Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 701 Democracy in Mongolia

[At that time, Ogedei tried his best to ensure that he could take the throne of Khan smoothly.

First, he won over his second brother Chagatai, then won over the remnants of the Jin Dynasty like Yelu Chucai, as well as the remnants of the Western Xia headed by Gao Zhiyao, and most importantly, the Han Shihou headed by Shi Tianze.

Only after all the minnows and crab generals gathered together could they finally speak loudly in front of Tolui.

The two sides were in a stalemate for two full years. Finally, Yelu Chucai, who was not afraid of death, confronted Tolui directly, forcing him to reluctantly convene the kurultai.

Temujin died of illness in the autumn of 1227, and it was not until the autumn of 1229 that Ogedei became the Great Khan through a vote at the kurultai, and the dispute at this kurultai alone lasted for forty days.

Therefore, it can be said that Tolui's sudden death at the age of forty, three years after Ogedei ascended the throne, was a reasonable death.

After Ogedei's death, his eldest sons who had gone on the Western Expedition returned.

As the eldest son of Ogedei, Guyuk found himself facing the same problems as his father.

The commander of the second Western Expedition was Batu, the son of Jochi. At that time, he had a strong army and forced the kurultai to not be convened. As a result, Guyuk could not sit on the throne of Khan.

However, there was a five-year lag between the time the Mongolian eldest sons received the news in the West and the time they returned. During these five years, Guyuk's mother, Queen Naimanzhen, was in power and had basically arranged everything by rewarding clan ministers indiscriminately. Even though he was not recognized by Batu, Guyuk still ascended the throne.

After Guyuk ascended the throne and dealt with the ministers who were causing trouble, he could not wait even a second and immediately went on a tour to the west.

The History of Yuan Dynasty is vague about the content of Guyuk's western tour, but even a fool would know that he was going to fight Batu.

But there is a problem here. Guyuk is from the line of Ogedei, and Tolui's sudden death was so reasonable that the two sides could not sit at the same table at all.

Before Guyuk arrived, Tolui and his faction had already informed the eldest brother.

There are two versions in unofficial history about Batu's response. One is that Batu was embarrassed to send an envoy to welcome Guyuk Khan, but the envoy poisoned him at the banquet.

Another version is that Batu's envoy scolded Guyuk for strife with his own family and demanded a duel. As a Mongol, Guyuk certainly could not back down, and as a result, both of them died.

In short, less than a year after Guyuk became the Great Khan, he died suddenly on his way to the west.

Afterwards, Batu also thought about becoming the Great Khan himself, but less than half of the representatives responded to the proposal of the kurultai. In addition, there were still doubts as to whether his father Jochi was Temujin's biological son. So in the end, Batu had to settle for the second best and recommended Mongke, a descendant of Tolui, to become the new Great Khan.

As a result of this series of operations, the orthodox Chagatai Khanate lost its throne, and naturally its ally Chagatai Khanate was at odds with Mongke of Tolui's faction.

However, Mongke himself was nominated by Batu, the leader of the Golden Horde, so he was naturally unable to command the Golden Horde. The Ilkhanate was essentially an enclave that could only be entrusted with administration, and its eventual division was inevitable.

From this perspective, Kublai Khan's later choice was actually the right one. He saw through the essence of the kurultai and instead chose the Han people's system of primogeniture. For this reason, academics generally view Kublai Khan's ascension to the throne as a sign of the demise of the Mongol Empire in a narrow sense.

Kublai Khan's choice became the most powerful banner for the Mongolian tribes to rebel against Kublai Khan, and the slogan was also very simple:
"The old customs of our dynasty are different from Han laws. (Kublai Khan) now stays in Han territory and follows Han laws. What is the reason?"

This is almost like asking Kublai Khan face to face: Are you a Mongolian or a Han Chinese?
The Mongol Empire completely fell apart at this point.

Temujin established the kurultai system to "stop killing", but in the end, he had to resort to force to defend this aristocratic democracy. The subtext of this kind of democracy is that whoever has the greater power and the strongest fist is more democratic, which is similar to a certain American country. 】

Temujin was very wise. He could tell at a glance that Tolui’s descendants all played Cuju, and he didn’t want to follow in Gao Qiu’s footsteps.

Aristocratic democracy is not true democracy. Mongolia can only be said to have proved that aristocratic democracy is far inferior to aristocratic dictatorship.

It's not that extreme. The productivity of grassland nomads is low and there are many natural disasters. In this situation, families can only live better if they stick together. In this situation, the birth of aristocratic hereditary democracy is inevitable. It can only be said that after the territory expanded, there was no reform based on local conditions. In fact, it was like a large-scale Jin Dynasty.

This actually also indirectly illustrates the question that has been asked so many times on the Internet, that is, where were the Mongolian cavalry when Zhu Yuanzhang beat the Yuan Dynasty... The several major khanates all took the initiative to separate. They didn't bother to care about you a hundred years ago, let alone a hundred years later.

Yes, whether you remember it or not is a question. When the Yuan Dynasty was about to end, the Chagatai Khanate split. The later Eastern Chagatai Khanate even accepted the enthronement of the Ming Dynasty.

Ah? So, the Mongols were destroyed by Genghis Khan?
Silly Chun, you must remember that you are different from others. You should not waste your time on studying. Just remember that the Tang Dynasty fell under Li Shimin, the Song Dynasty fell under Zhao Kuangyin, and the Ming Dynasty fell under Zhu Yuanzhang. In this way, you will find it reasonable that the Mongolia fell under Genghis Khan.doghead.jpg.

It's so funny. Let me add one more thing. Confucianism died under Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and China died under Qin Shi Huang. Wuhu, that's it!
Zhu Yuanzhang: Does this mean that if we had not established the Ming Dynasty, there would be no Ming Dynasty to perish? Isn't this ridiculous!

To the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, everything seemed normal, and the disputes caused by the kurultai system were similar to what he saw.

But what does the fall of the Ming Dynasty have to do with him? Although it can be seen that it is a joke from the younger generation, it is undoubtedly a poke in his lungs.

Especially in front of my eldest son.

Zhu Biao didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"Dad, why do you care about these things? If we follow this theory, we will also say that China was destroyed by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Wouldn't the ancient sages laugh when they heard this?"

Having said that, Zhu Biao also understood better that his father had always wanted to create the best transposition environment for him, which naturally included eliminating all drawbacks and hidden dangers.

It is no wonder that my father, who holds this mentality, is also angry about this nonsense, but human power is limited, and the problems are constantly being replaced by new ones, so how can they be limited? So he simply gave some advice:
"Dad, Temujin originally established the kurultai in the hope that Mongolia would last forever, but within fifty years, the brothers fell out. Do you know what happened?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and turned his head away:
"That's Temujin being stupid. It's fine if the youngest son is guarding the stove, but how could he leave a full 100,000 troops? It's no wonder that Tolui makes things difficult for his brothers when he has a sharp weapon and a murderous intention."

"It is true that Mongolia was destroyed by Temujin."

Zhu Biao was helpless, but fortunately other words appeared on the screen at this time.

Li Shimin: The Tang Dynasty was destroyed by me. The world is so vast and the people are so complicated. I was unable to coordinate the changes of a thousand years or entrust the plans of a hundred years. I will surely sin against future generations.

Zhuge Liang: Later generations laughed and said, why should Your Majesty Erfeng and Emperor Hongwu care?

Li Shimin: Wu Hou is right. I was just joking with you.

In Ganlu Palace, Li Chengqian temporarily ignored many things, but instead paid attention to another thing:
"Dad, who is Erfeng?"

(End of this chapter)