The full text is 1982 words, the reading time is about 2 minutes, the Sui Dynasty can be regarded as a short-lived dynasty in Chinese history, and his last ruler, the Sui Dynasty Emperor, has a short life span, and various film and television drama materials appear in front of the public as a tyrant image. And the Sui Emperor was also very miserable. Not only was he scolded by the people at that time, but even modern people could not help but mock him, because the Sui Dynasty was destroyed under his leadership. And during his reign, he fought many battles in Goguryeo, what exactly aroused his great interest?
I. The Sui and Tang dynasties conquered Goguryeo many times
1. Sui Dynasty conquest of Goguryeo
During his reign, the Sui Emperor made many achievements, perfected the examination system created by his father, dug the Grand Canal to promote economic exchanges between the north and the south, and some people said that the Sui Emperor relied on the foundation left by his father to create the glory of the Sui Dynasty. It is said that the Sui Emperor knew every day that he ate, drank and had fun in the harem, and the inheritance left by his father was squandered by him.
These credits aside, he also did a great thing during his reign, that is, the three marches of Goguryeo that we think he was exhausted. Although he squandered the Treasury of the Sui Dynasty and lost a large amount of labor, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty, it laid the foundation for the tang dynasty's rule.
In general, the Sui Dynasty actually conquered Goguryeo 4 times, because Emperor Wen of Sui also fought once during his reign. In 598, Emperor Wen of Sui sent the general Yang Yu to lead hundreds of thousands of troops to Goguryeo, but the outbreak of this war was terminated due to weather conditions.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he once again recruited an army, recruiting more than 1 million troops. In 622 AD, the conquest of Goguryeo began, and Goguryeo also had excellent generals, who adopted the strategy of enticing the enemy to go deep and then encircle and strangle, and broke the Sui Dynasty army. Another army was overwhelmed, but was defeated after being ambushed under Pyongyang.
When the Sui Emperor fought against Goguryeo for the 3rd time, he retreated one after another in the early stages of the war, and Goguryeo was unable to fight again, so he quickly sent people to the Sui Dynasty to ask for peace. But the Sui Dynasty was on fire in the backyard, and peasant revolts kept happening, although you didn't have the energy to continue fighting Goguryeo.
If there were no rebels in the country, the Sui Emperor would have been able to take Goguryeo as his territory. Therefore, the Sui Emperor had to accept the peace agreement, quickly withdraw his troops and go back to quell the peasant rebel army, but he had lost the best time. As for historical records, the Sui Dynasty Emperor's three expeditions to Goguryeo consumed a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, and the peasants' lives were very difficult.
2. The Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo
In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, when the domestic political situation was very unstable, the Turkic tribes in the northern steppe were eager to enter the Central Plains. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty had to reconcile with Goguryeo at this time, and when Tang Taizong Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, the national strength became stronger and stronger, and Li Shimin also had the idea of conquering Goguryeo in his heart.
In 643, due to Goguryeo's invasion of Silla, Li Shimin sent troops to Goguryeo on the pretext of protecting his vassal states. Moreover, Li Shimin was a royal conquest, a powerful Tang army, along the way through thorns and thorns, victories and battles, but in the end due to problems in the domestic transportation supply line, and the Goguryeo army was deadlocked, and had to choose to retreat.
In 661, after Emperor Gaozong of Tang came to power, he continued to conquer Goguryeo, this time fighting Goguryeo without any ability to fight back, and the Tang army won successive victories and eventually occupied Pyongyang, but because in the winter, supplies could not be delivered and had to retreat. After a few years, chaos arose within Goguryeo, and this time the Tang Dynasty junior army attacked Goguryeo, this time completely occupying Goguryeo and making it its vassal state.
Second, the reason why the Sui and Tang dynasties attacked Goguryeo at any cost
1. The Korean Peninsula is a strategic location
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, a large number of tribes had been established in East Asia, some tribes were still in a state of primitive civilization, and some of them were more powerful, such as small countries like Goguryeo. If you do not quickly take Goguryeo as your own vassal state, let him become bigger and stronger.
The end result was that they would threaten the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty like the northern nomads. Goguryeo was the most powerful vassal state in East Asia, and only by subjugating them could other tribes completely submit to the Central Plains Dynasty.
Goguryeo was a relatively powerful state in East Asia, and if they broke away from the central plains dynasty, they would extend their power to the northeast region, and if other tribes turned to Goguryeo, it would be a great threat to the middle-aged dynasty.
2. There is a threat to the unified dynasty of the Central Plains
The countries surrounding the Central Plains Dynasty seem to be independent, but they are actually all subordinate dynasties of the Central Plains. As long as they are led by the Central Plains Dynasty, they will generally not take military strikes against them, and will also help their country to carry out economic construction.
Goguryeo was originally a vassal state of the Central Plains Dynasty, but when they became powerful, they became disobedient and dared to provoke the former suzerainty, and the Central Plains Dynasty certainly could not tolerate this situation, and must take a military strike, otherwise there was no way to convince the people.
The Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goguryeo laid the foundation for the tang dynasty's victory
1. The Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goguryeo failed
At this time, our question came out, the military strength of the Sui Dynasty was not weaker than that of the Tang Dynasty, and the 4 conquests did not capture Goguryeo, while the Tang Dynasty succeeded in only three times. This was due to the fact that every time the Sui Emperor attacked Goguryeo, he poured out all the strength of the whole country, and even the richest dynasty could not withstand such consumption, and the poor people could not withstand the torment of war.
The Sui Dynasty fought wars every year, and most of the young and strong laborers were forced to join the army and die on the battlefield, resulting in the barren land being left unattended, which inevitably led to the emergence of famine years and civil strife.
2, the Tang Dynasty "pick up leaks"
The Tang Dynasty's crusade against Goguryeo was easily won because the Sui Emperor repeatedly attacked Goguryeo, destroying Goguryeo's domestic economy and consuming most of their young and middle-aged labor. However, Emperor Gaozong of Tang believed that Goguryeo still had some strength, so he frequently sent small troops to harass, and Goguryeo's national strength was slowly exhausted, and it was ultimately unable to cope with the Tang Dynasty's attacks.
The above shows that the reason why the Tang Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty continued to conquer Goguryeo was for the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty. Although the Sui Emperor suffered repeated setbacks in the war, he consumed goguryeo's national strength and laid the foundation for the later victory of the Tang Dynasty in conquering Goguryeo, and the efforts made by the Sui Dynasty could not be ignored.
Reference: Old Book of Tang