The emperor, who was mentored by the Confucian academic Li Meng, succeeded peacefully to the throne and reversed his older brother Khayisan's policies.

He had been tutored by the Confucian scholar Li Meng, who strongly affected his future political attitudes from his early teens.

Temür's widow Bulugan of the Bayaud tribe had kept away the Khunggirad-mothered brothers of Khayishan and Ayurbarwada and attempted to set up her favorite, the Muslim Ananda, their uncle and the governor of Ningxia.

Ayurbarwada was made head of the top central administrative organs known as the Zhongshu Sheng under his brother and predecessor Khayishan Külüg Khan.

[4] This was made possible by the fact that he was designated by Khayishan as the heir apparent in June 1307, in accordance with their earlier agreement, and had subsequently appointed him as the titular head of the Zhongshu Sheng, similar to Kublai Khan had done when grooming Zhenjin to be his successor.

Strongly influenced by Confucian political ethics as he was, he was naturally opposed to the exploitative policies carried out by the Department of State Affairs under Khaishan.

As soon as he ascended to the throne, he disbanded of the Department of State Affairs set up during Khayishan's reign, which resulted in the execution of 5 high-ranking officials.

He made Li Meng and Zhang Kui grand councillors in addition to appointing others including Mongols and Semuren (a caste of assorted peoples from Central Asia and the west).

[7] The most prominent reform he made was the reintroduction of the imperial examination system for public officials similar to the one in previous dynasties of China.

A race-based quotas were set for these examinations, allowing a certain number of both Mongol and Han Chinese to enter the government as civil officials.

For example, starting in 1313 examinations were introduced for prospective officials – testing their knowledge on significant historical works – in 1315 300 appointments went to the court, with an extra quarter of the positions being given to non-Han Chinese people.

In the same month that he was enthroned in 1311, he instructed the Zhongshu Sheng to systematize the codes and regulations promulgated since the beginning of Kublai's reign.

[9] In some ways the new code also reflected certain Mongolian customs and the institutional features peculiar to the Mongol dynasty in the history of China.

He believed that the Mongol elites and the Semuren had to learn from Confucian political philosophy and Chinese historical experience in order to govern China.

He reminded the vassal states of his accession, and told them to remember and send their tribute at the proper time, and assured them that he would make punitive actions if they failed.

Among the tributary princes to whom he notified his advent to the throne are named those of Champa, Annam, an island near Japan, Malabar, and kingdoms on the borders of Yunnan.