He was brutal, if it served his purposes.
At other times he was cunning when he needed to be.
It has been thought that he never had more than 250,000 men under arms, and that rarely. And they were spread out over his entire empire.
Because as a boy he had been abandoned by most of the clan after his father’s death, and hunted by his father’s enemies, he valued loyalty above anything else.
One of his best friends, and later a general in his army, was Bo’orchu whom he met as a boy.
About Bo’orchu....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%27orchu
There are stories that if a trader tried to haggle with him Genghis Khan would take the trader’s wares and probably kill him.
There are other stories that if a trader presented a sample of his wares, a list and gave everything to the Khan the trader would be paid many times over and sent on his way singing the praises of the Great Khan.
He could also take advice.
When he conquered China he was going to kill the bureaucrats. A few convinced him that they could ensure that his laws were posted in every city, town and village in his empire. They also promised they could the history of his life and conquests.
He let them live and put them to work.
His wife was abducted by some old enemies of his father. When he was finally able to get her back she was pregnant. Not knowing if the child was his or not he presented the baby as his own and raised it that way.
Temujin/Genghis Khan was a very interesting man.
Excellent info on Temujin. He has always been the most interesting historical figure to me. I wish Netflix or Amazon would make a mini series on him similar to the non-woke seasons of Vikings. If done properly, it would be very popular. I will read up on Bo’orchu as well.