Ch.94Western Liao (3)

“Well done. Collect the envoy’s body properly, give him a sky burial, and deliver the promised wealth to his family and descendants.”

“I will obey your command.”

The soldier who received my order left the ger.

I made the sign of the cross and prayed for the peace of the envoy who had sacrificed his life to fulfill his mission.

“Don’t worry too much, anda. He was simply carrying out orders. His nobility is known to God and our ancestors, so he will surely go to a better place.”

I nodded at Toghrul’s words.

For an envoy, going to Western Liao was essentially a suicide mission.

This was especially true because I had deliberately ordered him to provoke the emperor of Western Liao.

In medieval times, provoking a ruler’s displeasure essentially meant a death sentence.

Therefore, the envoy had no choice but to head to Western Liao, essentially sacrificing his life.

I had promised the envoy great wealth and protection for his family.

The envoy who accepted my proposal went to Western Liao and successfully completed his mission.

“Thanks to the envoy’s great deed, we now have justification to attack Western Liao.”

It would have been difficult to attack Western Liao solely on the grounds of demanding Kuchlug’s surrender.

But killing my envoy was a different matter.

This gave us the justification to launch a full-scale invasion of Western Liao.

“This is a good opportunity for us. Thanks to this, I can stand on the battlefield with my anda again.”

Toghrul spoke to me with a broad smile, clearly pleased.

Before my son Temujin began to act independently, Toghrul and I had always moved together as allies.

Because of this, Toghrul seemed exceptionally happy to be working together again.

“I too am overjoyed to stand on the battlefield with my anda again.”

“Haha! I knew you would feel the same.”

As we were talking, the door of the ger opened.

The person who appeared was none other than Bandak.

The monk who had saved me when I was critically injured by a Tatar assassin was here for a specific reason.

“It is an honor to bestow God’s blessing upon the Khagan of the steppe on such a joyous day.”

Bandak made the sign of the cross as he looked at me.

I returned the gesture, also making the sign of the cross.

The reason Bandak had come to the ger was for my baptism.

“Since I was revived with your help, I will follow God’s will as you suggested.”

“It was not my help that revived you, Khagan. Your revival was predetermined by God, and I merely passed by that place following His guidance. All of this is God’s arrangement, so there is no need to thank a mere monk like me.”

Bandak spoke these words with humility.

Then he adjusted his posture and stood before me.

“Please place your hand in here.”

Cold, clear water was contained in a vessel.

As I put my hand in it, Bandak spread his arms and exclaimed loudly:

“Great God, creator and overseer of this world, all-powerful being who protects heaven, earth, and our ancestors! Standing here is a son of God and a being who receives heaven’s will. I do not forget that God revived the dying Yesugei through my hands. You know that through my hands, You revived a warrior who will unite the steppe and spread God’s will throughout the world! The warrior You revived with Your hands has received heaven’s grace to destroy the false beings in the world and establish God’s will! That being stands before God! That being is calling upon God! O Heaven! Your warrior stands here! Embrace him with Your omnipotent power! Let no spear or sword of false beings touch his body! Let there be no obstacles in his path! Grant Your warrior the mighty strength to erase the evil beings that cast shadows upon this land!”

The monk’s incantation-like words came to an end.

Then Bandak took a handful of the water in which my hand was immersed and sprinkled it over my head.

“O God! Look upon Yesugei! Let Your glory prove that he has the divine right to rule the four seas!”

With these final words, Bandak made the sign of the cross.

Then, unlike before, he murmured in a calm voice:

“Amen.”

I immediately repeated after him.

“Amen.”

And so the baptism ended.

It felt strange, with elements that seemed more like what Tengri shamans would do than a modern baptism.

I could understand this, since Nestorianism itself had merged with shamanism, and monks even practiced divination.

“Would you permit me to bestow a baptismal name upon the great Khagan?”

This part was similar to Catholicism.

I nodded in response.

“As the Khagan leads the steppe like a savior, you walk the same path as John the Baptist. However, it is difficult to pronounce in Mongolian. With your permission, I would like to offer the Chinese pronunciation ‘Weihan’ as your baptismal name. Would you accept this?”

“That’s fine. If it’s difficult to express in Mongolian pronunciation, I don’t mind. Weihan…”

The name sounded familiar.

Anyway, as the baptism concluded, Toghrul immediately approached me and spoke.

“Finally, you have been baptized! As your anda, I am truly delighted to share God’s grace with you.”

“I am pleased as well.”

I had finally received the baptism that I had been postponing for a long time.

There was actually a reason why I chose to have the baptism before the war with Western Liao.

The reason was that Buddhism was essentially the state religion of Western Liao.

You might wonder what problem Buddhism posed, but religious issues had been quietly emerging within Western Xia.

At that time, Buddhist monks were essentially aristocrats.

They were similar to European clergy. As a result, they were trying to exert influence by colluding with those in power.

From a ruler’s perspective, it was uncomfortable when clergy held power.

So their authority needed to be reduced, but because they were clergy, they couldn’t be dealt with as roughly as the Western Xia nobles.

For this reason, I chose to convert to the minority Nestorian faith.

With my conversion, officials would naturally follow suit.

Nestorianism had many elements that had merged with Tengri faith, making it less likely to provoke resentment among the steppe people.

This would naturally make it difficult for Buddhism to collude with the ruling class and thus harder to establish influence throughout the ulus.

Of course, this wouldn’t completely eliminate Buddhist influence.

But given the nomadic characteristic of following the ruler’s religion, this would still have some effect.

Anyway, apart from these additional benefits, the most important thing was that I had kept my promise to Toghrul.

Toghrul was my most important political partner.

Additionally, he was the father-in-law of my son Temujin.

Maintaining a good relationship with him was essential.

“With your help, I have found a new light.”

Since this was my first baptism, the experience itself was unique.

The ceremony felt sacred, giving me the feeling that only good things would unfold from now on.

Of course, this might have been my imagination. But the feeling that fortune would come my way was definite.

Anyway, Toghrul seemed moved by my words.

He took my hand and continued speaking.

“You are my anda and practically my family. If anyone harms you, I will risk my life to avenge you. Your pain will become my pain. I will share everything I gain through war with you and your descendants, and my descendants will follow this as well. This will remain as the law of the Kerait tribe and be passed down forever.”

“Thank you. My children will also regard you and your descendants as family.”

In fact, Toghrul had made a similar promise before leaving the Mongolian steppe.

This oath was very similar to that one, but with one difference.

He mentioned the Kerait tribe and expressed his will to perpetuate this promise forever.

This essentially meant that the two families would merge into one.

“The two families will, from this moment, become one.”

Two families completely united.

With this, Toghrul became my brother and one who shared the same surname.

* * *

After the baptism, I gathered the darughachi and proclaimed that the Kerait tribe and Khamag Mongol had truly become one.

And to prove this, I bestowed the Borjigin surname upon Toghrul in front of everyone.

“…Thus, Toghrul, the darughachi of the Kerait, has become Borjigin Toghrul. He has become a member of the Borjigin clan, the rightful masters of the steppe, and so have his descendants. With this, the Kerait tribe has truly become one with the Khamag Mongol!”

The darughachi raised their hands in welcome at my words.

Since Toghrul led the Kerait tribe to follow Temujin to the west, the Kerait warriors had essentially been integrated into the Khamag Mongol.

In this situation, they couldn’t help but be pleased when the two tribes were officially declared as one.

“Borjigin Toghrul.”

“I am ready to receive the orders of the great Khagan of the steppe.”

“I appoint you as the commander of the vanguard for the Western Liao expedition. Gather soldiers and punish the emperor of Western Liao who has violated the law of the steppe!”

“I receive your command!”

Toghrul repeated loudly.

Then I turned my head to look at Dei-Sechen and Temujin standing beside him.

“Dei-Sechen of the Khongirad and Temujin of the Khamag Mongol will assist Borjigin Toghrul in attacking Western Liao.”

“I will follow your orders.”

“The Khagan’s will is my will.”

The three men bowed and then rose.

Then they turned to face everyone and shouted loudly.

“The wicked Western Liao has harbored Kuchlug, who abandoned his father and fled! According to the law of the steppe, the great Khagan who rules the steppe demanded that the emperor of Western Liao return him, but what came back was the head of our envoy! Warriors! Western Liao has violated the law of the steppe! I, who carry out the Khagan’s will, will not ignore this!”

“Borjigin Toghrul!”

“Death to those who violate the law!”

“Warriors! Follow me!”

With these words, Toghrul, Dei-Sechen, and Temujin left the ger.

Many tribal darughachi who wished to join the vanguard followed them out.

“It seems more darughachi than expected want to join the vanguard.”

I nodded at Chalukhab’s words.

It seemed that the warriors had gained confidence in expeditions thanks to the success of the Western Xia campaign.

“The successful conclusion of the Western Xia expedition seems to have had a great influence.”

The darughachi remaining in the ger nodded in agreement with Bulqa’s words.

“Building on success is important for the ulus now.”

In books about success or biographies of successful people, this kind of story often appeared.

Building on success.

Whether rich or poor, they built on their successes, large or small, within their given environments.

This was exactly what Mongolia needed now.

We needed to achieve the next success based on the confidence gained from the Western Xia expedition.

That success was necessary for Mongolia, like a small snowball, to grow large enough to cover the entire world.

Of course, there could be failures along the way.

But the experience of success would remain. So we could rise again using that as a foundation.

Mongolia now needed challenges.

Western Liao was the most suitable adversary for Mongolia’s challenge.