Overview of the Yuan Dynasty.
In 1271, Kublai Khan (1215-1294) was proclaimed emperor and was the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1294), taking the meaning of "Dazai Qianyuan" in the Book of Changes, and officially established the country with the name of Dayuan. In 1272, under the planning of Liu Bingzhong, the Yuan Empire was established in Dadu (present-day Beijing) in the Central Plains of the Jin Kingdom.
In 1279, the Han general Zhang Hongfan commanded the Yuan army to eliminate the last resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty at Yashan, and Lu Xiufu carried the 8-year-old young emperor Zhao Yu to the sea and was martyred, and the Southern Song Dynasty perished. Later, the Mongols attacked Annam (Vietnam), Champa (Vietnam), Java (Indonesia), and Japan in order to consume the surrendered Han or other ethnic populations.
The Mongols were rewarded with a large amount of treasure to the various kings, and the expenses were heavy, and the finances became increasingly strained. The Confucian faction believed that the Yuan Dynasty should save money and reduce taxes. The financial management faction of the Semu people** believed that the southerners had a large amount of property hidden and should be confiscated to solve the financial problems of the imperial court. Kublai Khan eventually appointed the financial faction to solve the financial problems of the imperial court.
After Kublai Khan's death, several sons of the premature crown prince Zhenjin competed for the throne, and Zhenjin's third son, Temur (1265-1307), defeated Jinjin's eldest son Ganmala and second son, Tarama Bara, and succeeded to the throne, namely Yuan Chengzong (1294-1307). During his reign, he basically maintained the status quo, stopped foreign wars, concentrated on rectifying the military and government, and reduced or exempted some taxes in Jiangnan. In the last years of his reign, he also succeeded in making peace with the long-rival Ögedai Khanate and Chagatai Khanate, ending the turmoil in the northwest.
Yuan Chengzong died, due to the early death of the crown prince Deshou, the left prime minister Ahutai supported the queen Buruhan and the Islamic Anxi king Ananda to supervise the state, and intended to make Ananda the emperor. Haishan's younger brother Aiyuli Bali Bada and the right prime minister Hara Hasun staged a coup d'état in Dadu, they beheaded Ahutai, controlled the situation in Dadu, and supported Haishan (1281-1311), who led his army south, to claim the title of emperor, that is, Yuan Wuzong (1307-1311).
Aiyu Li Bali Bada meritorious, Yuan Wuzong canonized him as the emperor's younger brother, and agreed that the Wu clan and the Ren clan alternately called the emperor, that is, the "covenant of Wu Ren". During the Yuan Wuzong period, in order to solve the financial crisis in the Yuan Chengzong period, Yuan Wuzong set up a standing position to stabilize prices, and printed a large number of large silver banknotes, which caused the silver banknotes to depreciate seriously. In 1309, he divided the Ögedai Khanate with the Chagatai Khanate. In 1311, Yuan Wuzong died of indulgence and excessive drinking, and was succeeded by the emperor's younger brother Aiyu Li Bali Bada (1285-1320), who was Yuan Renzong (1311-1320), which was the first peaceful succession to the throne of the Yuan Dynasty. However, in violation of the previous covenant, he was named the king of Zhou, and his son Shuode Bara was renamed as the crown prince. Yuan Renzong's biological mother, the important minister of the Empress Dowager Xingsheng, Tiemu Die'er, was the right prime minister. Yuan Renzong canceled Yuan Wuzong's economic measures, and moved Yuan Wuzong's eldest sons, King Zhou and Shi Xuan, to Yunnan, and Shi Huang on the way to the northwest to herd. Yuan Renzong banished Tu Temur, the brother of He Shixuan, to the south.
Won Injong died, and Shuodeok Bara (1303-1323) ascended the throne as Won Youngjong (1320-1323). Yuan Yingzong inherited his father Yuan Renzong's policy of governing the country with Confucianism, and strengthened the centralized power and bureaucratic system. However, with the expansion of the purge, and the dissatisfaction of the Mongol conservative forces in the imperial court with Yuan Yingzong's Confucian governance, Temu Dieer's righteous son Tiesu assassinated Yuan Yingzong and the prime minister Baizhu in the summer of 1323.
After Yuan Yingzong was assassinated, the eldest son of the Jin king Gan Mala, who was guarding Horin, and his grandson Temur (1293-1328), led his troops to kill the traitor who assassinated Yuan Yingzong and ascended the throne as Emperor Yuan Taiding (1323-1328). Tu Temur, who was exiled to Hainan Island by Yuan Yingzong, was named King Huai and guarded Jiankang.
Emperor Taiding of Yuan died, and the prime minister poured Rasha in Shangdu Fengtaiding Emperor's son Arakibai (1320 1328?) For the emperor, it was for the Yuan Tianshun Emperor (1328). At the same time, Yan Temur, an important minister of Yuan Wuzong's old department, and Boyan, the prime minister of Henan Province, secretly sent envoys to Mobei and Jiangnan respectively, and at the same time welcomed the king of Zhou and Shira and his brother Tu Temur. As a result, Tu Timur (1304-1332) first came to Dadu and established himself as emperor in 1328 for Yuan Wenzong (1328-1332). After He Shira arrived in Helin, he also announced his accession to the throne for Yuan Mingzong.
Yuan Wenzong ostensibly expressed his willingness to abdicate and serve his brother as emperor, and the two met in the south of the capital, poisoned Yuan Mingzong, and reclaimed the emperor. In February 1329, Yuan Wenzong established the Kyujanggak Academy, which was in charge of the book of lectures and history, and inspected the chaos of the past dynasties, and ordered all the descendants of the noble ministers to study in Kyujanggak. His Excellency Kui Chang set up a supervisor of art and literature, who was responsible for translating Confucian classics into Mongolian and proofreading. Prime Minister Yan Temur relied on his merits and played with the court, causing the government to become more corrupt.
After the death of Yuan Wenzong, in order to clear his name of poisoning his brother, he made his seven-year-old nephew Yixuan as emperor, but he died after less than two months of reign, and Yan Timur also died soon after. Yuan Mingzong's eldest son, Tuhuan Temur (1320-1370), was recalled from Jingjiang (Guilin, Guangxi) by the Empress of Zayadu Khan and proclaimed emperor as Emperor Huizong (1333-1368).
At the beginning of the reign of Yuan Huizong, the right prime minister Boyan was very powerful, he forbade the Han people to participate in politics and cancel the imperial examination, controlled the government, and Yuan Huizong had a conflict, the contradiction between Yuan Huizong and Boyan became increasingly acute, and later with the help of Boyan's nephew Toto, Yuan Huizong deposed Boyan and controlled the political situation.
In the early period of the pro-government of Yuan Huizong, he reformed politics and alleviated social contradictions, which was known as the "Zhizheng New Deal" in history. In 1343, Yuan Huizong ordered the revision of the three histories of "History of Liao", "History of Jin" and "History of Song". However, Yuan Huizong neglected political affairs in the later period, so that in 1350, natural and man-made disasters led to popular uprisings.
Kublai Khan lived a long life, he could live to be 80 years old, and the last emperor Yuan Huizong lived to be 51 years old, and these emperors in the middle were all lower than Yuan Huizong. The age of the emperor is very important, and the reason why Kublai Khan was able to seize the throne (51 years old) and start the Yuan Dynasty (58 years old) is closely related to Kublai Khan's age. If Kublai Khan had lived as short-lived as his descendants, his core cause would not have been completed, and perhaps the Southern Song Dynasty would have survived.
Succession to the throne often brings bloody conflicts and sometimes wars. The fierce competition for the throne and the breathtaking infighting suggest that its succession model is not yet mature, and its performance is significantly inferior to that of the large Han dynasties. There is a certain degree of competition for the throne, and there are also certain benefits, which can prevent the emergence of low-intelligence emperors and help to improve the average level of emperors. After a fierce or bloody competition for the winner, the level is not too low, and Kublai Khan is a model of the winner of the competition.
The Khan before Kublai Khan also needed to be recognized by the Mongol noble assembly, and there was also a certain degree of competition, which was a large threshold. It was of great help to raise the level of the successor to the throne of the Khan, and it was an important institutional guarantee that the military power of the Mongol Empire had always been relatively strong, which was the fundamental reason why the Mongols were still so powerful after the death of Temujin. The overall level of the top leader of the empire will have a great impact on the performance of the empire's power, for example, the level of the leader of the empire is not high, which is likely to lead to the disintegration or decay of the empire.
In the Yuan Dynasty regime, the infant emperor had a hard time surviving and would soon be usurped by imperial forces. In the Han dynasty, in order to prevent the usurpation of power by the imperial family, the imperial family was generally not given greater power, especially military power. The imperial family of the Yuan Dynasty all held greater power and were qualified to be emperors, so the competition would naturally be fierce, and it would naturally be difficult for the young emperor to survive. The imperial family has a large military power, that is, the local military power is relatively less controlled by the imperial court, which brings about an increase in the probability of usurpation, but also brings about an increase in the performance level of the regime's military power. This is contrary to the situation of the Song Dynasty, which was overly defensive against usurpation of power and weakened the power of generals, which made it true that there were no usurpations of power by generals in the Song Dynasty, but it weakened the level of military performance of the Song Dynasty. It can be seen that there are pros and cons to everything, and it is difficult to grasp the proportions, and it is too much.
The administrative map of the Yuan Dynasty (the northern area of the Lingbei Province should be obviously larger, in fact, most of the area north of Lake Baikal is an invalid administrative area, which cannot be considered a territorial area. ）