There was just one exception to this principle: Genghis himself. At his worst he behaved like any other despot. And he further weakened the meritocracy by favoring his own children with huge land grants after they complained that they’d been bypassed by commoners. McLynn writes, “To the question ‘Was Mongol society under Genghis Khan a rule-governed system or a tyranny?’ the answer can only be: both.”
