The History of China - #190 - Yuan 11: The War of the Two Capitals

Episode Date: April 26, 2020

We start today in the aftermath of the murder of the 9th Great Mongol Khan and the 5th Emperor of Yuan. We end a decade later, at the beginning of the 15th Great Khan and 11th Yuan Emperor... coincidentally (or not) the last of both. The treachery, assassinations, wars, and power-plays that get us from that start to that end will threaten to split the very soul of the empire in two. Also, there's a lot of Temürs along the way... like, a *lot,* a lot! Time Period Covered: 1323-1333 CE Major Events: * Coup at Nanpo [Sept. 4, 1323] - Outcome: assassination of Shidebala Khaghan, accession of Yesün Temür Khaghan * War of the Two Capitals [Aug. 1328-Nov. 14, 1328 (sporadic resistance thru 1332)] - Outcome: Khaishan Restorationist victory/ Shangdu Loyalist defeat, overthrow of Aragibagh & enthronement of Jayaatu Khaghan * Incident at Ongghochatu [Aug. 26-30, 1329] - Outcome: assassination of Khoshila, restoration of Togh Temur Khaghan to the throne Relevant Historical Figures: Great Yuan: Shidebala (Gegeen Khaghan/Yuan Yingzong) [r. 1320-1323] Yesün Temür (Khaghan/Yuan Taiding) [r. 1323-1328] Aragibagh (Khaghan/Yuan Tianshun) [r. Oct.-Nov. 1328] Togh Temür (Jayaatu Khaghan/Yuan Wenzong) [r. Oct. 1328-Apr. 1329, Sept. 1329- Sept. 1332] Khoshila (Khutughtu Khaghan/Yuan Mingzong) [r. Feb. 1329-Aug. 1329] Rinchinbal (Khaghan/Yuan Ningzong) [r. Oct. 29, 1332-Dec. 14, 1332] Toghon Temür (Ukhaghatu Khaghan/Yuan Huizong) [r. 1333-1368] Empress Budashiri [1307-1340] Crown Prince Aradnadara [d. 1330] Prince El Tegüs [c. 1329-c. 1340] Daula-shah, Grand Councilor of the Right [d. 1228] El Temür, General & Grand Councillor of the Right [d. 1333] Bayan of the Merkids, General & Grand Councillor of the Left [d. 1340] Chagatai Khanate: Esen Bukha I, Khan [r. 1310-1318] Eljigidey Khan [r. 1326-1329] Golden Horde: Öz Beg Khan [r. 1313-1341] Ilkhanate: Abu Sa'id (Bahadur Khan) [r. 1316-1335] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hello, and welcome to the History of China. Episode 190, The War of the Two Capitals. In the late spring of 1328, the Emperor of Yuan China and 10th Great Khan of Mongolia, Yesun Temur, was at his summer palace in Shangdu in modern Inner Mongolia, about 400 kilometers more or less due north of the main imperial capital, Dadu, where Beijing is today. This annual trip to where the riverlands of China co-mingled with the steppe and desert of Mongolia was of both symbolic and practical importance for the great khans of the Yuan. Shangdu had served as the great dynastic founder Kublai's first imperial city, and it still served both as a special retreat where the Borjigin Mongols of China could let their hair down and

truly be themselves, away from the prying southern eyes of the Chinese. Likewise, it served as ritualistically and symbolically important touchstone, a reminder of where these ruling nobles and imperial princes had once come from, so as to not completely forget that, despite the comforts of food and flesh that serviced their every desire in the south, the steppe had been, and remained, their true homeland. At last, on a more practical level, it served as a much-needed seasonal escape from the intolerable summer heat of what the Mongols deemed their southern territories of northern China. Yet for all that, Yesun Temur Khan's trip to the summer capital was by no means a relaxing one. Even before he'd set out from Dadu, the 35-year-old emperor had fallen ill.

It's not clear what exactly his ailment was, but it is clear that in spite of the best care and medicine his imperial doctors could administer to him, Yesun Temur's condition only worsened as the summer wore on. Finally, on the Ides of August, he slipped into a coma and died. His son and heir, the four- or five-year-old Aragabag, would succeed him as the ruler of both China and Mongolia, but only briefly. This is because Yesun Temur's death immediately touched off what would become the bloodiest and most destructive successional struggle in the whole of the UN Dynasty's history, what later became known as the War of the Two Capitals. Though this untimely death would be the flash that set off this civil war, it was but one aspect of an even larger conflict over the very soul of the Yuan itself and its place in both, or either, the Chinese and Mongolian

worlds. In that way, we'll say today its name, the War of the Two Capitals, takes an even greater significance. For just as Chengdu served as the link between the Mongol and the Chinese for the Yuan imperial family, the main capital of Dadu would come to signify both geographically and even philosophically the later Yuan's abandonment of its traditions in favor of a complete immersion into the Chinese sphere. In order to more effectively understand what happened in 1328, we need to go back. Back to the events of last episode, to the brotherly reigns of Kaishan and Ayurvara Kayans. Now, since we looked at them

pretty well already, I'll just summarize for the most part here, except for the bits that got left out or were only briefly touched upon last time, but become much more important today. But you'll recall that, having seized the capitals and the throne in 1307, the brothers, with the timely intervention of their mother, came to agree that the elder, Kaishan, should sit at the throne first, while the younger brother, Ayurbarwada, would be made the heir apparent. Ayurbarwada would then in turn designate his nephew, Kaishan's eldest son, and the then seven-year-old Khosla, as his heir. And so it would go.

You'll also remember that once he was on the throne, Ayurbarwada suddenly realized that that whole promise thing to his brother was sorta kinda totally bumming him out. And so he decided to ignore it, designating his own son, Shidabala, as his heir, and sending Khosala off as the Prince of Jo to the ass-end of the universe, i.e. Yunnan, to be safely kept out of the way and, hopefully, forgotten. Well, as you can probably imagine, Prince Khosla was not at all thrilled about that little switcheroo. As such, instead of reporting as ordered to Yunnan, on the way south, while still in Shanxi, Khosla and his followers staged a brief abortive revolt in the name of restoring the scions of Kaishan to their, meaning his, rightful place as the

successors to the throne. They amassed troops and made big talk about their aims and objectives, but shortly after the rebel force could even so much as begin marching back eastward toward the capital, two of the lower-ranking officers got cold feet, decided that this was going to be a disaster, and so murdered most of the rebel leadership. Khosla himself survived, but it was already clear that this little revolt was over before it had even begun. And yet, he would be bound to it and its consequences. Khosla, therefore, did about the only thing he could do. He fled into what he surely must have known could and probably would be a permanent exile. His destination? The Chagatai Khanate in the heart of Central Asia,

and the court of its reigning khanate, Esen Bukha. Historian John W. Dardus writes, Instead of proceeding to Yunnan, Khosla and his group marched northwards into the grasslands, where on the western side of the Altai, the reigning prince, Esen Bukha, of the Chagatai Khanate, warmly welcomed them. As an important political refugee from China, and as a claimant to the throne of the great Kayan, Khosla might have been of some possible future use to the Chagatids. In essence, the Chagatid Khan would keep Khosla as an ace up his sleeve, so that if luck should so favor it, he might be able to press his claim and, perhaps, regain a seat at the table of high imperial politics and kingmaking which had long been monopolized by the Kubilid Toluids. Given the Jagadai Khanate's uniquely

vulnerable position within the Mongol Khanate system as a kind of central spoke of the wheel, it was both surrounded on all sides and had little in the way of natural defenses against hostile incursion. It therefore behooved Esenbukha and his successors to find a way to influence someone, I mean anyone, east, north, or west. Khosla's exile would prove to be their last card in attempting to influence Yuan politics, however, before at last giving up forever and turning westward toward the Ilkhanate of Persia. In any event, the exiled prince was given comfortable summer and winter grounds, as well as space for planting his crops, and otherwise treated as an honored guest for what

would be the following twelve years. That brings us to our second son of Haishan, Khosila's younger half-brother by four years, Tulkhtemr. Though apparently deemed insufficiently threatening to warrant quite the level of exile by Arabarwada in 1316, upon that emperor's death in 1320, his successor, Shidabalakhan, reversed the order and booted the 16- or 17-year-old Toghtemir to the other edge of the known universe, that place where courtly careers had been long sent off to die, forgotten and alone. Hainan Island. That order would be re-reversed three years later, after the coup at Nanpo saw Shidabala's untimely murder, and his replacement, Yesen Timur, semi-recalled him from political and social oblivion, deciding that Nanjing would be a bit more comfortable for the Mongol prince than

sticky, humid, tropical Hainan, and yet still safely removed enough from the capital itself. He was also finally given a princely title, the Prince of Huai. There he would remain until the turning wheels of fate brought him back to the capital and the center of imperial power politics as of 1328. Finally, that brings us to the real mover and shaker of the events to come today, General El Temer. And yeah, remember that time back in episode 187 when I introduced Temur Khan and said that he was just going to be the first of like so many Temurs, all with just little different affectations thrown onto their names in order to just differentiate them at all? I mean, yes, this is what I was talking about right here and now. A lot

of Temurs. So anyway, General El Temur, notably of the Kipchak Turks of Samurain officials of the Yuan, had earned his fame in battle and command of the great steppe rebellion suppression campaigns against Kaidu, Nayyan, and Duwa Khans right at the tail end of Kublai's reign and even well into Temur Khan's reign. He and his equally bemettled father had, as two of Kaishan's top field commanders, ridden his coattails back to the capital and into the imperial power politics at the top tiers of government, only to watch it all crumble away three years later with Kaishan's death and the accession of his very much not-a-military man, Iyar Barwada. He had retained something of a good posting, but had slid steadily out of the limelight over the subsequent two decades, until by28, he occupied the, quote, relatively modest but pivotal post of

assistant manager of the Bureau of Military Affairs, end quote. This post would prove pivotal because it was right on the cusp of actual political importance. A mid-level position ensured that he wasn't quite important enough to be expected to accompany the Great Khan on his yearly trip up to Chengdu, but he was still effectively high enough the latter to put him in total command of the capital's imperial guard corps when the higher-ups were away on vacation up north, such as, you know, the summer of 1328. And man, oh man, was he just itching to find a way

to get his favored line of Khans back on the throne, and, of course, himself back into real power. It sure would be a shame if something were to happen up there in Shangdu, wouldn't it? So, to briefly sum up our main characters today, we've got Yesen Temur, the great Khan who's about to die up in Shangdu. We have General El Temur, formerly one of Kaishan's top lieutenants, who is currently the supreme commander over the main capital Dadu's defenses and imperial guard. And then we've got the two sons of Kaishan Khan, big brother Khosla, the prince of Zhou, in exile, way out in the boondocks of the Chagatai Khanate, and little

brother Toghtemir, the prince of Huai, who's close but not too close, cooling his jets in Nanjing, aka, as it's called at this point, Jiankang. Yasin Temur had come to the throne in 1323 as a result of a seemingly unlikely first in Mongolian imperial history, an actual honest-to-god regicide. His predecessor, the bold, brash, hale, and hearty 21-year-old Shidabala Kayan, had been killed in such a brazen manner that not even the most sympathetic of chroniclers could chalk it up to, you know, like alcohol poisoning or the like.

It remains at least somewhat uncertain of what role, if any, Yesun Temur himself played in the coup at Nanpo that ended Shidabala's life. Certainly, if we go by that old Roman detective's line of questioning, qui bono, Yesun Temur certainly stood to, and did, gain the most out of anyone involved in the death of the reigning Yuan Emperor, and he knew it. He was the son and heir of Gamala, Crown Prince Junjin's eldest son, who had been a serious contender for the throne back in 1294. In 1304, upon Gamala's death, Yasin Temur had inherited the title of the Prince of Jin and the Guardian of Genghis Khan's Four Orders, one of the most symbolically and militarily powerful positions in the entire empire. In the Kuril Tai of 1307, his claim to the Kayanit would have been just as strong as either Kaishan or Ayurbarwada,

though his youth at the time, just 13 or 14, is likely what prevented him pressing it at the time. In the decade to follow, and especially once Ayurvarwada had taken the throne and reinstituted a pro-Confucian, pro-Chinese set of politics, he had amassed unrivaled support amongst the princes of the steppe who favored the old ways. So suffice it to say that he had a powerful means and potent motive, and Shidabala's transit from Shangdu south to Dadu seems to have provided a golden opportunity that was not to be missed. Though Yesun Temur attempted to present himself as having had no idea whatsoever of the plot around Shidabala Khan's life, there's ample evidence to the contrary. Xiao writes, quote,

Without the tacit agreement, if not active encouragement, of Yesun Temur, Tegshi and the other conspirators probably would not have dared to commit regicide. It is known that Daola Xia, the administrator of Yesen Temer's princely establishment, had established close contact with the conspirators, and that the latter had informed Yesen Temer of the plot two days before the actual murder, proposing to elect him as the new kaiyan should the planned assassination be successful. End quote. The History of Yuan writes that the prince desperately attempted to alert the great Khan of the impending danger,

but alas, his warning arrived just a little too late. This, however, seems almost certainly to be a whitewashing of events by Yasin Temur's own partisans, concocted well after the fact, in an attempt to wash the blood from his hands in the eyes of history. In spite of his likely complic hands in the eyes of history. In spite of his likely complicity in the plot that would enthrone him, once emperor, Yusentemur wasted little time in turning against those who had carried it out. Those masterminds not of the imperial bloodline were swiftly put to death, while the five princes of the blood that had participated were banished into remote exile. It was, after all, only logical. How could a new king possibly

trust known kingslayers, regardless of whether or not they'd done it on his behalf? Again, from Xiao, quote, the purge of the conspirators was Yesentemir's masterstroke to boost his legitimacy. That is, he had to draw a strict line between himself and the act of regicide, which was inexcusable from the viewpoints of both Mongolian and Chinese political ethics. End quote. It sounds a little strange to say this, but of all the Mongol Khaians to rule over Great Yuan, Yesen Temur was probably one of, or maybe even the most, un-Chinese of the bunch. He was born in Mongolia, and lived there almost his entire life as a steppe nomad. He had no Chinese education to speak of, and brought with him his close cabal of Mongol and Semu advisors in lieu of the Chinese Confucian influences at the imperial court.

Though himself a devout Buddhist, he also heavily favored Muslims in his court, to an extent unknown either before or after in the Yuan dynasty. In short, his reign was yet another hard pitch in the opposite direction from Shidabala and his father, Iyar Barwada, for the Yuan ship of state. As such, it's not surprising that as emperor, Yasin Temur took swift steps to court the Mongol princes over to his side in order to further his claim to the true mantle of Great Khan. This is surely what inspired him to recall Toghtemur from his exile at Hainan, along with another of Kaishan's sons who had been left in

remote Shanxi. A hand of friendship was even extended to the most distant of Kaishan's sons, Khosila, still way off in the Chagatai Khanate. And Khosila responded positively, sending an envoy bearing tribute for the Great Khan of the Mongols. For four years, he ruled in such a manner, upholding the rights and traditional privileges, and payouts, to his Mongol brethren, and either unmaking or simply ignoring any laws or reforms of his predecessors that had restricted such things, all, of course, at great cost to the Yuan state. His sickness had begun in early spring of 1328, and progressed with the seasons. By summer's approach, likely hoping that a change of climate would improve the weakened emperor's

health, he and his retinue had set out for the summer capital. Yet there seems to have been little doubt in at least certain members of the imperial court that the 35-year-old emperor of China was unlikely to recover, and certain contingencies were quietly put into place. When death at last arrived for Yesen Temer on August 15th of that year, he must have at least gone to the grave comforted by the fact that he had a designated heir, the crown prince Aragibag, though only a boy of about eight, as well as a grand counselor who would ably serve as a regent until the boy was grown, the steadfast and loyal Dao La Xia.

Aribag would be duly enthroned at Shangdu that October as Emperor Tianxun. Yesen Temur's deathbed comfort, however, was illusory. The moment that word arrived at Dadu of the emperor's passing, General El Temur launched his long-planned coup d'etat to restore the Kaishan line of Khans to the throne. His plan had actually involved staging a dual strike simultaneously at both capitals to cut off all loose ends at once, but 18 of his agents within Shangdu were discovered and executed before they could carry out their mission, thus leaving the boy king, Aragebog, and his inner circle still alive and ensconced in at least a seat of power.

Nevertheless, Altemir, as commander of the capital guard while the royal court was away, was easily able to seize Dadu for himself. At dawn on September 8th, forces loyal to the general successfully stormed the imperial palace and rounded up all the key figures of the administration who hadn't made the trip north, and then installed a temporary government. He had missives to write to his allies, and to his would-be khan. Toghtemir, by far the closer of the two potentials, received word at his villa in Nanjing of the coup, and of the invitation to proceed to Dadu and take up the throne in the name of his father.

A confederate of Eltemir, and likewise former staff officer of Kaishan, named Bayan of the Markid, was able to use his position as the manager of the branch secretariat of Hanan province to seize control of the province and create a safe path for Toghtemir to ride, as well as raise considerable armies and funds from the populace in order to protect him. And then, he personally escorted the prince all the way to the capital. Once there in Dadu, Toghtemur was formally enthroned on October 16th as Jaya Atu Khan, though it would prove to be only provisionally. Though Toghtemur had been El Temur's first choice as Khan, when word got out that his elder brother had been passed up, there was widespread public dissatisfaction that such a filially impious thing had been done.

As such, finally bowing to widespread public pressure, Pogtemur swore that when his elder brother Kosila arrived from the far west, he would cede the throne to him in proper filial fashion. And so, the war of the two capitals was on. If moral righteousness and legal correctness won wars, then certainly the court of Aragibag at Shangdu held the upper hand, for they were supporting the designated heir of the late Kayan. Unfortunately for them, bows don't fire morality and scabbers don't sheathe legality.

And when it came to force of arms, as well as the realpolitik considerations of the day, Shangdu was heavily outgunned by the forces loyal to Dadu. Not only did the Kaishan Restorationists command the primary capital, but they were also able to count on material and financial support from some of the wealthiest regions of the empire. Dongshu, Henan, Jiangzhi, Jiangxi, and Huguang all pledged support to the sons of Kaishan. In contrast, the loyalists of Shangdu were only able to attract support from the more outlying, peripheral, and destitute provinces, places like Lingbei, Liaoyang, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan. In short, Jaya Atukan held the core and heart of

Yuan China, while Aragibag could only count on its dregs. This was compounded, both materially and morally, by the fact that, in order to even try to retake the throne and overthrow the usurper cause, the loyalists at Shangdu, itself on China's northern periphery, were forced to play the part of the conquering invader, and thus, quote, forfeit popular sympathy and supply themselves by looting Chinese villages, end quote. Altamir capitalized on this bad look by playing the good guy defender of China and providing quick relief to the regions that the Shangdu armies disrupted.

Again from Xiao, quote, Though an insurrectionist, he made his own side appear to be the true defender of security and order, end quote. Truly, this was one of the great political judo maneuvers in history. At least initially, however, things seemed to be promising for the loyalist forces. They were able to break through several defensive points along the Great Wall, and then made it as far as the outskirts of Dadu itself. But General El Temer had prepared for this contingency, and personally rode out against the attackers, quickly turning the tide and forcing them into retreat. Quote, what proved fatal to the loyalists was a surprise attack launched by the restorationists from Manchuria and eastern Mongolia. Many of the

eastern Mongolian princes supported the restorationist cause. End quote. Commanded by El Temur's uncle, Bukha Temur, with lightning speed, they rode out from eastern Mongolia. By mid-November, they had cut off and completely surrounded Shangdu and the imperial court within. The writing was on the wall. The war was over, and the loyalists had lost. Hi everyone, this is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered, follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over ten generations, or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era, then check out the Ancient World Podcast. Available on all

podcasting platforms or go to ancientworldpodcast.com. That's the Ancient World Podcast. By November 15th, Shangdu had capitulated, and the victorious armies marched inside. Most of the leading loyalists were arrested and ultimately executed for their supposed treachery, but not listed among them is the young emperor, Aragibag, who might have somehow been quietly spirited away, or more likely just murdered without a fuss. Elsewhere, some loyalist pockets would hold out until as late as the following May before laying down their arms. And in a singularly notable instance, loyalist pockets in distant Yunnan, supported by the indigenous Nanhan peoples of the region, would doggedly fight on for another

four years. But in all cases, it would prove a lost cause. The path to the throne for the Kaishan restorationists had already been made clear. When word reached Koshila from Datdu at his encampment at Tar-Bagatai of this successful coup, and of his pro forma invitation to take up the throne since of course he was the big brother and of course Tog Temur would be just happy to step down for you who did literally none of the work, he set out at once eastward, accompanied by no less than the Chagatai Khan and some 1,900 of his royal guardsmen. Xiao writes, quote, Mistaking Tog Temur's and El Temur's polite gesture as a sincere offer, Kozila had proceeded to appoint his own loyal followers to important

posts, thus threatening to undermine the political machinery so painstakingly created by Tolk Temur and El Temur in China, end quote. It was, however, an exceedingly long journey. On February 27th, Khosyla chose the ancient Mongol capital of Karakorum to be where he would officially assume the twin mantles of Emperor of Yuan and Great Khan of the Mongols. There he remained for the next two months. In April, he sent a missive ahead to Dadu, informing them of his self-coronation and commanding that an ancient tradition be upheld once again. He wrote, quote, When I arrive in Chengdu, the princes of the various Khanates will definitely all come to gather together. This is not to be compared to an ordinary court That's right.

Kosila wanted a curl tie. The next month saw the arrival of the conquering general, El Temer, who had made the journey in order to saw the arrival of the conquering general, El Temer, who had made the journey in order to deliver the jade imperial seal to Khosla, and definitely not at all through a forced smile or gritted teeth or anything like that. This would officially mark the end of Tog Temer's provisional rule and his new status as the heir apparent, which again, he was just thrilled about. Arrangements were then made that Khosla Khan would leave Karakorum and continue eastward, while his brother and heir would depart Dadu and head north.

The two would therefore meet in a joyous reunion at a place roughly equidistant between Shangdu and Dadu. The brothers would indeed reunite at that place, although it would prove to be very brief and very far from joyous. It occurred at a site known as Ongachatu, where the prince's father, Kaishan, had once laid the foundations for what would have been the third Yuan capital, Zhongdu, before he died and the city was then scrapped by his successor. The brothers met there on August 26th, and though it was all smiles to each other's faces, it's pretty clear that neither side very well trusted the other.

Koshila, for one, ordered an increase to his nightguards. And as for Toghtemur and Eltemur? Well, it turned out that the extra night watchmen weren't quite near enough. For just four days later, at the age of 29, Koshila, wouldn't you know it, was stone dead. The history of Yuan explicitly states that it was a death by violence, and several other subsequent historians have pointed to poison as a likely weapon, which is a very traditional Mongol choice, it should be noted.

And like, obviously, it was Toghtemur and El Temur who planned it and carried it out. Nevertheless, whoopsie-daisy, I guess Toghtemur will have to become emperor again. Gee shucks, if he must. And so he was to be re-enthroned for the second time in this many years, this time in Shangdu for good measure. To Dardis, the outcome at Ongo-Chatu displayed a final and irrevocable step of the Kublaid monarchs of Yuan from being great Khans of the Mongols to being full-on Confucian Chinese emperors. He writes of the difference between Kaishan's own accession as the step-candidate a generation

earlier, quote, To a very great degree, Kaishan's accession was the product of an unstabilized frontier, but Kaishan himself created the conditions that would make it impossible for his eldest son to follow in his footsteps. By 1328, Mongolia was integrated into an imperial system whose controlling levers lay in China and not in Mongolia. Unless Khosyla had somehow been willing to demolish this structure, his step candidacy lacked all substance. End quote. It seems like Khosyla might have thought pretty hard about just such a strategy, as shown by his self-coronation at the old Mongol seat of

Karakorum rather than at Chengdu or Dadu. But then he decided against it as just kind of a bridge too far for the Yuan as it was in 1329. Dardis goes on, therefore, quote, unity of the Mongol Empire was completely unreal. His assassination proved that the Yuan dynasty had triumphed over the Mongol Empire. It was finally determined that the Mongol ruler in China was Yuan Emperor first and foremost, and Great Kaiyan only in name." Yet Xiao points out other factors that certainly played likewise pivotal roles in the outcome at Ongochatu. Kaishan, for all of his step-writerishness, was tuned directly into the Yuan government establishment and the way it operated and functioned, and always had been his whole life. He had widespread support within the imperial court itself, in spite of his image as an outsider. His son Koshila, on the other hand, was a complete alien to that same system,

and had no support, to the point of barely disguised hostility within the court. Everyone had been a-okay with Toghtemur in charge, and they'd only offered out of politeness the throne to Khoshila, and everyone knows that you're supposed to refuse that kind of an offer at least three times. I mean, come on, that's just tradition. You're not supposed to accept it right off the bat. Moreover, when Kaishan had taken over from his younger brother, Iyar Barwada, the latter had been merely an acting regent and hadn't officially taken up imperial titles. Koshila, on the other hand, had fully expected Toktema to hand over total and formal imperial authority, which just ceremonially was just a thing you didn't do. And so, when Khoshila barged into China like, well, a bull in a china shop,

upending tables and traditions alike, people noticed that the bull was breaking all their nice pottery and lovingly crafted political machinery that they'd spent years building and months fighting for, and so they decided to make beef stew. It certainly didn't help Khoshyla's case that he'd come in with a measly 1,900 soldiers that he'd, oh yeah, borrowed from the Chagatai Khan. Not at all like his father, who'd rolled in with 30,000 of his own guys who also just so happened to be the biggest, baddest soldiers in the empire. Now that says, look at me, I'm the Kion now. A single small brigade of less than 2,000? I mean, that's one-star general level at best, friend, not great Kion territory. He'd spent the prior 12 years as an exile in Central Asia,

living off the largesse of the Chagatai Khan, and then just comes in rolling into Yuan China to make himself out to be the conqueror and dragon reborn. But in truth, he was only a beggar king. To Xiao, therefore, quote, Koshila's favor to capture the throne should be attributed to his personal status as a political refugee and his lack of political and military support, rather than to the declining importance of the steppe region and Yuan imperial politics, end quote. Toghtemur thus resumed the throne as Jaya Atukhan, but though he reigned, he cannot be said to have ruled in truth. Dardis writes that, quote, no previous emperor of the Yuan dynasty was ever so circumscribed in his powers as Toghtemur, end quote. He served in his four short years on the Yuan throne as little more than a figurehead,

a nominal emperor, symbol of legitimacy, and dispenser of titles and honors. Most of those titles and honors, not coincidentally, were quickly handed out to the two men who would rule the realm in truth, the kingmakers, El Temer and Bayan of the Merkid. El Temer, already not only multiple times war hero and grand counselor of the right, now had yet more titles heaped upon him. The Prince of Taiping, Darkhan of Mongolia, Grand Preceptor of China, Manager of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Censor-in-Chief, Chief Administrator to the Heir Apparent, Grand Academician of the Pavilion of the Star of Literature.

He was also allowed to establish the Capital Military Commission, which enabled him to directly command and oversee six of the Imperial Guard Corps, including three of which that were composed primarily of his fellow ethnic Kipchaks. He was also allowed to marry into the Imperial family itself, taking one of the late Yesen Temür Khan's consorts as one of his wives, along with 40 other women of the imperial clan. Likewise, three of his sisters were married into the imperial house in turn. Bayan's honors and titles were second only to El Temür's. The Mercid was given such titles as Defender-in-Chief of the Realm, Grand Guardian, and Grand Mentor,

as well as likewise serving as Censor-in-Ch-chief, grand counselor of the left, for a time at least until he retired and let Altemir be the only grand counselor, and many other concurrent assignments. He was likewise given military command of two elite guard corps and invested as the prince of Zhongning, rendering him eligible to take one of the great-granddaughters of Kublai as his consort. Throughout Toghtemir's nominal reign, these two would work remarkably well together as the true power behind the throne, rendering them, quote,

not only kingmakers in the true sense of the word, but also builders of their own power bases in the bureaucracy and military, end quote. Keenly aware of their and their Khan's illegitimacy in returning to the throne, the trio of rulers were swift to ensure that a bloody purge was carried out against any who might stand against them in life, while simultaneously conducting a widespread damnatio memoriae for those foes who might have already died. The purge against Yesun Tamar's heir was carried out thoroughly and mercilessly after the surrender of Shangdu in November of 1328. Not only were the leading loyalists killed or exiled, but their properties were confiscated.

This vengeful spirit was so pervasive in the court that there was even a suggestion to kill all of the officials who had followed Yesun Temur on his annual trip to Shangdu. In addition, to make Yesun Temur's line illegitimate, not only was the Kayan denied a posthumous temple name, but the chamber in the imperial shrine where the tablet of Gamala, Yesen Temer's father, had been placed was also destroyed. Furthermore, the purge extended to Khosila's followers. Khosila's three senior supporters who had survived their lord's murder were either executed or dismissed from office in 1330, on one ground or another, end quote. Muslims so prominent under Yesen Temür were blanket denied

positions with Toghtemür's central government. Confucians and even Semu officials likewise found themselves boxed out of virtually any position or decision. Instead, the triumvirate, knowing full well that they had no legal standing to back up their conship, instead relied more or less on naked bribery of the Mongol princes in order to make them remain loyal. In his four years, Toghtemur would enfeef 24 Mongols as imperial princes, nine of which were of the first rank, and seven of those weren't even descendants of Kublai, which was prescribed. Concerted attempts were also engaged to mend bridges between Yuan and the other Khanates of Asia. The Toghtai Khan, El-Digide, was

understandably rather miffed that Toghtemur had killed his ward and favored candidate, Khosla. Shortly after his second coronation, therefore, Toghtemur sent the Chagatai Khan a precious gift by way of apology, an ancient Mongolian seal originally given by the great Khan, Ogedei, to his brother Chagatai more than a century prior. Such a priceless gift did much to mollify the Khan's anger toward the new Emperor of Yuan. The following year, a more general diplomatic offensive was engaged with not only the Chagatai Khanate, but the Golden Horde and Ilkhanate as well. These were one and all well-received, and in what would prove to be the remaining three years of Tolgtemir's reign, he would receive two

tribute missions from Ozbeg Khan of the Golden Horde, four from El-Jigadei Khan of the Chagatai, and as many as eight from Abu Sayyid Bahadur Khan of the Ilkhanate. As such, Toghtemur could claim to have re-established, however nominally, suzerainty over the entire Mongol world as its true great khan. In spite of this ostensible feather in his cap, though, Toghtemur faced no shortage of discontent and even acts of outright sedition and rebellion against his rule. At least eight plots against the imperial court were either planned or enacted during his four years on the throne, involving several imperial princes and

high-ranking officials in government. The fourth decade of the 14th century would likewise see a major uptick in natural disasters, and with them, peasant and ethnic minority uprisings. The provinces of Shanxi, Zhongshu, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangzhe were all hit seriously and frequently by either droughts or floods, and millions of people lost their homes. In the 28 years that had passed since the enthronement of Temur Khan in 1295 and the enthronement of Yesun Temur in 1323, there had been 69 recorded instances of popular uprisings against Yanrul, and mostly those had been small and local in nature. In the nine years between the start of Yesun Temer's reign and the death of Tog Temer in 1332, on the other hand, there were 86 outbreaks of rebellion, 50 of which were centered

in Huguang, and another 28 in Yunnan alone, both of which were regions heavily populated by ethnic minorities, and some of which were quite large and required enormous governmental expenditure to contain and suppress, and exactly at the time where the UN treasury could scarce afford such costs. From Xiao, quote, the revolt of so many indigenous groups was not due simply to the misgovernment of the two regions, but also to the cumulative grievances of those groups against the UN government's exploitation and harsh control of them, and also reflected the progressive weakening of the UN's local control over those border regions. End quote.

Togthammer was only 24 when he first took, and then retook, the throne in 1328-29. It's curious, then, that he seems to have spent much of his mental energy in the subsequent four years on the throne, obsessing over his own ultimate legacy, and particularly the question of his own successor. It seems likely that, given the illegitimate and illegal nature of his own seizure of power, and fratricide besides, his actions may have haunted him, along with the idea that the same grisly end might eventually be meted out upon him or his descendants. He and his principal wife, Empress Budashiri, intended that their

eldest son, Prince Aradnadara, to succeed his father in the classically Chinese style. In 1330, the boy, who is of uncertain age but likely not more than 10 or 11 or potentially younger, was named the Prince of Yan, a title held before only by his great-great-grandfather, Prince Zhenjin. Then, in order to make sure that there would be no question about the succession, that May, Koseula's principal wife and, briefly, empress, Babusha, was murdered, and their eldest son, the ten-year-old Togon Temur, sent into exile, first in Korea, and subsequently to Guangxi in the far south. In January of 1331, Prince Aradnarada was

formally designated as the heir to the empire, and then about one month after that, he suddenly died. Whoops. This not only completely upended Toghtemur's successional apple cart, but also seems to have increased his existential dread at some kind of karmic comeuppance to what he'd just done to his brother, Khosla. The emperor entrusted the care of his second son, who he had just renamed El-Tegus, meaning Perfect Harmony, apparently in an attempt to appease what might have been understood as the universe being out of balance due to his actions, to his trusted grand counselor, El-Temur. Tog-Temur did not, however, formally designate the now two- or three-year-old boy as the official heir, and in fact, it would turn out he never had time.

By the summer of 1332, Toghtemur, at 28 years old, took ill with an unspecified ailment and retired to what would wind up being his deathbed. At some point, apparently realizing as much, Toghtemur expressed remorse for his actions against his brother, and, in contrition, declared his intention that the throne should pass not to his own toddler son, El Tegus, but instead to his nephew, Khoshela's eldest son, Toghontemur, who at now age 12 was still in exile in Guangxi. To this, Grand Counselor El Temer urged the dying Khan to reconsider. Quote, End quote.

He therefore urged the Great Khan to rethink this decision and declare his own son as heir. I mean, it's the obvious choice, Your Majesty. To this, however, Empress Budashiri stepped in, and apparently also fearful of the karmic consequences of her husband's fratricide should he not correct the imbalance, rejected the idea as well. Instead, a compromise candidate was worked out, not Togon Temur, but instead his little brother, the six-year-old Rinjinbal. It seems likely that he was chosen since it was more likely that a boy of his youth could be more easily made to forget the harm meted out upon his family by his predecessors.

And so, with that finally settled, Emperor Toghtemur died on September 2nd, 1332, after just four years on the throne, at the age of 28. The boy, Ren Jinbal, was formally enthroned the following month on October 13th in the imperial palace at Datu. And perhaps here, El Temur breathed a sigh of relief. He would, after all, be Grand Counselor and Supreme Regent over this pliable youth for at least the next decade and a half before the boy would be old enough to take power in his own right. And in that time, El Temor could surely... Oh, wait, the kid just died.

After a measly 53 days on the throne, Rinjinbal Khan died on December 14, 1332, at the age of six. Whoops. Once more, El Temor asked the now-Empress Dowager Budasiri to consent in having her and Tok Tamar's baby, baby, El-Tegus, enthroned. But she once again declined. As such, with no other viable option, Grand Counselor El-Temur had no choice but to begrudgingly recall Koshila's eldest son, Toghon Timur, from the far south in Guangxi, back to Dadu to claim his birthright.

And that's where we're going to end off today. Because next time, on July 19th, 1333, the height of summer in the imperial palace, that 13-year-old boy would be formally enthroned as the 15th Great Khan of the Mongols and the 11th Emperor of Great Yuan. And as it would turn out, he'll wind up being the last of both. Thanks for listening. The Civil War and Reconstruction was a pivotal era in American history. When a war was fought to save the Union and to free the slaves. And when the work to rebuild the nation after that war was over turned into a struggle to guarantee liberty and justice for all Americans. I'm Tracy and I'm

Rich and we want to invite you to join us as we take an in-depth look at this pivotal era in American history. Look for the Civil War and Reconstruction wherever you find your podcasts.