The sun rose, casting its long early shadows over the encampment of the Great Khan. Familiar wisps of blue smoke swirled out from the tops of the multitude of ger, a heady mixture or wood, dung and peat. Men frenetically bustled, going about their daily routines of training, repairing equipment, scouting, guarding, tending livestock, in fact the thousand and one things which keeps an army on the move. Each and every man had a lighter step than usual because they all knew this encampment was to be here for a while and so they had a respite from the daily toil of rapid movement around the Empire to do the bidding of their leader.
Couriers came and went from all corners of the empire bringing reports and leaving with orders from The Ironworker. Most of the messengers carried important or urgent communications, dealt with by a small retinue of civil servants while those of a military nature were dealt with by the staff of the appropriate General who was in control of the region concerned. The mundane information which was required to run the Mongol Empire was administered from the court in Karakorum and never came near the Great Khan, although he received regular briefings from the advisors which surrounded him. Wherever Temujiin was in his Empire, he was always up to date with the facts he needed to administer to it.
Sholoi and Guragchaa waited patiently outside the ger of General Subutai. The two friends were full of apprehension. Sholoi was bursting with pride that he had been chosen and trusted to be part of this venture, whatever it may be. Guragchaa took a lot of convincing the previous night when Sholoi came to him telling him they were to report here first thing this morning. He thought Sholoi was having a joke at his expense. It reminded him of the time when as a child he was told a girl called Narantsetseg, meaning Sunflower, whom he loved from a distance, wished to meet him that evening, in secret, in the woods near the village where they both lived. Guragchaa was only seven and had asked his mother how he should behave to win her heart, after listening to her worldly advice he made his way to the meeting spot only to find a waiting gang of a dozen or so other boys from the village. They started taunting him and called him names. Guragchaa remembers to this day how angry he felt and he immediately rushed at them to fight them all. He stayed on his feet for almost a minute before he fell, totally overwhelmed by the other boys. Guragchaa was punched and kicked as he tried to curl into a ball on the floor, but worst of all was the laughter as the punches rained down on him. The other boys soon got bored with hitting him and stopped their onslaught allowing him to drag his bleeding and battered young body back towards the village. Even as he went, with tears streaming down his face they threw horse dung at him completing his humiliation. Guragchaa learned a valuable lesson on that warm sunny evening and swore at his young age he would never again enter into a fight in hot blood, ever since then he has paused to make an assessment of any situation before rashly and blindly letting his instinct carry him headlong into the unknown.
There never was a meeting to be kept with the beautiful Sunflower.
Over the next few years he got bigger, stronger and more cunning, he coldly meted out his revenge on each and every boy who had taunted and humiliated him that evening. The whole episode closed completely in his mind when much later, Sunflower became the first girl he laid with. He smiled to himself as he remembered the beautiful moment in a sun dappled glade, it was then he truly became a man.
Sholoi and Guragchaa were told by the guard they could enter the ger. They went inside and were met by Ogedei and Jebe. There were also a small group of men they had never seen before talking with General Subutai. The two horsemen stood to attention.
"Ah, Sholoi and Guragchaa you are both welcome," said The Arrow. All eyes turned in their direction.
"We have a mission for you both, probably the most important mission the Great Khan has entrusted to any group of men," smiled Subutai.
"We will perform it with pride and with honour my Lord," replied Sholoi casting a sideways look at Guragchaa who he saw out of the corner of his eye was nodding madly in assent.
"But you have no idea what the mission is to be," laughed Jebe.
The two men looked at each other feeling slightly foolish "Our lives are for the Great Khan to command General," said Guragchaa.
"Then there is nothing else to say is there," said Ogedei. "First things first, from now on you call me Ogedei and the Arrow you will call Jebe. You only call us by our titles when we are in camp. When we are in our ger or when we leave camp it is to be Jebe and Ogedei. Is that understood?"
The two men looked confused and they cast a wary glance at each other "Yes my Lord... I mean Yes Ogedei."
Jebe seemed amused at this immediate mistake and continued, "We will be spending quite a few months in this ger and I'm sure it will become natural for you to address us by our given names and not titles, after all Sholoi, you and I called each other by our names throughout our childhood, so it should be easier for you my old friend,"
Subutai motioned for the four men to sit and then turned to the other men in the room and bid them to sit as well. "We are all here for one reason. To educate the four of you in different disciplines, disciplines new to you. The men behind me are all teachers in their fields and I have got them here to pass on as much information to you as you will be able to learn from them."
"From now on the four of you will be known as The Trust. This will be so your names will not be used in communications which may be intercepted. Temujiin thought the name appropriate as he trusts you completely, the Mongol Empire trusts you, you will each trust the other for your survival and the success of your venture and I know you will all be worthy of my trust. You are the Trustworthy, The Trust." Subutai looked pleased with him-self and continued. "As you know, I have a network of spies and emissaries not only across the Empire but in each and every land to the east and the west. You will learn their secrets. The men behind you have taught well in the past and now they will teach you," said Subutai looking at the assembled teachers with pride.
The next few months seemed like a blur to all of them. They each received lessons in basic languages, etiquette, trading, map making, spying techniques, diplomacy, cyphers, codes, silent killing, poisons, religious beliefs, medicines, European history, family dynasties, court protocols, the list went on. Every day was the same; an early start a late finish, sleep. An early start a late finish, sleep. Subutai had regular reports from the mentors and all were amazed at how enthusiastically the four men were learning their new skills. This regime was only broken by Subutai announcing that one of The Trust must go to meet some travellers on the Silk Road who would teach him about current affairs in Europe and the latest news from Jerusalem. Guragchaa volunteered for this task and was gone for almost two weeks.
During their lessons some of them showed a particular aptitude for certain topics and they then received personal tuition and delved even deeper into the subject to became expert. Jebe became and expert at codes, cyphers and Christianity. Ogedei developed an unnatural curiosity for poisons and herbs while Guragchaa surprised everyone, especially himself, by having a natural talent for European history, secret orders and family diplomacy, his meeting with the Europeans travellers he had been introduced to on the Silk Road had brought all of his knowledge up to date. Sholoi seemed to have a natural ability to learn languages.
The day finally arrived when they arose and went to the ger to have their usual instruction but this time they were greeted in person by Subutai and Temujiin. Their teachers were not there.
"The time has come," said the Great Khan, gesturing to the five men to take a seat set before him. "I will be striking the camp within the next three days and moving south to deal with one or two little problems there. General Subutai tells me there is nothing more he can do to prepare The Trust for their journey, now it is in your hands. Today you will have your final lessons and they will be delivered by my-self and Subutai, then we will feast. You have deserved it after the hard work you have each put in. Now you are prepared, you will travel to the Holy Land and then into Europe to put the Empire's plan into action."
Subutai looked at the four men and asked, "Tell me what you know of the Templar banking system."
They looked at each other and Jebe responded, "The Templars protect travellers throughout Europe on their way to Holy sites. They are reputed to be a rich Order, but individually, they take a vow of poverty. In fact their seal shows two Knights riding on one horse. It is said they have a method of moving money from country to country throughout Europe and even to the Holy Land."
"Very good," said Subutai, "in fact they are rich, very rich."
"They are known as the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, my Lord," interjected Guragchaa, anxious to contribute to the conversation.
Subutai continued, "We know that although they have taken a vow of poverty, many of their Knights have vast estates and live like Kings ruling their own realms with near impunity. The Order even has their own of ships, bigger than any other fleet in Europe. They own vineyards, mines, stone quarries, forests and many farms. The ships not only trade these goods between the Holy Land and Europe, but they also provide a great means of communication. They carry pilgrims, troops, horses and commercial cargoes between their Mediterranean bases in Italy, France, Spain and the Holy Land. Their military fleet even includes war galleys fitted with rams.
"A formidable foe for Saladin and one which could threaten us in the future," said Temujiin.
"Like us, they also have the Note of Hand," continued Subutai, "This started out for them quite simply because a pilgrim would be wary of carrying large sums of money as he travelled, fearing robbery or any other unforeseen problems. The answer for them was simple, copy us! How it works there, is that pilgrims or travellers seek out the master of the local Templar commanderie or preceptory and deposit sufficient money with him to cover the cost involved of his return journey including travel, accommodation, food, alms and gift-giving to the Holy sites which he visits on his journey. In return for the money deposited, the Templar treasurer would issue the traveller with a coded note as a receipt which would also act as a means of exchange. There would of course be a payment for this service. At each overnight stop, or where alms or offerings had to be given, the pilgrim would give his Note of Hand to the local Templar treasurer who would pay him the appropriate sum of money, then re-code the Note of Hand in the new amount and return it to the bearer once again, for another small payment of course. When the pilgrimage was over and the weary traveller had returned home, he would present the Note of Hand to the Templar treasurer who had first issued it. Any balance of money deposited there would be returned, or if the pilgrim had arranged credit and overspent on his journey, he would be presented with the appropriate bill. This entire operation was looked after by the Knights on the road. Robbers never took Notes of Hand from travellers as they were useless to them as they could not trade them at a preceptory and of course retribution from the Templar's, who were protecting the travellers on their Pilgrimage, was always swift and final." Pausing to collect his thoughts he continued. "What is less well known is that Notes of Hand are traded between not only the Templar's but also amongst other Orders and these also include Mongol Empire," he added quietly.
"But we do not get pilgrims here from Europe, my Lord Subutai," said a surprised Sholoi, "so why should such a trade be of benefit?"
Subutai grinned at Sholoi as he continued, "You are quite right Sholoi, but we deal in far greater sums than you could imagine. Europeans trade along the Great Silk Road with the Chinese dynasties of the East. They deposit large sums of gold with our emissaries in Europe and we issue Notes of Hand to them or to their representatives. They are then traded in at our depositories in various Chinese provinces, this then allows them to have the cash to buy silks, satins, pearls, rhubarb, rubies, spices and all the other things people crave in the west, without the need to transport huge amounts of gold across the known world and the numerous troubles that might entail."
"Of course we get a handsome fee for this service and we also tax the caravans many times as they cross from one region of our Empire and enter another, in return, we afford them a safe passage across our Empire," laughed Temujiin.
"They send many caravans each year from the east back to Europe and of course all the monies to pay for them have been deposited with us in Europe. We have mountains of gold and silver there.
Twice a year, we move about half of the money we have earned from this trade into the Templar treasuries throughout Europe and we in turn, get Notes of Hand. Moving gold across Europe and the Middle East is fraught with difficulties and as our Mongol men look very different from both the men of Europe and the Holy Land, we would be a centre of attention and prone to constant attack from many sources. So it is better we use the Note of Hand system, but this time in reverse. We then trade these Notes of Hand at the borders of our own Empire, from where the gold and silver is sent under heavy escort back to Temujiin! Some of the gold goes to our repositories in the east to ensure we can honour our own Notes of Hand there, some to our treasury in Karakorum and some to our many provinces. As you can see it is a beneficial system for all the parties concerned. One based on trust."
"All in all, a nice easy process which makes us very rich for little risk."
"You say we move about half of our annual income back to our Empire twice a year, what happens to the rest of the money?" asked Jebe.
"Ah, the balance, we give gold to many of our spies and emissaries throughout Europe and the Holy Land as payment for their services and they in turn dispose of it as they wish, we are very generous when it comes to our friends," mused Subutai "That is why we have such loyal men who work for the Mongol Empire. The rest has been slowly building up over the years and is held in various secret depositories throughout Europe. The total amount we have secreted away now exceeds the combined wealth of many nations. This money is well hidden and no one except the six of us and two people at the Karakorum treasury know of its value or very existence. Each of The Trust will only know the code for their personal blank Note of Hand and the location of the depository where it may be used. The treasurer at each depository only knows of the presence of their own horde but will recognise their own specially coded Note of Hand when it is shown to them by a member of The Trust. You will each be asked a question when you hand it over. Only you will know the answer. If you get the answer wrong, the treasurer will immediately kill you, no reprieve is possible." Subutai's eyes became like steel as he gave this dire warning, he waited a few seconds for the importance of what he had just said to sink in. "You will then be able to release this hoard from the secret depositories in question and the treasurer there will then draw up new Notes of Hand in the name of whosoever you nominate. This will be the money with which you will buy discontent throughout the Christians alliance. This is to be your war chest. You must use this money with flair and imagination. You may also use as much as you require."
Subutai stood and went to a small metal bound wooden chest on a nearby table and carried it back to the men. "I have prepared four Notes of Hand, one for each member of the four members of Trust. I hope you will see they have relevance to each of your special skills. Each Note of Hand is part of a code or cypher which can only be read by the treasurer at the correct depository. Jebe, here is your Note of Hand." Subutai handed him a wooden cross on a leather thong. The cross was about four inches long and was plain except for Greek symbols carved into the lateral pieces of the cross.
He looked at the cross and the words carved into it but could not make any sense from them. "Sholoi, can you read this?" asked Jebe as he passed the simple plain wooden crucifix to Sholoi.
"I recognise the second word, it is Greek for wine but I do not know what the first one says," he handed the cross back to Jebe, Sholoi felt he had let The Trust down in not knowing the first word.
"Sholoi my friend, no one expects you to know every word in every language!" said Jebe, noting his friend's discomfort. "My lord Subutai I think I have it, I have reasoned the first word is water if the second is wine, I think it makes a reference to a Christian belief which says their Jesus turned water into wine as one of his so called miracles."
"Well done, you are correct. Wearing this symbol of the Christian faith will help you on your travels. People will be less suspicious of you. Of course as well as the miracle of water into wine, this simple wooden cross will enable you to perform the even greater miracle of turning wood into gold, mountains of gold! Maybe this will make you their new Messiah?" All the men laughed.
"This is for you Ogedei, tell me what you observe", he said as he passed a leather pouch to him.
"Thank you Subutai," said the Great Khan's youngest son. "I observe a small brown, soft leather pouch with a draw string, long enough for me to hang it around my neck and tuck it into my shirt. The pouch has no writing on it and contains herbs of some sort," said Ogedei as he opened the neck of the pouch and held it to his nose, breathing deeply, "I recognise the smell of Mugwort. That is all I can tell you about it."
"Very good Ogedei, you found what I hoped you would find, nothing but common Mugwort." smiled Subutai. "If you had emptied the contents and inspected the pouch more closely by turning it inside out, you would have observed letters scratched into the leather. They read; To my son Ogedei, safe journey, from your beloved mother. Ogedei, this pouch is your Note of Hand. When you hand over the pouch to the Treasurer, he will know what to do next. You need not worry about the herb it contains, use the Mugwort or replace it with one of your own choosing if you wish."
"As you can see we are providing you with Notes of Hand which no one else will recognise as being such," said Temujiin. "The methods of confirming or deciphering your coded Notes of Hand have already been dispatched to the treasurers at the proper depositories. The only time the two elements will come together will be when you present them in person and answer the required question. This should ensure total safety and secrecy."
"Now Sholoi, your special Note of Hand is different again from the others in The Trust," Subutai handed a small pouch to him and as soon as he held it in his hand he recognised the familiar weight and feel of the sheep's ankle bones that make up a set of Shagai, the traditional Mongolian rolling bones with which you could play many games, with which some people could also foretell their futures. Sholoi opened the neck of the pouch and tipped the Shagai onto his palm.
"Look at this!" he exclaimed excitedly as he showed the assembled company his outstretched palm holding the four bones he had rolled. The Shagai had fallen into the pattern of two horses and two camels. "With an omen like this we can't fail in our task!" he smiled as he looked into each of the surrounding faces and nodded his head at his palm and cast his eyes down to the Shagai. All the men knew the combination of two horses and two camels was indeed lucky and the bones indicated their work would be successful. All present laughed and Ogedei patted Sholoi on the back saying, "I think this is the best omen we could have had for our journey."
Each Shagai had four long sides and each side represented the horse, sheep, camel and the goat and every Mongol knew how to read the omens which were indicated by the combination of ways the bones fell, it was indeed possible to throw a configuration known as a cow, if they were cast onto rough or uneven ground, but this was a rarity.
"When you meet the treasurer, you will be asked your question and you will then give him the Shagai. He will know what to do with them to ensure you are who you say you are," said Subutai as he took the Shagai bones from Sholoi's palm, handing them to Temujiin who held them gently to his mouth and kissed them before returning them to Subutai to replace in the leather pouch. Subutai then motioned for Sholoi to bow his head and as he did so, he placed the thong around his neck and slipped the pouch into his shirt. "No one will suspect a Mongol for carrying a perfectly normal set of Shagai," he said.
"Finally we come to Guragchaa," said Subutai as he picked up the small chest and turned away from the men and walked the few paces to a table at the back of the ger. Here he put the chest down and walked back empty handed to the four men. "Guragchaa already has his Note of Hand."
"Yes my Lord Subutai, it is safe and I will take it to my grave," he chuckled. Both Subutai and the Great Khan burst into laughter at this point, leaving the other three members of The Trust looking mystified. "My friends," said Subutai composing himself, forgive us for our little joke, but like you, Guragchaa has a very special Note of Hand which he will reveal when the time is right.