The Yuan Dynasty is dying, why is there no one to help
Looking at the soon-to-be-fallen territories and subverted countries, Kublai Khan let out a helpless sigh. Looking back on the past, the southern conquest and the northern war, the largest country in the history of the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty.
But his heart was full of unwillingness, this huge Yuan Dynasty, so many khanates, why didn't any of them come to our aid at a critical moment?
He probably had in his heart countless words insulting other khanates: these ungrateful fellows! The Yuan Dynasty was too good for them! But is this really the case? Was the fall of the Yuan Dynasty its own reasons or the indifference of other khanates?
When the Yuan Dynasty was in decline, what were the other khanates in? Actually, from the beginning, we were not of one mind. In 1260 AD, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty and became the founding emperor.
But before he officially ascended the throne, he also had a formidable rival - Ali Buge.
The power struggle between Meng Ge and Ali Buge, as well as the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, laid the groundwork for the internal contradictions of the Yuan Dynasty. When the Mongol Empire was preparing to attack the Central Plains, Möngke, as the Great Khan, was the main commander, Ali Buge was assigned to stay in the Mongol stronghold, holding most of the army in his hands, close to the core of the Mongol ruling force, while Kublai Khan was sent to attack in the front, doing mostly hard work, charging ahead, and having little contact with the Mongol nobility.
However, when Meng Ge, Kublai Khan, and the general Wu Liangbing attacked the Southern Song Dynasty in three ways, Meng Ge died unexpectedly on the march and did not leave a last word. His sudden death left the position of the Great Khan of Mongolia vacated, and both Kublai Khan and Ali Buge eyed this position of supremacy.
Due to his proximity to the heart of the Mongol tribes, Ali Buge, influenced by his desires and the people around him, quickly gathered the support of the elders and elected the leader, establishing his own political team.
His actions broke with the previous model of imperial succession and challenged the succession system of the Mongol Empire. Ali Buge thought he had won the game, but he was in trouble after Kublai Khan took the throne early.
When Kublai Khan saw that Ali Buge's strategy was about to put him on the throne, he responded flexibly and preemptively proclaimed himself the new Great Khan in Monan. This made Ali Buge scramble, and he immediately convened a general assembly of the tribes that supported him, hoping to get the support of the people at the meeting and proclaim himself emperor.
This led to the emergence of two Great Khans in the Mongol Empire, and this awkward situation was about to trigger a fierce and formal struggle.
Among the Mongol clan nobility, Ali Buge was recognized as the Great Khan. Conventional wisdom holds that only those who are recognized by the tribal nobility are the true Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Kublai Khan's self-proclaimed Great Khan is bound to be criticized by all sides.
Therefore, the top of the Mongolian aristocracy did not recognize Kublai Khan's identity. With the support of the nobles, Ali Buge confidently led his army south to attack Kublai Khan. However, he did not expect that his military strength was far from that of Kublai Khan, who had been fighting for many years.
Under Kublai Khan's carefully planned military deployment, Ali Buge's army was defeated and imprisoned by Kublai Khan's side. In the end, Ali Buge personally sued for peace, confirming Kublai Khan's status as the true Great Khan.
Soon after, Ali Buge died, and Kublai Khan began his imperial era, but among the Mongol clan nobility, not a single one really recognized him.
They believed that Kublai Khan had not gained the status of Great Khan through legitimate means, that the nobility had not recognized him, and that it was difficult for them to benefit from it. In addition, the Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan further aggravated the ** of the Mongol Empire, and the country was administered separately by several khanates.
There was a deep estrangement and suspicion between these khanate administrators and Kublai Khan, and this distrust doomed the Yuan dynasty to a lonely self-struggle and self-destruction.
However, in the flood of history, who can ensure their own safety? Yuan Dynasty: Internally corrupt and externally dilapidated, it was already difficult to sustain the Yuan Dynasty's fierce wars, conquests, displaced people, and homeless.
Although the country has a vast land, it has long been internally fragmented, the economy is backward, political reform has failed, and people's livelihood problems have long affected every inch of the country's land.
In the history of the Central Plains, the Yuan Dynasty was the first period ruled by a foreign race. During the reign of the Mongols, due to the lack of adaptation to the land and water and cultural differences, the political system and the psychology of the people in the Central Plains had a huge impact.
The Mongols were adept at clan administration, but they were not familiar with the establishment of political systems, which made it difficult for talented people to be used. Although Kublai Khan tried to integrate Han Chinese culture into Mongolian culture, the deep-rooted thinking was difficult to change.
For the paddy fields in the south, the Mongols had ordered the cultivation of grass and the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, but this practice ignored the geographical environment and local cultural customs, and now seems impractical.
In 1294, the death of Kublai Khan put the Yuan Dynasty in an irreparable position. Kublai Khan's descendants did not live long, and there were frequent changes in government and government, and in just ten years, six emperors took turns to ascend the throne.
The frequent changes of regime heralded a period of chaos and disorder in political leadership and a lack of stable development. The frequent change of leaders at the top has led to social unrest, and the people at the bottom are under tremendous pressure to live, complain and lose trust in the people.
The year of natural and man-made disasters was even worse, with corrupt officials and increased taxes, which led to the destruction and displacement of the people, and the resentment of the rulers deepened, and the desire to change the status quo intensified.
The increasingly acute contradictions between the rulers of the state and the lower strata of society eventually led to the outbreak of peasant uprisings and the social order falling into chaos.
The helplessness of reality is not that there is no salvation, but that there is no power to return to heaven. When the Yuan Dynasty itself could not be protected, what fate did the surrounding khanates experience? Let's start with the largest khanate, the Golden Horde.
Its ruler was Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi. However, due to the vast territory and complex personnel, the difficulty of ruling was great, and the Golden Horde was in a state of ** for a long time.
The Mongols held a small number of dominances, mostly Turkic, and differences in cultural practices also had a profound impact on the rule. Ethnic diversity and unpredictability of the people's hearts made it extremely difficult to govern the Golden Horde.
Then look at the Chagatai Khanate, which was the fief of Genghis Khan's second son, Chagatai. However, from the very beginning of its establishment, the country was in turmoil, there were frequent wars, and the country's development was also constrained by its geographical location.
The barrier of the Tien Shan Mountains makes it difficult for social and economic development. The wheel of history has not long turned, and the Chagatai Khanate has become two khanates, and these two khanates are constantly fighting each other.
Although these khanates were not properly governed in history, their stories show us the brutality of power struggles and the difficulty of governance.
The turmoil of the country and the turmoil in the last years of the Yuan dynasty prevented the Chagatai Khanate from providing substantial help. And the Ilkhanate, although ruled by Genghis Khan's grandson Hulegu, tried to rule the country with religious ideas, making Islam the religion of the state.
However, this attempt ended in civil strife and the overthrow of the rule, and by the 14th century, the Ilkhanate had already existed in name only, unable to aid the Yuan dynasty. Similarly, the Ögedai Khanate had already fallen in 1309, they had opposed the rule of the Yuan Dynasty early on, and were divided between the Yuan Dynasty and the Chagatai Khanate, so at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ögedai Khanate had ceased to exist and could not rescue the Yuan Dynasty.
At that time, the Yuan Dynasty was not the only country facing difficulties, and other khanates were also in a state of emptiness and powerlessness under the leadership of their rulers, let alone aiding the Yuan Dynasty.
There are many similarities in the historical development of these countries, with the incompetence of the ruling class, the short-sightedness of political leadership, and the failure to integrate appropriate local economic development, resulting in an empty treasury, chaotic class governance, and the inability of the people to live and work in peace and contentment, but forced to fight, leading to internal turmoil and constant wars.
When your own strength is insufficient, how can you help others? Even though the situation in other countries was stable, the relationship between the Yuan dynasty and these countries was not close. Whether it is a historical legacy or a real challenge, the mutual aid relationship between countries requires multifaceted connections and interactions.
To truly have a sense of great power, it is necessary to establish a relationship of cooperation and mutual assistance at an early stage, which is not only beneficial to the country, but also has the same impact on interpersonal relations. The cycle of cause and effect may have doomed this ruthless and helpless situation as early as the beginning.
The fall of the Yuan Dynasty was ultimately the result of its own corruption, and the other khanates were also mired in governance chaos from which they could not escape. Through a historical lens, we may be able to better understand and examine this phenomenon, but we can only feel the nostalgia for the people who are caught in it.
References: "A Detailed Explanation of the Yuan Dynasty" Li Dongfang, "New Yuan History" Ke Zhaochen, "The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire" Rene. Grusset.