The Jin Dynasty at the Brink

By the early 13th century, the Jin Dynasty—once a formidable power that had overthrown the Northern Song—found itself in a precarious position. The rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire posed an existential threat. The Jin capital, Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing), became the focal point of a brutal struggle for survival.

Internal instability exacerbated the crisis. In the summer of 1213, a series of coups rocked Zhongdu. The most consequential was the power grab by Hushahu, a Jin general who overthrew Emperor Weishao and executed key military leaders like Wanyan Gang. These purges left the Jin army leaderless at a critical moment. Worse, Hushahu withdrew troops from the northern frontiers to consolidate his power, leaving key passes like Juyong and Zijing undefended. The Mongols, seizing the opportunity, poured into the North China Plain virtually unopposed.

The Third Siege of Zhongdu

By autumn 1213, Genghis Khan laid siege to Zhongdu for the third time. Unlike previous attempts, he adopted a strategy of attrition. Instead of direct assaults, Mongol forces blockaded the city while three army groups ravaged Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi. The countryside was left in ruins—cities burned, fields abandoned, and corpses littered the roads.

Inside Zhongdu, fear and starvation took hold. Despite having tens of thousands of troops, Jin commanders refused to engage the enemy. A contemporary official, Geng Duanyi, lamented that “not a single officer dared to fight.” Meanwhile, food supplies dwindled. The government first begged for grain donations, then resorted to forcible confiscations. Prices skyrocketed—three pounds of silver could barely buy three liters of rice. Starvation killed nearly half the population.

Desperation and Delusion

As conditions worsened, desperation bred absurdity. Emperor Xuanzong established a “Talent Recruitment Bureau” to seek miracle solutions. Charlatans flocked to the court, including one Wang Shouxin, who claimed to surpass even Zhuge Liang in military genius. Promoted to general, Wang trained a ragtag militia in bizarre rituals, parading under banners reading “Ancient and Modern Confrontation.” His “army” only ventured outside to scavenge or murder civilians, returning with heads to claim false victories. The farce mirrored the fall of the Song Dynasty a century earlier, when similar delusions had preceded collapse.

The Mongol Ultimatum and Aftermath

By spring 1214, the Mongols regrouped at Zhongdu’s gates. Genghis Khan, weighing the costs of a prolonged siege, offered terms: the Jin would surrender vast territories, pay a massive indemnity, and offer a princess in marriage. The humiliated Emperor Xuanzong accepted. As Mongol forces withdrew, they enslaved tens of thousands of civilians—a tragedy immortalized in the poet Zhao Yuan’s Lament of the Neighbor’s Wife:

“The neighbor’s wife weeps, her cries so bitter—
Ten in her household, now only five remain.
I ask, ‘Who was lost?’
Her son slain, her husband taken.
The fields lie fallow, the house in ashes…”

Legacy of the Siege

The siege marked the beginning of the Jin Dynasty’s end. Within two decades, the Mongols returned to obliterate the remnants of Jin power. The events also foreshadowed the Mongol conquest of Southern Song, demonstrating their mastery of psychological and logistical warfare. For modern historians, Zhongdu’s collapse serves as a case study in how internal strife and leadership failures can hasten a empire’s downfall—a lesson echoing through centuries of military history.