WEBVTT - Why Did Ben Franklin Look Up to Genghis Khan? 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:04.960 I guess, well, well, what's that mango. So did you 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:08.119 know that Ben Franklin was this huge, huge fan of 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.240 Genghis Khan. I did not. He actually had these books 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.800 about Khan and they were popular during the day, and 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.720 he'd circulated them across the colonies. So Ben Franklin was 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:20.680 kind of Genghis Khan's book publicist. I guess, like, this 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.440 seems like a pretty niche interest here if you if 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.880 you asked me, yeah, I mean. The funny thing is, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.560 it wasn't just Franklin, like, it was a national obsession. 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.080 So like Jefferson, he bought a ton of the copies 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.320 of this book. He gave him to relatives and gifted 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.559 him libraries. George and Martha Washington had the biography and 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.440 Mount Vernon like for some reason that's never mentioned in 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.320 Hamilton's think it is there were even like plays about 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.360 con that were put on stage at the time. But 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:50.080 this was a super peculiarly American obsession. And people in Europe, 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.680 I mean, they had some interest in Genghis Khan, but 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:54.680 I guess the reason it was so popular in the 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.480 US was they were really looking for new non European 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.880 heroes to look up to and also new models of government, 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.679 and weirdly enough, Genghis Khan kind of fit into both 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.800 those categories. But as we poke around his biography, we 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.320 wanted to know how much of a hero was Genghis Khan, 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.280 Like why was he so enamored with a meritocracy? And 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.360 did he really invent the hamburger? So let's dive in 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.360 pay their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.440 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:45.960 friend Mangesh Ticketer and sitting on the other side of 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:50.080 the soundproof glass wearing yet another perfectly themed shirt. I mean, 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.440 this guy nails it every time. That's our friends and 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.680 producer Tristan McNeil. And actually I forget what it says exactly. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.600 Can you show us, Tristan, it says if Genghis Khan 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.760 sokn you. I mean, you know, it's just spot on 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:07.400 mango that is so terrible and it almost feels like 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.200 a bad motivational poster. But I have a feeling that's 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.919 not an original Genghis Khan quote. No, I don't. I 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.160 don't think it is. It feels a little more Tristan, 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:17.639 if you know what I mean? But what's clear from 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:20.720 this week's reading is that Genghis Khan didn't need motivational 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.560 phrases or a life coach to get things done. I mean, 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.760 this was a born go getter. And in roughly two 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.320 and a half decades, Genghis Khan and his army conquered 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.880 more lands and people than the Romans did over a 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.480 four hundred years span. I mean, that is just insane 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.040 to me, like four hundred years of Roman rule and 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.239 and like they didn't accomplish what Genghis Kan did in 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:42.400 two and a half decades. But you know what's weird 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.160 and Gabe told us to me is that Genghis Khan 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:48.799 was apparently a really good boss, which is just such 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:50.960 a funny idea to me, Like, I love the idea 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.080 of Genghis just you know, sitting behind a desk pile 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.760 of paperwork, like sipping from his world's best boss mug. 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.839 But apparently this is true. He had all these progressive policies, 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:06.639 like um, he granted universal religious freedom, he abolished torture. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.880 Uh in just about every country the Mongols took over, 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.480 the quality of life actually improved for the citizens. I mean, 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.240 as long as they pledged the loyalty to con things 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.360 got better, and that's really what we wanted to get 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.840 to the bottom of that today's show, like who was 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.120 the real Genghis Khan? Was he a super innovative, ahead 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.200 of his time mastermind or or was he just this 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.720 blood thirst deep barbarian who kind of cleverly slaughtered his 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:31.640 way to the top. Well, before we get into that debate, 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.360 I feel like we should start with a little bit 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.800 of a recap on how Genghis rose to power, and 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.520 to do that, I feel like we really need to 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.080 set the scene a little bit. So this may be 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:42.680 a little bit weird, but Tristan, if you don't mind, 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:44.280 I feel like we need a little bit of mood 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:49.200 music here. So picture life for a twelfth century Mongol 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.840 And at the time there were about a million nomadic 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.720 people living on the Central Asian step and this is 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.040 not too far from the border between modern Mongolia and Siberia. 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.240 And as you might imagine, life was pretty brutal, to 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.960 say the least, and you had dozens of different tribes 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.080 living in the same general area, all vying for these 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.720 same limited resources. That's funny because, like the way you 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.600 described it started out so pastoral and romantic, and then 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.280 it ended kind of like a really terrible game of Katan, 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.480 or like game of Throne. That's exactly what it sounds like. 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.080 But so it was really a terrible time, and because 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.240 of that scarcity, everyone was always drinking and fighting and 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.920 stealing from each other. People were afraid to go out 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.279 after dark, and it was really just a chaotic way 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:35.080 of life by most accounts, at least, like I read 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.720 that most people slept on top of their weapons just 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.160 in case anyone tried something during the night. And this 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.240 is the world Genghis Khan was born into in the 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.920 early eleven sixties. So according to the myths, he came 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.119 out of his mother clutching a blood clot and his fist, 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.280 which is an odd detail and I don't really know 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.400 exactly what that means, but I guess it was supposed 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:57.719 to be a sign that he was destined to be 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.400 a great leader. I love that that's the re sure, 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.400 which is a nice story. But you know, even without 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.280 that blood clot, the boy would have been in line 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.039 for a pretty kush leadership role. So he was the 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:11.840 son of a Mongol chieftain. He was the head of 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:16.400 the Borgigan clan, and this was composed of around families, 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.040 and because Asia's feudal system was what it was, it 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.200 favored class and ancestry, and that kind of set Genghis 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.560 up nicely well. And besides, his name was Genghis Khan, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.040 which literally translated means universal ruler. I mean, I think 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:30.960 if you have a kid with a name like that, 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.240 it's pretty clear what the plan is. Yeah, I mean, 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.600 you're right, that's what the name means. But the boy 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:38.960 who would be Khan actually didn't go by that name 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.680 until he was already in his forties. Before that, he 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.680 was actually called Timidgen, which was the Mongol word for blacksmith, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.120 and his dad actually took that name from an enemy 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.600 chief that he'd recently captured, so he was named for 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:56.359 an enemy. Apparently it was this common practice in Mongol 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.160 culture to name a newborn after some kind of important event, 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.839 like something good that happened recently. So I guess you 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.400 could say that like Timidgen wasn't so much named after 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.719 the father's enemy, but I guess the capture of that enemy, 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:09.960 and I guess that makes a little more sense. It's 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.120 still a little but so if Timidgen's dad was this 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.480 hot shot clan leader and the soldier. Does that mean 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.440 Genghis Khan was basically born into success and just kind 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.880 of expanded the empire because I don't know, I always 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:23.839 had this thought of him as as being more of 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.880 a self made man. Yeah, me too. But you know, 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:28.839 for the most part, Mongol leaders went through the same 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.320 hardships as their people, So it's not like his family 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.159 status really put him on easy street or anything. But 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.320 Genghis's story actually takes a turn for the worst before 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:39.440 things start to go really well for him. So, when 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.679 Timidgin was just nine years old, his father was poisoned 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.760 to death by assassins from Arrival Klan, and since he 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.720 was so young, Timiden wasn't given the chance to take 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.360 over for his father obviously, you know, like a nine 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.400 year old is not going to lead however many people. 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.360 But you know, instead of being able to live among 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.560 the tribe, the clan kind of saw his family as 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.320 a burden now and that they'd have to be responsible 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.800 for feeding and housing. So instead Timagen, along with his 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:10.240 mother and their six siblings were banished from their own clan. Wow, 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.239 I mean this is honestly, it feels like the start 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:14.760 of I don't know, like a good superhero origin story. 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.080 Maybe it's because I saw the recent Spider Man movie, 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.760 but that just just feels that's coming, yeah, into the 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.520 Genghas verse. But you know, things don't get easier for 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.960 Genghas here. Like during his teenage years, they're spent mostly 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.320 hunting and foraging with his family. There's this really low 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.679 point in their situation where Timidgen actually murders his older 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.200 half brother because his brother isn't sharing the limited food 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.200 they have. I mean, that's how bleak things get. And 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:45.600 then after facing his mother and grappling with what he'd done, somehow, 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.320 things even get worse for Timidgen. So while foraging for food, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.200 he gets captured and enslaved by the same clan that 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.920 had banished him a few years earlier. Oh my gosh. 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.200 You know, you think about abandoning his family being bad enough, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.120 But but what happened though? He must have escaped at 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.600 some point, yeah, I mean pretty soon after his capture 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.520 he got away, and it was kind of this morale boost, 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.880 strangely for him, because after that he decided he was 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.080 strong enough to return to society, and now he had 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:13.880 kind of a chip on his shoulder, so he decided 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.760 to go in and asked to marry the woman that 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.239 had been betrothed to them just before his father's death. 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.520 It's kind of a confusing image though, like so he 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.440 just storms back into the village and makes these demands 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.320 and does that work or what? Yeah, So this is 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.600 actually where things start to turn around for Timigen. So 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.280 he convinces the tribe leader to honor this old agreement 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.960 with his father, and Timidgen's allowed to marry the chief's 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.640 daughter named Borte, And now Timidgen's honor is more or 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.679 less restored. He kind of has a place in society again. 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.200 And uh, you know, this is ancient Mongolia we're talking about, 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.960 so so things don't stay that peaceful for long. Pretty 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.520 soon after the wedding, this rival tribe goes on a 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.640 raid and during the scuffle, Timidgen's bride is kidnapped and 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.080 carried away on horseback. But it's like they can't get 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.160 a break, like nothing is easy in this cult where 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.600 it seems like I know, and and he's he's kind 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.000 of like the ziggy of Mongols like that thinks keep 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.440 happening to him. But this ends up being like the 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.520 last straw for Timogen. So right then, like backing down, 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.160 he rallies some friends and he rides out and he 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:17.160 rescues Borte, and he kind of realized he's good at this. 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.120 And and with those connections established and he's got this win, 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:24.079 he starts to form alliances and then he attracts more followers, 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:25.880 and over the course of the next few years, this 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.040 just keeps growing and growing, and he gradually consolidates all 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:32.200 the various nomadic tribes one by one, until in twelve 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.320 o five when Timodgen best the very last of his rivals, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.400 Like he's now looking for more things to do, and 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.920 and at this point, like the Mongols really have established 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:46.079 their leadership, Like he's toppled the entire structure that I've 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.960 been there before. The step tribes are all united for 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.560 the first time in history, and honestly, everything is about 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.120 to change. And the following year, Timogen calls together representatives 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.920 from every part of the region, and once they're gathered, 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.200 he informs them there now all part of this brand 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.319 new nation. It's going to be organized by these universal laws. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.360 It's going to be overseen by a universal ruler him 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.079 And at the end of the meeting, Timagen has proclaimed 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.800 Chengis Khan, or the universal Ruler, and uh, you know, 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.160 in the West this gets translated as Genghis Khan. Al Right, 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:18.880 So just to kind of wrap my head around this 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.120 whole thing, I mentioned that we're about a million people 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:23.800 living on the step when Khan came to power. So 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.480 all of a sudden, the prince, turned outcast, turned slave 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.920 is now in charge of a million people. Is this right? Yeah? 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.840 It is this miraculous return to grace. And and you 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:37.360 know he really meant it when he came out of 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.480 the womb clutching that blood clout, I guess, because that 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.360 was just the start of it. But uh, you know, 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.920 with the tribe United, con spent the next two decades 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.240 just growing and growing this empire. And at the peak 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.240 of his power, the Mongol leader controlled roughly twelve million 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.600 contiguous square miles, which was more than twice as much 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:59.360 land as any other person before or since. And at 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.640 the heart of that conquest was this ferocious but highly 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:06.199 disciplined Mongol army composed of just a hundred thousand men. 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.440 I'm curious to like, how could such a small army 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.240 conquered that much territory? Like, I know it happened, but 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:16.640 it really feels impossible. Yeah, and I think it wouldn't 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.000 have been possible for most countries. But that's really where 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.800 Genghis Khan's genius comes in. Like the innovations he brought 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.480 to society and warfare really made it possible for his 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.880 people not only to conquer an empire, but to run 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.720 it effectively once the fighting was done. And so what 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:31.840 kind of innovations are we talking about? Like, what what 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.120 did Genghas do differently that made his reign so successful? 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.440 I mean all kinds of things, but I'd say one 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:39.839 of the most important was the way he dealt with 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.680 the people in the places he conquered. Like his whole 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.600 focus was expansion. He wanted to extend his empire and 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.000 grow his hoard, and that meant that wholesale slaughter was 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.640 really out of the question. And that doesn't mean he 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.520 didn't kill people. He killed plenty of people. It's just 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.120 that his army always needed new recruits, and any nation 0:11:58.120 --> 0:11:59.920 that was conquered had plenty of them waiting in the way. 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.079 The only catch was that these people would have to 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.319 be treated well enough that they wouldn't mind joining forces 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:08.079 with him and also bending the need in So how 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:12.240 did he make these people convert? Well, once he conquered 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.559 a nation, he killed the leaders on the spot, but 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.440 he had kind of like a weird justification for that, 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.400 like he thought those kings and royals or chieftains like 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.560 they all deserved it for leading their people into a 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.719 war they couldn't win. And then he also killed off 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.720 the wealthy ruling class because on one hand he considered 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.480 them soft, but he also figured he could never really 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.559 win their loyalty anyway. But everyone else, if they surrendered, 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:38.520 they were spared, and anyone with useful skills was allowed 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.439 to stay and essentially carry on with their lives pretty 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.600 much as usual, though now with sort of greater security. 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.360 And this was for really any type of skills, so 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.640 like basket weavers and and those with ability to write 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:55.520 were essentially as valued as those who farmed or forged weapons. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.880 All right, So what about the conquered citizens who didn't 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.480 have certain skills, Like, what would happen to these people? Yeah, 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:04.800 I mean they were spared as well. They were typically 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.400 forced into labor or or sometimes used as human chields 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.640 in the army's next battle, which was I'm sure, a 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.320 little less appealing for them. It's kind of a kind 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.920 of a mixed bag for these people. Yeah, I mean, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.280 you might have been progressive, but he was still, you know, 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:22.920 a con but uh um, you know, Genghis was still 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.600 this incredibly harsh and violent guy when he had to be. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.040 But before we get into the mass murder and the 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.520 city burning, I do want to spend a little more 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.040 time building the case for Khan as a great progressive. Well. 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:35.400 I can't wait to see what you come up with, 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:53.280 but first, let's take a quick break. You're listening to 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.640 Part Time Genius and we're talking about the softer side 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:57.560 of Genghis Khan. At least I think that's what we're 0:13:57.559 --> 0:13:59.280 about to talk about. Yeah, it almost feels like a 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.120 Hallmark movie, right, it should be all right? Well, migo, 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.400 before the break, you were playing devil's advocate for Khan 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.520 and laying out some of the surprisingly tolerant views he 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.400 had held. But do you do you want to give 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.960 us a few more examples of him. Yeah, definitely, so again, 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:14.840 so much of what he did differently came down to 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.480 how he treated his subjects, and those were really not 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.280 just his own people, but the people from the conquered territories. Basically, 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.680 he knew that if he kept people happy, they'd be 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.880 less likely to rebel, and his empire would continue to 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.360 grow as a result. So with that in mind, Khan 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:34.080 created universal laws aimed at keeping the peace and preventing 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.600 the infighting that had previously plagued his tribe. So first 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.880 and foremost, he granted religious freedom to everyone under his rule. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.200 This was super crucial because so many of his followers 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:50.920 practice completely different religions. So within his ranks you'd find Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, Taoists, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.720 and and even people who followed animistic traditions like the 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:58.560 shamanism Genghis Khan himself practiced. And then his new regions 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.840 fell to the Mongol invaders, religious representation within a hoard 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.240 became more and more diverse. But you know, con didn't 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:08.520 stopped just that tolerance. He he also rewarded piety by 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.120 exempting religious personnel and places of worship from paying taxes, 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.880 which is kind of a huge boon. And he also 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.400 exempted any person whose profession contributed to the common goods. 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.200 So if you think about it, like these are people 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:25.320 like teachers, doctors, undertakers, all of them were exempt as well. 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.880 And uh, you know, as we mentioned earlier, Genghis also 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:34.200 outlawed other traditional practices at the time, like torturing prisoners, uh, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.760 kidnapping women, and taking other Mongols as servants or slaves. 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:40.960 And as you might have noticed, that some of those 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.320 decisions drew directly from his own life experiences. So his 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.720 wife had been kidnapped, he himself had been slaved as 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.280 a teenager, and all this taught him firsthand that you 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.480 can't really build a healthy community or economy when fellow 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.440 citizens are living in bondage. Wow. I mean, those are 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.320 great examples, and I feel like you make a compelling 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.880 point here. But there was one example that I thought 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.160 you would include here, one of really I think his 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.400 biggest achievements, and that is, of course, that he devised 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.480 one of the first international postal systems in the world. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.600 Like it was basically an early version of the Pony Express. 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.800 That's right. So here's a breakdown that actually saw on 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.200 history dot com. I thought it would just read it directly, 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:21.920 so it says one of his earliest decrees as con 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.480 involved the formation of a mounted courier service known as 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.080 the Yam. This medieval express consisted of a well organized 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.600 series of post houses and way stations strung across the 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.720 whole empire. By stopping to rest or take on a 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.120 fresh mount every few miles, official writers could often travel 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.120 as far as two hundred miles a day. The system 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:46.320 allowed goods and information to travel with unprecedented speed, but 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.000 also acted as the eyes and ears of the con 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.320 Thanks to the Am, Genghis could easily keep abreast of 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:56.520 military and political developments and maintain contact with his extensive 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:01.080 network of spies and scouts. I love that it's called 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.159 Yam first off, that feels like such a weird, fun branding, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.560 But I I think you're right that is way too 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.240 cool to leave out, especially since it's such a great 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.000 example of like advantages that Khan's army had over other people. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.479 And speaking of advantage is one of my favorite things 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.320 about Genghis Kan's leadership style is the way he used 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.600 his army's diversity as a strength. Like if you remember 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.919 all those skilled workers they accumulated from fallen cities, you 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.720 know he had brought in these engineers, craftsmen, experts on 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:36.320 everything from like Chinese metallurgy to um to Arabian mathematicians. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.919 And because Khan put all religions and cultures on the 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.080 same equal footing, he was able to wield this big 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:47.560 melting pot of international expertise however he wanted, which is amazing. 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.600 But what did he do with this? Exactly? Like, I 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.280 feel like the Mongols mostly fought on horseback with bow 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.760 and arrows, So how do you improve on that? Yeah, 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.640 I mean that archer approach worked really well early, and 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:02.520 so when enemy is retreated behind city walls, Mongols could 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.520 just aim higher and pepper them with arrows until they surrendered. 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.560 But it got harder and harder as word got out, 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.800 so you know, the nations started building up their defenses, 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.520 walls got taller and stronger. It became clear that Mongols 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.240 would have to like change their tactics, and that's where 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:20.320 the fleet of engineers and craftsmen really come in. So 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.919 pretty soon the Mongols were catapulting these iron balls filled 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.320 with gunpowder over the walls or just straight up tearing 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.600 down the walls with grappling hooks, and on at least 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.320 one occasion, the army diverted the flow of an entire 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.120 river as a way to flood a walled city and 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.119 force the people out. Isn't the insane It really is. 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:41.200 I mean, you look back at this and you think, 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.840 not only is he building this huge and sweeping empire, 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.439 but he's also changing the face of warfare. In the 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:51.120 process of all of this exactly. But beyond all these tactics, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.760 Con also changed the way armies were structured and ranked. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.639 So in the past, Mongol armies had been organized according 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.440 to the same feudal system that governed society as a whole. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.840 Officers were appointed and promoted based on which class they 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.240 belonged to or who they were related to. But again, 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:07.720 Genghis Khan was having none of this right, he had 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.439 this traumatic childhood experience, so that really showed him the 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:14.000 flaws of the system. So, rather than perpetuating something he 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.399 saw and had experienced as broken, Con decided to up 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.080 end that too, and he started promoting his officers based 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.720 on individual merit and skill. And this setup, which feels 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:26.440 kind of obvious and almost American, you can see why 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.119 all those founding fathers liked him. It really made his 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.399 soldiers work harder to distinguish themselves, since all of a 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.000 sudden they felt like they had this chance to improve 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.560 their standing and it was on them to do it. Yeah. 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.840 I was actually reading this week about how Khan was 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.360 a big fan of meritocracy, which we kind of alluded 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:44.560 to earlier. But you know, it makes sense when you 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:46.439 look back at how he had to prove himself to 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:49.400 his fellow tribe members. But I feel like the clearest 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.679 example of his philosophy is from this early encounter his 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.119 army had with a rival tribe. So this enemy archer 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.160 managed to shoot down Genghis Khan's horse in the heat 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.119 of battle, and when the horse fell, it nearly killed 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.639 Khan on its way down. And in the end, the 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.640 Mongols were victorious and the opposing soldiers were all taken prisoner. 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.760 And so at this point Genghis demands to know who 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:14.840 the archer was that had shot his horse. I mean, 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.680 who knows if he actually expected anybody to raise their 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.640 hand and kind of cop to it. But he might 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.080 have just been looking for an excuse to punish all 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.160 of them. I guess, at least that's what I would 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.240 have thought if I were in that position. And this 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.520 is Genghis Khan we're talking about. But anyway, at any rate, 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.399 after a pause, one soldier steps forward and admits to 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:37.000 having shot the arrow. And this kind of bravery actually 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.520 catches Genghis off guard, so rather than having the man 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.320 killed where he stood, Genghis immediately pardons him and makes 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:48.320 him a ranking officer in his army. In fact, contakes 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:50.199