Why did Yelü Chucai support a formal bureaucracy for the Mongol empire?

Yelü Chucai supported a formal bureaucracy for the Mongol Empire because he believed it would allow the Mongols to better utilize the wealth and skills of the Chinese population they had conquered. He persuaded Ögödei, Genghis Khan's son and successor, to spare the inhabitants of northern China rather than turn the region into pastureland.12

Chucai's reforms included establishing a rationalized taxation system and creating the Central Secretariat to centralize civilian administration. This approach allowed the Mongol court to accumulate significant wealth through various taxes and monopolies, which was crucial for consolidating their rule and enabling further expansion. The existing Mongol social structure, characterized by pastoralism and decentralized clans, lacked the administrative framework to effectively govern advanced civilizations. Chucai's implementation of a Chinese-style bureaucracy provided this necessary structure.32