The founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, also had great achievements in Chinese history, and he was the emperor of the ages, and should be admired by China.
First, the ancestors of the ancient emperors, the golden family left a bloodline
Kublai Khan, the fourth son of Genghis Khan's son Torre, the fifth and last khan of the Mongol Empire, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and the Mongolian honorific title "Xuechan Khan".
Genghis Khan, emperor of the Great Mongol Empire and the world's preeminent military figure, repeatedly waged wars against the Mongols, conquering regions from East Asia to Central Asia and even the Black Sea coast of Eastern Europe. Although after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan was given the title of Emperor Shengwu of the Fa Tianqiyun, the historical title of Yuan Taizu. It must be noted that Genghis Khan was the first khan of the Mongol Empire and the first emperor of the Mongol Yuan Empire, but he was not the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, but Kublai Khan posthumously awarded him the title of Yuan Taizu after he established the Yuan Dynasty.
Möngke, the eldest son of Genghis Khan's son Torre, the fourth khan of the Mongol Empire, historically known as "Möngke Khan", made the Western world tremble with the whip of God. Möngke led his eldest son on a western expedition to attack Ancient Rus and other places. After becoming emperor of the Mongol Empire, he mainly devoted himself to the destruction of the Southern Song Dynasty. After Möngke's death, Kublai Khan succeeded him as Emperor of Mongolia. After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, he posthumously honored Meng Gemiao as Xianzong and huansu emperor. It still needs to be noted that Möngke was still the khan of the Mongol Empire, certainly not the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and Kublai Khan posthumously honored him as the Huansu Emperor, and so on.
After the death of Möngke Xingshi Fa Song at the front, Kublai Khan was pushed by the kings to succeed the Khan and established the Yuan Zhongtuo in Kaiping Province (present-day Zhenglan banner, Inner Mongolia), which means "Chinese Kaitong", which is the first era name of the Great Mongolian Empire and the first year in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, which was established by Kublai Khan for 4 years. Seven years later, Kublai Khan's founding name was Dayuan, and it was determined that Dadu (present-day Beijing) would be the capital, and most of the Yuandu would be planned and built by scientist Liu Bingzhong, and since then, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing has been the capital of the country. After another 8 years, Kublai Khan completed the unification of the whole country.
Second, immediately conquer the brothers, relying on the Han people to succeed the Khan King
In 1252, Kublai Khan invaded the Dali state with Möngke Khan's jiance, and borrowed manpower and material resources from the southwest to attack the Song Dynasty, which was adopted. In 1253, Kublai Khan was commissioned to make an expedition to Yunnan with the general Wu liang. In 1254, the state of Dali was destroyed. In 1258, Möngke xingshi attacked the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai Khan was the commander of the General Eastern Road Army. In September 1259, Kublai Khan led his division to the Huai River, and Möngke Khan was wounded and died in the army at the Battle of DiaoyuCheng.
The Great Mongol Empire was on the front line of the Khan's illness and death, and Kublai Khan's brother Ali Buge stayed in the north of the desert, and it is reported that he was recruiting troops without authorization to plot the Khan's position. When Kublai Khan learned of the crisis, he adopted the Han Hao Jing strategy, made peace with the Southern Song Dynasty, and led a light horse back to the north.
However, at that time, most of the Mongol princes supported Ali Buge, and Ali Buge controlled the desert steppe, with more than 60 thousand households (more than 60,000 people), 40,000 cavalry in Liupanshan, and some troops who followed Möngke's southern expedition, totaling about 150,000.
However, at this time, kublai Khan controlled only about 10,000 people in the Eastern Route Army led by himself during the Song Dynasty, and 15,000 people in the Wuliang Hetai Army who returned from the Southern Song Dynasty. Kublai Khan faced a situation in which his own 25,000 people, against 150,000 people who were not brothers in Ali, were in the right place at all times, and Ali was not brothers to have the advantage.
However, what Kublai Khan had, ali did not have, that is, the Northern Lands, the Han armed forces. In this way, relying on the Central Plains, strong economic strength, and continuous replenishment of troops, Kublai Khan defeated Ali Buge and gained the submission of the mongol princes who had originally supported Ali Buge.
Of course, Kublai Khan was well aware that in the eyes of the Mongol princes, he was always a traitor, an outlier of the Great Mongol Empire. For the Mongol princes, although Kublai Khan seems to be called "Khan", it was not the Khan king elected by Genghis Khan, who was elected by Kuriletai.
Kuriletai, the assembly of kings or the great dynasty of the Great Mongolian State, is also known as "Kulinleta" or "Kuritai", which means "gathering" or "meeting" in Mongolian. During the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Kuritai was a council of tribes and tribal alliances, used to elect chiefs, decide on conquests, and other important matters.
Khan, Khan, a khanate founded by ancient northern nomads, whose supreme ruler was called Khan or Khan, resembled the King or Heavenly Son of Heaven in Chinese characters. Khan differs from khan in that khans are tribal chiefs created through an electoral system, while khans usually adopt a system of designated succession, perpetuating their positions of power, more closely analogous to the emperors of the Central Plains. Genghis Khan and later Khans, strictly speaking, are khans, and the formal election is only a formal election, that is, the Khan's position is similar to that of a yellow robe.
In March 1260, with the support of some of his kings and ministers, Kublai Khan ascended the throne of the Great Mongol Khanate. However, in April of the same year, Ali Bu brother, supported by another part of the king, also announced that he had ascended to the Khan's throne in a different place, and the struggle between the two brothers for the Khan's throne finally became white-hot. From the autumn of 1260 to the autumn of 1261, Kublai Khan's army and Ali Buge's army marched south to the north, attacking each other and winning and losing each other. In the end, Kublai Khan besieged Ali Buge in Helin, Kublai Khan had the strong support of the Han Chinese, while Ali Buge was isolated and helpless, and the kings who originally supported Ali Bu Brother also turned against Kublai Khan. In July 1264, the desperate Ali Bu Ge surrendered to Kublai Khan, who pardoned Ali Bu Ge and other emperors, but only killed the ministers who participated in the rebellion. In August 1264, Ali Bu brother "fell ill and died".
Third, select talents regardless of race, and advocate Confucianism and han subjects
Kublai Khan was wise and wise, and before he established the Yuan Dynasty, he deliberately made friends with the Literati and Confucians of the Central Plains, became familiar with the situation in the Central Plains han dynasty, and recruited a large number of Han intellectuals as his staff. Kublai Khan recruited dou mo and Yao Shu, Dou Mo explained the three principles and five constants and the theory of sincerity for Kublai Khan, and Yao Shu explained to Kublai Khan the confucian principle of governing the country and the world. Kublai Khan befriended the monk Zicong and gave him the name Liu Bingzhong, who gave Kublai Khan tens of thousands of words and suggestions: The way to control chaos depends on the heavens and by the people, so as to take the world immediately, and cannot be ruled immediately. He advocated reforming the maladministration at that time, reducing taxes and labor, persuading farmers to do so, and building schools. There are more than twenty Han intellectuals like this, including Zhao Bi, who translated the "University Yanyi" for Kublai Khan, Wang Yan, who taught Kublai Khan the "Book of Filial Piety," "Shang Shu," "I Ching," and Confucian political science and history, Zhang Wenlian, who was the official secretary of the royal palace, and YuanHaowen, a famous scholar. It must be explained here that the above-mentioned Han intellectuals were highly used by Kublai Khan, who armed Kublai Khan's ideological mind with Han culture and sought the reunification of the country in a way that complemented Kublai Khan.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty regime, Kublai Khan, as always, respected the Han system, accepted the Han nationality, and attached importance to talents. Kublai Khan reused Han courtiers, such as Dong Wenbing, Liu Bingzhong, Zhang Hongfan, etc., and their ability to govern the country was greatly exerted. After Kublai Khan became emperor, he did not change the existing system of the Song Dynasty, and even retained all the officials of the Song Dynasty, doing his best to gain the allegiance of these former dynasty officials.
Before Kublai Khan, all the Khans of Mongolia did not use era names, but used the traditional Mongolian zodiac calendar. In May 1260, at the suggestion of Liu Bingzhong and other Han courtiers, Kublai Khan established the era name of "Zhongtong", which means "Kaiun of China", calling himself "the orthodoxy of the Central Dynasty of Huaxia", indicating that he claimed to inherit the orthodoxy of the Central Dynasty and was committed to the goal of "unification of the world". In November 1271, Kublai Khan officially established the country with the title of "Great Yuan", with ancient ceremonies, Ding Dynasty Ceremonies, Empress Dowager, and Crown Prince.
At this point, the Yuan Dynasty was officially established. "Da Yuan" is taken from the meaning of the I Ching "DaZha Qian Yuan", which means that Kublai Khan will do a great cause that transcends the dynasties of the past, so that it can be justifiably combined with the great unified dynasties of Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang.
In addition, Kublai Khan chose talents and did not stick to racial restrictions, such as appointing the Minister of Color, Ahma, to take charge of the state finances, becoming a rare minister and close minister during Kublai Khan's time. Ahma was born in Fenakat, in present-day Uzbekistan, of the Hui ethnic group, and was originally a dowry slave of Empress Chabi's father, Chen Nayan. In 1261, he became shangdu tongzhi. Three years later, he was transferred to the left and right of the Zhongshu and was also a transfer envoy. In 1264, Bai Zhongshu Pingzhang was in charge of finances, and promoted the liquidation of household registrations, the implementation of the monopoly system, and the issuance of banknotes (sometimes called banknotes) to increase the income of the imperial court. After the yuan dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, it continued to implement the policy of issuing money and restricting the monopoly of medicinal materials in the Jiangnan region, which greatly increased fiscal revenue.
Fourth, open up the territory and draw a blueprint, and create a provincial state
The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was the largest territory in Chinese history, and the vast territory was unprecedented. Conservatively, the north stretches north of the Yin Mountains, the south reaches the South China Sea Zhudao, the northeast reaches present-day Sakhalin Island, the northwest reaches Xinjiang and Central Asia, and today's Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, Northeast China, some islands in Taiwan, and the South China Sea Zhudao are all within the jurisdiction of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was prosperous, laying a territory of 33 million square kilometers for China, such a vast territory, the Han Dynasty or tang Dynasty, at its peak, was far from being comparable. In addition, the Yuan dynasty had four major khanates, as well as other vassal states including Goryeo and some countries in Southeast Asia. The four khanates of the Yuan Dynasty were the Golden Horde (also known as the Chincha Khanate), the Chagatai Khanate, the Wokoutai Khanate, and the Ilkhanate. Of course, the territory of the four khanates belonging to the Mongol Empire could not be counted in the territory of the later Yuan Dynasty.
After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty to unify China, in the face of a vast territory and a large number of nationalities, and under the circumstance that the country had just been reunified after years of war and strife, and the political situation had not yet stabilized, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, strengthen the central control over various localities, and avoid the recurrence of division and division, Kublai Khan adopted the principle of recruiting talents and recruiting talents, widely discussing the public opinion, reforming the old Mongolian system, and establishing a national political, economic, and military system for the unification of the Great Yuan.
Zhongshu Province was set up, the prime minister of the country administrative affairs, assisted the emperor in issuing decrees. The Privy Council is set up to administer the national military. A royal envoy's office was set up to supervise officials. Under the central government, there are also their own dispatch agencies, which are responsible for the political, economic, military and other affairs of various localities and the whole country. In line with the central official system, the province of Xingzhongshu, referred to as the province, was set up in various localities.
As a permanent institution sent by Zhongshu Province, the province was the highest administrative organ in the Yuan Dynasty and was also a first-class military institution. The provinces themselves are one of the military and the government. Under the provinces, roads, provinces, prefectures, and counties are set up, and military and political affairs are managed by different agencies to which they belong, and the military and the people are divided.
The system of dividing the world by provinces was a pioneering move by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty to strengthen their rule over various localities and nationalities through the central government. The creation of the provincial system was a major reform of China's administrative system, and these provinces initially laid the scale of The Ming and Qing Dynasties, and even today's Chinese provinces and regions. The name of the province as a local administrative region has been used to this day.
After Kublai Khan unified China, he attached great importance to the rule of remote areas, and administered these areas through various military and political institutions. In 1276, Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty government established a province in Yunnan and incorporated it into the territory. In 1253, Mongol troops invaded Tibet, making Tibet officially part of Chinese territory. Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty government set up the Three Roads Xuanwei Sidu Marshal's Office in Tibet, with tens of thousands of households under it, collecting taxes, tun the army, and carrying out military and administrative management. In 1360, kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty government set up an inspection department (military inspection agency) in Penghu to manage Penghu and Taiwan. In addition, the government of Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty also controlled the vast northeast and northwest regions such as the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and the Mongolian Plateau through military institutions.
These systems established by Kublai Khan were border areas that had always been ruled by a small number of local governments, and were officially under the jurisdiction of the central government, strengthening the ties between the central and local governments, strengthening the centralization of power, and playing a positive role in the development and defense construction of the frontier and coastal defense areas.
Fifth, the east, west, south, and north are greatly integrated, and the Chinese nation is greatly integrated
The Yuan Dynasty was the most important period of great national integration in Chinese history, after which the Han people migrated from the interior, the ethnic groups in the frontier areas moved inward, and the Central Plains and Jiangnan, Khitan and Jurchen were integrated into the Chinese nation. Although the Yuan Dynasty implemented a national hierarchy and divided people into four classes: the Mongols were the first class, the Semites were the second class, and the Han and Nan people were ranked third and fourth, due to the continuous strengthening of the exchanges between various ethnic groups under the unified situation, the economy, culture, and psychology of many ethnic groups gradually converged, which was conducive to the formation of a new nation. After the Yuan Dynasty unified the whole country, the exchanges between China and the West were smooth, which caused a large number of ethnic groups in Central Asia and other places to move in during the Yuan Dynasty and were widely distributed throughout the country. In its life and development, it communicates and integrates with other ethnic groups, constantly strengthens its own belief community, and gradually forms some new ethnic groups, such as the Hui. According to relevant research results, the Hui people were formed during a historical period since the Tang and Song dynasties, mainly in the early 13th century, when some Arabs, Persians and ethnic groups in Central Asia who believed in Islam moved eastward into the Central Plains and interacted with and multiplied with the in-laws of han, Mongolian, Uyghur and other ethnic groups. In this context, long-term exchanges and integration, the expansion of ethnic groups and local people in the east through intermarriage, miscellaneous places, etc., gradually formed new nationalities, culture and other aspects of mutual influence, and gradually formed a national identity trend centered on the culture of the Central Plains, and the integration of nationalities was unprecedentedly strengthened.
Our vast territory in China was created by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty; our provincial management system in China was established by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty; and the great unity of our 56 nationalities in China began with the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty by Kublai Khan. The Yuan Dynasty was the first empire in Chinese history to be established by ethnic minorities, with a vast multi-ethnic unity, and the founding emperor of this dynasty was Kublai Khan.