by Boris Zubry
“Yes, Mr. President. This is quite all right. What can I do for you?” The Ministers voice was shaking. It could be anything. What if it was the bad news?
“I’ve been reading this book, this document, you gave me. The Batu Khan diary. What do we know of Batu Khan and Subutai? I mean, what do we really know. Give me everything we know but in a condensed form. Do we know how they looked like? Members of their families? I want to see that. When can I see all that, Minister?”
“I can have almost everything ready for you by the day after tomorrow. We know many things and have some drawings and paintings of them and some of the families. They were not very good considering when it was done and by whom and the age, of course. Still, it gives us some idea. Again, not much but some. I would say we have a good idea of what they were and how they looked like. We even have some artifacts that belonged to them, maybe. Do you want to see the originals or some good reproductions? I have a perfect reproduction at the national museum. Would you like to come over and see them or you want the copies to be made and delivered to you? If you come over, we could show you more, much more. You see, everything you want to see is right there, on the walls and in the storages. Definitely, we could show you more. Well, whatever is better for you, we can do. When were you in the National Museum the last time?”
“Yes, I want you to make the copies of everything and deliver them to me. The sooner, the better. If I decide to come over and see more, I’ll let you know. I like the museum. I went there maybe a year ago, and it was outstanding. They do an excellent job over there. Good people. What about the skeletons in the grave? What did you find there? Clothes, weapons, artifacts… When can I see that? Did you find anything interesting there? Unusual… There could be a trove of treasure in there. Artifacts and as such. Did you find any other documents? Paper, parchment, whatever else they used back then. They used to write on silk as well. Is it correct? Did you find any silk?”
“We are cleaning everything we found up and preserving it now. We have found a few exciting things. I would suggest you wait for a few months until we finish and then, see it as it should be. Yes, it should not take more than maybe three months of very intense work. We have the resources in place. We have some money and several outstanding people. We even got one scientist from America, Chicago of all places. He accepted a small salary just to work on our findings. I could not offer him more, but he can write and publish some articles after we approve it. This is hard work, but so rewarding. No questions, we can do it, but it will take some time. Give us three-four months, and you’ll see it all. Can you believe it? We have found Batu Khan and Subutai.” The Minister of Science was very excited now. If the President was so interested in this discovery, the National Museum could get some extra funds. They needed it so badly. The Minister was in a good position now to present the question. The moment was right.
“Mr. President. For a while already, I wanted to ask you a fundamental question. We need another million dollars a year for the museum, and I cannot get it into the budget and especially now, with the money shortage. Could you help me, please? You can see what we are doing and how hard it is. I just need to buy some new equipment and hire a few more good people. Science is so important to all of us.” It was a very bold move on the part of the Minister, but he needed help. He did not go to the President. The President came to him. It may work after all. The President was a good man, and he understood.
“I’ll tell you this, Minister. You get me a good face reconstruction on Batu Khan and Subutai, and I’ll give you the money for a few of your most important pet projects. How about that? I want to see their faces. Can you do that? How long will it take? Do you have to go to America for that? Can your people do that? What do you need for that?” Questions were popping like the popcorn – loud and crispy. The President wanted to see how those people looked like, really looked like and that should be better than the old drawings by the questionable painters. Oh, that was huge. The Minister could not fail that one. That could be the pinnacle of his career. If he did it right, he could write his own ticket. Just do not rush, use the opportunity, and do it right. Right now, the President was on your side.
“Mr. President. Our people cannot do that, but we could go to China or Russia for that. Americans and the British can probably do a better job, but they cost more, and we cannot afford it. Unless you want to do it that way and would authorize the expense. Do you? I think we can get it done and for the right price. After we get it done, we can set up a new exhibition in our National Museum. That would be so huge. The whole world would love to see it. Also, we can lend the exhibition to some other museums around the world, and that would bring us more recognition and, therefore, money. It is done all the time, and with our discovery, everyone would want it in their country. That could be a gold mine that could pay for all expenses and then some. For many, this is just a dream, and we are holding it in our hands. Something like that would boost our tourism to the height we could never imagine. That would bring hard currency, investments, trade. It would help our country all around. We would be back on the map again. I am certain of that. This is such a rare opportunity. What luck. Give me six months or so, and we will have the reconstructed faces. I think China would do a good enough job for us and for less. Russia… I hate Russia, and I know, you do too. Even if they are less expensive, we will end up paying more. That’s the Russians for you. I think China is better no matter how we look at it. They are just better people for us. In the meantime, we can start to publicize it using whatever means we can master. I have the media and the computer people working on it already. They are putting a new website together as we speak. We should see it completed by the end of the week. I am going to invite the National Geographic magazine from America and the Discovery TV Channel. It should give us a good start. They do not charge anything and may even pay us something. Also, we will publish the articles in the scientific publications of the world. Are you concerned with anything else in my area, Sir? Any questions, comments?” The Minister of Science was all ears. He wanted to please the President so much utilizing the good opening he had already on the table. His Ministry could become very important and quite influential. This was a chance of a lifetime many never had. Yes, because of all this, they may get some extra money. No, they probably will. The President was hooked with the diary and who would not. That was the voice from the past, a very distant past.
“No, Minister, this is fine. Work on it and keep me informed. I want to see all these materials, and I want a weekly progress report. You are doing a good job. Keep it up. Come over for breakfast the day after tomorrow, let’s say, at nine and bring the materials I want. Good luck.” The phone went dead.
“That was a good call,” thought the Minister. “Things were looking up,” thought the President. Things did look up, and in so many ways, none of them could even comprehend for now. Was history turning a new leaf?
BATU KHAN
Ulaanbaatar
President Arban Vagabundi put the phone into the cradle, poured himself a stiff brandy and settled down in the winged chair to continue reading the most fascinating document he ever read. If it were a book of fiction, it would be fascinating, but as a real document, it was triple exciting, if not more. It was more than the history itself. It was the truth. It should’ve been called “The truth, according to Batu Khan.” The words of Batu Khan could have been his own if he lived back then and was as powerful as the Great Khan. Well, not too many people were that powerful. Just a few, just a few… Even the most powerful kings of the time were more limited than the Mongol rulers. The Roman Caesars could not even dream of the power Batu Khan had. He was like a god, more than a god. He was a Mongolian Khan, and for the Mongols, that was more than a God. What a story. What a legend.
The President liked to think of himself as a descendant of the great khans of the past. Every Mongol was a descendant of great khans in one way or another, but Arban believed that he was a reincarnation of one of them and maybe e
ven Batu’s. He ordered lunch to be delivered to his office and went back to reading. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything. President Vagabundi had never ordered the true Mongolian steak calling it the “savage food of the savages,” but this time, he did. It was a piece of raw meat (any meat could be used, but the horse meat was traditional) placed under the saddle of a horse while someone was riding it hard. The meat would get marinated in horse’s sweat in the warm environment. The hotter outside, the better. It would become a strangely smelling quite different in taste but extremely tender delicacy. The horse sweat was the tenderizer. For some, it was revolting, but for a few, it was a rare pleasure. It was not the Mongolian beef served in American restaurants but something else that came through the ages and from the Mongolian steppes.
That was raw foul-smelling meat with a sharp distinguished taste. Even the Mongols of the steppes rarely ate it in the modern days. It was too pungent and quite rough on the gentle souls of the modern Mongols. But, the President wanted to experience the words coming from ancient history to the full extent of its meaning. Savages and the savage food. Everything counted. The surroundings counted. The feelings counted. The smell, the taste, weapons, costumes, customs, pictures, and the images of the violence unprecedented in history made this experience almost real. They were like the wild animals tearing the prey apart while it was still alive. Nothing ever slowed the killing frenzy down. Even the weather could help to recreate the deeper sense of feeling when you try to understand the past events. This time the weather was willing to contribute. The ice storm with a lot of snow and an extreme wind started a few days ago growing stronger, more violent, and very loud. It was almost like it was trying to communicate something to the people, and people had to stop whatever they were doing and listen. There was a lesson in it, a morsel of wisdom. Was it the gods, the gods of war, the gods of Mongolia or Batu Khan trying to make them see it his way, the right way. The Mongolian way… This weather and this room with all the artifacts from the Mongolian past were setting the right mood, and that counted. It all counted. And, everything spoke to the President, sometimes whispering but often loud and clear. The main message, though, was loud and clear. Everything was important if to understand the real meaning of the written words. Was it the unprecedented violence of the Mongols? Was it common? Did not the others do the same things at a different time and maybe even in the larger proportions? Were the Mongols any different from the others, or just more forceful?
Who was right, and who was wrong? Just how do we measure that? Who has won and who had lost? Is that the number of the dead? Or, the living? On which side? Was that the war crimes? Was not war crime by itself? How do you fight the war wearing the white gloves, without killing, pillaging, raping, and doing the rest of the fun things? Fun… Why did you come here in the first place? Was that the part of the fun or the necessity? Could one killing be righteous and another one not? Mercy killing? How do you define that? Could one rape be acceptable and the other demanding the punishment? Was it who raped whom, or the circumstances? What punishment was fit for any of the war crimes? Should that be death for any crime committed or not prevented, or a slight fine because of the war? Should you be punished for taking the boots from the dead? He did not need it any longer. Was that a defendable excuse? Should we punish everyone for everything or not for lesser crimes? Then, where do we stop? Would you prevent war crime if you could? What does it mean “if you could”? You had a weapon and a rank. Why did not you use it? “The war made me do it,” you could hear that in one courtroom after another. The media repeats it even chance it has. “The devil took over me.” “I could not resist.” “I am just a weak man.” That could be a legitimate excuse for all we know. Or, just an excuse. Could that be an excuse at all? Could we accept the war as an excuse for anything? Could a bigger crime be an excuse for the smaller ones? Accept the smaller charges and cooperate.
How does the victim feel if the crime committed on him/her was smaller or bigger than the one committed on the neighbor? What did that neighbor feel? Did we ever ask? Do we care? Does it make any difference to the victim? Do they care who the perpetrator of the crime was? Do they deserve the same vengeance no matter who victimized them? If it was the murder of one or a thousand, the culprits should hang together, and the size of the crime should not matter much for as long as it was a crime. One or two punishment should fit it all. Bigger crime and the smaller crime. You stole, let’s cut off your hand. You raped, let’s cut off your dick. You killed, let’s cut off your head. You betrayed, let’s cut out your heart. That should prevent some, if not most of the crimes from happening. Some would think more before perpetrating a crime. Some would think… Yet, how do you stop the war, small or big? That the biggest crime of all. War! The Central Asian tribes, the Romans, the Vikings, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the Muslims, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and the smaller dictators have done it all. Did not they? Some are still doing it as we speak. Some are thinking of it, hard. Many, no, all, have committed the genocide. Was it big or small? Does it matter? Did the Mongols commit genocide? Did they? Well, did they? No, the President was not there to judge any of them. He was there to read and to speak to one of the greatest people of Mongolia – Batu Khan.
“The campaign in Kievan Russia was relatively easy. Well, of course, it was physically demanding on us, but we did not lose too many people. Actually, we lost less than we planned on losing. I did not have to employ all the reserves, and we had plenty of food and fresh horses. Still, we had to fight and to suffer the hardship conquering the world. The war consisted of multiple battles for towns of some importance that could not defend themselves against us with any degree of success. They were so outdated in everything: tactics, weapons, manpower, moral, and even supplies. How could that be? Supplies? Yes, I could understand it if you were attacked suddenly, with no prior warning. That was their land, and they knew about us well in advance. They saw us gathering the forces and moving in. They knew of the burnt towns, the massacres, and slavery. They saw us, and they knew it all. Why were they short on supplies? Why could not they prepare for the siege? Why did they always starve instead of getting ready? That was the leader’s responsibility. No, the Russian Dukes and the Princes did not know how to lead their people in war. Did they know how to lead people in peace? Even the big towns did not look like they did well. Was it the way they lived? Was it the ethnic thing? Some of the Russian serfs told us that to be a Russian serve in many cases was much worse than to be a Mongol slave. The Russian Boyars were merciless. Our slaves were slaves one way or another, only we treated them almost as good as we treated horses, and that was good by their standards. The Russian Dukes did not treat anyone good, even the horses. So, the Russian did not feel sorry seeing their nobility go. They would’ve done that themselves if they could. Could we do better than the Russian Boyars did? We will try. I am sure we could. Anything was better for the serfs than the Russian Nobility. It was not our goal to starve or to murder the Russians. We wanted them to prosper to some degree and to make us thrive with no limit. We could do that. That concept of Genghis Khan worked before and hopefully still works now.
We conquered almost all the towns and the cities of any significance, leaving the North and the deep South of the country intact. Cities that did not resist were left with little and often, no damages. They promised to pay the tributes, and we believed them because they knew what would happen if they did not. Just go to a neighboring town and see for yourself. Don’t be shy. This is very educational. We set the tribute modest, so they could afford it and not to revolt because of that. Every revolt, even a small one, was quite costly to us. It was costly, politically, and financially. I had to send people there to put the rebellion down. The gossips would spread. Sometimes I lost a few warriors. Sometimes I had to do it again and again. I needed my people elsewhere and not in the graves. Revolts were costly no matter how you look at it and had to be put down. Thus, we never squeezed too hard the ones that were willing to co-operate.<
br />
Let them be a little better off, and some others would see the difference and join the Horde. It happens and often. Many towns were burned to the ground, and the citizens were killed or taken into slavery. Well, more were enslaved and then, set free as the serfs, but to us, staying where they were. They were kind of slaves that were given some limited freedom. Well, they had plenty of freedom. On rare occasions, they could even buy freedom for themselves and their families. That was rare but possible, and they knew that, and many dreamed about. They needed a good dream. We did not mind. It paid off and quite well. Often, I gave the land to my relatives, great soldiers, and the commanders. Thus, those serfs were their serfs and under the protection of our laws. We tried to give the serfs a chance. We knew from the history that the conqueror had to scare the conquered people and keep them scared if he wanted to rule that country for a long time with little or no organized resistance. Unfortunately, we had to kill the able fighting men so, it would take a while before the new fighting generation would become strong enough to take on us.
By that time, living under our rule and the indoctrination, many would be in our employment actually supporting us. Many would be mixed with us, becoming us. Many would assimilate into our society. We have to grow in every occupied territory as many collaborators as only possible using any available means. Everyone depending on us will help. It should not be just the stick (the sword in our case) but mostly the carrots. People should have hopes, many hopes. Why not? We could offer the hopes. We knew how to dream, and we shared it. They lived better than the others, and that was always good.
