that they were all
dead men if they yielded not, so they determined to surrender on such
conditions as they could get.  Wherefore they straightway sent word to the
commander of the army that they were ready to surrender on the same terms as
the other cities of the province had done, and to become the subjects of the
great Khan; and to this the captain of the host consented.

     So the men of the city surrendered, and were received to terms; and this
all came about through the exertions of Messer Nicolo, and Messer Maffeo, and
Messer Marco; and it was no small matter.  For this city and province is one
of the best that the great Khan possesses, and brings him in great revenues.