Toru Takeki

The king hangs his head on the throne. The caliph was killed by a scimitar. The proud Bela IV presented Princess Elizabeth, bowed down to the Golden Tent, and kissed the toes of Batu's boots. The unruly King Nasir presented the copper key of the holy city to surrender, crawled to the court of Ili Khan, and clung to Hulagu's stirrup. The mediocre Zhilugu was presented with the national treasure seal passed down through generations. He stood outside the Chahe tent and raised his sword in both hands to surrender. The staunch Huo Chihaer handed over the Silk Road tribute book of household registration, bowed down in the den of his den, without his crown and bowed his head. The humiliated King Hao of Goryeo sent his crown prince as a hostage, knelt down on the steps of the Dayuan Palace, kowtowed until blood oozed from his forehead. The Mongolian cavalry spans tens of thousands of miles, stretching from Korea in the east to Persia in the west, India in the south, and the Icefields in the north. Its territory is so vast that it has never been seen in ancient times. As long as anyone holds a Mongolian token, he can walk from the Pacific to the Mediterranean safely, traveling thousands of miles without anyone daring to make a mistake. From the bonfires of the Onan River to the churches of the Danube, from the pines of the Xing'an Mountains to the fertile lands of the two river basins, countless civilizations turned to dust under the hoofs of horses, and countless crowns rolled down in the light of swords. The three rivers rushing here from the depths of the Qinling Mountains were split head-on by a solitary peak. The cliffs are cut straight into the middle of the river, and the city wall is perched on the cliffs. With its high position, it can overlook thousands of boats. The Mongolian cavalry flattened the entire world, but was blocked by this natural chasm. In the fog, there is a mulberry tree with two roots standing side by side. It grows in the river wind and grows on every inch of scorched earth trampled by horse hooves. The roots bite into the cornerstone of the city wall, and the branches support the backbone of the Song Dynasty. The cold fog suddenly disperses and the sky breaks. That was the majestic outline of the city that had been isolated by fog for too long and was finally seen. It was a rising sun.