Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Interview with Kublai Khan



 
1.
Q:             How was your first hunt?
A:              It was amazing. I was only nine years old and it was like nothing I had ever done before. With help from my brother I killed a rabbit and an antelope. After my grandfather Genghis smeared dead animal guts on my middle finger to follow Mongolian tradition.
2.
Q:             Why did you hire a hydraulic engineer for Dadu?
A:              Water is something really important for a civilization. You need to do many things. You need it for irrigation, transportation, importing and exporting goods, and for flood control.
3.
Q:             Why did you choose Guo as the hydraulic engineer?
A:              First off my friend Zhang Wenqian suggested him to me. He is a great engineer and astronomer. He is capable of building water clocks and armillary spheres. He has a lot of experience and adding that all up made him seem like the right guy to pick.
4.
Q:             Is Marco Polo the reason that a lot of Europeans came to the Mongolian empire?
A:              Oh yah. I defiantly think he is. Every time I saw him he was looking around and writing things in his journal. He was amazed by everything he saw and was always complimenting everything new of different he saw.
5.
Q:             Did you have any family while emperor?
A:              Yes I did in fact. I had two wives Tegulen, and Chabi Khatun. There was Zhenjin who fathered Temur Khan who will be my successor. There was Nomukhan, Khungjil, Aychi, Saqulghachi, and Qughchu. I also had a son and two daughters.

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