TCM - Ostentation

Ostentation
'One way to measure of wealth of Empire: how much it spends on art. Ask William...'

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'Wealth beyond the dreams of any European court.'
'William told me he believed the Golden Horde's treasures were fabulous beyond imagining. As if the Emperor were a dragon from legend, sleeping upon a mountain of gold and silver, eating sapphires for breakfast. How else could the Khan justify creations like the Silver Tree?

'So W. has a fanciful imagination, and likes to amuse himself. But fact remains - fountain worth a kingdom's fortune even if melted down, let alone glorious artistry...'

One lesson I brought with me from Europe is that there is no point in rulers being wealthy if they don't let their subjects - and their enemies - know all about it. How better for the Khan to intimidate all who came through his desert crossroads than by displaying that he has so much silver, he can waste it on creating pure beauty? That this wealth is what's left after feeding and equipping his armies?

Find the rest of the story at: http://silvertree.storynexus.com/