Strong, brave, and intelligent, Kublai was Genghis's favorite grandson; when he was only a lad, he had accompanied his father, Tulë, in campaigns. Kublai was 17 when his father died. In tribute to his younger brother's service, Ögödei assigned the Chen-ting principality (modern Hopei) to Tulë's widow, Soryagtani-bäki. The widow was an ambitious woman who had a natural liking for Chinese culture and had recruited Chinese scholars to administer her domain.
First Contact with the Chinese
In his early years, through frequent contacts with the Chinese, Kublai became aware of the potential of the Chinese literati as his future political allies. As early as 1242, he had begun to summon men of culture to his quarters in Karakorum in the Gobi Desert to offer counsel on political affairs, including the famous Buddho-Taoist Liu Ping-chung, who advised him on the Confucian principles of government and the application of Chinese methods for administrative and economic reforms. The opinions of these cultured people became dominant in Kublai's thinking as he began to ascend in national politics.
When Möngkë succeeded to the khanship in 1251, Kublai was entrusted with the administration of the Chinese territories in modern Chahar in the eastern part of the empire.
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