In ancient China, at the beginning of each dynasty change, the emperor would face two problems, one was how to stabilize the country and the mountains and surrender the remnants of the forces; the other was to recuperate, restore the economic withering caused by the war, and let the people live and work in peace and contentment. The founding emperor was not good, testing not only the courage to open up the territory abroad, but also the ability to govern the world internally, in short, a short period of time can make the imperial court rich, and the people are also worry-free. In this regard, The Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian claimed to be the second, and it is estimated that no one dared to call himself the first.
Yang Jian was originally a foreign relative of Northern Zhou, and his daughter was named empress, and he himself was an official and a minister, so it can be said that his power was overwhelming. From the perspective of methods, Yang Jian's imperial path is quite similar to Zhao Kuangyin's, with great power in his hands, putting the little emperor in the air, and then having to zen the throne. Although it is not too glorious, in some ways, war and casualties are avoided. In 581, Yang Jian ascended the throne as emperor, and the name of the country was "Sui" and the era name was changed to Kai Huang.
From the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, nearly three hundred years of turmoil and war in the middle, the people lived in deep water, the agricultural economy was seriously affected, it can be said that the people's livelihood is difficult, and the national treasury is empty. In order to change this state, after Yang Jian pacified the Chen Dynasty, he completed the great unification, and then with the goal of enriching the country, implemented the law of nationalization and the equalization system, weakened the strength of the warrior clan, and adopted a policy of lightly debauchering and thin endowments.
After more than ten years of vigorous efforts, the economy of the Sui Dynasty rose to a large level, the income of the imperial court increased, and a large amount of grain was stored in the granaries of various places. As we all know, the Han Dynasty went through the rule of Han Gaozu and Wenjing, and it was not until the time of Emperor Wu of han that it was truly rich. The reason why the Tang Dynasty had the rule of Zhenguan and the prosperity of kaiyuan, in addition to the efforts of Emperor Taizong, Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Xuanzong, was inseparable from the solid family foundation left by the Sui Dynasty.
Looking at the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was very diligent, almost never rested, and worked diligently and earnestly for decades, until the reign of Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Chengzu, the economy of the Ming Dynasty prospered. In contrast, in the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Emperor Yang Jian only used about ten years of efforts to create a prosperous and prosperous kaihuang rule, which is really admirable. How rich was the Sui Dynasty? List a set of data and you'll understand.
The New Book of Tang records: "In the last year of Renshou, the Treasury of the Sui Dynasty accumulated and was provided for fifty or sixty years. This means that in the later years of Emperor Wen of Sui, the wealth accumulated by the national treasury and local granaries, even if it did not develop at all, was enough to be consumed for fifty or sixty years. Therefore, the Sui Emperor had the material resources and financial resources to build the eastern capital Luoyang, dig the Grand Canal, travel around the mountains and rivers, and march on Goryeo, and even so, he did not destroy the family foundation accumulated by Emperor Wen of Sui.
Twenty years after the fall of the Sui Dynasty, that is, in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Yushi Ma Zhou wrote in the recital: "The Sui family stored Luokoucang, and Li Miyinzhi; the Tokyo Cloth Cloth, Wang Shichongzhi; the Xijing Fu Treasury was also used by the state and has not yet been exhausted." "Ma Zhou, as a royal historian, cannot tell lies, nor dare to tell lies, it is obvious that the family foundation left by the Sui Dynasty has not been used up for twenty years, and the degree of wealth can be seen.
The Tao Te Ching says, "The more you have with others, the more you have with others." "Emperor Wen of Sui was revered as a sage Khan, and under his rule, he brought the agricultural civilization to a glorious period, and created a short but far-reaching kaihuang prosperous era, but he was very frugal, never extravagant and wasteful, and sympathetic to the people of the world. So the question is, how good is Emperor Wen of Sui to the people? This is enough to see from the following thing.
"Book of Sui": Twelve years, there are si shangyan, and the treasury is full. The Emperor said, "The Decay is both thin and given to man, and it is also given by the Great Scriptures, so why should er also?" Right: "Usefulness is always out, and acceptance is always in." The abridged grant is given to millions of pieces per year, with no derogation. "Therefore, he set up a courtyard of Zuozang and built a house to receive it."
Translated into the vernacular, it can be understood as: a minister of the household department hurriedly panicked to report that there was too much silver in the imperial court, and the treasury was already piled up, and there was no room for it. Emperor Wen of Sui was slightly puzzled, rewarding the meritorious man with a generous hand, never cutting the door, why there were so many silver two. The minister explained that although it cost a lot, it also had a lot of income, so it accumulated a lot of silver. The Minister proposed to repair the national treasury to store the property.
As the saying goes, no matter how rich a person is, he will not feel too much money, but Emperor Wen of Sui did not think so. After listening to the minister's report, Emperor Wen of Sui pondered for a moment, and then replied with 8 words
"It is better to accumulate in people than to have a Tibetan treasury." ”
Since the imperial court has too much silver to put down, it is better to continue to reduce taxes and let the people pay less taxes, so as to achieve the effect of hiding wealth from the people. In just 8 words, it embodies the compassion of Emperor Wen of Sui and the benevolence of the people, and has been praised by the world for thousands of years.
Objectively speaking, Emperor Wen of Sui was a great emperor, and although his fame was not too great, at least not as good as Tang Taizong, his realm and mind were indeed worthy of recognition. What is less known is that the foreign evaluation of Emperor Wendi of Sui is extremely high, ranking eighty-second in the book "100 Celebrities Who Influenced the Course of Human History", which is a well-deserved ranking.