What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
There are two dynasties in Chinese history that are very short, one is the Qin Dynasty and the other is the Sui Dynasty, both of which have only experienced two generations of monarchs. After the Qin Dynasty, there was a prosperous Han Dynasty; after the Sui Dynasty, there was a prosperous Tang Dynasty, although later generations believe that the Qin and Sui Dynasties were destroyed by tyranny, but it is undeniable that they also laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of future generations. And the Sui Dynasty was once believed to be too powerful to perish, so how powerful was the Sui Dynasty?
After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, China was once again divided, this time for 300 years. In 577, the Northern Zhou Emperor Yuwen Yong attacked the capital of Northern Qi, and since then, Northern Zhou has become the most powerful state at that time, but Yuwen Yong has been working hard for many years and is not in good health, and died in 578 AD.
After Yuwen Yong's death, his son Yuwen Yun succeeded to the throne, Yuwen Yun was addicted to wine, and his handling was absurd, when he was emperor, the harem once had a situation where five queens stood side by side, which was extremely absurd. Later, Yuwen Yun passed the throne to the crown prince Yuwen Yan, who was under the age of 6 at the time, and after that, Yang Jian began to control the imperial government. In 581, Yuwen Xian gave the throne to Yang Jian, who ascended the throne as emperor and established the Sui Dynasty, known as Emperor Wen of Sui.
Emperor Wen of Sui first rectified internal affairs, and then intended to conquer the south and achieve national unification. In order to minimize casualties as much as possible, Emperor Wen of Sui did not attack directly, but adopted the strategy of Gao Jiao, interfering with the internal affairs of the Chen Dynasty, weakening their military strength, destroying their agricultural production, and in the end, the Chen Dynasty suffered heavy losses. In 590, Emperor Wen of Sui took the opportunity to attack the Chen Dynasty from the south. After the fall of the Chen Dynasty, the Central Plains were once again unified.
Emperor Wen of Sui had the talent to govern the country, and he knew that the arrogant and lascivious emperor could not last long, so during his reign, he advocated frugality for the whole people. In order to reduce the burden on the people, he abolished some unnecessary taxes and also opened barns to store grain. Under the impetus of Emperor Wen of Sui, not only did the ministers of the former dynasty practice frugality, but even the silk dress rarely appeared in the harem.
Before the Sui Dynasty, the state mainly relied on the hereditary system to select talents, and the students of the cold door were basically unable to enter the army. After Emperor Wen of Sui ascended the throne, he established an examination system, no longer relying on the door to select talents, but opening up the imperial examination and appointing people on the basis of merit. In addition, he also formulated the Sui Dynasty law, abolished some of the previous cruel criminal laws, and replaced the heavy with the light.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the country was a prosperous scene, and even the situation of all nations coming to the dynasty appeared, which is called "the rule of the emperor" in history. In 604, Emperor Wen of Sui died and was succeeded by his son Yang Guang, known in history as "Emperor Sui". At the beginning of the reign of the Sui Dynasty, the national strength of the Sui Dynasty was still strong, but the Sui Emperor was committed to expanding the territory of the Sui Dynasty, so he often fought, and there were three expeditions to Goguryeo.
In 605 AD, the Sui Emperor sent Yang Su and others to Luoyang to build the Eastern Capital, intending to move the capital to Luoyang, so as to control the economy of Jiangnan and the Central Plains; later, the Sui Emperor took Luoyang as the center and ordered people to dig the Sui and Tang Grand Canal, which connected many of China's water systems, although the project was huge, resulting in about half of the workers who excavated the canal, but after the canal was opened, it led to the development of the national economy, and on both sides of the canal, a lot of industrial and commercial cities arose, and also promoted national integration.
In addition, the Sui Emperor also built the Great Wall and chi road, these projects without exception played a key role in the development of the country, but the Sui Emperor ignored the combination of work and leisure when developing the country. Because he was too eager to make quick gains, the manpower and material resources of the Sui Dynasty were greatly damaged. The productive forces were severely damaged, the people were miserable, and peasant revolts began to break out in many places, and even the princes and nobles began to revolt, including Yang Su's son Yang Xuangan and Li Mi.
In 617, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, raised an army at Jinyang, then attacked Chang'an, and established Emperor Sui's grandson Yang You as emperor, known as Emperor Gong of Sui, at this time, Li Yuan had already grasped the power of the dynasty; in 618, under the persecution of Li Yuan, Yang Youchan was located in Li Yuan, after which Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty's examination system, the system of electing officials, and the projects built by the Sui Emperor all laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.