In the history books of the Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan's eldest son Shuchi has always been a figure with a low sense of existence, compared to the second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Wokoutai, and Kublai Khan's father Tuolei, Shuchi has always been inferior to his younger brothers in terms of family status, and is not valued by family members. The main reason for this is because of the problem of The Bloodline of Shuchi, although Genghis Khan has always emphasized that Shuchi is his own son, but most of Shuchi's younger brothers believe that their eldest brother is the child of the Beggars.
Shu Chi's mother was once abducted by the Beggars of Contempt
It was precisely because of this situation that Shuchi did not receive much care from his father from an early age, and it is said that Genghis Khan did not mention his eldest son, Shuchi, when he introduced his sons to his subordinates. And the taciturn Shuchi did not experience the friendship between the brothers in his life, his second brother Chagatai and the third brother Wokoutai were very prejudiced against Shuchi, as a counterattack, Shuchi once insisted on meeting the second brother after chagatai insulted himself.
By the time of Genghis Khan's western conquest of the Kingdom of Khwarazm, because of a series of contradictions, the contradictions between Shuchi and his family members could not be reconciled, and when Genghis Khan led his army back to the division, Shuchi insisted on staying in the Chincha steppe, which also marked a complete break with his father and brothers. And it is precisely because of this western expedition launched by Genghis Khan,
It was only then that shuchi began to appear in the history books of the Iranians, Central Asians, and Russians, and in these foreign history books, historians spoke highly of it, and even the Persian historian Shuzzani, who had always liked to denigrate Genghis Khan and his family members, praised it.
The sons of Genghis Khan
After Genghis Khan launched the Western Expedition, Shuchi participated in the war, and after capturing some towns in Khwarazm, Genghis Khan often ordered the massacre of residents and the destruction of the city's buildings, and the benevolent Shuchi was very opposed to his father's behavior, and he himself was almost never involved in such a thing. In addition to the reasons for the character of Shu chi,
Another reason why Shuchi opposed the Mongol army's burning and looting was because Genghis Khan had promised Shuchi that some of the lands in Huarazimo would become Shuchi's fiefdoms, and in Shuchi's eyes, the Mongol armies were slaughtering his people and destroying his cities.
Due to his low status in the family, Although Shuchi tried his best to stop the atrocities of the Mongol cavalry, he did not succeed, and most of the cities of Khwarazm were still razed to the ground. At the Battle of Jade Dragon Jiechi in 1221, Shuchi, who was responsible for attacking the city, advocated persuading the inhabitants of the city to surrender and try not to destroy the buildings in the city, because At that time, Shuchi had already planned to turn this beautiful city into the capital of his fiefdom.
Ulgench on the south bank of the Amu Darya River
However, Chagatai and Wokoutai, who had always been at odds with Shuchi, after capturing the Jade Dragon Jiechi, actually ignored the persuasion of their brother and diverted water to irrigate the city after slaughtering the residents of the city, turning the once beautiful and rich Jade Dragon Jiechi City into a swamp. Chagatai and Wokoutai fled after destroying the Jade Dragon Jie Chicheng to make peace with Genghis Khan. The dispute caused Shuchi to completely break with his family, and he decided to stay in the Chincha steppe and did not return to the Mongolian steppe until his death.
According to the central Asian history books, Shuchi also praised the Chincha steppe for the rest of his life:
"There is no place in the world where the land is richer than here, and no land is better than the air in the Chincha steppe, the water is sweeter than here, and the pastures and grasslands are wider than here."
Chincha Steppe
It was precisely because of His attempts to actively protect the inhabitants and the city that he received excellent praise in the history books of Central Asia, with historians considering Him to be a benevolent and good man and calling him Sain Khan (Good Khan), while Shuchi's son Battus, who also inherited the benevolent character of his father, was also known as Sain Khan.
Later, when Genghis Khan learned of the conflict between his sons, he decided to invite his sons to hunt together, hoping to resolve Shuchi's resentment toward Chagatai and Wokoutai through a pleasant game. However, Shuchi refused to participate in this hunt, according to The Chronicle of Shuchizani,
Shuchi once complained to his attendants about his dissatisfaction with his father and brothers, accusing him of fainting, destroying countless cities and slaughtering countless residents, and even threatening that if he went hunting with his father, he would take the opportunity to assassinate Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan in film and television works
Rumors about Shuchi's desire to assassinate Genghis Khan were not alone in the rumours. When Genghis Khan attacked Western Xia, he sent people to urge Shuchi to send troops to besiege Western Xia, but Shuchi was reluctant to move east for various reasons. It is said that at this time,
A merchant from Central Asia reported to Genghis Khan that Shuchi had wanted to assassinate Genghis Khan, which led to an angry Genghis Khan deciding to go on another expedition to Central Asia to teach his eldest son Shuchi a lesson, but when Genghis Khan was preparing to send troops, Shuchi fell ill and died in the Chincha steppe.
And Shuzzani also believes that the sudden death of Shuchi is also related to Genghis Khan, he believes that Chagatai told Genghis Khan that Shuchi wanted to defect, which led Genghis Khan to send people to poison Shuchi, but this statement is not highly credible.
References: History of Nasser, History of the Conquerors of the World