第14章パクス・モンゴリカ――モンゴルの草原帝国Pax Mongolica: The Steppe Empire of the Mongols

While Kublai’s Yuan dynasty reunited China and gave it the same ruler as the Mongol homeland and much of central Asia, it revived neither the prosperity of China nor the robustness of the steppe people. Trade continued to flow, and the effects of earlier economic growth were still apparent, but less wealth was subsequently produced. This meant less went to the steppe, and those producing wealth saw increasingly fewer returns on their labor. The seemingly invincible armies of the Mongol Empire had proven unable to conquer Southeast Asia and were even less skilled at long-distance sea invasions. Perhaps most contrary to Chinggis Khan’s desired legacy, his descendants succumbed to a lust for power and were quick to abandon the strength of a unified Mongol people under one leader for their own bid to be that leader for a few years.

クビライの元は中国を再統一し、モンゴルの故地と中央アジアの広い地域と、同じ君主の下に置いた。しかし、中国の繁栄も、草原の人々の活力もよみがえらせなかった。交易は続き、それ以前の経済成長の成果も残ったが、その後に生み出される富は減った。草原へ届く富も減り、生産者が労働から得る見返りは、ますます少なくなった。無敵に見えたモンゴル帝国の軍は、東南アジアを征服できず、長距離の海上侵攻はいっそう不得手だった。おそらく、チンギス・カンが残したかったものに最も反したのは、子孫たちが権力欲に屈したことだった。一人の指導者の下で団結するモンゴルの民の強さを、わずか数年、その指導者の地位を自分が得るために、たやすく捨てたのである。