A Yuan Dynasty Guide to Getting Rich

Did inflation bring down the Yuan dynasty? From Genghis Khan's rise to the Yuan dynasty's fall, this is a history of the dynasty's fortunes told through its finances.

A contradictory system of government? Revenue buckling under the crushing burden of military spending? The long-term risks of a divided north and south? An inconsistent policy of Sinicization... This book explores the mystery of the Yuan dynasty's short lifespan from multiple angles.

A new work by renowned historian Guo Jianlong! The book begins with the fiscal impact of Genghis Khan's western campaigns. Genghis Khan introduced measures such as military plunder, the darughachi system, and the appanage system. By harnessing a commercial spirit, he built an even larger world-spanning empire and laid crucial economic, cultural, and political foundations for the Yuan dynasty, the most commercially minded dynasty in ancient Chinese history.

Under Kublai Khan, extensive military campaigns created serious fiscal vulnerabilities and institutional flaws. The emperors who followed changed like the figures in a revolving lantern, foreshadowing the Yuan dynasty's eventual fate. The rulers wavered between Mongol and Han cultures, while the fiscal and political imbalance between north and south brought the dynasty to the brink of collapse.

Open this book to explore the mystery of the Yuan dynasty's short lifespan from multiple angles and glimpse the hidden fiscal forces behind the evolution of ancient Chinese history.