1215 The great Jin Empire was plunged into chaos. After the capture of the Middle Capital, the chancellor committed suicide and the first minister went missing. The young emperor, who came to power after a coup d’état, had serious legitimacy problems.
The medieval capital was overrun by rebellious soldiers who hated the government, and the Mongols were busy ravaging and playing thrones with local warlords. The longtime enemies of the empire, the Tanguts, did not restrain themselves either, and pestilence rained down on the western borders of the state.
Could this have been prevented? Yes, but in 1215, and in 1211.
A huge empire, the light of culture and military art in just a few years turned into an agonizing state after the raids of nomadic peoples. What is not a plot for a historical drama?
How did it all begin?
It all started with the fact that the ruler of the Jin Empire underestimated the scale of the threat from the Mongols. His troops exceeded the nomads in number and equipment, the lands on which to fight, Jin generals knew very well. In such circumstances, it is difficult to allow the thought of defeat.
Indeed, the huge army of Jin was well staffed and ready for battle.
The main advantage of the Mongols was maneuverability, thanks to which Genghis Khan was always one step ahead of his opponents. The first major battle of the Jin army with Mongolian nomads, at the Yehulin Ridge (1211), showed that numerical superiority does not play a significant role in conditions when the troops are dispersed.
Having won the battle, the Mongols began the systematic devastation of the lands of the Jin state. Genghis Khan did not “run ahead of the train” and massively capture cities, he limited himself to simpler and clearer goals — resources.
The defeat of the main army and looting of the Mongols shook the authority of the central government, forcing local princes to think about their loyalty.
At the end of the first campaign, Genghis Khan gained not only resources but also authority, which only served to expand his horde for further raids.
Small but painful jabs
At times, the depredations didn’t even end with the first snow. The elusive Mongols excelled at ravaging settlements in any conditions.
In subsequent campaigns Genghis Khan followed the same tactics. He did not try to gain a foothold in the cities. His troops penetrated further and further to the center, paralyzing the logistics of the Jinians and forcing them to “navigate by the stars”, without intelligence. The Mongols sought the inner circuit of the empire, advancing toward the Middle Capital. Along the way, they invariably caused irreparable damage to agriculture and replenished their reserves in provisions.
The small but maneuverable bands of ruiners deliberately avoided combat with superior forces, focusing on unprotected targets. Settlement looting added to the Jinians’ problems. Under such circumstances, it is not easy to concentrate a huge army within a single region and fight back effectively against foreigners.
The campaign of 1212 again showed the impotence of the empire in fighting the Mongol invaders. In addition, the typical problems of a multinational state were exposed. Feeling the weakness of the central power, many local princes joined the invaders, and some proclaimed independence. It was especially developed in the northern part of the state.
And what was happening in the north?
The Mongol hordes almost always attacked from the north. In accordance with this, local rulers in the northeast and northwest of the empire were the first to meet the invaders. Quite often they managed to buy off the Mongols and after the campaign of 1211 nomads almost did not touch the northern rulers.
It remained only to watch powerlessly as the fed-up Mongols passed along the walls of the city.
Genghis Khan quickly realized that the north was inhabited by peoples who had their own national identity and wished to disassociate themselves from the Jin Empire. This intention became especially clear in the fall of 1213.
Why did 1213 change everything?
The supreme power in the Jin state had fallen. In September 1213, the commander Hushahu removed Emperor Wanyang Yongji from power. In addition to the traditional resignation, the emperor also received a ticket on the heavenly express to his ancestors.
For several days confusion reigned in the capital until Hushahu announced a new emperor, the late ruler’s nephew, Feng-wan Wanyang. The city garrison quickly quelled the unrest, and commander Hushahu took command of the armies of the Jin Empire. The new Jin ruler took the name “Xuan Zong”.
Xuan Zong is one of the few rulers who came to power on bayonets, but was able to hold on without them.
It is quite possible that the commander, indeed, wanted to “iron hand” to solve all problems, but this only aggravated the state of affairs in the empire. Even though Wanyang Yongji was indecisive and weak, he was still a bastion of stability for the political elite of many regions. After the assassination of the emperor, many local princes felt that it was a good time to fight the central government.
How did Genghis Khan take over China?
After the assassination of Wanyang Yongji and several major defeats of the Jin forces in 1213, the territories in the northeast and west became strongholds of anarchy.
Statehood was only on paper, used for its intended purpose in peasant toilets. What emperor? What capital? There was nothing left of it.
Submit to the Mongols? Be kind enough to share your troops.
The events in the northeast of the empire embodied Genghis Khan’s ideal scenario.
The conqueror acted as follows: he sent part of his army to the lands of one of the Jin princes. The first to arrive were ambassadors who “persuaded” the feudal lord to change his patron and swear allegiance to Genghis Khan. As soon as the prince joined the Mongols, the Great Khan requested from him a part of troops for the next campaigns.
Thus, the Mongol army grew like on yeast and became more and more convincing argument in the question of passing under the banners of Genghis Khan.
The princes, who swore an oath to the Mongols, also clearly felt the “taste” of what was happening and, having allocated part of the troops for Genghis Khan’s campaigns, themselves launched into various adventures to enrich themselves at the expense of their neighbors. As a result, the north-east of the empire turned into a bizarre serpentarium, where the princes who had sworn to the Mongols for the sake of security were slaughtering their colleagues left and right. A time of opportunity, what else is there to say.
The death of Khushahu
Today you decide the fate of people, and the day after tomorrow you find yourself in someone else’s hands….
The commander Khushahu, who carried out a coup d’état, did not have time to take full advantage of his new powers. A month after the coronation of Xuan Zong, he got involved in a new political adventure. Hushahu undertook to mop up among the high command, but did not calculate the forces and was killed by General Zhuhu Gaotsi.
The new emperor was barely settled on the throne and was not ready to come into conflict with the military. He appointed Zhuhu Gaoqi to replace Khushahu. In addition, unlike previous campaigns, in early 1214 the Mongols decided to winter in the territory of the Jin state. Neither the high command nor the emperor had any idea how to properly build a defense against the Mongols, who had already laid siege to Zhongdu (Beijing). Realizing that it was pointless to continue further resistance, Xuan Zong requested a truce from Genghis Khan.
A dubious truce
On the rights of the winner Genghis Khan could dictate any terms, but he did very wisely.
The decision to surrender was a real act of desperation of the Jin state. Accepting the parliamentarians from the emperor, probably Genghis Khan, was in indescribable delight at what was happening.
The great conqueror put forward rather mild terms of surrender: a huge tribute in the form of gold and silk, 500 young men and girls in the service of the Mongols, as well as 3 thousand horses.
As payment for lifting the siege of Zhundu, Genghis Khan asked for Princess Qigo as his wife, who became his official spouse, but in fact one of his concubines.
Let’s not forget that we are talking about a great empire that considered all the peoples on the periphery as barbarians. You can only imagine how hard it was for the conservative elite of Jin to marry off their princess to a fierce leader of unwashed nomads!
Emperor Xuan Zong decided for himself that he would definitely take revenge for such a humiliation.
The state of the empire at the time of surrender
As soon as the main Mongol army left the confines of the Middle Capital, the emperor began to develop a plan to move all the administrative buildings to the south, to the city of Kaifeng. This was supposed to help build a new line of defense against the Mongols.
Peasant uprisings, foreign armies and separatists. The Jin Empire was dying.
The empire was falling apart, and the most pragmatic thing to do in this situation was to actually tear away most of the territories for the sake of preserving statehood somewhere.
The north was lost, the west was practically conquered by the Tanguts. Not only did the country suffer from external invaders and rebellious soldiers, peasants began to organize themselves into paramilitary groups. At first the main idea of such associations was to protect their settlements from invaders, then it turned into speeches against the state.
To give you an idea of the scale of the tragedy: in 1215 there were four large radical paramilitary peasant groups in the empire, totaling up to a million fighters.
A desperate rush south
Moving the capital to another city is a very labor-intensive process that requires a great deal of manpower. In addition, given the insecurity of the roads, military escorts had to be emphasized.
The Great Bureaucratic Relocation.
During the relocation, Emperor Xuan Zong ordered to provide better conditions for the main army, send additional supplies and fully equip the soldiers. But at the expense of what? The officials found nothing better to do but, “strip the auxiliary troops”. This had irreparable consequences.
The soldiers, whose horses and part of their uniforms had been taken away, revolted and marched on the Middle Capital, from which all administrative departments had not yet been removed.
The Mongols, too, were not delighted with the transfer of the Jin capital to Kaifeng, and barely having learned about the march of the discontented, immediately sent them reinforcements, and themselves continued to “explore” the north of the empire.
As a result, in 1215, the Middle Capital was taken by auxiliary troops and plundered, and the main army of the state of Jin, sent to deblock the city, was defeated by the rebels.
Emperor Xuan Zong was terrified of what was happening. He managed to get to Kaifeng, but also in the south was turbulent.
The cost of the move
Moving the capital to Kaifeng untied the hands of the Mongols. In total, more than 800 Jin cities defected to the Mongols in 1215, almost halving the territory of the empire. The weakness of the agonizing state awakened new opposition forces. In the fall of 1215 in the east of the empire rebelled warlord Pusyan Wannu, who had an army of 300 thousand people. The impressive number of troops allowed him to almost bloodlessly create his own state and stand under the banners of the Mongols.
This image seemed to me very symbolic to describe the events that were taking place.
The once great state became the arena of localized fratricidal wars. But 1215 should not be considered the end of the Jin Empire. The ruling dynasty was to exist for another 19 years, but what would those years be like?