I was going to give a summary of the soi-disant Mongol-Tartar Yoke but just reading through the mainstream stuff….blah,blah,blaaaaah.
You can look it up easy enough. The long and the short of it is that the Mongol-Tartars were evil, murdering thieving s-o-b’s who placed this yoke of fear on all who got in their way.
But – maybe it wasn’t quite so (?)
Yes, the Tartars demanded a tithe from everyone in the Empire. A bit like Income Tax, VAT, NI, etc.
tithe
noun [ C ]
UK /taɪð/ US /taɪð/
a tenth part of someone’s produce or income that they give or pay as a tax to the Church
This tithe was a tenth of every person/family’s income and a tenth of all young males who left to join the military at a very young age and never returned home.
You might call that conscription. It was in a way but maybe there were plenty of volunteers. Kind of like – Join the Cossacks and see the world!
This makes me think of the Medieval Slave Trade. All those young people stolen/half-hinched/spirited away for nefarious reasons. Like the story of the Pied Piper.
As for the fiscal tithe, this was taken for the greater good. An Empire costs money to run.
Maybe it was less like ‘protection money’ … Give us the dosh or we’ll make you sorry.
And more like ‘protection money’…Give us the dosh and we will protect you.
It could be that all those amazing Kings and Queens we have been told to revere were, once upon a time, no more than glorified governors/overseers/tax collectors.
Hidden History Research 
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