The longer you pillage, the more you raise the interest in being opposed. That's why the Mongol approach was so effective - you had a really short conquest peri

The longer you pillage, the more you raise the interest in being opposed. That's why the Mongol approach was so effective - you had a really short conquest period that happened once, then tribute was paid. The tribute was more than made up for by being on the Mongol trading network. IMO, all empires are small compared to the Mongols. They had it all. The Danes just had lousy farmland and good boats, especially during long cold spells. The Northmen in general had more impact as traders than as raiders. A similar pattern emerges in the Americas - the Apache word for the Comanche is Apache for "those a$$holes" because the Comanche were much more predatory of the Apache than the other way 'round.