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During the remaining years of Ogotai's life little or nothing was done towards furthering the conquest of the Sung Empire. Ogotai took more interest in the progress of the wars in Russia and Hungary, where his nephew Batu was winning victories that will compare as military achievements with any of the most brilliant feats of his House, and his interest was only distracted from them by the growing hold which the pleasures of the table obtained over him. In the great palace that he built at Karakoram he gave himself up to the indulgence of his own inclinations during the last six years of his life, leaving to Yeliu Chutsai* the task of governing China. Ogotai's death occurred in A.D. 1241, and he left behind him the reputation of being not only a just and able prince, but one whose natural goodness of heart prevented him from enforcing the cruel practices of his race.

After a brief interregnum and the happy avoidance of differences and dangers which seemed at one point likely to break out in serious disturbances, Kuyuk, Ogotai's eldest son, was proclaimed Great Khan of the Mongols. It was not until A.D. 1246, five years after the death of Ogotai, that this decision was taken, and that the threatened disruption of Mongol power was averted by the election of a single head. The ceremony made up in splendour for whatever it suffered through the tardy arrangements that had preceded it. All the principal Mongol leaders-Batu, fresh from the passage of the Carpathians, and Argun, Khulagu's most skilful

* The name of Yeliu Chutsai has been mentioned several times. It was chiefly due to his moderation that the Mongols abstained from tyrannizing over their Chinese subjects. Under Ogotai he had shown both his sagacity and generosity in advocating the retention of the old mode of taxation in China; and when Turakina, the widow of that ruler, and for a short time regent after his death, farmed out the revenues, Yeliu Chutsai retired in disgust, and died shortly after of grief. Yeliu Chutsai was certainly the most estimable personage of his age. Père Mailla says of him that "he was distinguished by a rare disinterestedOf a very broad intellect, he was able, without injustice and without wronging a single person, to amass vast treasures and to enrich his family; but all his care and labours had for their sole object the advantage and glory of his masters." It is only just to add that D'Ohsson states that "his vast treasures" consisted exclusively of books, maps, etc.

ness.

MONGKONG'S DEATH.

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lieutenant-were hastening thither, if not actually present; and many of the conquered princes and tributary kings-Yaroslaf of Russia, and David of Georgia-came to pay in person the token of fealty to the great Khan. But although thus elected with the appearance of unanimity, and with all the pomp of power, the reign of Kuyuk was far from being a brilliant one. Beyond noticing the issue of a seal expressing, with the arrogance of unfettered authority, his own idea of his position, there is nothing to be said of the second successor of the great Genghis.

Kuyuk's death, in A.D. 1248, arrested the preparations that had been made for the renewal of the war with the Sungs, who had suffered an irreparable loss in the death of Mongkong, the one general possessing the ability to supply the numerous deficiencies of his countrymen in the art of war. His loss was the more appreciable because his soldiers rated his capacity at a higher value than it may intrinsically have been worth. Under his flag, having learned the first duty of a soldier, they fought with confidence, because they had always found it leading them to victory. His private virtues were on a par with his ability, and his modesty, affability, and single-mindedness endeared him to all who came within the range of his influence. The loss of such a man at such a moment was more than Litsong could hope to replace.

Kuyuk was succeeded by his cousin Mangu, who at once devoted his principal attention to Chinese affairs. Indeed, there was little else except the reform of the finances, which had been thrown into confusion by the recklessness of the regents, to engage his mind, as by this time the western possessions of the Mongols were practically independent of the great Khan's authority, and governed by kings of the House of Genghis. Doubtless the memory of his father's military achievements had much to do with this resolution, and the restless energy of another member of the same family, now about to appear for the first time prominently on the scene of affairs, also contributed to urge the titular head of the Mongols to devote his attention more exclusively to the Chinese question. The genius of Kublai became the spear-head of the energy and persistency of Mangu; and the two brothers

VOL. I.

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took in hand, with a determination ominous for the Sungs, the completion of the conquest of China.

Mangu appointed Kublai his lieutenant, with supreme command of all the forces in China from the Corean border to the desert, and southwards as far as the great Kiang. This appointment was made in A.D. 1251, and proved the immediate precursor of the resumption of hostilities with Litsong. Some of the most important offices were given to Chinese, who devoted all their ability to promoting the interests of a government that neglected no opportunity of showing that it knew how to appreciate good and timely service. Kublai himself did still more than utilize in a general way those who had special experience in the country. He attached to his person a Chinese secretary named Yaochu, who became his constant companion and most attached minister. Yaochu had been for some years tutor to the young prince, and it cannot be doubted that many of the most important acts of Kublai's after-career were inspired by this enlightened political student. Yaochu may be justly compared with Yeliu Chutsai, the sage of the preceding generation.

Kublai very soon gave proof of the assiduity with which he intended to devote himself to his duties. The southern districts of Honan had suffered most in the campaigns which had witnessed the expiring effort of the Kins, and the subsequent brief struggle of the Sungs to retain the price of victory. They had, in truth, been turned into a barren solitude whence the people had fled. It became Kublai's first care to restore something of its lost prosperity to this region, and by the guarantee of protection to attract the inhabitants back to their homes. A board of inquiry into, and also for the redress of, grievances was formed, and Kublai's personal supervision prevented its functions being either neglected or becoming a mere form. The result of these measures was advantageous in a double sense. A base nearer the scene of war was obtained for a large army, at the same time that the new rulers secured a stronger hold on the affections of their subjects by advancing some claim to their gratitude. Kublai's popularity increased at a rapid pace; and his brother Mangu supported him with his cordial assistance.

'THE PROVINCE OF YUNNAN.

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By these prudent preliminaries Kublai paved the way for the invasion of the country south of the river Kiang. It was not until two years after he commenced his preparations that he was in readiness to commence active operations. The necessity which had arisen for sending an army against the Coreans contributed, no doubt, to increase the delay, but it had been turned to useful account. During this period the Sungs remained inactive behind their frontier, as if fascinated into a state of passiveness at the approach of a danger which, with a true presentiment, they felt they would be unable to resist. Their good behaviour, evinced too late, could retard neither the progress of fate nor the march of the Mongols.

The plan of campaign, which Kublai and his lieutenant Uriangkadai drew up, was marked by originality, and showed that the Mongols were fully resolved to conquer as much by skill and strategy, as by superiority in weapons, and the brute force of numbers. In the extreme south of China, with a people of different race to the rest of the country, lies the province of Yunnan. It has frequently been constituted as a separate kingdom, and at this period was divided into several principalities, independent of each other, and also of the Sung Emperor. Kublai resolved to commence his enterprise by the conquest of Yunnan-a bold scheme, but one which, if it could be successfully carried out, would result in the isolation of the Sungs by the cutting-off of their communications with the west and the south.

From Shensi Kublai marched through Szchuen at the head of a large army, divided into three corps, and having rapidly traversed the latter province and crossed the upper course of the Yangtse on rafts, he found himself at his destination in front of the fortified city of Tali. The people of Yunnan were thunderstruck at this sudden invasion of their country by an army that seemed to reck nothing of a march of a thousand miles, and of the passage of great mountain ranges and broad rivers. They could discover no better chance of defence than to shut themselves up in their cities and see whether the tornado would not retire as suddenly as it had arisen. The Mongols had never been deterred in their expeditions by walled cities, and the people of Yunnan soon

discovered that their fortifications were of no avail against their assailants. Several of the principal towns, including the capital Tali, were captured; and when some Mongol officers were murdered, Kublai would have exacted a terrible revenge but for the exhortations of Yaochu to punish only the guilty and to spare the innocent. After this decisive success, further resistance on the part of the people of Yunnan stopped, and Kublai returned to Shensi, leaving Uriangkadai in chief command.

After Kublai's departure, Uriangkadai carried on operations with great vigour. Surrounded on all sides by independent tribes, and in the midst of a hostile population, he saw that his best chance of safety lay in unceasing activity. His first expedition was against the Toufan or Tibetan tribes, who had attained the zenith of their power some centuries before, and were now rapidly declining, but who had not yet forgotten all their martial prowess. Having inflicted several defeats upon these turbulent people, Uriangkadai turned his success to greater account by enlisting many of them in his service. He thus increased his small army by the addition of a valuable auxiliary corps, and, flushed with success, turned his arms in the direction of Burmah. The King of Ava and the numerous tribes that then held, and still hold, the fringe of country between China and the northern kingdoms of the IndoChinese peninsula, were next compelled to recognize the Mongol power, which had now made itself supreme to the south-west of the Sung territory. The bold enterprise conceived by Kublai was thus crowned with the most complete

success.

Kublai's return to Shensi had been caused by the growing feeling of jealousy against him at his brother's court. Mangu himself had not been proof against the malign influences of his detractors, and, in A.D. 1257, took the extreme step of removing him from the high posts which he held in China. Kublai had none of the patience under personal injustice which moralists laud, and he gave some signs of an intention to resist with force the decree of the Great Khan. But his Mentor, Yaochu, was fortunately at hand to restrain his ardour, although it required a more than usual effort on the

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