In the eighth year of Daye (612), Yang Guang first conquered Goguryeo and sent an army of more than one million, but the result was a complete defeat. At this time, the people were already overwhelmed by heavy military and military service.
(Peasant Revolt)
In the preparation stage of the seventh year of Daye (611), Wang Bo, a peasant in Shandong who called himself "Former Zhishilang of Changbai Mountain", led many intolerable peasants to sing "The Song of death in the wave of the liaodong without direction", which opened the curtain of the peasant uprising.
Since then, it has been out of control, and rebel forces in various places have blossomed overnight, among which the more powerful forces are: Liu Badao, Sun Anzu, Gao Shida, Zhang Jinwei, Hao Xiaode, and later the famous Dou Jiande.
The rebel forces had spread throughout most of Hebei and Shandong, and were spreading dramatically, but Yang Guang did not care at all. The decision to attack Goguryeo was decided because the first failure dealt a serious blow to Yang Guang's self-confidence and self-esteem, and he became somewhat hysterical. Sober ministers dissuaded one after another, but Yang Guang could not listen. In the ninth year of Daye (613), Yang Guang again issued a general mobilization order to recruit the world's soldiers from Zhuo County. Continue to attack Goguryeo.
In April of the ninth year of Daye, Yang Guang personally led a large army through Liaoshui, and this time Yang Guang, with the mentality of victory, sent four large armies, three roads by land and one road by sea, with the goal of Pyongyang. While the war was in the midst of a war, news of Yang Xuangan's rebellion suddenly came from The Rebbe Shangshu Yang Xuangan, and The soldier's attendant Hu Sizheng, who was friendly with Yang Xuangan, was frightened and defected to Goguryeo.
Angry and frustrated, Yang Guang ordered the entire army to retreat, leaving the enemy with a mountain of ordnance and grain. So why did the peasants everywhere rebel against Yang Guang and turn a blind eye, while Yang Xuangan immediately withdrew his troops as soon as he rebelled against Yang Guang?
I think there are three main reasons:
First, Yang Guang was worried that the back road would be cut off.
Yang Xuangan was the son of the late Sui Dynasty hero Yang Su. For his father's merits, he was appointed rebbe Shoshu. Because Yang Su has a high position of authority and has made unproductive achievements, he is afraid of being exterminated by Yang Guang, so he is sick and does not heal, and he ends up hating. Yang Xuan has always been grumpy in his heart, and he relies on the connections and resources left by his father to make deep connections, pull gangs and form parties, and want to find opportunities to cause chaos.
In the second conquest of Goguryeo, Yang Guang sent him to supervise the transportation of military supplies in Liyang, and when he thought that the opportunity had come, he gathered more than 8,000 grain and boatmen to rebel with the slogan of "the Lord has nothing to gain, and the army is raised to save the people", and the number of people quickly grew to 100,000.
At this time, Yang Guang was worried that if Yang Xuangan sent troops north from Liyang to block the Western Liaoning Corridor, then the only way back would be cut off, and if Goguryeo attacked from behind, it would be a dead end. Therefore, Yang Guang seized the time and quickly withdrew his troops at all costs to seize the Western Liaoning Corridor. This is the same as the best policy that Li Mi gave Yang Xuan. Li Mi could think of it, and of course Yang Guang wanted it. Although Yang Xuangan dared to rebel, he did not dare to act according to Li Mi's superior strategy, and missed a good opportunity to become a big thing.
Second, Yang Guang believed in the appeal of the nobility and did not believe that mud legs could make things happen.
Confined to the idea of feudal emperors, Yang Guang did not believe that a group of mud-legged peasants could overthrow his regime, so no matter how many peasant uprisings Yang Guang thought was just a few bandits who robbed their homes, which was not enough to worry about. Yang Xuangan, on the other hand, is a standard aristocrat, Yang Su's protégés have been all over the world, and Yang Xuangan has also been an official for many years, and its appeal is huge.
(Yang Guang stills)
Ancient society has always been a door valve politics, and state power has always hovered among the various ethnic groups. Therefore, only the gatekeepers and nobles have the qualifications to play politics. However, the Yang family was a heavyweight with such qualifications, and Yang Xuan's influence on the basis of the Sui Empire's rule was immeasurable. Therefore, Yang Guang was very nervous and immediately withdrew his troops.
Third, the radical reforms in the early stage made many nobles dissatisfied with Yang Guang and joined Yang Xuangan's rebel clique.
After Yang Xuan felt the rise of the army, many noble sons participated in it, such as Han Shihao, the son of the famous general Han Huhu, Yang Gongdao, the son of Yang Xiong, the son of Guan Wang, Yu Rou, the son of Yu Shiji, Lai Yuan, the son of Lai Hu'er, and Pei Shuang, the son of Pei Yun. The reason why so many noble children participated was because Yang Guang's reform of the official system in the third year of Daye was caused by the radical reform of the official system.
(Yang Guang)
In the period from the Northern Zhou to the Sui dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty, it was the domain of the Guanlong clique, and the state power was controlled by this clique, and the "Shangzhu State" given by the Northern Zhou and the early Sui Dynasty at that time was a very ostentatious name. Li Mi scorned the heroes of the world, but looked at Yang Xuangan and Li Yuan differently, because all three of them were after the "Shangzhu Kingdom". At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the peasant revolt, they often recruited rebels in this name, and people immediately stood in awe as soon as they heard it.
Yang Guang abolished all the titles he had previously given and re-titled them after meritorious service. Moreover, the knighthood became a loose official and civilian official title such as Guanglu Dafu. This reform touched the interests of all aristocratic classes. The reason why Yang Xuangan was able to gather 100,000 troops in a short period of time and form such a huge force was really the manifestation of Yang Guang's reform shortcomings.
In summary, Yang Guang had to abandon the war against Goguryeo and turn around and come back to collect Yang Xuangan first. Helplessly, Yang Xuangan was too indisputable and soon failed, but Yang Xuangan's military behavior promoted the vigorous development of peasant uprisings everywhere and greatly promoted the demise of the Sui Dynasty.