Silk Road (47 page)

‘I fear so, great lord,’ Josseran answered.

‘Your companion placed a curse on his head.’

‘I believe it was an act of God alone.’

‘Then you must indeed have a very powerful god. More powerful than Mar Salah’s, it would seem.’

So, they too believed it was witchcraft that had ended the Nestorian bishop’s life. Khubilai must have been persuaded that William had worked some kind of devilment because of the Metropolitan’s opposition to him.

‘I am inclined to think there is more to your religion than I first thought,’ Khubilai said. ‘Each of my advisers says their way is the best and the truest. But now we have another new religion, stronger than Mar Salah’s. How shall I decide?’

Josseran knew that this was the opportunity William had dreamed of. They did not have to convert millions, just one man, if that man was Khubilai himself. If William could persuade the Khaghan to convert to Christ, and impose his new religion upon his empire, as all Christian kings were obliged to do, then the whole world would belong to Rome. In Outremer, they could trap the Saracens between themselves and the Tatar and retake the Holy Land. Jerusalem would return once more to Christian hands.

‘I have arranged a debate,’ Khubilai said.

‘A debate, great lord?’

‘I will decide for myself which of all the religions is best. Tell your holy man to present himself at the Audience Hall at the seventh hour. There he will meet with the other great shamans of my kingdom and debate with them on the nature of their beliefs. And then I shall decide once and for all which of these gods is most true.’

‘We shall be honoured, my lord,’ Josseran said, stunned by this dramatic proposal.

Josseran bowed once more, avoiding Phags-pa lama’s venomous gaze. Sartaq escorted him back to his apartments. A debate! That should suit Brother William’s style. With so much at stake he only hoped he could stop him talking before they all died of old age.

T
HE
E
MPEROR’S SUMMER
palace lay just beyond the walls of his hunting park. It was in fact a yurt, built in the Tatar style, but its walls were made of the finest silk instead of the felt used by the Tatars of the high steppe. Hundreds of great silk cords held it braced against the wind. Its roof was made of split and varnished bamboo, decorated with paintings of animals and birds. Coiled serpents were carved into the lacquered vermilion pillars.

‘Is it not a wonder?’ Sartaq whispered to him. ‘It is constructed in such a way that it can be taken down and removed to another more pleasant spot within hours, should the Emperor wish it.’

Josseran agreed that it was indeed a wonder, though he suspected such removal had never been attempted and was simply another legend to bolster the myth of Khubilai as a traditional Tatar chieftain.

The hall was already crowded with the holy men of Khubilai’s court; the Emperor’s own shaman, his hair and beard wild and unkempt, his skin scaly with filth, eyes staring in hemp-induced trance; the Tanguts with their shaven heads and saffron-coloured garments; the idolaters, in cloaks of orange and purple brocade and black pillbox hats, holding curved wooden prayer boards; the black-robed Nestorians; and the white-bearded Mohammedans in white skullcaps.

Below the throne, to Khubilai’s left, was the Empress Chabi, Khubilai’s favourite. Josseran had learned from Sartaq that she was an ardent devotee of Borcan. She eyed them with cold suspicion as they entered. To Josseran’s further consternation he saw Phags-pa standing at the Emperor’s shoulder. It was apparent that he was to be both the convener of the debate and its leading participant.

Khubilai signalled to Phags-pa lama, who announced that the proceedings would now commence. To begin the affair, a
spokesman from each faction was to give a brief account of his own religion and afterwards they would debate in open forum.

As the discussions began, Josseran found himself bewildered by the heresies and witchcraft and idolatry to which his ears were subjected. He translated it all faithfully to William. When it was William’s turn he stood up, resplendent in his white surplice and purple stole, and gave what he called the true account of history, from the time of the making of the world and the creation of Man and Woman by God.

He then spoke of the miraculous birth of Christ and related the story of His life and sufferings, and finished by enumerating God’s laws, as vouchsafed to Man in the Ten Commandments. He then expounded on the special place that the Pope and the Holy Mother Church held in the heart of God.

It was an inspired speech. His eyes burned with his fervour, and his oratory was impressive. Gone was the carping, hateful little friar, replaced by a giant with a voice like thunder. Josseran had never seen this aspect of his character before. At last he understood why the Pope had sent him.

When he had finished, the Emperor, through Phags-pa lama, announced the debate. It soon became obvious that William, as the newcomer, was to be the target of all.

It was Phags-pa lama himself who led the inquisition and Josseran would have enjoyed William’s discomfort except that it was vital for the Templar cause that they make a good impression here. And, for all his misgivings, Christianity was yet the religion of his heart.

First, Phags-pa lama asked William about the Ten Commandments of God.

‘But our Emperor does not follow your God’s precepts and he has trodden all other nations underfoot. Does that not mean that he alone is blessed and your and all other gods are inferior?’

William was unflustered by such argument. ‘Tell him a man’s worth is not measured by what he owns in this world. Christ Himself told us that the earth shall be inherited by the meek.’

‘That has not been my experience,’ the Emperor growled when he heard William’s reply and some of his generals, listening curiously to this debate, laughed aloud.

‘How can a man know the mind of the gods except if what he does earns their favour or displeasure?’ Khubilai said, now placing himself inside the debate.

‘Tell him it is a matter of faith,’ William said when he heard this.

‘No, a man is not defined by what he believes,’ Phags-pa said, ‘but by what he does. A thousand years of wisdom has been condensed into our book of the
Pao
. It allows every person to calculate the merits and demerits of his life.’

‘But if a man can earn demerit by his actions,’ one of the idolaters interrupted, for the moment deflecting the attention from William, ‘surely then the way to serenity is by performing no action. That is the way of the
Tao
.’

And so it went on.

Josseran was dazzled to be present at such a discourse. He had never been exposed to such a diversity of thought and as the arguments raged about him and he breathlessly relayed each word to William, he realized how similar were the arguments of the Mohammedans to their own. Indeed, they also spoke of prophets and the immutability of one God and his laws. Of all of the religious present that afternoon, it seemed to him that the Mohammedans, their bitter enemies in Outremer, were their closest allies.

The Nestorians, for their part, attacked William with the same ferocity as the Tanguts.

Khubilai’s own shaman was now saying that words were unimportant, that the rightness of a religion could only be gauged by the efficacy of its magic. The Emperor interrupted him to point out that if that were true, then the Pope had very powerful magic for behold what William’s God had done to Mar Salah.

On hearing this William tried to press his advantage by saying that from the day God had created the world all he wished was that all the people of the earth should recognize him and give him due praise and obedience. He would only bring down his vengeance on those who denied him. As he had on Mar Salah.

An old monk in a saffron robe spoke next. ‘He says that the world is an illusion,’ Josseran translated. ‘He says that life will always disappoint us and birth, old age, illness and suffering are inevitable.’

‘Tell him that is why Christ came to save us!’ William almost
shouted, his cheeks flushed with excitement. ‘That if we endure our sufferings in a Christian way we can find heaven!’

Josseran conveyed this perspective to the monk, who stared deep into William’s face as he made his response. ‘Even the peasant in the field endures,’ he said. ‘Reading sacred texts, abstaining from meat, worshipping the Buddha, giving alms, all these gain merit for the next life. But for release from suffering, what is required is a personal revelation of the emptiness of the world.’

‘How can the world be empty?’ William shouted. ‘It was created by God! Only man is sinful!’

The monk frowned. ‘He asks what you mean by sin,’ Josseran said.

‘Lust. Fornication. Weakness of the flesh.’

When he heard this the monk murmured a response which Josseran seemed unwilling to pass on.

‘What was it he said?’ William demanded.

‘He said – he said that you were right to fear such weakness.’

‘What did he mean by that?’

‘I do not know, Brother William. He would not explain further.’

‘The righteous man fears nothing!’ William shouted at him. ‘Those who keep God’s law will be rewarded in heaven!’

Khubilai held up a hand for silence. He then began to conduct a long and whispered conversation with Phags-pa lama.

As this was happening William turned to Josseran. ‘You have not properly translated all that I said!’ he hissed.

‘Since you do not speak their language, how do you know what I have said?’

‘It is obvious by their looks and their expressions. If you had spoken the true words of God, they would have already been persuaded. Should we fail here today it will be your doing and I shall denounce you before the Haute Cour upon our return to Acre.’

‘I translated all you said faithfully and without prejudice!’

‘It is clear to me that you did not!’

The consultation between the Emperor and his adviser ended abruptly and Phags-pa lama turned to face the assembly. ‘The Son of Heaven has listened to all your arguments and believes that each of you spoke eloquently and persuasively. He will think on all he has seen and heard. Now he wishes you all to leave him to his tranquillity. Except the barbarian.’ He indicated Josseran.

‘I shall stay also,’ William said as the others filed from the room. ‘I cannot leave you here without instruction.’

Phags-pa lama glared at him. ‘Tell him he must leave now.’

Josseran turned to William. ‘I fear if you do not leave this moment, they will drag you from the chamber as they did before. It does not leave a good impression.’

William hesitated, red-eyed with exhaustion and fervour and rage, then reluctantly made his obeisance to the Son of Heaven and left the room.

When they were alone in the great pavilion. Khubilai Khan, Son of Heaven, regarded Josseran Sarrazini for a long time. ‘We have thought deeply about what we have seen and heard here today,’ he said at last.

Josseran waited. The fate of their entire expedition hinged on this very moment. ‘I trust you were pleased with our arguments, great lord.’

‘We were greatly impressed with all we heard here today and we thank you for making the long and dangerous journey to our court. It has been most instructive. As to the matter of religion, these are the words of my heart . . .’