Out of the mentality of worshipping the strong, the Chinese people like to give the title of "Emperor of the Ages" to some emperors who have made achievements, such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong, Song Taizu, Qing Shengzu and other people, but from the perspective of actual merit and the sustained and healthy development of the empire, most of them are not worthy of the truth (especially the first two), but there is an emperor who is really worthy of the title and is ignored. This person was the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen Yang Jian. So, what virtue did Emperor Wen of Sui have, worthy of the title of "Emperor of the Ages"?
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he achieved outstanding political achievements
Yang Jian was born in the Guanlong clique of the Northern Dynasty, the son of Yang Zhong, one of the "Eight Pillar States" of Western Wei and Northern Zhou, and at a young age inherited the title of Duke of Suiguo, and later became the father-in-law of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, and when the latter was critically ill, he obtained the power of regency by tampering with the will. In 581, after eliminating the opposition, Yang Jian officially abolished the Jing Emperor Yuwen Andi, and called himself Emperor Jianguo, with the name of Sui. Emperor Wen of Sui reigned for 23 years, and his main achievements include:
1. Eliminate Southern Chen and unify China. From 311 AD when the Xiongnu nobleman Liu Yuan raised an army and established the Han Zhao regime, to 589 AD when the Sui Dynasty eliminated Southern Chen, China finally ushered in a unified situation since the Qin and Han Dynasties after a period of 278 years of great division and chaos, and the merits of Emperor Wen of Sui, as the completer of his career, could not be overemphasized.
Territory map of the Sui Dynasty
2. Collect books and continue the culture. The most crucial reason why China has been able to continue in history and keep the core elements unchanged is that Han culture has been inherited, not cut off by the change of dynasties. As far as Emperor Wen of Sui was concerned, in addition to unifying the country, the greatest contribution was to collect a large number of books from the people in the form of a reward in the case of cultural classics destroyed and lost due to war, and the official kept and collected them. During the Sui Dynasty, the collection of books reached 77,000 categories and 370,000 volumes at the most, ranking first among all dynasties and generations, and its role in the continuation and development of Han culture is self-evident.
3. Resume production and develop the economy. The size of the population is the "touchstone" for testing the "prosperity" of the world. After nearly three hundred years of war and disaster, the Chinese mouth was sharply reduced, and by the early years of the Sui Dynasty, there were only 31 million people. However, through Emperor Wen of Sui's implementation of policies such as living with the people and encouraging production, by the late period of his reign, he had risen to 8.7 million households and 44.94 million people (see Tang Hui Yao, vol. 84), and in just over a decade, he was able to achieve such achievements, which was really remarkable. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, it was called "the rule of the kai emperor" by historians, which is very worthy of the name.
Restoration of the Sui Dynasty Imperial Palace
In addition to the population, the most emblematic of the Sui Dynasty's economic prosperity, especially the prosperity of agriculture, is undoubtedly the granary everywhere. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, on the basis of the great development of agriculture, granaries were set up all over the capital and all over the country, and the large ones could store tens of millions of stones of grain, and the small ones could also store millions of stones of grain. In the treasury of Chang'an, Luoyang, and Taiyuan, tens of millions of silk horses were also stored in preparation for the country's disaster. By the time Emperor Wen of Sui was dying, the accumulation of warehouses in the world was so rich that it could be used for the normal expenditure of the whole country for fifty or sixty years. The wealth of the Sui Dynasty can be seen from this.
4. Establish examinations and establish a national system for selecting talents by subject. Since the Implementation of the "Nine-Pin Zhongzheng System" by Emperor Cao Pi of Wei, for more than 300 years, the powerful and prestigious families have occupied important positions in the country for generations, seriously hindering the promotion space of personnel from other classes, and the political corruption brought about by it is self-evident. After Emperor Wen of Sui came to power, he formally established a system of sub-discipline examinations and used it to select officials. Since then, the selection of officials has not asked the door, and the channel for the children of the cold door to enter the military has been greatly smoothed, which has greatly benefited the maintenance of benign and healthy political development.
The Sui Dynasty created the imperial examination system, and the great kaishi people entered the shi
Emperor Wen of Sui was able to unify the whole country and expand his territory while also achieving economic development and substantial population growth, and his exploits far exceeded that of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, and he was absolutely worthy of the title of "Emperor of The Ages". However, Emperor Wen of Sui's meritorious deeds were great, but he did not receive enough attention in history, and the most important reason for this was that the Sui Dynasty was too short-lived, and the Li Tang Dynasty, which was replaced by him, in order to maintain its legitimacy, deliberately downplayed and erased the merits of Emperor Wen of Sui when compiling history books, and future generations could not evaluate him fairly under his influence.
However, in the case of "belittling" Emperor Wen of Sui at home, the mainstream academic circles in the West did not hesitate to praise him, believing that he was worthy of the title of "Emperor of The Ages". The Cambridge History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties of China has this to say about him and the Sui Dynasty under his rule: "The Sui Dynasty eliminated the outdated and inefficient institutions of its predecessors, created the structure of a centralized empire, and developed a common cultural consciousness in the regions that had long been politically divided... One cannot but see the achievements of the Sui Dynasty in various aspects of the subsequent imperial structure and life, which are certainly among the most remarkable achievements in Chinese history. ”
Emperor Wen of Sui's exploits far surpassed those of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han
Since 2013, a post has been widely circulated on the Internet, saying that the American "Time" magazine ranked the Sui Dynasty Emperor at the top of the list when selecting the world's greatest historical figures, and listed 13 reasons to prove that his "winning the championship" deserved. Among these reasons, including "the creation of the most far-reaching political system in history", "the creation of the most lucid era of integrity in history", "the invention of the death penalty triad and decision system", etc., can be described as all-encompassing, and even said that he was the most admired idol of Genghis Khan, Muhammad and Napoleon.
Although the authenticity of the post is not worth refuting, one thing is clear, The merits of Emperor Wen of Sui are far more than the Qin Emperor Han Wu, and he is more qualified to obtain the title of "Emperor of the Ages", isn't it?