People tell me I need to get more excited for my expedition with the mongols, but now I want to aboard the whole thing. I know I have been before, but that was so long ago. What if it’s changed so much that it isn’t safe anymore? I started listening to what people have been saying. I’m not sure if I should believe them, but frankly I don’t think it matters. What the people have to say is horrendous. People say that the horsemen will slit their house’s throat for nutrition and this would allow them to ride 10 days without solid food or a fire. I will not, and I will repeat, will not drink blood. I am not a savage, but at least they aren’t doing anything to harm people right? Wrong, Genghis Khan himself said that, "The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them before him. To ride their horses and take away their possessions. To see the faces of those who were dear to them bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in his arms". Basically it says the greatest thing someone can do is kill his enemy. That is their success,killing people. No only will they ravage a town and kill everyone in it, they will rape the women and girls as a final gesture of power. What kind of people rape and kill to assert their dominance? Not anyone I want to be around and thats the mongols. I’ve even heard that if you break a law that they will punish you AND your family! Plus, there are so many laws that we never use here in Venice, like I have to feed every visitor or at least offer food. If that is a law, that means that there are other laws that I don’t know about and my dad will suffer because of my ignorance.
Wish me Luck,
Marco Polo
Saying I was wrong about the Mongols would be the biggest understatement of the year. They are the very accepting as long as you don’t challenge them. They allow freedom of religion, recognized new ideas, and the women had so many more rights than anywhere I’ve ever been before! Some are even saying that the women here have the more rights than any other country right now! If that is not impressive enough they are amazingly loyal and wanted to be honorable more than anything else. While I was traveling with my acquaintance, Temuchin, and he was wounded by an arrow, and a man approached us saying he was the one that shot the arrow. He came so close that Temuchin could kill if the man pleased or the man could become a loyal follower to Temuchin. Temuchin saw that the men was very courageous and had a lot of integrity, so he was glad when the man accepted the offer and the man became now the man is one of the greatest generals for Genghis Khan. They did not care that the man was from a different group they accepted him and even put him in a leadership position. I also did not expect there to be many people of different backgrounds here! Many what I witness is common? All I know is there will definitely be another trip back.
With more knowledge,
Marco Polo
The Mongols were both “blood- thirsty” and they were promoters of trade. People had different opinions of them because of the perspective they had and the location of the people. In Europe, the locals knew them as ruthless because they were ruthless when they invaded cities. When the people of Thebes revolted against the Macedonians and destroyed their city, the Macedonian army killed 6,000 people and sold the survivors into slavery. Everyone else in in the Greek city-states quickly stopped any revolutionaries in fear of the Macedonians and their cruelty. This is the method the Mongols used. The mongols tried to scare their enemies into surrendering. During the expansion of the Macedonian Empire, people always had the option to join them instead of fighting and most village people agreed to comply and live peacefully. This is also what the Mongols believed, because they placed high value on honor and loyalty. Mongols built such an expansive empire with a very fast “postal system” of sorts. It was a way to communicate throughout the empire fairly fast and the massive amount of people that found their way into the empire either directly or indirectly the culture of the Mongols. All the cultures blended together. Many people traveled through the empire selling their goods because there was so many people to trade with. In conclusion, an empire cannot be all good or all bad because it depends on location and what side of the invasion you are on.
MLA Bibilography
Buchstein, Fred. "The History of the Mongol Conquests." The Journal of Military History 65.4 (Oct 2001): 1081-1082. History Study Center. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Dutch, S.. N.p.. Web. 16 Jan 2014. <https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/WestTech/xmongol.htm>.
"Mongol Empire: Expansion." Helicon Encyclopedia of World History. 2010. History Study Center. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
"Marco Polo in China (1271-1295)." Colombia University, 2002. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pop/menu/class_marco.htm>.
Donn, Mr. "Customs, Well-wishing, Stories - Mongols, the Felt Tent People, For Kids."Customs, Well-wishing, Stories. N.p., 2008. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. <http://mongols.mrdonn.org/customs.html>.
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