There will be many wars, many bloody battles. If I tell you about my long-standing concerns that torment me from night to night, then please do not shout or growl with your sword in hand, and please do not shout, ‘If a woman intervenes, any business is bound to end badly!’ GENGHIS KHAN: What possible concern of yours could even make me that angry? Borte passes and stands in front of the Khan, bows to him respectfully and, sitting next to him, begins her speech. BORTE: Oh, my Khan, great ruler of all Mongolia and countless heavenly countries. Many difficult trials await you. The Kipchak steppes and the Kingdom of Khorezm will not resist your crushing blow. And yet, war is war. If something happens to you in any of these battles, who will rule over these innumerable peoples? Who will become their next ruler? After the death of Ambag, the most famous Khan of the Mongols, his five sons, competing with each other, began to mercilessly tear his khanate into five parts. And didn’t the enemies who were waiting for this not crush them to smithereens? May Tengri save us from such a fate! You, too, think about what lies ahead while you are alive and well and your forces are still stable. Name one of your four sons as a successor. In case you leave this white world, then, these four, so as not to drown in the swamp of discord, will hopefully not become victims of third-party enemies as the sons of Khan Ambag once did. Genghis Khan raises his bowed head, gathers himself and, having steadied himself, begins thinking intensely. GENGHIS KHAN: Where are the children? BORTE: I don’t approach you like your spoiled beauties just to laugh in vain, but I’ve come prepared with what needs to be said straight from my mind. So, in preparing to lay out my thoughts, I’ve called all four of your sons here. They are now waiting for us in a nearby yurt. GENGHIS KHAN: (Bursting with laughter) If you were a man, I would immediately appoint you commander of the tumen. BORTE: At the time when Tayan the Khan of the Naiman tribe took up the construction of the khanate, he collected one army of women tumen and appointed a woman
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