Now when all this happened Messer Marco was upon the spot.][NOTE 5]
NOTE 1. - This narrative is from Ramusio's version, and constitutes one of
the most notable passages peculiar to that version.
The name of the oppressive Minister is printed in Ramusio's Collection
Achmach. But the c and t are so constantly interchanged in MSS. that
I think there can be no question this was a mere clerical error for
Achmath, and so I write it. I have also for consistency changed the
spelling of Xandu, Chingis, etc., to that hitherto adopted in our text
of Chandu, Chinkin, etc.
NOTE 2. - The remarks of a Chinese historian on Kublai's administration may
be appropriately quoted here: "Hupilai Han must certainly be regarded as
one of the greatest princes that ever existed, and as one of the most
successful in all that he undertook. This he owed to his judgment in the
selection of his officers, and to his talent for commanding them. He
carried his arms into the most remote countries, and rendered his name so
formidable that not a few nations spontaneously submitted to his
supremacy. Nor was there ever an Empire of such vast extent. He cultivated
literature, protected its professors, and even thankfully received their
advice.
