In 1232, the Great Khan Wokotai became seriously ill. After the shaman's practice, he said, "I will transfer the sickness of the Great Khan to a glass of water, and if a loved one drinks this water, the Great Khan will be cured." Wokotai said: "Let the fourth brother drag the thunder and drink." ”
Tuo Lei could neither shirk nor dare to shirk, so he had to pray to heaven and drink this cup of witch water to cure illness.
Not long after, Towray died.
Tulei's death brought ruin to his family, and his four sons, Möngke, Kublai Khan, Hülegü, and Ali Buge, lost their father's protection and faced an unpredictable fate.
At that time, no one would have thought that the four sons of Tuo Lei would all become emperors, which is unique in history.
The most prominent of these was Kublai Khan, who expanded the territory and unified the whole country, becoming the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
After his father's death, the Tulei family seemed to be thousands of miles away from the throne, how did Kublai Khan manage to successfully counterattack?
The struggle for the highest position of power is often full of bloodshed and intrigue.
Genghis Khan had four sons-in-law: Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedai, and Tuolei. They and their descendants are known as the purest Mongols, the "Golden Family".
Genghis Khan, who founded the Great Mongol Empire, once had a good wish: he hoped that his sons would love each other and continue the glory of the Golden Family together.
However, he was not able to balance the relationship between his sons. Because of his mistakes, his sons fell apart and even turned against each other.
Before he died, he handed over the position of the Great Khan to the third son, Wokotai.
According to the tradition of the Central Plains, the throne can be passed on to the next son by the emperor's designation, or the primogeniture system can also be adopted.
However, the succession system of the Mongolian nomads was very different from the traditional system of the Central Plains.
The Mongolian succession system is: Kuriltai and the youngest son Shouzao.
Among the Mongol nomads, the Great Khan was not alone in charge. Major matters concerning the nation often require the tribes to reach an agreement before making a final decision, and the Kurultai Conference is a meeting of the tribes to discuss major matters.
The choice of an heir to the empire should be determined by the election of the tribal nobles.
If Kuriltai did not elect a suitable heir, the youngest son would inherit the remaining property and social status of his father. This is the young son guarding the stove.
Although Genghis Khan was very powerful and deeply loved by the tribes, the tribes did not agree on the choice of successor.
Without the election of the Kurultai Congress, the succession of Ogedai was somewhat unjustifiable.
So, why did Genghis Khan favor Ogedei alone?
One reason is that Genghis Khan believed that each of his four sons had their own strengths: Jochi was in charge of hunting, Chagatai was in charge of the edicts, Ögedai was in charge of the government, and Tuo Lei was in charge of the army.
Another reason is that because Genghis Khan's new wife had been taken captive by a foreigner and gave birth to Jochi shortly after her return, Jochi's lineage was doubted by many people. Chagatai was therefore at odds with Jochi, and it was impossible for Genghis Khan to choose one of his two sons who quarreled at every turn.
Therefore, before his death, Genghis Khan designated Ogedai as his heir, but according to the old custom of "young sons guarding the stove", he left most of his army and property to Tuolei.
He hoped that Tuolei would open up territory for Ögedei, and that his four sons would work together to defend the stability of the Great Mongol Empire.
After the death of Genghis Khan, the tow mine with military power in his hand was not convinced. Therefore, he proposed to convene a Kuriltai Assembly to elect the Great Khan.
Before the election of the new Great Khan, Tuo Lei was in charge of state affairs, and of course he was not in a hurry to ignore the convening of the Liltai Congress.
More than two years after the death of Genghis Khan, the preparations for the Kuriltai Conference were completed and officially convened.
In this congress, Chagatai fully supported Ogedei, and many loyal followers of Genghis Khan supported his edict. Tuo Lei ended in failure, and Ögedei finally became the new Great Khan in name only.
After Tuo Lei died in a strange way, Ogedai wanted to take Tuo Lei's property and army for himself.
He proposed that Tuolei's widow marry his eldest son, Guiyu, so that everything in Tuolei would belong to the Ogedai family.
The widow resolutely and tactfully rejected the offer, and struggled to get along with her four sons.
In this infighting, Kublai Khan lost his father, and power became more and more distant from his family.
However, the world is often unpredictable, and a few years later, the power of the Great Khan once again approached that of the Tulei family.
After his death, his eldest son, Guiyou, succeeded to the throne through the Khuriltai.
It's a pity that Guiyu was short-lived, and he only sat in the position of Great Khan for two years before he died suddenly.
Because of his strange death, some people suspected that it was his opponent, and Jochi's son Batu sent spies to kill him.
Just like the death of Tuo Lei, there are many suspicions, but no one can come up with conclusive evidence, and this suspicion is gone.
Guiyou has many descendants, and it stands to reason that after his death, the throne should be held by his own descendants.
However, at this time, the main Mongol forces were controlled by the sons of Tulei and Jochi.
As the Changfang, Batu organized two Kuriltai congresses and elected Tulei's son Möngke as the new Mongol Great Khan.
Twenty-four years after Genghis Khan's death, the position of the Great Khan was transferred from the Ögedei family to the Tulei family, and the Tulei family successfully achieved a counterattack.
Although the Ogedai family resolutely refused to admit this result, the resistance was ineffective due to insufficient strength.
In anger and desperation, the descendants of Ögedei established the Ögedai Khanate in Central Asia west of Lake Balkhash.
After Möngke succeeded to the throne, he began a grand plan to dominate the world.
Under the command of Meng Ge, Kublai Khan went on expeditions everywhere, annexed the Dali Kingdom, and followed Meng Ge to the Central Plains, intending to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty.
Unfortunately, Meng Ge died suddenly during the attack on the Diaoyu City in Chongqing.
A similar scene occurred again, when Möngke did not have time to determine the heir before his death, and the sons of Tulei set off a bloody battle for the throne within the Mongol Empire.
Ali Buge, the youngest son of Tulei, who remained in Mongolia, declared that according to the old Mongolian custom of "young sons guarding the stove", after Mengke's death, he should inherit Tulei's army and inheritance.
At this time, Kublai Khan was leading his troops to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, with a large number of generals in his hands, as well as a large area of land that had been conquered by the Jin Kingdom and Western Xia.
He simply proclaimed himself emperor in the Central Plains and unilaterally declared himself the Great Khan of the Mongols.
Ali Buge was dumbfounded, and he had no choice but to organize and convene the Kurultai Assembly in Mongolia by himself, and the Mongol nobles elected him as the Great Khan.
An incredible scene takes place in the Mongol Empire, where the two Great Khans are side by side.
Judging from the succession system of the Mongol Empire, Ali Buge was the rightful Great Khan, and Kublai Khan was not right.
After that, Kublai Khan and Ali Buge began a fierce civil war that lasted for more than four years.
In 1264, Ali Buge was defeated and forced to surrender, and Kublai Khan's throne was no longer disputed.
Kublai Khan wiped out the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop, completed the great unification of China, and established the Yuan Dynasty.
Kublai Khan's ascension consisted of accidents, but there was inevitability.
01] The Mongolian civil strife was serious, so that Kublai Khan had the opportunity to take the throne
The old customs and the new rules of the Mongol Empire conflicted with each other, there were no rules, there was no circle, and those who had a heart could always find an opportunity to exploit loopholes.
After Genghis Khan's death, his sons fought for the throne.
From falling to the bottom to climbing to the top, the Khan position was alternated between the Ogedai family and the Tuolei family.
And within the Tulei family, after the death of Meng Ke, Ali Buge and Kublai Khan also showed their magic for the throne.
The infighting was fought not only between the princes, but also between the Mongol nobility, and it was Kublai Khan who seized such an opportunity to grow up in the chaos and touch a big fish.
02] Kublai Khan, backed by the Han region of the Central Plains, had a solid economic foundation
Kublai Khan reused the Han people and preferred Han culture, which many Mongolian nobles were very unaccustomed to.
He relied on the Han region of the Central Plains and the highly developed economy of the Central Plains, and on the economic basis, he was far superior to Ali Buge, who was defending Mongolia.
In the process of advancing all the way into the Central Plains, Kublai Khan vigorously developed agricultural production, rectified the economy, and built grain storage.
When Ali Buge wanted to compete for the throne of Khan, Kublai Khan decisively established himself as emperor in the Central Plains.
His confidence is that he holds a large area of Dajin, Western Xia, and the Central Plains in his hands, which can provide enough materials and food to support his war consumption.
Even if Ali Buge was not defeated, Kublai Khan could occupy the Central Plains without being defeated. In time, it can still be made again.
03] Kublai Khan was good at attracting talents.
Opportunity favors those who are prepared, and Kublai Khan was open-minded and did not stick to the old Mongolian law.
Whether it is a Han Chinese, a Mongolian, or a Tibetan, as long as there are talented people, Kublai Khan will be reused.
In the Han region of Monan, Kublai Khan actively studied Han culture, respected Han law, and used a large number of talented Han officials.
For this reason, Kublai Khan formed an alliance with the landlord class of the Han land, learned the skills of the Han people to control the land, and used the advanced concepts of the Han people to manage the Han land, and a stable situation emerged politically.
Under the planning of these talented people, Kublai Khan chose the right strategy in several crises and opportunities. In the end, the victory was achieved.
04] Kublai Khan himself was outstanding and had great talent
After Meng Ke became the Great Khan of Mongolia, he ordered Kublai Khan to lead his army to attack Dali.
Although this was Kublai Khan's first major military campaign, he displayed great military talent.
Kublai Khan quickly destroyed the Dali Kingdom and brought the entire Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau into the territory of the Mongol Empire.
After that, Kublai Khan was ordered to attack the Southern Song Dynasty and won victory after victory.
On the one hand, these battles tempered Kublai Khan's military talents, and on the other hand, Kublai Khan established a high prestige in the army.
Kublai Khan was an ordinary prince, and he was able to become the founding monarch of the Yuan Dynasty. Time, place, people are indispensable.
Although the infighting in Mongolia and the short life of several Great Khans provided Kublai Khan with an opportunity to stand out.
There are accidental factors in anyone's success, but the fundamental reason why Kublai Khan finally became the founding monarch of the Yuan Dynasty was his own outstanding talent, far-reaching vision, and recruiting talents.