In this episode we examine how Kublai and his older brother Mongke built the Mongol Empire to the point where it was ready to do what the Jin Empire hadn't been able to - overthrow the Song Dynasty.

The Book of Genesis disagrees in many ways with both modern Christianity and modern Judaism. It also incorporates many earlier traditions, including those of Mesopotamia, and even China. This is the originally intended first episode of the Heretics Podcast (before we got sidetracked).

Two powerful women, one a christian of the Nestorian Heresy, ran the Mongol Empire in the years before Kublai and his elder brother Mongke became Great Khans.

Ogedei was the least well-known of the three Mongol "superkhans", but actually the one who drove the empire to its greatest scope and extent, the largest land area conquered by anyone, ever. He ushered in a new era of prosperity to the Silk Road and laid the foundation from which Kubilai Khan would later found the Yuan Dynasty in China.

This week we take a short break to talk about Brexit, the meaning of sovereignty, the Miasma, and the state of British and European politics and political systems. The Mongol Empire also gets a mention or two.

From illiterate slave to empire builder on the grandest scale, no one came closer than Genghis Khan to achieving the title given him by the famous islamic historian Ata Malik Juvaini - "World Conqueror".

The Mongols, builders of the largest empire the world has ever seen, came from relatively obscure origins. In this episode we delve into what we know about the people of Genghis Khan prior to his rise to power and world domination.

We examine the life of Yue Fei's best friend, General Han Shizhong, and the circumstances immediately following the death of Yue Fei. We also take a look at the the life of Han's heroic wife, Liang Hongyu, and internal politics of the Jin Empire at that time.

In this episode we examine the work of the Confucian Scholar Zhu Xi, who lived during the time period we have reached in the narrative (during the Song Dynasty). His philosophy did not impact Xing Yi until centuries later, but when it did, the effect was a large one, so this episode sets the scene for other episodes to come.

We return to China in the Song Dynasty, looking through the eyes of artist Zhang Zeduan at the vibrant economy that developed among the common people while their confucian rulers were distracted by external events, and the nascent Industrial Revolution that it gave rise to, which lasted until the early part of the Ming Dynasty.