The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Temujin, escorted closely behind by his three eldest sons, walked out of the main gate. "We have beaten many foes and news of our feats has reached the Great Jin Empire." He shouted at the top of his lungs. "At this moment, the great Emperor of the Jin has sent the Third Prince and Sixth Prince here to officially anoint your Khan as a Jin officer!"

The soldiers, in unison, raised their sabers and shouted with joy. At that time, the Jin controlled Northern China with a fierce and strong army. Their empire was famous and powerful. On the other hand, the Mongols were just a small tribe among many in the middle of the Steppe. That was the reason why Temujin would feel honored to be an official of the Jin Empire.

Temujin ordered the eldest son Jochi to take ten-thousand men with him to welcome and escort the guests while the other forty thousand men lined up in formation, waiting.

In reality, the Jurchen Emperor at the time, Wanyan Jing, who took the title of Zhang Zong, was apprehensive of growing power of some tribes on the Steppe such as Temujin's tribe, the Toghril, Ong Khan's tribe and the Keraits. Fearing that his northern neighbors would grow to be troublesome, he sent the Prince of Rong, his third son Wanyan Hongxi, and the Prince of Zhao, his sixth son Wanyan Honglie to anoint the leaders as officers of Jin. But in addition to tightening the ties of the tribes to Jin and increasing tributes, the princes had another mission: to scout the tribes and make note of the weakness of each so as to be able to gain the upper hand in case of future conflicts. The Prince of Zhao, Wanyan Honglie, was the same one that had traveled to Linan, was wounded by Qiu Chuji at Ox Village, and met the Seven Freaks at Jiaxing.

Guo Jing and the kids stood at a distance, trying to catch a glimpse of this happening. After a long wait, a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon as Jochi met up with Wanyan Hongxi and Wanyan Honglie. The Wanyan brothers had with them ten-thousand elite soldiers, each wearing silk capes, iron armor and carrying a spear in the left hand and a wolf-fang club in the right hand while riding on their horses. The clanging of the armor could be heard for many li around. As the army got closer the silk shone and the armor glowed even more under the bright sun, creating a spectacular scene. The two brothers approached shoulder to shoulder, while Temujin, his sons and generals waited by the roadside to welcome them. Seeing Guo Jing and all the other kids standing there staring at him, Wanyan Hongxi burst out laughing. He reached into his shirt and took out a handful of gold coins and tossed them towards the crowd of kids. "A gift for you kids!" He shouted with a laugh, figuring that the kids would undoubtedly cheer and scramble around on the ground for the money which would show off of his own magnanimity and wealth.

However, host-guest etiquette and respect was of utmost importance to the Mongolians. Not only were his actions inappropriate for the occasion, it was very disrespectful. The Mongol generals and solders were left aghast at his actions. Every one of the kids was a son or daughter of the Mongolian soldiers and generals. Even though they were little, each of them had a sense of self-respect. As a result, none of them picked up the coins. His joy dampened, Wanyan Hongxi tossed another handful of gold coins and shouted: "Come on! Fight over them little devils that you are!"

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This caused an even bigger stir upon the Mongols. Even though the Mongolians had no written language at the time and little culture, they placed a great deal of importance on politeness and respect, especially regarding guests. Mongolians, traditionally, never curse, even when facing a lifelong nemesis or just joking around. When someone enters their gers, no matter if the person was a friend or not, that person would be treated with great respect and honor. By the same token, the guest must absolutely not disrespect his hosts either, for it was considered the greatest of insults. Even though what Wanyan Hongxi shouted was in Jurchen and none of the Mongols understood it, everyone could tell that he was cursing at the kids from his body language and the tone of his voice.

Constantly being told stories of how the Jin rape, pillage, and steal from the people of China; of how the Jin corrupted officials and had Yue Fei killed, Guo Jing's young heart had long been filled with hatred for the Jin. Now, seeing how rude this Jin Prince was, he picked up a couple of gold coins from the ground and, taking a little run, threw them at Wanyan Hongxi with all his might. "Who would want your money?" He shouted. Wanyan Hongxi tilted his head sideways to avoid the coins; but nevertheless, one of them hit him squarely on the cheekbone. Even though Guo Jing wasn't strong and it really didn't hurt, he was still made to look bad in front of tens of thousands of people. Every Mongolian from Temujin downwards cheered on the inside.

Wanyan Hongxi was furious. When he was in China, he had many times killed people at his slightest displeasure. Never had he been humiliated like this. As his temper flared up, he grabbed a spear from the guard that was riding at his side and threw it at Guo Jing's chest with all his might and shouted: "You want to die you little bastard?"

"Third Brother…no!" Wanyan Honglie shouted, knowing this was bad. But he was too late; the spear was already on its way. Just as it looked as if Guo Jing was about die from the spear, an arrow suddenly shot out of the Mongolian army to the left. Like a meteor shooting around the moon, the arrow hit the spear dead on the head with a loud "bang!" Packed with incredible strength, the arrow was able to deflect the spear away despite being many times lighter. Guo Jing immediately scrambled away. The Mongolian soldiers all cheered in unison, shaking the Steppe. The person who shot the arrow was none other than Jebe.

"Third Brother, don't bother with him anymore!" Wanyan Honglie whispered to his brother. Seeing and hearing the might of the Mongolian army, Wanyan Hongxi was a bit shaken, so he just shot a mean look at Guo Jing and cursed under his breath: "Little bastard!"

[Note: Koumiss is a very strong Mongolian alcoholic drink made from horse milk.]

That night the Mongolians celebrated with a huge feast to entertain the honored emissaries.

"Tomorrow, my brother and I are going to bestow a post on Ong Khan." Wanyan Hongxi, somewhat under the influence of koumiss, said to Temujin. "Will the Ambassador join us?"

Temujin was overjoyed at the news and immediately agreed to come along. Ong Khan, a Toghril, was the leader among the tribes on the Steppe. His tribe was the richest and most powerful; furthermore, he was a good man, always treating others as equals. It was no great exaggeration to say that he was respected and liked by every tribe. Ong Khan had once been the sworn brother of Temujin's father. After Temujin's father was poisoned by his enemies and Temujin had nowhere to go, it was Ong Khan who took him as a step-son. Not long after Temujin was married, his wife was taken away by the Merkits. It was only because of Ong Khan and Jamuka, Temujin's sworn brother, joining him that he managed to defeat the Merkits and save his wife.