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.

CHAPTER XVI.

CONQUESTS IN CHINA.

1211-1216

War continued.--Rich and fertile country.--Grand invasion.--Simultaneous
attack by four armies.--Enthusiasm of the troops.--Captives.--Immense
plunder.--Dreadful ravages.--Base use made of the captives.--Extent
of Mongul conquests.--The siege of Yen-king.--Proposed terms of
arrangement.--Difference of opinion.--Consultation on the subject.--The
conditions accepted.--Terms of peace agreed upon.--Consultations.--The
emperor's uneasiness.--Abandonment of the capital.--Revolt of the
guards.--The siege of the capital renewed.--Wan-yen and Mon-yen.--Their
perplexity.--Suicide proposed.--Wan-yen in despair.--His
suicide.--Mon-yen's plan.--Petition of the wives.--Sacking of the city
by Mingan.--Massacres.--Fate of Mon-yen.--Treasures.--Conquests
extended.--Governors appointed.

After the death of Hujaku, the Emperor of China endeavored to defend
his dominions against Genghis Khan by means of his other generals, and
the war was continued for several years, during which time Genghis
Khan made himself master of all the northern part of China, and
ravaged the whole country in the most reckless and cruel manner. The
country was very populous and very rich. The people, unlike the
Monguls and Tartars, lived by tilling the ground, and they practiced,
in great perfection, many manufacturing and mechanic arts. The country
was very fertile, and, in the place of the boundless pasturages of the
Mongul territories, it was covered in all directions with cultivated
fields, gardens, orchards, and mulberry-groves, while thriving
villages and busy towns were scattered over the whole face of it. It
was to protect this busy hive of wealth and industry that the great
wall had been built ages before; for the Chinese had always been
stationary, industrious, and peaceful, while the territories of
Central Asia, lying to the north of them, had been filled from time
immemorial with wild, roaming, and unscrupulous troops of marauders,
like those who were now united under the banner of Genghis Khan. The
wall had afforded for some hundreds of years an adequate protection,
for no commander had appeared of sufficient power to or