In 2020, Hell begins. In the midst of all the disturbances, this year is almost over.
Every festive season, some people are fat, some people are really fat. And Kublai Khan, he was dead fat and fat.
Fat man's troubles, you don't understand:
Kublai Khan has been more annoying lately.
At the age of 70, he found that his weight had soared all the way, and gradually had an uncontrollable tendency.
▲ Kublai Khan on the battlefield was also "proud of his stature".
The god of war, who once dominated the battlefield, began to overeat after suffering a series of blows in his old age. Kublai Khan in a depressed mood, sharply fattened. Even when the horse was so fat that it "could not sink the weight", it had to ride an elephant instead. So what kind of sorrow overwhelmed the ruler of the empire?
1. The beloved wife leaves him:
In fact, there are not many records of Kublai Khan's wife in history, only two famous. The first was his favorite wife, named "Chabi", and the second was a distant relative of "Chabi", named "Nanbi". When Chabi felt that his physical condition continued to deteriorate, he introduced his distant relative Nanbi to Kublai Khan, and perhaps also had the idea of letting Nanbi continue to take care of Kublai Khan in his place. But as people say – as soon as you show up, everyone else seems to be nothing more than that.
▲ Kublai Khan's Empress Chabi.
In Kublai Khan's lifetime, the one who bore him the most sons was Chabi, who gave birth to four in total. Nanbi bore him a son. For the description of other wives in the historical records, we only know that they gave birth to seven other sons, but the specific situation is "omitted" in the historical data.
Kublai Khan's exclusive favor for Chabi can be said to be "blatant", according to historians, Chabi was the only woman among Kublai Khan's wives who had a tablet in the Taimiao Temple, and the only woman who left the portrait of Kublai Khan. In addition, in 1273, Kublai Khan also selected the eldest son of the two men, Zhenjin, as his heir (crown prince). In addition to his son "Duo'er", who died young, the other two sons, "Busy Brother" and "Namukhan", were also reused. Nanbi and the sons of the rest of his wives, on the other hand, are recorded as blank.
▲ The National Palace Museum in Taipei collects the "Hunting Map of the Ancestors of the Yuan Dynasty", in which the person wearing the white fur coat is Kublai Khan, and the side is his wife Chabi.
Why did Kublai Khan love Chabi so much? For Chabi was not only a beautiful wife, but also his indispensable assistant. Perhaps coincidentally, it is undeniable that after The death of Chabi, Kublai Khan in his later years became capricious in decision-making and irritable. As a result, the entire region suffered a series of drastic changes. Chabi may not be able to prevent these changes from happening, but she can at least use her influence to prevent some of the strange decisions that Kublai Khan made at that time.
And when Chabi died in 1281, Kublai Khan was clearly in a deep state of loneliness and pain.
2. The heir to the Throne died in his prime:
After Chabi's death, Kublai Khan placed all his hopes on the two men's eldest son, Zhenjin. Zhenjin had the best teachers at that time, and he studied a wide range of subjects, such as strategy, tactics, history, Buddhism, etc. Everything is preparing for the future succession of this vast empire. Unexpectedly, before he could succeed to the throne, Maki was in his 40s (1285) terrified and melancholy by the Zen Shōjō incident, and suddenly died.
▲ Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty.
The unexpected departure of the heir dealt another blow to Kublai Khan. This was not only the pain of losing his son, but also completely disrupted his succession plan. In desperation, he had to change Zhenjin's son "Timur" as the heir. But as people say – as soon as you show up, everyone else seems to be nothing more than that.
Disheartened, Kublai Khan refused to go out and stayed in the house all day. If there are matters that must be dealt with, they will also be conveyed by Nanbi.
3. There is no object to vent to:
Kublai Khan, who had lost his wife and son one after another, became moody and irritable. He desperately needed an outlet. But at that time, Mongolia was already very vast, and looking around, the only one who did not obey was Japan. Well, just do it!
Kublai Khan gained weight in his later years because of depression.
As a result, the 140,000 yuan army embarked on a sea journey.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of understanding of meteorological phenomena by the ancients, the fleet encountered strong typhoons at sea. Coupled with a command error, the 140,000 yuan army was almost completely destroyed. After this news reached Japan, the whole country celebrated. They worshiped the typhoon, calling it the "kamikaze" of the protectorate, believing that the soul of Emperor Shenmu was protecting them. Kublai Khan, who had never suffered such a blow militarily, was very unwilling to lose to a "kamikaze" who did not know where to come. Therefore, 2 years later, he once again took the AtaHai as the minister of Zhongshu Province, and ordered jiangnan province to build a large number of sea ships, and forcibly recruited 20,000 sailors in various places. However, the situation in the Yuan Dynasty at that time was already unstable, uprisings were frequent, and the operations in Annam and other places were not smooth, and Kublai Khan, who was busy extinguishing fires everywhere, eventually lost interest in the expedition to Japan.
4. Eating habits:
In his later years, he lost his wife and son, and the battles against various places were not smooth. The elderly Kublai Khan could only shift his greatest interest to "eating".
▲ The brash Mongols never seem to mind overeating and drinking.
What do Mongolians love to eat? Meat is the mainstay. Examples include boiled lamb, roasted whole lamb, eggs, saffron mixed with lettuce, baked pancakes, sugar tea, myth (mare's milk wine) and wine. From this menu, it is not difficult to see that these are all high-oil, high-fat and high-sugar foods. The brash Mongols never cared about overeating, and in addition to the three-high diet, the Mongolian nobles also liked to drink heavily, and the khan was a "master". Kublai Khan, who suffered a series of changes in his later years, in order to alleviate the pain of being controlled by grief and aging, often drank kuma (horse milk wine) and wine, and never understood moderation in the intake of three high foods at the banquet. So, he's not fat who's fat? To make matters worse: Kublai Khan, who was obese, suffered from gout.
The disease-ridden Kublai Khan continued to overeat, invited many doctors to treat him, and even finally invited wizards, but with little success.
The obesity of the elderly Kublai Khan was so great that even the strongest horses could not bear it at one point, and the Empire had to import a few Southeast Asian elephants as Kublai Khan's mounts. This elephant-powered means of transportation is called "elephants" by them. The "Elephant Dragon" not only solved the problem of obesity travel, but also highlighted the majesty of the imperial monarch. Despite this, In his later years, Kublai Khan felt that his image was despicable and did not like to go out. There is no exercise without going out, which also aggravates his obesity. On the 22nd day of the first month of the 31st year (18 February 1294), Kublai Khan died of illness in Dadu at the age of seventy-nine.
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Author: SiqiMei
This article was originally published by the Seacity Museum. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited!