Although Goguryeo is only a small country, it is a non-negligible existence in the history of the mainland, especially in the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties, it plays a very important role, and even the Sui Dynasty is because the Sui Emperor's three conquests of Goryeo failed and caused chaos in the world, causing Li Tang to seize the world, so what exactly made the four emperors before and after the Sui and Tang Dynasties want to destroy Goguryeo at all costs?
Origin of Goguryeo
In 108 BC, emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established four counties in the Liaodong region and the Korean Peninsula, and Xuanju Commandery was one of them. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Han, the royal family members of the small state of Buyeo fell in love with each other in order to compete for the throne, and the Buyeo royal family Zhu Meng was defeated in the struggle, leading a part of the clan to flee to Xuanyu County to seek refuge in the Han Dynasty.
In order to appease Jumong, Emperor Gojong agreed to let his clan take root in Xuanju County, and later Jumong established Goguryeo in the county, which means that Goguryeo was established on the chinese homeland. After that, Goguryeo remained dependent on the Han Dynasty, and during the usurpation of the Han Dynasty by Wang Mang, Wang Mang made Goguryeo a princely state and renamed it "Lower Goguryeo", and during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Goguryeo rulers began to call themselves princes.
Goguryeo was able to gradually become stronger thanks to the disintegration of the Central Plains Dynasty. During the Wuhu Chaohua period, the land of the Central Plains was full of wars, and the forces of all sides were vying for territory, and there was no time to take care of such a small country as Goguryeo, while Goguryeo seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack Baekje, Khitan and Buyeo, and even occupied a lot of land in the Liaodong region.
However, in 427 AD, Goguryeo was devastated by Former Yan, and even the capital could only be moved to Pyongyang, but this small country was still not dead-hearted, and it had a bad idea of the counties of Western Liaoning, repeatedly violating the border during the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Sui Dynasties, and when the Sui Dynasty unified the Central Plains, the Goguryeo problem had become a problem that the authorities had to solve.
The four emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties conquered Goguryeo
In the eighteenth year of the reign of emperor, Goguryeo and the Sui Dynasty invaded the borders of the Sui Dynasty, and at this time, when the Sui Dynasty was strong and powerful, the Sui Emperor Yang Jian was angry and sent troops to conquer Goguryeo, but unfortunately the heavens were not beautiful, and the road encountered strong storms and rains, and the grain road was inconvenient to transport grain, and the army could only return in vain. In 612 AD, the Sui Emperor Yang Guang directly launched a million soldiers to conquer Goguryeo, it is said that due to the large number of soldiers, the road can not be walked, can only be divided into several groups, the soldiers stretched for 960 miles, very spectacular.
In the face of the attack of the Sui Dynasty's millions of male divisions, Goguryeo adopted a strategy of enticing the enemy to go deeper, and defeated the Sui Dynasty Left Route Army, and although the Sui Dynasty Right Route Army once hit Pyongyang, it also suffered heavy losses due to encountering a Goguryeo ambush and had to withdraw its troops, and Yang Guangyi's campaign against Goguryeo ended in failure.
The following year, Yang Guang again went to Goguryeo, this time the Sui army hit Liaodong City, the siege did not take it for several days, at this time, yang Xuangan rebellion within the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Emperor had no choice but to withdraw his army back to the dynasty. In 614, the Sui Emperor again conquered Goguryeo, this time Goguryeo was powerless to resist, and could only send envoys to negotiate peace, but the Sui Dynasty also caused the people to boil because of the three conquests of Goguryeo, and domestic rebellions broke out, and the Sui Emperor could only accept the peace, and the Banshi returned to the dynasty.
Later, li tang dynasty Sui, because the threat of the northwest Turks was greater than Goguryeo, the Tang Dynasty in response to the Turkic invasion, once reconciled with Goguryeo, but then the Tang Under the rule of Tang Taizong Li Shimin strengthened its national strength, ushered in the rule of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty inside and outside the hall to conquer Goguryeo gradually.
In 643, Emperor Taizong of Tang used Goguryeo to invade Silla as an excuse, and the following year went to the front to command, at first the Tang army marched all the way and won successive victories, but later because it entered the late autumn, the grass dried up and frozen, the grain and grass could not be supplied in time, and it was difficult to conquer the fortified city, So Li Shimin had to return to the dynasty.
In 661, Emperor Gaozong of Tang gathered a large army to conquer Goguryeo again, and this conquest was very fruitful, almost capturing the city of Pyongyang, but because of the heavy snowfall, he had to withdraw his army and return. Until 666 AD, there was a rebellion within Goguryeo, Li Zhi saw the opportunity and sent an expedition to Goguryeo again, in 668 AD, the Tang army attacked the city of Pyongyang, and the powerful Central Plains Dynasty finally completely destroyed Goguryeo.
The Reason why sui and Tang had to destroy Goguryeo
It is reasonable to say that Goguryeo is a small country in a remote corner, and it is not worth the Central Plains Dynasty to try so hard to attack, but the emperors of the Sui and Tang Dynasties still did it, so why did the Sui and Tang Dynasties have to destroy Goguryeo?
First of all, Goguryeo's geographical location is strategically prominent, and it is different from the Turks, Khitans and other nomadic peoples, Goguryeo is also an agricultural country, and it is stable and steady at the local level, trying to gain a firm foothold. Goguryeo ambitions are not small, on the one hand, to conquer Baekje, Silla, expand the territory, on the other hand, with the Turks secretly communicate, trying to encroach on the Central Plains, if the two are united, it will form a sandwich for the Central Plains Dynasty, for the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Goguryeo is too harmful!
Second, the presence of Goguryeo undermined the clan system of the Great Unification Dynasty in the Central Plains. In the view of the ancient Central Dynasty, other countries are little brothers, as long as they pay tribute to their big brother, I will cover you, and as a result, during the Sui Dynasty, Goguryeo superficially bowed to the Sui Dynasty, but in fact did not listen to the king's orders, provoked the majesty of the Son of Heaven, and in the Tang Dynasty, it ignored the warning of Tang Taizong and attacked the Tang vassal state of Silla. The younger brother is beaten, the eldest brother does not come out, who will obey in the future? So Goguryeo had to be beaten.
Finally, there is the question of territory. As mentioned above, the foundation of Goguryeo's founding was on the land of the Han family, that is to say, the Liaodong area where Goguryeo was located was originally part of the territory of the Central Plains, and this part of the land could be used as a sub-fief, but it was subject to the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty and recognized as part of the Central Plains Dynasty.
Goguryeo not only did not submit to the Central Plains Dynasty, but repeatedly provoked trouble on the sui and Tang borders, not to fight who you beat. Moreover, if the emperors of all dynasties called orthodoxy, they all regarded territory as taboo and did not dare to lose the slightest loss, and Goguryeo's attempt to "steal" land was naturally touching the ass of a tiger, whether it was the two emperors of the Sui Dynasty, or Tang Taizong Li Shimin, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi can be regarded as wise monarchs, naturally will not sit idly by goguryeo and such despicable acts.
brief summary
For all reasons, sui and tang had to destroy Goguryeo, but sui and tang also paid a huge price. The Sui Dynasty Emperor raised the power of the country to conquer Goguryeo three times, causing the people's resentment to boil, rebellions, and finally directly destroyed the country, and the two emperors of the Tang Dynasty did not hesitate to pour out their national strength, and finally destroyed Goguryeo, but the sui and Tang dynasties, the wishes of the four emperors.
References: Book of Sui, Romance of the Three Kingdoms