AHC: Prolong the Yuan Dynasty

Is there a way to prevent the ailments of the Yuan Dynasty that occurred in its later years? I don't mind if the Emperors lose their influence over the Khanates, but the challenge is for the Yuan Dynasty to retain central control over most, if not all, of China and (if possible) Outer Mongolia.
 
Is there a way to prevent the ailments of the Yuan Dynasty that occurred in its later years? I don't mind if the Emperors lose their influence over the Khanates, but the challenge is for the Yuan Dynasty to retain central control over most, if not all, of China and (if possible) Outer Mongolia.

I think that to make the Yuan Dynasty last longer is doable.
I mean - why not?

Even the first glance will show some striking abnormality - the Yuan Emperors (the founder being the happy exception) lived surprisingly little, their ill health and life expectancy was extremely poor.

One of the (possible) reasons for that was the Yuan following traditional Mongol marriage customs too strictly. They took (principal) wives from a certain Mongol clan which meant that in a generation or so they were marrying their very close genetic relatives. Whence inbreeding.

If you somehow had cured that you might have had healthier and longer living Yuan emperors. Which might have helped the dynasty to stay in China longer.
 
I wonder then if there would be a way to convince a Yuan Emperor to marry a Chinese noblewoman to try and legitimise future successors. Raise the child as part-Mongol, ensuring they know very well their "true" roots, but keep them educated on matters Chinese.

Of course, it would also help to have the Yuan Emperors give up on also being Khan of Khans. I know it's a long shot, but having a Yuan Emperor surrender the Khanates to their own devices (instead of expecting them to always be at his beck and call) would allow him to focus on matter Chinese and further centralise his control.
 
I wonder then if there would be a way to convince a Yuan Emperor to marry a Chinese noblewoman to try and legitimise future successors. Raise the child as part-Mongol, ensuring they know very well their "true" roots, but keep them educated on matters Chinese.

Of course, it would also help to have the Yuan Emperors give up on also being Khan of Khans. I know it's a long shot, but having a Yuan Emperor surrender the Khanates to their own devices (instead of expecting them to always be at his beck and call) would allow him to focus on matter Chinese and further centralise his control.

IIRC,didn't an emperor that tried to sinicize get couped off?
 
IIRC,didn't an emperor that tried to sinicize get couped off?

Buyantu Khan began reforms based on Confuscian Principles. His son and successor, Gegeen Khan, continued these reforms, but he was assassinated by what is assumed to have been "Steppe Elite" ("true Mongols"). His successor, Yesun Temur, was also assassinated, despite being installed by the same "Steppe Elite".

But, I think, if a Yuan Emperor can "cut ties" to the Mongols in some way, assimilate into Chinese culture without the Mongols, maybe he can survive and so can the dynasty. The only crutch would be hanging onto Outer Mongolia proper.
 
I wonder then if there would be a way to convince a Yuan Emperor to marry a Chinese noblewoman to try and legitimise future successors. Raise the child as part-Mongol, ensuring they know very well their "true" roots, but keep them educated on matters Chinese.

Marrying a Chinese woman was easy, the Yuan Emperors did it thousand times IIRC. The problem was making this Chinese wife a principal wife.
You see, only principal wives were responsible for producing legitimate heirs to the Mongol throne. And the principle wives of the Yuan Khans had to be only Mongol girls from certain Mongol clans.

If the Yuan Emperor had made his son, which had not been born by a 'proper' Mongol wife, his successor... well, this son of his would have made a nicer emperor in the eyes of his Chinese subjects, but this son would lack legitimacy from the point of view of his Mongol compatriots.
And that would be an invitation for the Mongols to coup this half-breed off.
 
Marrying a Chinese woman was easy, the Yuan Emperors did it thousand times IIRC. The problem was making this Chinese wife a principal wife.
You see, only principal wives were responsible for producing legitimate heirs to the Mongol throne. And the principle wives of the Yuan Khans had to be only Mongol girls from certain Mongol clans.

If the Yuan Emperor had made his son, which had not been born by a 'proper' Mongol wife, his successor... well, this son of his would have made a nicer emperor in the eyes of his Chinese subjects, but this son would lack legitimacy from the point of view of his Mongol compatriots.
And that would be an invitation for the Mongols to coup this half-breed off.

I wonder then; if Prince Zhenjin hadn't died before Kublai, and had inherited the dynasty and the title of Khagan, what would the resulting butterflies be? Wasn't Zhenjin educated in Chinese ways? Would he have provided a good balance between the Chinese subjects and the Mongols?
 
But, I think, if a Yuan Emperor can "cut ties" to the Mongols in some way, assimilate into Chinese culture without the Mongols, maybe he can survive and so can the dynasty.

That wouldn't be easy.
First thing you have to convince an Emperor to forget that he is from the race of the World conquerors - the Mongols, that he is from the most venerated bloodline on this Earth - Chengizz Khan's, that he is the Great Universal Khaan - that is the greatest title this world had ever known - meaning 'the ruler of the Universe'.

But ok, let's say an emperor cuts his "Mongol ties".
Are you sure that in a few generations these emperors would be considered Chinese by the Chinese themselves? There is a risk that the 'true Chinese' would call a Yuan Emperor - "that Mongol guy".
I mean even marrying only Chinese women (which was quite impossible but just for the sake of mental speculation) - whatever the Yuan do - their male bloodline is Non-Chinese.

But that's the final result - having fully Chinese Yuan in the end. (Let's imagine that's doable).
The trickiest part here is to achieve this result. In the process of transforming the true Mongol dynasty into the true Chinese dynasty there would be a period for a generation or two when the Yuan would not be "true Mongol" already and they wouldn't be "true Chinese" yet - something in-between.
So they would be alien to their Mongol subjects and to their Chinese people at the same time. And if the Mongols wouldn't kill this Yuan Emperor, then the Chinese would.

So in OTL the Yuan did everything right. That was the surest and the safest way to hold China.
 
Sinicization is probably overrated as an answer - even the Manchus didn't fully 'Sinicize'. As mentioned, the process generates trouble of its own with Reformist/Old Guard conflict (as the Northern Wei found out in the 7th Century when their entire Old Guard revolted away), so here's my list of alternative solutions:

1) Get rid of the practice of distributing loot to Mongol elites every time a new Emperor ascends to power. A pretty common feature in the 'tribe-state' system of steppe politics, it nevertheless became a massive burden after the Yuan reached the limits of its expansion and began extracting higher and higher taxes to sustain these payouts. The turbulence of Mongol politics mainly stemmed from Emperors failing to match/increase previous payouts... a strong Emperor could engineer an Ottoman-style 'Auspicious Incident' to enforce his authority on these matters.

2) Better choice in wars. Kublai engaged in a frenzy of expansion at the same time as and after the Song conquest, which exhausted the state's resources (especially precious maritime resources, which are not easily replaced) without bringing much profit in return. A more focused approach on specific targets (Annam, Japan, Champa, Java etc.) could have yielded tangible results that, in turn, could have provided loot to pay off Mongol elites and thus keep the realm stable.

3) Allow Chinese access to the higher echelons of power, similar to the Manchu system. The fact that Han Chinese found themselves trapped into low, provincial posts did not do much to help bolster their loyalty to the Yuan state. Of course one could very well argue that attachment to the Song was extraordinarily strong during this period and that Han wouldn't have served in the Yuan state even if they had been allowed to anyway, but the fact that the option wasn't even there didn't help things.

4) Lastly, put fewer Tibetan lamas with little administrative experience in positions of power.

It's more difficult to sustain a Yuan Dynasty than the OTL Qing Dynasty, since in the latter's case the Manchus had done away with the practice of loot distribution and Han Chinese proved far more accepting of their rule than they were of the Mongols during the Song period. However, the Yuan also had advantages in their societal openness, as well as the existence of commerce-based 'strongmen' across the former Song Dynasty (such as the Arab Pu Shougeng in Quanzhou) who could be used to hold down the fort.
 
The trickiest part would be to how to avoid being couped off by the Old Guard.

In OTL being couped off by the Old Mongol Guard was quite inevitable if a Khan got too Cinisized. That was because the Army was dominated by the Mongols till the very end.

But wait... IIRC there was a period in OTL when the Chinese (Han) detachments serving Kublai Khan were managed by the Chinese and they were very numerous and strong.

That was the initial period of the Kublai's conquest of the Song. Kublai Khan desperately needed forces and the ethnic Mongols were few and involved in world-conquering somewhere else. And when the Mongol Civil war started he needed his Chinese armies against other Mongol pretenders.

The system was like that: Kublai gave his Chinese (Han) warlords lands and in return these virtually independent "feudal barons" took part in Kublai's wars leading their Chinese(Han) armies.
And Kublai Khan had not proclaimed Yuan dynasty yet, so the appeal was - "You Chinese guys help me, the Mongol Khan, to burn, slaughter and rape your Chinese Motherland".
Of course the system was lousy, these Chinese armies revolted and were ruthlessly supressed by the Mongols; and after that the Chinese were not trusted anymore - the Mongols domineered the army.

So the PoD is - some loyal Chinese(Han) generals warned Kublai Khan about the treason among the Chinese and the rebellion was suppressed before it actually started. These loyal Chinese generals got command over the reformed Chinese armies as they were trusted and they persuaded Khan to proclaim himself Chinese Emperor earlier than in OTL.
So in this ATL we have much stronger Chinese element in the Yuan Imperial Army. That actually gives the Khan/Emperor possibility to counterbalance the influence of the Old Guard with his loyal Cinicised Mongols and his Chinese Han troops.
 
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