Reasons for the Economic Prosperity in Yuan Dynasty

One of the most interesting descriptions in Kyle's book is the picture of China's economic activities in the north and south: the north of China, which he continues to call Qidan (the name comes from the original Qidan); South China, originally in the Song Dynasty, his name was Man Zi. From his book, we know that coal mines have been mined in the north of China. "A kind of black stone mined from mountain crevices burns like wood. They burn so well that the whole Khitan does not burn other fuels. " The use of waterways also surprised him. He specifically mentioned the commercial importance of the Yangtze River, the economic artery of China. "There are more ships and goods on this river than any river and any ocean in the Christian world." He also said, "Every year, 200,000 ships are going upstream, not to mention those going downstream." He also mentioned the economic function of the Imperial Canal, which was completely opened by Kublai Khan. Through this canal, rice can be transported from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to Beijing.

In order to manage the prosperous domestic business and develop trade with Indian and Southeast Asia, a powerful chamber of commerce has been established in Guangzhou, a port in central China. These chambers of commerce can be compared with the guilds in Flanders and the technical associations in Florence, and even surpass them. At the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce, Kyle wrote: "Many businessmen gather here. They are very rich and run large-scale trade. No one can measure their wealth. I only know that trade owners (who are the heads of enterprises) and their wives don't directly engage in anything, but they live such a luxurious life that people will imagine that they are kings. " The widespread use of paper money facilitates business communication, and Kyle jokingly called paper money the touchstone. "I can tell you that in China, everyone is willing to accept these banknotes, because no matter where they go in Khan's territory, they can be used for business like gold without any difficulty." The Venetians were also surprised by China's strong business sense. He kept recalling those rich scenes: ships returning from India were full of spices-pepper, ginger and cinnamon; Or sailboats carrying rice go down the Yangtze River or up the Grand Canal; Shops in Hangzhou or Quanzhou are full of precious commodities, including raw silk, brocade (thick silk fabric) and rusty brocade (silk fabric embroidered with gold or silver thread), as well as satin with special patterns or "Erythrina fabric".

Ma can describe China's main market in the same appreciative tone: the northern silk center is Kang baruch (Beijing, where thousands of carts full of raw silk come every day to make a lot of gold cloth and silk with them); Chengdu (Sichuan, Chengdu) produces thin silk and exports it to Central Asia. Anqing or Kaifeng (? ) and Suzhou (Jiangsu province) produce gold cloth; Yangzhou (Yangzhou, Jiangsu) is the largest rice market in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The busiest place is Shi Jing (Kunsai, Hangzhou, Zhejiang), the former capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Under the rule of Mongols, it has not lost its previous commercial activities. In fact, because it is now linked with all the trade of the Mongolian Empire, commercial trade has also developed. Kyle described it as Venice in China. First, it is mentioned that it is the largest sugar market. Numerous ships brought spices from India and East India to Hangzhou and silk products from Hangzhou to India and the Muslim world. Therefore, a large number of Arab immigrants and Persian and Christian businessmen live in Hangzhou. Finally, there are two big ports in Fujian Province: Fuzhou and Erythrina (Quanzhou). Businessmen in Fuzhou' have hoarded a lot of ginger and galangal, and there are also quite large sugar markets and large jewelry trading markets in the city, all of which are shipped from the Indian Islands'.

The largest warehouse in Yuan Dynasty was Erythrina recorded by Kyle. "All ships from India are loaded with spices, precious stones and pearls, and they are anchored in the Erythrina tree. It is hard to imagine. All businessmen from Man Zi (referring to the south of China) gather here, which is the largest import center in China. It can be said that if a ship carrying pepper sails from the Indies to Alexandria or any other port in the Christian world, there will be more than 100 ships sailing to Erythrina. " These records were confirmed by the Arab traveler Ibn Baituta, who talked about Erythrina [Quanzhou] around 1345.

Obviously, during the Mongolian rule, the China market was closely related to the Indian and Malayan markets. According to Kyle's statement, a large number of China ships regularly call at the port of Java Island, bringing back "spices such as black pepper, galangal, Bi Cheng eggplant, clove, etc., and Erythrina merchants get rich by operating these commodities". From other historical books, we can know that Kublai Khan and his successors concluded real commercial and trade agreements with Travanco and Grand Duke of Karnatik. China's merchant fleet carrying bundles of raw silk, colored silk, satin, thin silk and brocade regularly calls at Bordenham, Caira, Clone States and Ceylon, Gavilli; When I returned home, I brought pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, fine cloth and cotton cloth from the Indian world, pearls from the Indian Ocean and diamonds from the Deccan Plateau.

In addition, the Khan State established in Persia by Youzhi Khan of Yuan Dynasty promoted frequent exchanges between the two countries. Surrounded by the Islamic environment, the Persian Khan of the Xuliewu family still retains the Mongolian hobby to some extent. They sent people to China to get luxuries, such as silk and porcelain. At this time, Persian pocket portraits began to show the influence of China craftsmen. In turn, Persia under Mongolian rule also exported carpets, harnesses, armor, bronzes and enamel products to China.

Finally, Kyle's travel notes and Pegolotti's Pragmatism confirm this point: the conquest of Mongols has brought China society into contact with Europe. By the end of 13, two transcontinental roads will connect Europe with the Far East. The first road is from Qincha khanate to Dunhuang. For Europeans, it started from the commercial strongholds of Genoa and Venice in Crimea, or more precisely, from Tana at the mouth of the Don River. The main station on this road is Sarai in the lower reaches of Volga River, the capital of Chincha khanate in Mongolia, followed by Misa Thorne in the middle reaches of Syr Darya River and Rollo and Balasa Raft in the west of Lake Issyk Kul. Starting from Lake Issyk-Kul, there is a road into Mongolia, passing through Yemili River, the upper reaches of Shihe River in Ye Er [Helqis River] and Wulungu River, reaching Hala and Helinger in the upper reaches of Orhun River, and connecting with Beijing from Hala and Helinger Road. The other route starts from the western end of Lake Issyk-Kul, passes through Arimuri (near Gurza), Beshbari (now Jimsar), Hami, Suzhou, Gansu, and then enters China. The second road is through the Mongolian khanate in Persia, starting from either Trabson, the capital of the Greek city-state, or Trabson City on the Black Sea, or Armenia, the busiest port in Silesia near French Syria. No matter from which starting point, the road will pass the eastern border of the Sultanate of Seljuk in Asia Minor, which is a vassal state that keeps close contact with the Mongolian khanate of Persia, and then reach the temple of Li Tao, the actual capital of the Persian khanate. Starting from Li Tao Temple, the main stations are often Kejiyun [Gatzwin], Ciyi, Moff [Mali], samar Gan [Samarkand], Tashkent (then known as Zheyan), Kashgar, Kuqa, Turpan, Hami and Gansu. There is another way to choose, that is, from Mufu to Balihei, Badakhshan, Kashgar, Khotan, Lop Nur and Dunhuang. Through these different trade routes, goods from the Far East are directly transported to Europe.

In addition to these land routes consistent with the ancient Silk Road, the Mongolian conquest also reopened the sea route, or the spice road. When Iran, ruled by Arabs and Seljuks, was closed to Europe, the Mongol Khan of Persia had opened their territory to businessmen and missionaries who wanted to go to China by sea. During the period from the demise of the caliphate to the final victory of Islam in the Persian Khanate, Catholic travelers can go from the Temple of Li Tao to Hormuz, pass through Iran unimpeded, and then take a boat from Hormuz pier to Tana, Kelun and Tatung. As we will see below, the trip in Orlic is typical of traveling along this route. On the other hand, silk from China and spices from East India were unloaded in Hormuz, brought to the temple market in Li Tao by business travelers through Persia under Mongolian rule, and then distributed to Trabson, the port of the Christian world, or Ciyasi.

It must be emphasized that the free and smooth roads are at the expense of the Holocaust, which is a favorable objective consequence of the Mongolian conquest. China, Turkestan, Persia and Russia joined forces to form a great empire, which was governed by Mongolian vassals and managed according to strict Zasa. These princes care about the safety of business travel, tolerate all kinds of beliefs, and reopen the world land and sea roads that have been blocked since the late ancient times. The trip of the Polos proved to be more meaningful than the trip named after Matthias Tiantilos. For the first time in history, China, Iran and Europe started real contacts. This is the unexpected result of Genghis Khan's conquest that shocked the world, and it is also a lucky result.