It was clear to Khan that he needed to commandeer the enormous grain stock of Xina. He didn't want to conquer Xina, he wanted to own Xina. Khan realized the emperor of Xina produced all the silk, and all the tea on the Asian mainland. Most importantly, Xina produced and stored all the grain. And in that way it is the Xinese Emperor who decided who eats and starves. The Emperor's cooperation was vital in order to feed troops and horses and thereby win wars. Khan didn't want to conquer Xina. Conquering meant pillaging and raiding storehouses. He wanted to be the Emperor of Xina. But he didn’t know how to be Emperor of Xina. So he took to spying on the Xinese. And it was a totally fascinating experience. And after years of spying he had developed a deep respect and fondness for these people. He couldn't but help find them incredibly resourceful, often funny, clever and very brave in their own mouse like way. And they were inventive. The created vehicles on wheels that were wind driven. They invented machines that measured time. The created an explosive they called black powder they used for fireworks. They designed Catapults to knock down castles and chopsticks. Yes those little things that made dinning an elegant experience.

  Khublai had two palaces. A palace in the North, Shangrila, he inherited from his grandfather when Ghenghis first attempted the colonization of the Middle Kingdom. And in the South was the Capital Khublai wrested from the Song called Xanadu. Shang-rila was his summer capital. Xanadu, was his administrative center where the Forbidden City was located. From the forbidden City in Xanadu, Khublai ruled all of the Middle Kingdom. An enclave within an enclave. The Forbidden City within XanaDu within DaDu within Xina.

  As a civilization, the Xinese had one weakness: The Middle Kingdom was so tightly bound to ritual that a slip up in rituals throws the entire Kingdom into utter paralysis. It's like a healthy person suddenly dying because he sneezed. The Empire of Xina is comprised by 7 nation states. The Song, the Tangs, the Qin, the Han, the Ming, the Sui and the Goryeons. And the Taipans decided amongst themselves who occupies the Dragon Throne. But the Dragon throne itself was administrated by the 5 temple masters of the Forbidden City and their disciples who run their errands, the monks and the adepts who are devoted to the temple and are often tasked with serious missions. At the very bottom of this hierarchy are the acolytes who do menial work.

  Khublai Khan was not the only interested party hoping to take the Dragon Throne.

  The wicked Chancellor Shi Dao had long been plotting the demise of the Song king and had been hastening the process by poisoning him.But Chancellor Shi Dao didn't realize that Khublai had been spying on him.So on the night of the death of the sickly deformed Song King, Poet-Emperor Xiangli as he lay dying, just before the dreaded cruel Chancellor Shi Dao was to assassinate the toddler Song Crown Prince Huaizong and his mother Empress , Khan attacked. He had not really planned to take it so soon, BUt when his Kheshig realized Shi Dao was going to take the throne, Khublai decided to preemt Shi Dao . Khan took the palace with such force and with such rapidity that the 6 Taipans, the CEOs of the 6 grain producing nations, , caught off guard, could not react. The were unaware of the usurpation of the throne and so was the public.

  He did not slaughter the Song. He needed them. And the ambitious Shi Dao were a small hated faction in the royal court that had long planned to usurp the throne. Khans victory was largely due to the excellent work of his spies. His Kheshig, (the advisers of a Khan is called a Kheshig) understood the politics and the clash of ambitions around the Dragon throne.

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  For that matter Khan's rescue of the crown prince Huaizong was lauded by the locals of Xanadu. Particularly the 5 temple monks of the Forbidden City who are the city's chief administrators. It sent a sigh of relief through Xanadu as most of the court viewed Shi Dao as a cruel usurper. And they viewed that as long as Huaizong the Mandate of Heaven lived the continuance of their grain traditions was assured. Clearly Khan was the lesser of two evils. The sadistic Shi Dao was going to assassinate the Crown prince and the 5 superstitious Temple Masters feared that the most. It would mean the annihilation of heaven's mandate.

  Also the 5 temple monks knew that Shi Dao was cruel and sadistic. They knew that many would be put to death or imprisoned. They would not be spared.

  Khan could not quite understand that this little toddler could rule and could not consider the toddler a threat. The idea of killing a defenseless toddler was particularly distasteful to Khan.

  "An ugly fully grown man is a delight to kill in battle. But a child...." , Khan was a barbarian who ate with his hands and took a bath once a year.Khan killed many people... but a little innocent child? No way.

  Thus when Khan entered Xanadu many temple monks actually welcomed his capture of the Dragon Throne. Khan rid them of Shi Dao and kept the Mandate of Heaven Huaizong alive. Even as both men, Tenger and Khublai, had different reasons for keeping the toddler alive. So the next day Khan steps out on the grand terrace to welcome the sun as all emperors had done for a hundred years. He could hardly fit in the Song Kings silks. But the terrace was high facing the east and the emperor would meet the sun rising in the morning at a chosen time decided by astrologers in his gold and yellow silk clothes which made him look bigger than Xianglis real stature. Thus Master Tenger devised a ploy to pass the huge muscled dark skinned Mongol warrior for the pale deformed poet king.

  "We'll never get away with this. I don't look like him at all" mumbles Khan

  "It will work, Mr Khan ...I mean Great Khan, the Emperor of all Xina." , says Temple Master Tenger, trembling. "It's the only way ".

  "If it doesn't work, I'll dispose your head of your neck", threatens Khublai.

  "Yes Emperor! ", stammers Master Tenger.

  "Maybe we can use the big mirrors to shine light away from the terrace on to the crowd below, to make looking straight at the desert barbarian.... I mean the Emperor ...,difficult" avers Temple Master Salkhi desperately.

  "So they don't realize that our Poet-Emperor has suddenly become a giant. " mumbles Master Deng not too hopefully.

  "He was tiny ", complained Khublai, "I can't breathe in this. I look ridiculous".

  "We will make new" squeaked the monks. "New ones that fit you."

  Khan proceeds outside to meet the sun to the edge of the terrace overlooking the grand plaza to announce the beginning of the new work day.

  "That is the role of the Emperor of Xina he must tell time. He tells the Xinese people when they plant reap, harvest store. He tells the sun to rise and set. He coordinates the activities of 7 nations. And they do precisely his bidding" Master Tenger begins to instruct Khublai. And Khublai will listen to this man for the rest of his life.

  "No fighting?". Khublai asks incredulously.

  "No you must not do that. The Emperor cannot die. He is recalled to heaven.", whispers Temple Master Tenger.

  "Amazing.", says Khublai shaking his head as he returns to the shadows of the palace interior

  " This material is as soft as a woman.... But it's all falling apart" exclaimed Khan and true enough the yellow robe of the Emperor burst at the seams and fell away as Khan flexed his muscles. Master Tenger found himself infront of a young, tall, handsome, long haired, totally muscled Khublai exposed in all his manliness. For Master Tengur, a temple monk forged by the strictest routines of meditation and fasting, such glorious nakedness is quite alarming. Khublai was the handsomest man Tenger had ever seen and he could not do anything except to fall in love and swallow hard.

  Overnight Khublai established the Yuan Dynasty. And the Forbidden City did what it does best: bury secrets.If they hadn't agreed to Khublai's demands, he'd have over run them.

  And the Xinese people are too practical . As long as the grain and the theater continue, they don't bother about hiccups in the administration.