Many more pages were describing the life of the thirteen century Mongols, Batu Khan, the Horde and the search for the last sea. Some things were absolutely new, but most were well known. That part of the history was better documented due to many people involved and the monumental tragedy the Mongol Horde brought to the world. And, the archeology supported it well. It was fascinating, and the President could not stop reading it. He learned so much and would learn even more. He cherished every word of the document but could not understand why they wanted to make it secret. There was nothing really unknown there so far. He failed to see anything of that importance.
“Minister, this is the President. I’ve been reading the document you gave me.” The President was talking on the phone with the Minister of Science. “This is fascinating, but are you sure I have everything? It is an impressive pile of documents. But, is anything missing there? I fail to understand why we are so secretive about that. There was nothing there we did not know, and the rest of the world knows it as well. All that was well documented already. Well, of course, it comes from Batu himself. That’s exciting, of course. What else do I need to know? What else is there, I have not seen it yet?”
“Mr. President, did you read it to the end, to the very end? You should have three folders: the photocopies of the originals; the translation to the modern Mongolian language and a special folder, the red one. Do you have it? Have you read it? Read the red folder. That’s where it is. Read it, please and let me know what you think. None of us knows what to make out of it.”
There it was, in the corner of the antique desk right under the seventeen-century dagger that was given to him as a birthday present by the relatives in Tashkent. He loved this dagger and always kept it on the desk. It was made of silver and encrusted with a few precious stones. It was gorgeous. The design and the craftsmanship suggested Arabic origin. The blade was of the Damascus steel, but the stones were uncut and possibly from India. Well, it was the product of the Silk Road, and that was clear. It was so beautiful and so evil at the same time. No one knew who it belonged to these many years ago, but Arban thought that he saw some traces of blood on this still razor-sharp curved blade. Was it a death giver or a salvation provider? Was it a defender or an assailant? How could we know? It could be both. It was so long ago. Yet, the feeling of evil would not let you take the eyes off it. It was hypnotizing to a dangerous degree. One wanted to pick it up and maybe use. For what? What was it telling you to do? Another mystery but so hypnotizing. That was why the President always carried it around. He thought it was his protective charm that warned of the evil because it was evil itself. So far, it worked and quite well. He opened the folder and took the sheaf of papers out. There were about fifty pages of the photographs of the original text and as many pages of the translation to the modern Mongolian language. The President could not understand the ancient linguistics as well as he should have. Although there was not much of the difference in those two languages, it was different. The writing and the meaning of some words made it quite difficult to understand if you were not a trained scholar or someone accustomed to seeing it. The President took an apple from the fruit bowl on the side table, bit into it and begun reading. There were sandwiches and all kinds of drinks, including the Bourbon and Whiskey as well, but the President was too involved with the reading to eat anything but fruit or drink anything but water. He could not eat, not now. Still, he was hungry, and the clock on the wall already showed seven in the evening. It was time for dinner, but he could not stop the reading, not now. The words held him at the desk reading and trying to understand the meaning of what he read. That was more important. Food could wait; it would be there later as well.
“My uncle Ogedei just died. It was a strange death, and I heard some rumors, but no facts were supporting it so, we accepted that. Subutai and I were recalled to the Karakorum where the kurultai (meeting or assembly) to elect the new Great Khan were held. We did not actually attend the assembly. We learned that Guyuk, my cousin, had secured enough support to win the election and stayed away. That was safer, maybe even smarter. He could take me for a challenger and start a feud. We did not need one, not now. I needed to think of the war and not the backstabbing and the bloodshed in my own camp. The internal dispute could cost us everything. So, we did not go and made excuses. Instead, we turned to consolidate the conquests in Asia and the Urals. We had so many things to do. I did not have good feelings about Guyuk, but he was the Great Khan now. Being cousins, we knew each other well and even were sociable years ago but not for the last few years. He kept scheming against me trying to minimize my accomplishments in the West, questioning my leadership, questioning me. It was aggravating at least, and Subutai was furious. So, I stayed away from Guyuk because otherwise, we would have to confront each other, and that would not be helpful. Fighting among ourselves would help only the enemy. That would not be good for anyone and, especially, the family and the empire. The Empire came first so, we were able to maintain peace. It was smart. Still, it was hard. Now, he was the Great Khan. It was good that I was so far away.
We were on the way to the Karakorum, about a halfway down, when the news of the election was delivered to us by the messenger from one of my cousins who would have supported me. He was a close cousin and very friendly but not that powerful to change the outcome of the kurultai, even if he tried. His Ulus was too small for that. There were more forces at play, more cousins, uncles, and even brothers. I was ready to give the order to go back to the Golden Horde when the messenger said that he saw a large posse of brigands gathering about five miles ahead and it looked like they were planning to attack a caravan. That was a massive violation of laws and especially, on the Silk Road. He, the messenger, passed only one caravan on the way down and that looked like Khazars. It was not a very large caravan with maybe only twenty soldiers. I had many Khazars in my party and could see that they did not take the news lightly. They wanted me to help. That would be just right. I had two hundred bodyguards with me, and the rest of the party were soldiers as well, not counting women and slaves. Thus, it did not take long to decide. Subutai and I took one hundred guards and galloped forward ahead of the rest of the party. I wanted to save the caravan, to help these people, whoever they were, and punish the thieves. After all, was not that my duty? We tried to maintain the order throughout the empire, and crime was severely punished. Yes, these were the troubling times with war going on almost everywhere, so we had to work harder to maintain law and order in our domains. I wanted my empire to follow the rules, as was only possible. In my opinion, it was achievable, and we did a very job so far. We could protect the Silk Road, and we did our best. Yes, I will talk to the right people and suggest that the guards on the roads and, primarily, the Silk Road were increased. If needed, I would send some of my people to help. That was very important for all of us. The Silk Road was our commercial bloodline.
A messenger from the advance guard came back and told us that a band of Bashkirs, close to a hundred horsemen, was getting ready to attack a caravan of about seventy to eighty people that definitely were Khazars. There were only twenty or so soldiers in that caravan, though, and the rest were women and servants. The Bashkirs had not seen us yet and did not know the danger that was coming. The messenger said that the Bashkirs were concentrating on the prey, not paying attention to the surrounding. Thus, they were not professional soldiers or terrible ones. There was a problem with the Bashkirs lately. They were challenging us with every opportunity and without one. I did not like that and was ready to stamp the disobedience out, but it had to be the decision of the new Khan. The Bashkirs were not under my immediate control, so, I could not act just by myself. Yet, this situation was in the open field, and the Bashkirs were acting like the common thieves. I think they tried to exploit the void of the fighting men guarding the Silk Road due to the war. Many were fighting the war here and there, so caravans and the small towns were less guarded. Bashkirs used that situation to attack the weak and to profit from it. That was not right, and they were warned, but there it was again. That was against the law, and I had to punish them following the law. We moved forward faster, ready to fight if necessary.