In the year 1259, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, became emperor of Mongolia and renamed it Yuan, or "first beginning." Of what? An empire, of course! For starters, in 1230 the Mongols had conquered northern China, and from 1231 to 1238 they overran Korea, giving them access to the sea. Japan was just 100 miles away, and feared an invasion. Five times, between 1267 and 1274, Kublai Khan sent a message to the Emperor of Japan, addressing him as "the ruler of a small country" and demanding that he submit or face invasion. But before the Khan's messengers reached the Emperor, the shogun, the real power behind the throne, would not let them land and sent them away without a reply.
Furious, Kubla Khan vowed to invade Japan at once. But his counselors advised him to bide his time until a great fleet of warships could be built. So the Mongols ordered the construction of 300 to 600 vessels from the shipyards of southern China and Korea, and conscripted an army of some 40,000 men. Many of the officers were Mongolian, but most of the soldiers were Chinese and Korean. Against this mighty force, Japan could raise only 10,000 warriors from their squabbling clans of samurai.
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