Ch.12Gur Khan (4)

# Boom!

Megujin-se’uldu.

As the chieftain and Khan of the Tatars, he couldn’t hide his fury at the news of the Khamag Mongol’s sudden attack.

“Those Khamag peasants dare to raise their swords against me…?”

“Y-yes, Khan. W-what will you do?”

“Damn it… after all the dirty work I’ve done for them…”

Megujin-se’uldu ground his teeth.

It made sense for him to be angry, as the Khamag Mongol attack on the Tatars meant that the Jin Dynasty had permitted this invasion.

For a long time, the Tatars had followed the Jin Dynasty’s orders, preventing the unification of the Yeke Mongol Ulus.

By handling the Jin’s dirty work and plundering various tribes, they had been able to build their national strength.

They could only act this way because the Jin Dynasty had their back.

The relationship between the Jin Dynasty and the Tatars was essentially that of employer and employee.

The fact that the Jin Dynasty, who had been protecting them, showed no reaction to the news of the Khamag Mongol invasion of the Tatars could only mean one thing.

The Jin had abandoned the Tatars.

There was no other reasonable explanation for the current situation.

“But the Jin shouldn’t know about this… unless…”

“I-it seems information has leaked from somewhere.”

At his lieutenant’s words, Megujin-se’uldu ground his teeth again.

“So that Goryeo bastard finally made his move.”

The reason Megujin-se’uldu had turned against the Jin Dynasty was because of a proposal from Goryeo.

To be precise, it was a joint proposal from the Song Dynasty and Goryeo,

containing a plan to join forces and defeat the Jin Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty had promised the Tatars the Liaodong territory they had always coveted.

The Tatars, who had been building their power under the Jin Dynasty, were beginning to feel limited. They had no reason to refuse this offer.

“You there.”

“At your command, Khan.”

“Go and bring that Goryeo bastard before me immediately.”

Megujin-se’uldu was burning with rage.

Fearing that his fiery anger might be directed at him next, the lieutenant quickly left the ger and headed toward the tent where the Goryeo envoy was staying.

After a short while, a man appeared.

He had straight eyebrows and neat hair, wearing attire that clearly identified him as someone from Goryeo.

“You bastard!”

“What seems to be the matter?”

The man remained calm despite Megujin-se’uldu’s fury.

Rather, he looked at the Tatar Khan as if asking why he had been summoned.

“The Jin Dynasty has discovered our plan!”

“Is that so?”

When the man responded so nonchalantly, Megujin-se’uldu could no longer contain himself. He drew his sword and pointed it at the man’s throat.

“Only you and I in this place know of this plan. How does the Jin Dynasty know about it?”

“The Khan of the Tatars seems to be confused.”

“Don’t try to deceive me with that silver tongue of yours!”

“I’m not trying to deceive you, just clear up a misunderstanding. As you know, this plan involves not only Goryeo and the Tatars, but also the Song Dynasty.”

“The Song Dynasty…?”

“Yes. Currently, the Song Dynasty is divided between those who believe they should fight the Jin Dynasty and those who believe they should make peace with them, due to the Jin threat.”

Megujin-se’uldu knew this fact better than anyone.

He couldn’t help but nod at the Goryeo envoy’s persuasive words.

His sword gradually lowered.

Encouraged by this, the Goryeo envoy smiled and continued.

“In other words, there’s a high possibility that a Jin spy within the Song Dynasty noticed this fact and informed the Jin.”

“So… it’s not Goryeo’s fault?”

“That’s right. We are allies who have joined hands with the Tatars to bring down the Jin Dynasty. Are you doubting our alliance now?”

“…Hmm… I understand for now.”

“I’m glad the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

Megujin-se’uldu still glared at the Goryeo envoy with a suspicious expression.

The Goryeo envoy, looking back at him, was inwardly thinking that he had narrowly escaped.

In fact, it was none other than himself who had informed the Jin Dynasty that the Tatars had turned against them.

In other words, he had acted as a double agent.

Of course, the information he had passed to the Jin Dynasty only mentioned that the Tatars had turned against the Jin, omitting any mention of Goryeo and the Song Dynasty.

The reason the Goryeo envoy had done this was because the Tatars had made excessive demands.

Megujin-se’uldu had demanded that the third daughter of the current Goryeo Emperor, King Jangyo, be sent to him as a wife.

In Mongolia, it was common to form alliances through marriage, sending children to marry into allied families, so the Tatar’s demand was not unusual.

Goryeo maintained a tributary relationship with the Jin Dynasty, being nominally a kingdom externally but an empire internally.

Goryeo already considered it humiliating to send an imperial princess to the Jin Dynasty, their suzerain.

So when the Khan of the Tatars, who had no proper lineage, demanded an imperial princess from an empire, one can easily understand how absurd this was from Goryeo’s perspective.

For this reason, Goryeo no longer wished to maintain relations with the Tatars.

Additionally, the Song Dynasty was still dealing with the aftermath of Emperor Gaozong’s execution of the treacherous minister Jin Hui.

The interests of these two countries aligned,

and naturally, the Tatars fell into a trap set by the Song Dynasty and Goryeo, becoming bait to divert the Jin Dynasty’s attention.

Of course, since the Jin Dynasty didn’t move directly, Goryeo’s plan wasn’t completely successful.

But with the Khamag Mongol, seemingly supported by the Jin Dynasty, coming to attack the Tatars, half of the plan had succeeded.

Anyway, from the Goryeo envoy’s perspective, he had almost been caught.

Fortunately, the Tatar Khan hadn’t noticed, so now if he could just return to Goryeo…

“Fine. I’ll believe you. But you will remain here.”

“When you say remain here…”

“I intend to ask the King of Goryeo whether you’re telling the truth or not.”

“I should return to Goryeo myself…”

At those words, Megujin-se’uldu immediately drew his sword.

He glared at the envoy as if ready to kill him on the spot.

“Even the mighty Khitan, who established the great Liao Dynasty, were deceived by the tongues of Goryeo men and vanished like dust on the steppe. I don’t intend to make the same mistake.”

Then he turned to his lieutenant and gave an order.

“Gag that Goryeo bastard and lock him up. He might try to kill himself.”

“W-wait! I-I’ll return to Goryeo and tell them to send troops to save the Tatars. So…!”

Thud.

The Goryeo envoy collapsed from the lieutenant’s punch.

The lieutenant carried the unconscious envoy over his shoulder and went outside.

“Those Goryeo bastards can never be trusted…”

As Megujin-se’uldu was saying this and clicking his tongue, suddenly the tent opened and another lieutenant rushed in urgently.

“B-big trouble, Khan!”

“What is it?”

“The Khamag Mongol bastards are already at our doorstep!”

Megujin-se’uldu shouted in surprise.

“Do their horses have six legs or something? Even though the Khamag Mongol territory is close, how could they reach here in just one day!”

“I saw it with my own eyes! Th-they’re really the Khamag Mongol!”

Megujin-se’uldu gritted his teeth.

He kicked his chair and stood up, shouting loudly.

“Prepare the soldiers immediately! I’ll deal with these peasants myself!”

* * *

Jadaran Elunka was breathing heavily.

Next to him stood his son, Jamukha.

“This… was actually possible.”

“It’s truly amazing, Father.”

“I think so too.”

Elunka nodded as he caught his breath calmly.

Then he turned his head to look at the man leading this massive army.

The man who had been bedridden for a long time after being poisoned by the Tatars.

Many Mongols had said that the Borjigin Kiyat tribe he led would completely disappear.

This made sense because the Borjigin Kiyat relied solely on the man’s leadership.

As proof, as soon as he was poisoned, his tribesmen fled, and his relatives openly stole his tribe members even as the steppe people watched.

The Borjigin Kiyat nearly vanished like that.

But the man miraculously woke up and immediately called for a kurultai, demanding that the laws of the steppe be upheld.

It was a legitimate request, but the man’s relatives had little interest in attacking the Tatars.

They refused his request, citing various reasons.

The man was greatly angered by this.

He returned to his tribe and waited for the time of revenge while building his strength.

After building his strength, the man appeared at the bokh with an even larger body than before he was poisoned.

And as if Daichi Tengri had possessed his body, he overpowered two Khans who attacked him.

This had all happened in just 6 months.

The man leading this great army had unified the Khamag Mongol, which had seemed eternally divided, in just 6 months.

And now…

“Now he has drawn his sword to punish those who tried to harm him.”

At Elunka’s words, Jamukha looked at his father and carefully asked.

“Father, I dare to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“You speak as if he will unify not just the Tatars, but the entire Yeke Mongol Ulus… I want to know if my guess is correct.”

“Yeke Mongol Ulus…”

Elunka’s voice trailed off.

Then he turned his head to look at the Gurkhan, Yesugei, who was leading the great army.

“The Yeke Mongol Ulus is not a vessel large enough to contain him.”

“…”

“He is someone who will conquer the world beyond the vast steppe.”

At those words, Jamukha looked at Yesugei.

He nodded as if understanding his father’s words.

This made sense because they had reached the Tatars’ location in just a day and a half by alternating between three horses.

Alternating between horses was common in Mongolia.

However, this method was usually used for hunting, not for battle.

But Yesugei had introduced this to tactical marching, allowing them to arrive here while maintaining their combat effectiveness.

In other words, Yesugei had exceptional military ability.

A leader with the leadership to unify the Khamag Mongol and the military ability to march while maintaining combat effectiveness.

Thousands of Mongol cavalry following such a leader.

To Elunka’s eyes, it seemed inevitable that the Mongols would conquer the world.

“If the Gurkhan conquers the world… what should our Jadaran family do?”

Elunka turned to look at his son.

He gave sincere advice to his son, who was thinking about the future of their family.

“Stay by his side. Become friends with his son. That will make our Jadaran family the foremost family in an empire that conquers the world.”