When we left the expedition to the Other Sea
Orghui Biskigür set about the task of building a defensable position. He named the point where he was encamped Asi ügei, meaning Better than expected, and the bay Umardumeaning northern. As the additional columns arrived, he expanded his perimeter until his base encompassed the abandoned village he had encountered on his arrival. The cattle and horses were set to graze in the village fields and ground was prepared to rebuild the dismantled ships.
In the hills above the bay he found suitable timber to build new ships and set men to felling trees to properly age according to the needs of the Korean and Chinese shipwrights sent by the Khan. The bay was full of fish and shellfish, the hills abundant with deer, Turkey (which they had come to appreciate) and other game, so the Khan’s men ate well.
Scouting patrols found the village on the river, and quickly subdued it. The villagers who had abandoned thei homes returned under the control of the Khan and the new village was allowed to continue it’s commerce save the assumption of their talismans of power by Orghui Biskigür. This would be his approach. Instead of sending a representative he would assume these tokens of authority himself, on behalf of the Khan. His men in the villages would be his agents and representatives.
In short order, the Mongol force had subdued all the lands along the coast for a distance of more than 100 li. The road, hastily built through the countryside was improved and the way stations decreed by Songghumal established and manned. Villages along the way of the road were occupied and the territory of the Khan stretched from the Bay of Alagh to the Olturigh Subud (pearl islands) and from Alagh to Umardu. The territories in Chimu continued to expand as well.
1297
Chimu:
Chun Bo Fen had sent out explorers to discover the treasures of Chimu. Many were already known, the gold, copper, rivers and valleys. One of his missions returned with reports of iron, so far not seen in this land, nearly 2,000 li to the south, near the coast. This was a barren area with little population. Ancient canals built to irrigate fields had dried uo because there was not enough water to fill them.
But, in this world, iron was worth more than gold to the Asians. Without iron, they would eventually be reduced to copper arrowheads, would not have cannon, could build no ships. With iron, the world could be theirs.
Chun, as a servant of the Khan at Alagh, was obligated to advise the Khan of this find. He did not. He hid the information from the Khan’s agents and sent a small mission of trusted Chinese to determine how they could best take advantage of this for the benefit of Chimu.
The province of Chimu extended for many hundreds of li along the coast, north and south of Chan Chan and also for hundreds of li up the river valleys towards the mountains. Additional Chinese continued to be sent by the Khan to assist in administering this great land. Chun withheld much information from the Khan about the wealth and resources Chimu possessed, especially the iron in the south, although that was not yet part Chimu. He lacked a few things though, harbors and suitable wood for ships,
In the spring of 1297, Chun received an embassy from one of the mountain kingdoms that he had heard rumors about. He himself witnessed their arrival. He was seated on the roof of his palace hearing the report of one of the explorers he had sent out. In the distance, towards the mountains and far up the road that lead from Chan Chan to the south east he saw a cloud of dust.
As he listened to the report, his attention was drawn back to this cloud, which did not appear to be one of the dust storms that could plague the dry regions around the city. Shortly, the report was interrupted by a messenger who told him that a large caravan was approaching the city.
There had been no evidence of caravans in this land to date, so the fact that one was approaching Chan Chan was important news indeed. He dismissed the explorer and ordered a scouting patrol top confirm the arrival of a caravan.
A messenger returned from the patrol and met with the governor in his reception chamber. It was indeed a caravan! The majority of the patrol was escorting it to the city. They had camels without humps and there were many of them and they were clothed in extraordinary fabric.
The caravan camped for the night some distance from the city and arrived mid morning. It was escorted not to the market, but to the great plaza of the palace. There, Chun saw a glorious procession arrive. First were his patrol, followed by a significant number of soldiers, about 500. They were not armored, and carried clubs, wooden swords with stone blades, axes of stone and bronze. They wore wonderful cloaks of brilliant cloth. They were followed by the humpless camels, carrying goods in bundles on each side, walking in line behind their keepers. Finally came a great palanquin, carried by more soldiers, not slaves as one might expect. On the palanquin was a magnificently dressed man, adorned with much gold, wonderful cloth and feathers and fine linen.
As the palanquin reached Chun, the man stood, and then bowed to the governor. It carried the aspect of respect, not submission.
The emissary had a translator for the Chimu language and Chun had a translator to Chinese. Through these men, the emissary passed his message.
Shi Zhan Shuang relates the exchange:
“The ambassador addressed the governor, Chun in the following manner:
[FONT="]‘Great lord of the Chimu, He who comes from the sea with power and the strength of [/FONT][FONT="] Imahmana Viracocha, He who makes thunder on the cloudless day, The great lord of Cuzco, grandson of Inti, Son of Manco Capac, Inca of the world, [/FONT][FONT="]Mayta Cápac sends his meaningless servant to convey his greetings as brother to brother.[/FONT]
[FONT="]He instructs me to offer you these few tokens of great and eternal brotherhood[/FONT][FONT="] to the Lord of Chimu as a symbol of his desire that you brothers live in filial peace and mutual prosperity.’[/FONT]
[FONT="]With that, great quantities of cloth, gold, silver, copper, gems, wool and other goods were delivered to the Governor. Of all the good, the fabrics were the most extraordinary; Wool of quality that rivaled silk. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The governor asked the ambassador about the camels and was told that they were the gift of Inti to the Inca. They give cloth, carry goods and are sacred to Mayta Cápac.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The governor prevailed on the ambassador to make a gift, on behalf of the Inca, of 20 of these vreatures.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]The ambassador was sent back to his king with pearls, dried fish, lamb’s wool and some iron trinkets. Jade was also sent. Chun charged the ambassador with telling the Inca that his generosity was appreciated, but that the Asians were still new to this land and had not gathered the treasure needed to re-pay his generosity. That he should please accept these few items as token of their future mutual prosperity. There was no mention of the Khan in Alagh.[/FONT]
[FONT="]And so, the Yuan came into contact with the Inca. The Inca was surprised that the gifts sent in return were so paltry, but he took the knowledge that the resources of Chimu were limited with some joy. He ordered that smaller caravans be sent to Chan Chan and the other Chimu cities and that they should bring him information about these men. He particularly wanted knowledge of their bows, the thunder maker and the animals that carry them.[/FONT]
[FONT="]For the balance of 1297, trade between the Chimu cities and the Inca grew, as did the Inca’s knowledge of the men of Asia.[/FONT]
