One intelligent political decision was to conquer the Song. Many other military leaders of the time would have thought the move was foolish, because the Song was one of the greatest Dynasties of China. In addition to this, there were rivers, streams, and canals that presented a barrier for cavalry. Even in light of all the disadvantages of leading a campaign against the great Dynasty, Khubilai Khan made the intelligent decision to conquer the Song. Even though the Song was a time of great advancement, the Dynasty was militarily and politically weak. "The co-ordination of their [the Song] efforts was poor. The emperor at the time was a child and the highest officials got caught up in opposing each other's plans. " Khubilai was rewarded for the decision, when he captured the Song Dynasty in 1279. When Khubilai Khan was emperor, he made the smart decision to keep scholar officials out of the government. This was an intelligent political tactic, because the scholar officials were the Chinese who would be most likely to oppose him. They were also dangerous, because if they did combat him, they had the intelligence and ability to be a great threat. Khubilai Khan's clever political decisions allowed him to attain success. However, the unification of his conquered territories was essential in preventing his empire from crumbling.
Khubilai Khan found various ingenious ways to unify his empire. His chief strategy for unifying his territory was to gather support from all of his citizens. The first method he used to accomplish this was the unification of China Proper under one rule by 1279. This achievement caused the Chinese to support him as a legitimate emperor, because they admired him for uniting the North and South, which had been separated for so long. By recognizing his population's needs and desires, Khubilai Khan ensured that they would all support him. To do this he favored Buddhism, which unified his country because the majority of the population was Buddhist.