The Mongol Empire covered a continuous stretch of land unlike anything that had existed before. From the Pacific coastline to the plains of Eastern Europe, a single ruling dynasty controlled an immense territory that linked peoples speaking different languages, following different religions and living under very different traditions. Such a vast empire could never be governed by conquest alone. Roads, couriers, administrators and local officials all became part of a system that allowed orders to travel across extraordinary distances. Trade flourished along routes that had once been uncertain, while merchants, craftsmen and scholars moved between regions more freely than they had for generations.
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