The minister told the great general that if the Northern Empire wished China to be on the footing of other kingdoms subdued by the Mongols, he would ask him to retire, at least to Kia hing, where they would settle on the tribute in silver and silk to be paid every year, and on the places to be occupied. “But if your plans,” added he, “are farther reaching, and you think to destroy the Sung dynasty, be assured that the road to your object is long, and you will fight many battles ere you reach it. The south is not in your power yet. We shall defend ourselves; the issue of arms is ever changing. Who knows that the whole position will not be reversed utterly?”
Bayan dismissed U kien and detained Wen tien siang under pretext of arranging a peace with him; the minister protested against this. Seeing Chinese officers who had gone over to the Mongols, he reproached them for their infamy very sharply, not sparing even Liu wen hoan among others. Bayan sent him to Kubilai, but the minister escaped from his guards on the way.
To govern Lin ngan Bayan now appointed a council of Mongols and Chinese, under presidence of Man hu tai and Fan wen hu; he charged also Ching pong to obtain from the Empress an order to all governors of provinces to submit to the Mongols, and, to render this more emphatic, the great functionaries signed it at his instance. All obeyed except one, Kai hiuen hong, whom no threats could intimidate.
Four Mongol officers, at command of Bayan, took the seals of departments, and seized every register book, historical memoir, and map in each archive; these were all carefully placed under seal. Troops were stationed in every part of the capital and exact [[352]]order continued. Bayan, whom the Emperor and Empress demanded to see, excused himself under pretext that he knew not the right ceremonial on such an occasion, and next day he left the city. Two Chinese dignitaries were charged with watching the palace, for no reason whatever were they to lose sight of the Empress. This was done under guise of showing boundless respect for her.
Very soon after, Atahai, a general, with a large suite of officers, appeared at the palace. His first act was to abolish all etiquette observed with the Emperor and Empress. Meanwhile he invited the Emperor and his mother to set out for Kubilai’s court in Shang tu, without waiting. After this notice had been given, the Empress with streaming eyes embraced her little boy, lately heir to the Empire: “The son of Heaven spares thy life,” said she. “It is proper to thank him.” This heir of seven years, a creation of the dead Kia se tao, fell on his knees at the side of his mother; their faces were turned toward the north, toward Shang tu; nine times did they strike the floor with their foreheads in saluting Kubilai the Grand Mongol.
The son and mother were then placed in an equipage and left Lin ngan and their Empire forever. With them went a great company containing all the princes and princesses of the Sung family who were in the capital at that time, besides ministers, high functionaries, men of letters of great note and marked influence. All these took the road northward, and surely a mournful procession followed the Emperor.
The regent, the Emperor’s grandmother, fell ill and was left in Lin ngan for recovery. A number of Chinamen, desperate at seeing their Emperor led captive with the chief men of the government and some of the best minds of China, made efforts to save them. Twice did they rush at the escort of Mongols which was led by Atahai and Li ting, but the escort was too strong to be broken; the Mongols repelled the Chinese after a desperate encounter in each case.
When the young Emperor was reaching Shang tu, Kubilai sent his first minister to meet him. Orders had been given to treat all captives properly. The Emperor was reduced to be a kong, or prince of the third order; Hiao Kong was the title accorded him. The Empress mother and the regent were stripped of their titles. [[353]]Jambui Khatun, the Grand Khan’s chief wife, tried to soften the lot of the mother by delicate attention.
Lin ngan, the capital of the Emperor, is said to have been very large and magnificent. It was built amid lagoons and had twelve hundred bridges, some having piers of such great height that vessels of two hundred tons could sail under the bridge. In the city was a beautiful lake surrounded with palaces and mansions. On the islands of this lake were pleasure houses where marriage feasts were held and great banquets given. There were three thousand baths in Lin ngan, each large enough to accommodate one hundred persons at a time. Marco Polo states that the Emperor’s palace was the largest in the world. It contained twenty halls, the most capacious of which was used as a state banquet room; aside from these there were one thousand chambers richly decorated in gold and colors. The city contained ten large markets; 1,600,000 houses and seven hundred temples. The inhabitants dressed richly, all, except the lowest class of laborers and coolies, wearing silk.
The Grand Khan had received the gold, silver and other precious objects taken in Lin ngan from the palace. The princes and princesses of Kubilai’s court gazed with delight on these spoils of a mighty dynasty, but Jambui Khatun could not keep back her tears as she turned to the Grand Khan and said to him: “It has come to my mind at this moment that the Empire of the Mongols also will finish in this way.”