The Rise Of A Man Of Action
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When you begin to look at and study some of the great leaders of the ancient world one of the names that stands out among his peers is undoubtedly Temujin, or Genghis Khan as hes better known. He was one of those rare leaders that arise that is capable of shaping the world around them through their great force of will and personality. It was this strength of character and determination that allowed him to unite the Mongol people into an unstoppable fighting force that was able sweep across half of the known world and defeat all challengers on the battle field. It was this achievement coupled with the way that he ran his empire as the Great Khan of the Mongol people that justifies his classification of a maker of world history.
One of the things that make him such an interesting study is the different attributes that he seemed to possess and by this I mean that he was both patient yet aggressive. This can be seen in the way that he was able to calmly bide his time and slowly gather the various clans to him until he was able to finally unite them all when he was proclaimed as Genghis Khan in 1206. Yet he was also a calculating leader that was able to aggressively take the initiative and engage rival armies that were superior to his own force, at least numerically, and defeat them in battle. It was these traits along with his unique ability to control his temper and maintain rigid self control over his faculties that allowed him to always think through his decisions before deciding on a course of action and this was crucial in his rise as a leader and his later conquests as the supreme military commander of the Mongol army.
While its certainly true that he was unquestionably one of the greatest leaders in world history its his own ability to recognize the talents of others and promote them to positions of power that elevates him above many of his fellow conquers. This judgment of others allowed him to select efficient subordinates regardless of nationality or age that could be trusted to follow orders and get the job done. This can be seen in the way that not one of the generals that he promoted ever failed him. This recognition of ones abilities was not only limited to the military, but can be seen in his selection of civil advisors as well. Some of the more well known advisors that he relied heavily on in the daily running of his empire were Ta-ta-Tong-a, Yeh-lu Chu-tasi and the two Yalavachs. It was these advisors that helped him to craft the policies that he enacted both domestically and abroad.
It was these advisors that helped him to realize that once he had conquered a country it was in his best interest to help them to quickly rebuild and become prosperous once more because he could obtain more income from a prosperous country than one left in shambles. Thats why he would place a governor in charge and leave the ruling class alone as long as they were obeying orders and submitting to their overlords will. This meant that the people were left with a clear command structure and the countries were left with the proper leadership to get running again. Thats why countries were able to pay the various tributes that he demanded from them in a relatively short time, for instance he received a tribute of forty to fifty thousand hyperpera from the Georgians annually and this was just one of many countries paying him tribute.
The truth is that these countries actually benefited from contact