This is shown in the well-known words spoken by Genghis Khan, when at the end of July, he met Yelü Chucai for the first time at Ordos in the Sāri Steppe (west of the great bend of the Kerulen River): "Liao and Jin have been enemies for generations; I have taken revenge for you."

The Mongol is said to have been impressed by this frank reply, as well as by Yelü Chucai's looks (he was a very tall man with a long beard reaching to his waist) and sonorous voice.

[5] While Northern China was capitulating to the Mongol onslaught, Yelü Chucai instituted several administrative reforms, like separating civil and military powers and introducing numerous taxes and levies.

But Yelü Chucai convinced Genghis Khan to rule and tax the people, and make use of their extraordinary talents instead of killing all of them in order to further their own riches.

[7] He was buried by Kunming Lake in Beijing, and a temple constructed in his memory stood until 1966, when it was razed during the looting of the Summer Palace by communist Red Guards as part of the Cultural Revolution.