GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #82 My Death

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I died in August 1227, during the fall of Yinchuan, which is the capital of Western Xia. The exact cause of my death remains a mystery to such people as Vickie Pedia. Intermittently as well as variously, she attributes it to my being killed in action against the Western Xia, illness, falling from my horse, or wounds sustained in hunting accident (hunting accident such as; I was cleaning my bow and arrow and didn’t realize it was loaded;  IT WENT OFF!)

According to The Secret History of the Mongols (and other cocka-maimy-conspiracy theories), I fell from my horse while hunting and died because of the injury.  Does anyone believe that after conquering the entire known world while astride a horse that I would fall off my trusty steed while hunting? They offer the wild story that I was already old and tired from my journeys. This is pure cognitive dissonance if I ever heard it.

The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle alleges I was killed by the Western Xia in battle, while Marco Polo wrote that I died after the infection of an arrow wound received during my final campaign.

Now who are you going to believe; a crazy Ukrainian or “Marco the Embellisher?”

Hells bells; no one is sure where or who wrote the Galician-Volhynian Chronical or if it was the original; to wit:

The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle is a historical record covering 1201–1292 regarding the history of a principality in modern Ukrainia. The original chronicle did not survive; the oldest known copy is in the Hypatian Codex.The compiler of the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle attempted to justify Galician claims to the Principality of Kiev. The first part of the chronicle (Daniel of Galicia chronicle) was written in Kholm, Germany and possibly by a boyar; Dionisiy Pavlovich (yet another wanna-be prince). My deepest thanks to Vickie Pedia for this fine insight!

Later Mongol chronicles connect my death with a Western Xia princess taken as war booty. One chronicle from the early 17th century even relates the legend that the princess hid a small dagger and stabbed me, though some Mongol authors have doubted this version and suspected it to be an invention by the rival Oirads. Boy-oh-boy; those Oirads sure are a hoot.

Years before my death, I asked to be buried without markings, according to the customs of my tribe. After I died, my body was returned to Mongolia to my birthplace in Khentii Aimag, where I am buried close to the Onon River and the Burkhan Khaldun mountains. I ordered the entire funeral escort killed and anyone else killed that came across their path.

 I did this to conceal where I was finally buried. I didn’t want anyone else digging up dirt on me!  Get it? I made a bit of morbid humor. He-he.

Maybe that is why people say I am an evil man; because I could kill others even after my own death.

Well – – – that’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Thanks to Jacob Abbott and Vickie Pedia I have been able to remember most of it.

Always good to go out with a bang!

 

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #81 Attacking Georgia, Crimea, The Ukraine and Bulgaria by the Volga

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"The Arrow", Alakus, Badu, Boyrak, Bulay, Caliph Mohammed Amin Billah, Chamuka, Dilon Ildak, Erkekara, Friedrich Nietzsche, Genghis Khan, Gurkhan, Hakembu, Hujaku, Idikut, Jacob Abbott, Jin Dynasty, Jughi, Jurchens, Kan-ki, Karakorom, Karasher, Khan of Kurga, Kishlik, Kokza, Kushluk, Menglik, Mergus, Mongolia, Mongolian Felt, Mongolian Herds, Mongolian Hordes, Mongul, Nawr, Prester John, Shah Al-Din Muhammad, Sugujin, Tanguts, Taychot, Tayian, Temujin, The Khan of Katay, transported villages, Tukta Bey, Turkili, Vang Khan, Wisulujine, Xia Dynasty, Yemuka, Yezonkai Behadr, Yong-tsi, Yurt

 

 

My “Great Genghis Khan” coin,

minted in the year of your lord 1221

in Afghanistan

After the defeat of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1220, I gathered my forces in Persia and Armenia to return to the Mongolian steppes. Under the suggestion of Subutai, my Mongol army was split into two forces.

I led the main army on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India towards Mongolia, while another 20,000 man contingent marched through the Caucasus and into Russia under generals Jebe, aka “The Arrow” and Subutai. We pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan. My Mongols destroyed the kingdom of Georgia, sacked the Genoese trade-fortress of Caffa in Crimea and overwintered near the Black Sea. Heading home, Subutai’s forces attacked the allied forces of the Cuman–Kipchaks and the poorly coordinated 80,000 Kievan Rus’ troops led by Mstislav the Bold of Halych and Mstislav III of Kiev who went out to thwart my Mongols’ actions in the area. Subutai sent emissaries to the Slavic princes calling for a separate peace, but the emissaries were executed. At the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, Subutai’s forces defeated the larger Kievan force. My Mongols defeated the Bulgars; who had made up stories to tell the recently crushed Russians that they had beaten my Mongols and driven them from their territory.

The Russian princes then sued for peace. Subutai agreed but was in no mood to pardon the princes. As was customary in Mongol society for nobility, the Russian princes were given a bloodless death. Subutai had a large wooden platform constructed on which he ate his meals along with his other generals. Six Russian princes, including Mstislav III of Kiev, were put under this platform and crushed to death.

My Mongols learned from captives of the abundant green pastures beyond the Bulgar territory, allowing for the planning for conquest of Hungary and Europe. I recalled general Subutai back to Mongolia soon afterwards, and General Jebe died on the road back to Samarkand. The famous cavalry expedition led by Subutai and Jebe, in which they encircled the entire Caspian Sea defeating all armies in their path, remains unparalleled to this day, and word of my triumphs began to trickle to other nations, particularly Europe. The two campaigns of General Subutai and Jebe reconnaissance campaigns to get an insight of the political and cultural elements in these regions. In 1225 both divisions returned to my main camp. These conquests were in modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and southwest Kazakhstan; geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers.

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Next post;  #82    The Death of Genghis Khan

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #80 The End of the Khwarazmian Empire

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It was 1221 and I was terribly upset by the Shah of Khwarazmia who had deeply insulted me.

 

The Mongol army under I, The Great Genghis Khan, my generals, and my sons crossed the Tien Shan mountains by entering the area controlled by the Khwarazmian Empire. After compiling intelligence from many sources, I carefully prepared my army, which was divided into three groups. my son Jughi led the first division into the northeast of Khwarazmia.

THE ARROW

The second division under The Arrow marched secretly to the southeast part of Khwarazmia to form, with the first division, a pincer attack on Samarkand. The third division under myself and Tolui marched to the northwest and attacked Khwarazmia from that direction.

The Shah’s army was split by diverse internal feuds and by the Shah’s decision to divide his army into small groups concentrated in various cities. I watched in amazement as the Khwarezmi Shah, Jalal ad-Din’s Army fell apart at the seams. This fragmentation was decisive in Khwarazmia’s defeats, as it allowed my Mongols, although exhausted from the long journey, to immediately set about defeating small fractions of the Khwarazmian forces instead of facing a unified defense. My Mongol army quickly seized the town of Otrar, relying on superior strategy and tactics that I executed.

I ordered the wholesale massacre of many of the civilians, enslaved the rest of the population and executed Kushluk by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes, as retribution for his actions. Near the end of the battle the Shah fled rather than surrender. I allowed two years for The Arrow to hunt him down and gave him 20,000 men to do this. The Shah died under mysterious circumstances on a small island within his empire.

My conquest, even by my standards, was brutal. After the capital Samarkand fell, the capital was moved to Bukhara by the remaining men, while I ordered two of my generals and their forces to completely destroy the remnants of the Khwarazmian Empire, including not only royal buildings, but entire towns, populations, and vast swaths of farmland.

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Next post;  #81    Attacking Georgia, Crimea, The Ukraine and Bulgaria by the Volga

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #79 The Shah, the Ambassadors and the Silk Road

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"The Arrow", Alakus, Badu, Boyrak, Bulay, Caliph Mohammed Amin Billah, Chamuka, Dilon Ildak, Erkekara, Friedrich Nietzsche, Genghis Khan, Gurkhan, Hakembu, Hujaku, Idikut, Jacob Abbott, Jin Dynasty, Jughi, Jurchens, Kan-ki, Karakorom, Karasher, Khan of Kurga, Kishlik, Kokza, Kushluk, Menglik, Mergus, Mongolia, Mongolian Felt, Mongolian Herds, Mongolian Hordes, Mongul, Nawr, Prester John, Shah Al-Din Muhammad, Sugujin, Tanguts, Taychot, Tayian, Temujin, The Khan of Katay, transported villages, Tukta Bey, Turkili, Vang Khan, Wisulujine, Xia Dynasty, Yemuka, Yezonkai Behadr, Yong-tsi, Yurt

 

Khwarazmia was governed by Shah Al-Din Muhammad.

I immediately saw the potential advantage in Khwarazmia as a commercial trading partner using the Silk Road, and I initially sent a 500-man caravan to establish official trade ties with the empire.

I then sent a second group of ambassadors (Mongols and Muslims) to meet with the Shah. My main ambassador was escorted to a private room where the Shah interrogated him.

“Tell me” said the shah, “has Genghis Khan really made all these supposed conquests and is he as powerful and his territory as extensive as is said?”

My ambassador replied, “It is the truth, Your Majesty.” And he continued, “He is as powerful as you have heard, Your Majesty, and you will soon find out if you cause difficulty with him.”

The Shah became livid with hearing such a braggadocios comment.

The Shah screamed “I do not know what your master intends by sending such flagrant messages to me. He is not my father and I am not his son. Does he think he will intimidate me with messages of great conquests and tales of such a wide empire? I will not honor him because of these wild stories.”

My ambassador realized he was on dangerous ground and softened his message.

I then sent three merchants as my ambassadors, one of them a Muslim, to discuss farther matters with the Shah.

Once again, they attempted to convince the Shah that I was indeed as powerful as my ambassador had said.

The Shah had all the men shaved and the Muslim man beheaded; the shah sent this head back to me with the two remaining ambassadors.

My Ambassador

This was an affront and insult to me.

Outraged, I planned one of my largest invasion campaigns by organizing together around 100,000 soldiers, my most capable generals and some of my sons. I left a commander and number of troops in China, designated my successors to be only my family members and appointed my son, Jughi, to be my immediate successor in the event that something would happen to me. 

I then went directly to Khwarazmia.

Me; Marching on the Shah

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Next post;  #80    The End of the Khwarazmian Empire

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #78 The Tanguts Request Help from the Jin Dynasty

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I had completed my desire to combine the Mongolian people under one nation. However, I grew restless when, in 1207 AD, I realized there was more territory that my Mongolian people had wandered to.

I organized my people, army, and state to first prepare for war with Western Xia, or Xi Xia, which was close to the Mongolian lands. I correctly believed that the more powerful young ruler of the Jin dynasty would not come to the aid of Xi Xia.

When the Tanguts requested help from the Jin dynasty, they were refused.

Despite minor difficulties in capturing its well-defended cities, I managed to force the emperor of Xi Xia to submit to vassal status.

In 1215, I, the Glorious and Most Feared Genghis Khan, besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Zhongdu (Beijing). This forced the Jin ruler, Emperor Xuanzong, to flee his capital and establish his court south to Kaifeng, abandoning the northern half of his empire to the me.

Me, as I entered Beijing

Meanwhile, a deposed khan of the confederation that I had previously defeated and folded into my ever-growing Mongol Empire, fled west and usurped the territory of the Khan of Katay. (now known as the Western Liao).

The deposed khan’s name was Kushluk.

I bravely decided to conquer the Katay and defeat Kushluk to take him out of power. By this time my army was exhausted from ten years of continuous campaigning in China against the Western Xia and Jin dynasty. Therefore, I sent only 20,000 soldiers against Kushluk, under my younger general, “The Arrow”.

With such a small force, The Arrow was forced to change strategies and resort to inciting internal revolt among Kushluk’s supporters, leaving the Katay more vulnerable to Mongol conquest. As a result, Kushluk’s army was defeated. Kushluk fled again, but was soon hunted down by The Arrow’s army and executed.

By 1218, as a result of defeat of Katay, my Mongol Empire extended its control west finally bordering on Khwarazmia, a Muslim state that reached the Caspian Sea to the west and Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea to the south.

Khwarazmia was governed by Shah Al-Din Muhammad.

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Next post;  #79    The Shah, the Ambassadors and the Silk Road

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #77 Hujaku Receives His Reward

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Hujaku knew that if he was to overthrow the emperor he would first have to deal with me, The Great and Glorious Genghis Khan. However, he was most afraid to attack me.

So Hujaku sent someone out to do his work for him

The general to whom he gave the command was named Kan-ki.

Kan-ki went out against me but returned unsuccessful.

Hujaku was very angry with him when he came to hear his report. Perhaps the wound in his foot made him impatient and unreasonable. He declared that the cause of Kan-ki’s failure was his dilly-dallying in pursuing the enemy, which was cowardice or treachery, and, in either case, he deserved to suffer death for it. He immediately sent the emperor a report of the case, asking that the sentence of death which he had pronounced against Kan-ki might be confirmed, and that he might be authorized to put it into execution. But the emperor, knowing that Kan-ki was a courageous and faithful officer, would not consent.

The Emperor

 

In the meanwhile, before the emperor’s answer came back, the wrath of Hujaku had had time to cool a little. Accordingly, when he received the answer, he said to Kan-ki that he would, after all, try him once more.

“Take the command of the troops again,” said he, “and go out against the enemy, Genghis Khan. If you beat him, I will overlook your first offense and spare your life ; but if you are beaten yourself a second time, you shall die.”

So Kan-ki placed himself at the head of his detachment, and went out again to attack my Mongols. We were to the northward, and were posted upon a sandy plain. At any rate, a strong north wind began to blow at the time when the attack commenced, and blew the sand and dust into the eyes of Kan-ki’s soldiers so that they could not see, while their enemies, my Mongols, having their backs to the wind, were very little bothered. The result was that Kan-ki was repulsed with considerable loss, and was obliged to make the best of his way back to Hujaku’s quarters to save the remainder of his men. He was now desperate. Hujaku had declared that if he came back without having gained a victory he should die, and he had no doubt that the man was violent and reckless enough to keep his word. He determined not to submit.

He might as well die fighting, he thought, at the head of his troops, as to be ignobly put to death by Hujaku’s executioner. So he arranged it with his troops, who probably hated Hujaku as much as he did, that, on returning to the town, they should march in under arms, take possession of the place, surround the palace, and seize the general and make him prisoner, or kill him if he should attempt any resistance. The troops accordingly, when they arrived at the gates of the town, seized and disarmed the guards, and then marched in, brandishing their weapons, and uttering loud shouts and outcries, which excited first a feeling of astonishment and then of terror among the inhabitants. The alarm soon spread to the palace.

Indeed, the troops themselves soon reached and surrounded the palace, and began thundering at the gates to gain admission. They soon forced their way in. Hujaku, in the mean time, terrified and panic-stricken, had fled from the palace into the gardens, in hopes to make his escape by the garden walls. The soldiers pursued him. In his excitement and agitation he leaped down from a wall too high for such a descent, and, in his fall, broke his leg. He lay writhing helplessly on the ground when the soldiers came up. They were wild and furious with the excitement of pursuit, and they killed him with their spears where he lay.

Kan-ki took the head of his old enemy and carried it to the capital, with the intention of offering it to the emperor, and also of surrendering himself to the officers of justice, in order, as he said, that he might be put to death for the crime of which he had been guilty in heading a military revolt- and killing his superior officer. By all the laws of war this was a most heinous and a wholly unpardonable offense.

But the emperor was heartily glad that the turbulent and unmanageable old general was put out of the way, for a man so unprincipled, so ambitious, and so reckless as Hujaku was is always an object of aversion and terror to all who have any thing to do With him. The emperor accordingly issued a proclamation, in which he declared that Hujaku had been justly put to death in punishment for many crimes which he had committed, and soon afterward he appointed Kan-ki commander-in-chief of the forces in his stead.

§

Genghis done fishing and is in the Yurt

Now that I am back from fishing I must share some additional information

Some of my story has been passed down through oral stories. Other parts have been gleaned from documented history. I cannot vouch for the entire story. The reason is because various generations of our civilization have left the story for Jacob Abbott and others to discover.
 

JACOB ABBOTT

And so Jacob wrote my story for me. 

History and storytelling is much the same thing.
 
Enough about Jacob Abbott.

There is another person who helped carry the story forward.

Her name is Vikie  Pedia. She has agreed to help me tell you my story from this point forward.

The remainder of my story is therefore ghost written by Vikie Pedia.

From the name, I assume she must be Italian or Greek; so many vowels, so few consonants.

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During my 1206 political rise, the Mongol Empire created by I, The Great and Glorious Genghis Khan (and my allies) shared our western borders with the Western Xia dynasty of the Tanguts. To the east and south was the Jin dynasty, founded by the Manchurian Jurchens, who ruled northern China as well as being the traditional overlords of the Mongolian tribes for centuries.

Remember those names; The Jin Dynasty of the Jurchens and the Xia Dynasty of the Tanguts. 

There will be a quiz on this later!

Battle between Mongol warriors and the Chinese.

 

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Next post;  #78    The Tanguts Request Help from the Jin Dynasty

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #76 Genghis Goes Fishing

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Alakus, Badu, Boyrak, Bulay, Caliph Mohammed Amin Billah, Chamuka, Dilon Ildak, Erkekara, Friedrich Nietzsche, Genghis Khan, Gurkhan, Hakembu, Hujaku, Idikut, Jacob Abbott, Jughi, Kan-ki, Karakorom, Karasher, Khan of Kurga, Kishlik, Kokza, Kushluk, Menglik, Mergus, Mongolia, Mongolian Felt, Mongolian Herds, Mongolian Hordes, Mongul, Nawr, Prester John, Sugujin, Taychot, Tayian, Temujin, The Khan of Katay, transported villages, Tukta Bey, Turkili, Vang Khan, Wisulujine, Yemuka, Yezonkai Behadr, Yong-tsi, Yurt

Genghis Khan has left the Yurt

Gone fishing for a week

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Next post;  #77    Hujaku Receives Karma

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #75 The Death of China’s Emperor; Yong-tsi

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At length the animosity proceeded to such an extreme that Hujaku resolved to depose the emperor, who seemed inclined rather to take part against him, and also to assassinate all the chiefs of the opposite party, and then finally to put the emperor to death, and cause himself to be proclaimed as emperor.

In order to prepare the way for the execution of this scheme, he originally planned to act vigorously against me and my Mongols, but allowed us to advance farther and farther into China. This, of course, increased the general discontent and excitement, and prepared the way for the revolt which Hujaku was plotting.

The time for action arrived.

Hujaku suddenly appeared at the head of a large force at the gates of the capital, and gave the alarm that the Mongols were coming. He pressed forward into the city to the palace, and gave the alarm there. At the same time, files of soldiers, whom he had ordered to this service, went to all parts of the city, arresting and putting to death all the leaders of the party opposed to him, under pretense that he had discovered a plot or conspiracy in which they were engaged to betray the city to the enemy. The excitement and confusion which was produced by this charge, and by the alarm occasioned by the supposed coming of the Mongols, so paralyzed the authorities of the town that nobody resisted Hujaku, or attempted to save the persons whom he arrested. Some of them he caused to be killed on the spot. Others he shut up in prison. Finding himself thus undisputed master of the city, he next took possession of the palace, seized the emperor, deposed him from his office, and shut him up in a dungeon. Soon afterward he put him to death.

 

Yong-tsi faction murdered

This was the end of Yong-tsi ; but Hujaku did not succeed, after all, in his design of causing himself to be proclaimed emperor in his stead. He found that there would be very great opposition to this, and so he gave up this part of his plan, and finally raised a certain prince of the royal family to the throne, while he retained his office of commander-in-chief of the forces.

 

Having thus, as he thought, effectually destroyed the influence and power of his enemies at the capital, he put himself once more at the head of his troops, and went forth to meet me, The Most Glorious Warrior Genghis Khan. Some accident happened to Hujaku about this time by which his foot was hurt, so that he was, in some degree, disabled, but still he went on. At last, he met the vanguard of my army at a place where they were attempting to cross a river by a bridge. Hujaku determined immediately to attack them.

 

The state of his foot was such that he could not walk nor even mount a horse, but he caused himself to be put upon a sort of cart, and was by this means carried into the battle. The Mongols were completely defeated and driven back. Perhaps this was because I, The Great Genghis Khan, was not there to command them. I was at some distance in the rear with the main body of the army. Hujaku was very desirous of following up his victory by pursuing and attacking the Mongol vanguard the next day. He could not, however, do this personally, for, on account of the excitement and exposure which he had endured in the battle, and the rough movements and joltings which, notwithstanding all his care, he had to bear in being conveyed to and fro abont the field, his foot grew much worse. Inflammation set in during the night, and the next day the wound opened; so he was obliged to give up the idea of going out himself against me, the glorious enemy.

 

GENGHIS

Well – that is the story ‘according to Hujaku’, — personally – I think Hujaku lacked the stomach for a battle against me.

 

And so Hujaku sent general Kan-ki instead.

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Next post;  #76    Genghis Goes Fishing

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #74 Genghis Khan Wounded

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I obtained access to the interior of the Chinese dominions, and Yong-tsi and his great general Hujaku became seriously alarmed. At length, after various excursions and counter-excursionss, I learned that Hujaku was encamped with the whole of his army in a very strong position at the foot of a mountain, and I decided to proceed forward and attack him. I did so; and the result of the battle was that Hujaku was beaten and was forced to retreat.

 

He retired to a great fortified town, and therefore I followed him and laid siege to the town.

Hujaku, finding himself in imminent danger, fled; and I was on the point of taking the town, when I was suddenly hindered in my career by being wounded severely by an arrow which was shot at me from the wall. The wound was so severe that, while not showing my pain, I found that I could not successfully direct the operations of my army, and so I withdrew my troops and returned to my own country, to wait there until my wound healed.

 

In a few months I was entirely recovered, and the next year I fitted out a new expedition, and advanced again into China.

Meanwhile, (back at the ranch) Hujaku, who had been repeatedly defeated and driven back, by me – – The Grand and Glorious Genghis Khan – – Hujaku had fallen into disgrace. His rivals and enemies among the other generals of the army, and among the officers of the court, conspired against him, and represented to the emperor that he was unfit to command, and that his having failed to defend the towns and the country that had been committed to him was the result his cowardice and incapacity. In consequence of these representations Hujaku was dismissed from his command in disgrace.

This made him very angry, and he determined that he would have his revenge. There was a large faction in his favor at court, as well as a faction against him; and after a long and bitter contention, Hujaku once more prevailed, and induced the emperor to restore him to his command.

 

The quarrel, however, was not ended, and so, when I returned, in glory, the next year to renew the invasion, the councils of the Chinese were so distracted, and their operations so paralyzed by this feud, that I, once more in Grand and Glorious manner, gained very easy victories over them. The Chinese generals, instead of acting together in a harmonious manner against me, the common enemy, were intent only on the quarrel which they were waging against each other.

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Next post;  #75    The Death of Emperor Yong-tsi

GENGHIS KHAN; my own words #72 The Great Wall of China

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In the year 1211, that is, about five years after my election as The Most Glorious Khan, I became involved in a war with the Chinese, which led, in the end, to very important consequences. The kingdom of China lay to the southward of the Mongol territories, and the frontier was defended by the famous Chinese wall, which extended from east to west, over hills and valleys. The wall was defended by towers, built here and there in commanding positions along the whole extent of it, and at certain distances there were fortified towns where powerful garrisons were stationed, and reserves of troops were held ready to be marched to different points along the wall, wherever there might be occasion for their services.

 

The wall continued from the great Gobi Desert to the sea, for many hundred miles

 

The wall was not strictly the Chinese frontier, for the territory on the outside of it to a considerable distance was held by the Chinese government, and there were many large towns and some very strong fortresses in this outlying region, all of which were held and garrisoned by Chinese troops. The inhabitants, however, of the countries outside the wall were generally of the Tartar or Mongol race. They were of a nation or tribe called the Kitan, and were somewhat inclined to rebel against the Chinese rule. In order to assist in keeping them in subjection, one of the Chinese emperors issued a decree which ordained that the governors of those provinces should place in all the large towns, and other strongholds outside the wall. This regulation greatly increased the discontent of the Kitan, and made them more inclined to rebel. Besides this, there had been for some time a growing difficulty between the Chinese government and myself. We Mongols had been for a long time accustomed to pay some sort of tribute to the Emperor of China, and many years before, while Genghis Khan, under the name of Temujin, was living at Karakorom, a subject of Vang Khan, the emperor sent a certain royal prince, named Yong-tsi, to receive what was due. While Yong-tsi was in the Mongol territory he and I had met, but we did not agree on even the slightest point.

 

The Chinese prince insulted me several times, which I deeply resented. My character, at that time, was marked with a great deal of pride and spirit; therefore, I opposed the payment of the tribute. Yong-tsi became very displeased with me, and, on his return, made serious charges against me to the emperor, and urged that I should be seized and put to death. But the emperor declined engaging in so dangerous an undertaking. . Yong-tsi’s proposal, however, became known to me, and I secretly resolved that he would one day have my revenge.

At length, about three or four years after I became the All Powerful and Great Genghis Khan, the emperor of the Chinese died, and Yong-tsi succeeded him. The very next year Yong-tsi sent an officer to me with a demand for the usual tribute. When the officer came into my presence and made his demand, I asked him who was the emperor that had sent him with such a message. The officer replied that Yong-tsi was at that time emperor of the Chinese.

 

Yong-tsi

“Yong-tsi?” I repeated in a tone of great contempt. I continued on with “The Chinese have a Proverb that such people as Chinese ought to have a God for their emperor; but it seems they do not know how to choose even a decent man.”

It was true that they had such a proverb. They were as remarkable, it seems, in those days as they are now for their national self-importance and vanity.

” Go and tell your emperor,” I added, “that I am a sovereign ruler, and that I will never acknowledge him as my master.”

When the messenger returned with this defiant answer, Yong-tsi was very much enraged, and immediately began to prepare for war. I commenced at once for my war preparations. I sent envoys to the leading khans who occupied the territories outside the wall inviting them to join me. I raised a great army, and put several divisions of it under the charge of my most able generals. Yong-tsi raised a great army too. It amounted to three hundred thousand men. He put this army under the command of a great general named Hujaku, and ordered him to advance with it to the north, to intercept my army on its way, and to defend the wall and the fortresses on the outside of it from my attacks.

 

In the campaign which ensued I was most successful. My Mongols took possession of a great many towns and fortresses beyond the wall, and every victory that they gained made the tribes and nations that inhabited those provinces more and more disposed to join them. Many of them revolted against the Chinese authority, and turned to my side. One of these was a chieftain so powerful that he commanded an army of one hundred thousand men. To bind himself solemnly to the covenant which he was to make with me, he ascended a mountain in company with the envoy and with others who were to witness the proceedings, and there performed the ceremony customary on such occasions. The ceremony consisted of sacrificing a white horse and a black ox, and then breaking an arrow, at the same time pronouncing an oath by which he placed himself under the most solemn sanctions to be faithful to me.

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