Chapter 90: The Ultimate Rebellion

After swallowing the entire Tatar tribe, Guo Jing and Nie Huaishang fell back on their old routine: first, they summoned the leaders and shamans of all tribes to a meeting, proposing their request to establish a People's Government and outlining its policies—abolishing slavery, equally distributing cattle and sheep, and ending sacrificial rituals.

Naturally, the slave owners refused their request; those nobles who refused were subjected to struggle sessions, while opposing shamans could continue in their role only if they passed a test.

As for how the test worked, it was simple: shamans claimed to be spokesmen of the gods, so empty a full magazine into their foreheads; the dead were certainly not spokesmen of the gods, while those who survived were.

Originally, such sweeping purges of nobles and shamans would have provoked either dissatisfaction or panic among the herdsmen, but because their preparatory work was so thorough, it caused no panic; instead, slaves and herdsmen from other tribes felt a deep sense of righteous satisfaction.

Before the struggle session against the slave owners, they ordered people to visit victims who had been bullied to death by slave owners, assuring them that the People's Government would deliver justice; then, during the struggle session, they selected suitable individuals to guide the slaves' class hatred toward the slave owners, listing all grievances before carrying out the executions.

Before testing whether shamans were agents of the gods, they first explained the principles behind the shamans' tricks of pretending to be possessed to the masses, even inviting people to try it themselves; medical skills, handled by barefoot doctors trained through manuals, though primitive, were far superior to any shamanic sorcery.

After explaining all the shaman's methods, the veil of mystery was completely lifted, and everyone finally realized the shamans were no different from ordinary people like themselves.

Thus, the benevolent representatives of the base area gave them one last chance to prove they were agents of the gods; unfortunately, none succeeded.

After killing the slave owners and shamans came the familiar distribution of cattle and sheep; the newly enlisted twelve thousand soldiers would receive land first.

Upon hearing this news, those twelve thousand soldiers were overjoyed and felt no resistance to becoming soldiers of the people.

Meanwhile, while they were doing all this, several spies infiltrated; after witnessing Guo Jing and Nie Huaishang's methods of reclaiming the remaining Tatar tribes, they immediately rushed back without rest.

The moment they dismounted, panting heavily, they shouted, "Bad news, Khan! The Tatar tribe has rebelled, completely rebelled!"

Hearing that the Tatar tribe had rebelled, Temujin felt somewhat pleased; he smiled, helped them up, and said gently, "Don't rush, speak slowly. Did Guo Jing fail to control the Tatars, so they rebelled?"

"It's not that the Tatars rebelled; it's that they have completely rebelled! The nobles of every Tatar tribe are being slaughtered!" the spy said anxiously.

"So, Guo Jing's slaughter of the nobles made the herdsmen dissatisfied, so the herdsmen rebelled," Temujin mused thoughtfully.

"No, the herdsmen did not rebel; those herdsmen and slaves, backed by the Nuruhui tribe, are now trampling on the heads of the noble lords and shaman lords; they have killed both the noble lords and the shaman lords!" the spy shouted urgently.

"They dragged the noble lords onto a high platform, forcing the noble lords to kneel before the slaves and herdsmen; while the slaves and herdsmen cursed the landlords, some even climbed onto the platform and pointed directly at the noble lords' noses, scolding them."

The entire great tent fell into silence; everyone inside was among Temujin's closest associates—besides Temujin's three adult sons, there were his four Mongol generals: Borcu, Muqali, Chilaun, and Borqul.

These men, having followed Temujin for years, believed they had experienced everything, yet even they were stunned by the spy's report: nobles kneeling before slaves, slaves pointing at nobles' noses and cursing them—who had ever heard of such a thing?

"Not only that; they publicly explained every shamanic ritual step by step, even inviting slaves and herdsmen to try performing them themselves; slaves and herdsmen could complete the rituals just as well. They also dispatched a group called barefoot doctors to treat the sick in the tribes, and most of those patients recovered under their care."

"This technique can be learned by ordinary people; after training, slaves and herdsmen could become barefoot doctors themselves. Then the slaves and herdsmen grew furious, declaring the shamans liars and demanding to burn them alive as offerings to the heavens. But the Nuruhui tribe offered them one chance: they held a magical artifact and fired ten shots at the shaman's head; if the shaman survived, they could continue as shamans."

The spy swallowed hard and said, "Actually, the artifact struck only once, yet it tore a huge hole in the shaman's head, with blood gushing out nonstop, yet they still fired ten shots at the person wielding the artifact."

Before they could recover from the first shock, the spy's words delivered a second wave of shock.

Those people had actually torn down the veil of mystery surrounding the shamans, revealing the shamans' true nature to everyone. Temujin himself had been elevated to Khan only through the shamans' endorsement; if the shamans were killed, how could he claim legitimacy to rule over those slaves?

But this was only the second shock.

"After killing the shamans and noble lords, they distributed the noble lords' and shamans' cattle and sheep among the slaves and herdsmen; families selected to become soldiers received priority allocation. They also established something called the People's Revolutionary Government, which seemed to be a regime ruled by slaves and herdsmen, with government officials primarily serving these people."

"Stop talking!" Temujin suddenly cut off the spy. His eyes instantly turned blood-red, as if burning flames danced at the bottom of his gaze. He panted heavily, his chest heaving violently, like a beast on the verge of frenzy, ready to unleash his fury at any moment.

"How dare they? How dare they!" Temujin roared in rage.

He finally understood why the spy said they had rebelled: slaves daring to make their masters kneel and admit guilt was a complete and utter rebellion; such a thing had never occurred on the steppe, utterly unacceptable to the Eternal Heaven.

No matter what wrongs a master committed, no matter what he did to a slave, the slave should never defy the master, let alone force the master to kneel before him, point at his nose and curse him, and then completely seize the master's cattle and sheep.

Temujin's anger was mixed with fear; he knew these people must pay the price for their actions, preferably by being utterly exterminated. If they escaped punishment and even prospered, would slaves and herdsmen in other tribes begin to entertain similar thoughts?

If slaves and herdsmen discovered they could live well without masters and shamans, would they overthrow him? He dared not think further.

"Muqali, immediately send people to spread news of the situation in the Tatar tribe; the wider the better, ideally letting the entire Mongol steppe know."

"Borcu, immediately draft a proclamation in my name, denouncing the Tatars for their lack of faith and righteousness in slaughtering nobles who surrendered, allowing slaves to bully masters—an act unacceptable to the Eternal Heaven. Also inform these people about the Tatars exposing the shamans' tricks of pretending to be possessed; they will find every way to make their tribes join us in punishing the Tatars."

After issuing this series of orders, Temujin returned to the great tent to rest; he believed the freshly integrated Tatars could not possibly stand against the entire steppe's tribes.