Volume Nine元朝秘史 卷09

At first, when the Merkit people were taken captive, the wife of Khutu, the son of Tokhtoa, was given to Ogodei. Half of the people turned back and held the mountain stronghold of Taikhal. Chinggis ordered Chimbai, the son of Sorkhan Shira, to lead the army of the right hand and strike them, and he himself went after Tokhtoa. He came to the Altai and passed the winter there, and in the spring of the next year he crossed the Arai Pass. Just then Khuchulug of the Naiman had joined Tokhtoa, and they were putting their troops and horses in order at the head of the Bukhdurma water on the Irtysh River. Chinggis reached that land and fought them, and Tokhtoa was struck by a stray arrow and died. They could not carry his body away, so his son cut off his head alone and took it. The men and horses broke and fled, and as they crossed the water of the Irtysh more than half of them drowned, and the rest scattered and were lost. Then Khuchulug of the Naiman passed through the Uighur and the Kharluk peoples and came to the Chui River in the Muslim lands, and there he joined the Gurkhan of the Khara Kitai people. Khutu and Chilaun of the Merkit went off toward the Kangli and the Kipchak peoples. Chinggis too came back to the old camp. At that time Chimbai broke the stronghold of Taikhal and killed or took captive all the Merkit people. The Merkit who had surrendered earlier also turned against him inside the old camp, but the household people of the camp fought them and won. Chinggis said, "I had them kept together in one place, and they turn against me again. Let every man take his full share of them."

In that year of the ox, Chinggis had an iron cart made for Subeetei and sent him after Khutu and the other sons of Tokhtoa, saying, "They fought us and were beaten, and they have fled. They are like a wild horse with the noose on it, like a deer struck by an arrow. If they have wings and fly up into the sky, you become a falcon and pull them down. If they burrow into the earth like mice, you become an iron spade and dig them out. If they go into the sea like fish, you become a net and haul them out." He said again, "When you cross high mountains and great rivers, take care while the horses of the soldiers are not yet thin and the road food is not yet gone. Do not hunt in a ring along the way without good reason. If you must make road food by hunting, weigh that too. Do not let the cruppers and the bit rings of the horses be tied on. Then the soldiers will not dare to race their horses. If any man breaks the command, bring him to me if he is a man I know, and put him to death on the spot if he is a man I do not know. Be careful. If Heaven helps you and you take the sons of Tokhtoa, kill them there. I say again, when I was small the three branches of the Merkit went around Mount Burkhan three times to take me. Now these people who bear such a grudge are sending out words again. I mean to have you follow them to the end, and for that I have had the iron cart made for you. Though you are far from me, it will be as if you were near. Go, and Heaven will surely help you."

After the Naiman and the Merkit had been taken by Chinggis, Jamukha was among the Naiman, and his people too were broken. Only five companions were left to him, and they went robbing together. They went up Mount Tanglu and killed a wild sheep and roasted it and ate. While they ate, Jamukha said, "Whose son is it who kills a wild sheep and roasts it and eats it this day?" When he had said this, his five companions seized him and sent him to Chinggis. Jamukha had a man say to Chinggis, "The black crow can catch a duck, and the servant can catch his master. The emperor my anda will surely not go wrong." Chinggis said, "How can such men be kept, who dare to seize their own rightful master? Put these men and their children to death, all of them." So he had them killed in front of Jamukha, and then he sent a man to say to Jamukha, "In the past I made you one shaft of my cart, and you parted from me and went away. Now that we have come together again, we can be companions. When one of us forgets a thing, let us tell each other of it, and when one of us is asleep, let us wake each other. In the past you went your own way, yet you were my anda, who brought me fortune and good luck. When the fighting was real, your own heart was sore. When I first fought Ong Khan, you let me know the words of Ong Khan, and that was one kindness you did me. When I fought the Naiman, your words frightened the Naiman, and that was a second kindness you did me." These words he had carried to Jamukha and made known to him.

When the words were done, Jamukha said, "When we were young and became anda, we ate together food that does not pass away, and we spoke together words that cannot be forgotten. Others came between us, and so we parted. When I think of the words we spoke in those days, my face is ashamed, and I dare not meet my anda. Now my anda would have me be his companion. When I should have been his companion I was not, and now that you have gathered in all the people and settled the great seat, there is nothing left for me to be a companion in. If you do not kill me, I shall be like a louse on your collar, like a thorn inside your lapel, and I shall only make my anda uneasy in his heart by day and unsound in his sleep by night. Your mother is wise, and you yourself are outstanding, and your younger brothers have skill, and your companions are men of valor, and you have seventy-three geldings besides. I lost my father and mother when I was small, and I have no brothers, and my wife is one for long talk, and my companions are not to be leaned on. For this reason my anda, who has the command of Heaven, has won. Now be gracious and let me die quickly. Then my anda's heart will be at ease. Let me die, I beg, without shedding blood. After my death I shall guard your children and their children forever." Chinggis heard these words and said, "Jamukha my anda went his own way, yet he never spoke a word that truly meant us harm. He is a man to learn from, and he will not live. I would have him live, but the lots do not fall that way. He is also a man of great name, and he cannot be harmed without cause. There is a cause. Say this to him. 'In the past, over the raiding of the horse herds by Jochi Darmala and Taichar, you turned against me of set purpose and fought me in the land of Baljuna, and you drove me into the narrow place in the land of Jerene and made me greatly afraid. Now I would have you be my companion, and again you will not. I would spare your life, but it cannot be done, and so, by your own word, I shall let you die without shedding blood.'" He had Jamukha die there without shedding blood, and buried him richly with due rites.

When Chinggis had gathered in the people of all the tribes, in the year of the tiger, at the head of the Onon River, he raised the nine-legged white standard and became emperor. He gave Mukhali, who had done him service, the title of king, and ordered Jebe to go after Khuchulug. He put the Dadan people in order, and besides his sons-in-law he made ninety-five men who had done service in founding the state commanders of a thousand.

Chinggis said, "These sons-in-law and the ninety-five commanders of a thousand have their charges already, but among them are officers whose service is greater, and I shall reward them again." He ordered Shigi Khutukhu to go and call Boorchu and Mukhali and the rest. Shigi Khutukhu said, "Is the service of Boorchu and Mukhali and the rest greater than any man's, that they are to be rewarded again? I have been in your house since I was a child, and I have never left it until I was grown. Is my service less than any man's? What will you give me now for a reward?" Chinggis said, "You have been my sixth younger brother, and you shall take a share like my other brothers, and you shall not be punished for nine offenses. Now that all the people have first been settled, be my eyes and ears. Whatever word you speak, no one shall be allowed to go against it. When there is theft or deceit, you shall judge it, and kill those who should be killed and punish those who should be punished. When the people divide their household goods, you shall decide it. Everything you decide shall be written in the blue book, and afterward no one shall be allowed to change it." Shigi Khutukhu said, "I am the youngest brother. How should I dare to take a share like the other brothers? If you would be gracious to me, give me the people who live inside the earthen walls." Chinggis said, "Take what you judge best for yourself." When Shigi Khutukhu had received this grace, he called Boorchu and Mukhali and Munglik and the rest and had them come in to receive their rewards.

Chinggis said to Munglik, "You have been my companion from my childhood until now, and you have helped me in many things. Above all, when Ong Khan and his son called me by a trick, if you had not stopped me I would have all but fallen into deep water and great fire. I think now of that kindness, and how should even my children forget it? From this day, when we sit, you shall sit in the corner seat. Once a year or once a month we shall take counsel and give you a reward, and it shall not be broken off down to your children and their children."

Chinggis said again to Boorchu, "When I was small I had eight pale geldings, and robbers took them. I followed their track and slept three nights, and I met you. You became my companion at once and went after them with me, and we passed three more nights and took my horses back. Your father Nakhu Bayan had a rich house, and you were his only son. Why were you willing to be my companion? It was because you had a sense of right. Afterward I called you to be my companion again, and you did not refuse. When the three branches of the Merkit drove me into Mount Burkhan, you bore the hardship with me. When I faced the Tatars in the land of Dalan Nemurges and we lay down for the night, a long rain came, and to let me rest you spread the felt cloak and stood over me so that the rain would not come through, until the sky was light, and you shifted your feet only once. That is the proof that you are a man of valor. The rest of your deeds cannot all be told. With Mukhali you also helped me to do what ought to be done, and warned me to stop what ought not to be done, and so I came to this great seat. Now your seat shall be above all others. You shall not be punished for nine offenses. From here westward as far as the Altai, be the commander of ten thousand and rule."

Chinggis said again to Mukhali, "When we were in the land of Khorkhonak Jubur, under the thick pine where the emperor Khutula had danced, the word that Heaven gave you was clear, and from that time I have thought of the words your father Guun Ua spoke to you, and I have spoken well of you. For that reason I now make you king, and set your seat above all others. From here eastward as far as the Kharaun mountains, be the commander of ten thousand of the left hand, and let your children and their children rule there in turn."

Chinggis said again to Khorchi, "When I was young you spoke the words of the omen and bore hardship with me as my companion. At that time you said that if your words of omen came true I should give you thirty wives. Now they have come true, so choose thirty good women from among these people who have surrendered. Take three thousand of the Baarin people, and add to them the Adarkin and other people whom Takhai and Ashikh have charge of, and make ten thousand in all, and rule them as commander of ten thousand. Along the water of the Irtysh River, in the land of the forest people, set up your camp as you please and hold it. In all the affairs of the people there, let them ask your word, and punish those who go against it."