... As early as the struggle for the steppe he had spread the claim that Heaven had destined him as ruler; members
of Mongol trading caravans spread stories intended to cause panic among the local populace; forged letters were fed
to Sultan Muhammad which strengthened his mistrust of his Turkic units; freedom of religion was proclaimed; those
who offered no resistance were promised that life and property would be spared; terrible destruction was threatened
in the event of resistance; bloody examples were designed to spread fear and reduce the populace's will to resist....
Paul Ratchnevsky, Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy, Blackwell Publishing
10. This passage reinforces the ideas that
(A) the Mongols used strategy in conquering other areas
(B) the Mongols adapted the practices of those people that they conquered
(C) the Mongols were benevolent to the people they conquered
(D) the western church feared the advancement of the Mongols