Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China, made significant changes to the government that can be best summarized by the statement: He reduced the power of scholar-officials.
Kublai Khan and the Mongol rulers implemented a bureaucratic system that diminished the traditional power held by Confucian scholar-officials, who had previously been the backbone of Chinese governance. Instead, Kublai Khan favored Mongols and other non-Chinese individuals for key positions in his administration, which led to a significant reduction in the influence of the Chinese bureaucratic class. He established a new social hierarchy and often placed military leaders and his trusted allies in significant government roles. This shift was part of his broader strategy to consolidate power and maintain control over China, which was diverse and had a long-standing bureaucratic tradition.
The other options listed—such as putting women in power, allowing only family members to hold positions, or putting the military in charge—do not accurately reflect the main changes Kublai Khan made in China's government structure.