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These soothsayers constantly attend upon the court of Mangu and other great personages; and when the court moves, these men precede the march, like the pillar of cloud before the children of Israel. They determine on the site of the new encampment, and unload their houses first, after which they are imitated by the whole court.
All things are of God, who is the fountain and head of us all; and therefore we ought first to speak concerning God, of whom you think otherwise than you ought, and Mangu desires to know which of us hath the better belief." The arbitrators allowed this to be reasonable, and I proceeded: "We firmly believe that there is but one God in perfect unity; what believe you?"
We then departed from the tent of audience, and immediately afterwards our guide came and told us, that, as our king had desired that we might remain in this country, Baatu could not consent to this without the knowledge and authority of Mangu-khan; and it was necessary, therefore, that I should go with the interpreter to Mangu, while my companion and the clerk should return to the court of Sartach, and remain there till my return.
Then Mangu caused an exceedingly strong bow to be made, which two men could hardly bend, and two arrows made of silver, full of holes in their heads, which whistled when they were shot; and he chose a Moal to accompany Theodolus as his ambassador, ordering him to present these things to the king of France, and to say, if he would have peace with the Tartars, they would conquer the country of the Saracens, and would grant him ail the other countries of the west.
My advice is that you should send your family to Mangu, and by this step you will justify yourself and remove any suspicions there may be." Kublai adopted this wise course, and proceeded in person to Karakoram, where he succeeded in proving his innocence and in discomfiting his enemies.
On their journey through the dominions of Vestacius, whence Theodolus meant to pass over to the Pope, that he might deceive him as he had done Mangu. Vestacius demanded of him whether he had letters for the Pope; but having none to show, Vestacius concluded he was an impostor, and cast him into prison.
The success and the boldness, which may have been considered temerity, of this campaign, raised up enemies to Kublai at the court of Karakoram, and the mind of his brother Mangu was poisoned against him by many who declared that Kublai aspired to complete independence.
The governor, Wangkien, offered a stout resistance, and Luwenti succeeded in harassing the besiegers; but the fall of the fortress appeared assured, when a new and more formidable defender arrived in the form of dysentery. The Mongol camp was ravaged by this foe, Mangu himself died of the disease, and those of the Mongols who escaped beat a hasty and disorderly retreat back to the north.
In the neighbourhood of Caracarum, Mangu has a large court, inclosed with a brick wall like our priories. Within that court is a great palace, in which the khan holds feasts twice a-year, once in Easter, and the other in summer; but the latter is the greater, as all the nobles meet then at the court, when the khan distributes garments among them, and displays all his magnificence.
The conquest of Persia was completed by Holagu, the son of Tuli and grandson of Zingis, who of course was' brother to the two successive emperors, Mangu and Cublai.
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