When he was about twenty-one Kublai Khan sent him on very important
business to a distant part of China. He did the work well and from
that time was often employed as an envoy of the Chinese monarch. His
travels were sometimes in lands never before visited by Europeans
and he had many strange adventures among the almost unknown tribes
of Asia. Step by step he was promoted. For several years he was
governor of a great Chinese city.
Finally he and his father and uncle desired to return to Venice.
They had all served Kublai Khan faithfully and he had appreciated
it and given them rich rewards; but he did not wish to let them
go.
While the matter was being talked over an embassy arrived in Peking
from the king of Persia. This monarch desired to marry the daughter
of Kublai Khan, the Princess Cocachin, and he had sent to ask her
father for her hand. Consent was given, and Kublai Khan fitted
out a fleet of fourteen ships to carry the wedding party to Persia.
The Princess Cocachin was a great friend of Marco Polo, and urged
her father to allow him to go with the party. Finally Kublai Khan
gave his consent.
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