As the saying goes, the times create heroes, and I have to say that Emperor Wen of Sui was indeed lucky. Emperor Wen of Sui was able to unify China in a very short time, mainly because the Northern Zhou Dynasty before the Sui Dynasty already had the strength to unify the world. Of course, Emperor Wen of Sui himself was also a Ming monarch, so he was able to quickly unify China.
Let's first look at the historical background at that time, what was China like before the unification of the Sui Dynasty?
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang wiped out the six eastern kingdoms and established the first unified dynasty in Chinese history. It is a pity that the Qin Dynasty ruled for only 15 years, and it was overthrown in the war of peasant uprisings.
Through the four-year Chu-Han War, Liu Bang eliminated Xiang Yu and other princes and established a second unified dynasty, the Han Dynasty. By the time of Liu Che, the emperor of Han Wu, he almost doubled the territory of the Han Dynasty by launching a series of foreign wars, spreading the power of the Han Dynasty in all directions.
Although Wang Mang established a new dynasty in the Han dynasty, it was quickly eliminated by the Han clansmen. Liu Xiu, who was born in the branch of Emperor Jing of Han, eventually relied on his super personal ability and the support of powerful landlords to re-establish the unified Han Dynasty, that is, the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty lasted for nearly two hundred years, and China saw the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu standing side by side. Later, the Western Jin Dynasty, which replaced Cao Wei, briefly unified China, but soon entered the chaotic era of "Five Hu Chaohua".
In 316, the Xiongnu Han army captured Chang'an, the Jin Emperor took prisoner, and the Western Jin Dynasty perished. In 318, Sima Rui, the king of Langya, proclaimed himself emperor in Jiankang and continued the rule of the Jin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
During the more than 100 years of Eastern Jin rule, more than a dozen regimes established by the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Qiang, and other ethnic groups appeared in the Central Plains, which later generations called the "Sixteen Kingdoms".
More than a dozen countries established by the northern Hu people often engaged in scuffles in order to unify the Central Plains. In order to regain the Central Plains, the Eastern Jin Dynasty also often sent troops north to fight against these countries.
In the late 4th century, the Former Qin Dynasty, established by the Di people, briefly unified the northern region. Subsequently, Former Qin was defeated by the Northern Fu soldiers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the Battle of Shuishui and quickly collapsed. Northern China reappeared, with five or six regimes in a state of separatism, with the Later Yan, Later Qin, Later Liang, Western Qin, and Northern Wei regimes established successively, and fought with each other for a long time. After another fifty or sixty years of war, the Northern Wei Dynasty, established by the Xianbei people, once again unified the north.
The Northern Wei dynasty and its successor regimes, which ruled the northern regions of the Central Plains, and Liu Song and its successors in the south, were in a state of coexistence between the north and the south for a long time, and later generations referred to them collectively as the "Southern and Northern Dynasties".
Northern Wei was militarily powerful and had a strong hope of destroying the Southern Dynasty and unifying China. Unfortunately, due to the intensification of domestic contradictions, the "Six Towns Uprising" broke out in Northern Wei in 523 AD. In the process of suppressing the rebel army in Liuzhen, Erzhu, who was born in Qihu, gradually mastered the Northern Wei regime.
During the reign of Er Zhu Rong and Er Zhu Zhao, they arbitrarily killed the Northern Wei emperor and clan ministers, which caused strong dissatisfaction among the Northern Wei people. Gao Huan, a Han who had been humiliated, gathered the resistance forces in Northern Wei and eventually eliminated the Erzhu clan.
After eliminating the Erzhu clan, Gao Huan continued to turn the Northern Wei emperor into a puppet, and he himself became the de facto ruler of the Northern Wei dynasty. In 534, dissatisfied with Gao Huan's dictatorship, Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei fled to Guanzhong and defected to the local Xianbei warlord Yuwen Tai. In desperation, Gao Huan had to make Yuan Shanjian emperor, that is, Emperor Jingwu of Eastern Wei. Northern Wei was officially split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.
In the more than 100 years from prosperity to decline and division of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty also underwent two dynastic changes. First, Xiao Daocheng replaced Liu Song to establish Xiao Qi, and later Xiao Yan, a relative of the same clan, seized power and replaced Xiao Qi to establish Xiao Liang. Xiao Liang was the third dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, and during the fifty-six years of his reign, the balance of power between the north and the south changed dramatically.
The above briefly introduces the historical background before the emergence of the Sui Dynasty, you may ask, the Sui Dynasty has not yet appeared, what is the relationship between the above history and the Sui Dynasty? And what does it have to do with the Sui Dynasty's unification of China in only four months? Let's talk carefully about the ins and outs of this historical event.
The Sui Dynasty established by Yang Jian was actually born out of the Northern Zhou Dynasty of the Xianbei people, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was born out of the Western Wei Dynasty, so the Sui Dynasty actually inherited the regime of Western Wei.
The emperors of Western Wei, like the emperors of Eastern Wei, were nothing more than puppets in the hands of the Yuwen clan and the Gao clan. Yuwen Tai, the de facto ruler of Western Wei, can be said to be the true founder of Northern Zhou and later Sui and Tang.
It was under Yuwen Tai's rule that Western Wei and Northern Zhou reversed their initial disadvantages and gradually became a powerful state.
In order to strengthen the state and be able to confront Eastern Wei, Yuwen Tai carried out a series of reforms in Western Wei. First of all, it is necessary to replenish the troops to make up for the large number of attrition caused by the battle with Gao Huan on his side, and Yuwen Tai opens the door to the Han people in Guanzhong. Yuwen Tai asked the Han Haoqiang to lead his own tribe to join the regular army of Western Wei, and was made a general of the Pillar State like himself.
Yuwen Tai implemented a local military system to allow peasants who received land to enrich their army. He also implemented the ethnic policy of integrating Hu and Han, and rewarded high-ranking Han officials with Xianbei surnames. Under his rule, Western Wei and later Northern Zhou became stronger.
In 556, the Yuwen clan replaced the Western Wei imperial clan Yuan, and with Yuwen Hu's support, Yuwen Jue established the state of Zhou, also known as Northern Zhou.
After talking about the basic situation in the north, let's take a look at how the southern dynasty is weakening step by step.
Xiao Yan, the Liang Wu Emperor, was one of the longest-lived emperors in ancient China, who lived to be eighty-six years old and witnessed the decline of the Liang dynasty. Emperor Wudi of Liang, also known as the "Bodhisattva Emperor", promoted Buddhism in Southern Liang and sacrificed his life several times.
At the beginning of Xiao Liang's establishment, he defeated the army of Northern Wei going south in the Battle of Zhongli, consolidating the situation at home and abroad. This victory also ignited Emperor Wudi of Liang's ambitions, and the unification of China in the Central Plains of the Northern Expedition became his important goal.
In the early years of his reign, Emperor Wu of Liang sent troops to the Northern Expedition several times to recover the cities captured by Northern Wei in the previous dynasty. In 528, the "Heyin Rebellion" broke out within the Northern Wei ruling clique, and the powerful minister Er Zhu Rong killed more than 2,000 royal nobles. Some Northern Wei clans led their subordinates and went south to surrender to Emperor Wudi of Liang. Emperor Wu of Liang also sent Chen Qingzhi as a general, leading 7,000 elite soldiers, to escort Yuan Hao back to Northern Wei to become emperor. Chen Qingzhi commanded wisely, and many times won more with less in the war, escorting Yuan Hao back to Luoyang.
Just when Yuan Hao was hesitant and full of ambition, Er Zhurong led his army south to Luoyang. Er Zhurong's army captured Luoyang and killed Yuan Hao, and Chen Qingzhi was forced to retreat. After that, Emperor Wudi of Liang also sent troops to the Northern Expedition several times, but all of them ended in failure. Xiao Liang's failure in these Northern Expeditions also made the balance between the North and South Dynasties begin to tilt towards the North. The history of the Southern and Northern Dynasties was changed by the appearance of a person named Hou Jing.
In 547, Hou Jing, a general of Eastern Wei who was guarding the Henan region, betrayed Eastern Wei and surrendered to Xiao Liang due to a feud with Gao Cheng, the ruler. Emperor Wudi of Liang originally thought that by capturing Hou Jing, he could prepare for another Northern Expedition to the Central Plains.
Unexpectedly, Hou Jing betrayed the Liang Dynasty the following year and led his troops south to attack Jiankang. In 549, Hou Jingjun attacked the city of Jiankang, and Hou Jing starved Emperor Wudi of Liang to death. Hou Jing successively supported Xiao Zhengde and Xiao Gang as puppet emperors, and he became the de facto supreme ruler.
In 552, Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Xiang, sent Wang Sengwei as the chief general and led an army to attack Hou Jing. Chen Baxian, who was stationed in Lingnan, also led his army north, joined forces with Wang Seng, and captured Jiankang City together. Hou Jing led the remnants to escape by boat, but was killed by his men on the way. This is how the "Houjing Rebellion" happened.
When Hou Jing caused chaos in Jiangnan, it could be said that it was an opportunity for the two regimes in the north and north. However, at that time, Eastern Wei and Western Wei, out of fear of each other, did not dare to directly send large armies south, lest the other side take advantage of the void. At this time, the internal changes of Eastern Wei were also changing, that is, Gao Yang replaced Eastern Wei to establish Northern Qi and became emperor himself.
Although they did not send large armies south, the two regimes of the Northern Dynasty did not do nothing, and they both took advantage of this opportunity to obtain land from the Liang Dynasty. In particular, Eastern Wei took advantage of Hou Jing's rebellion in Jiangnan and sent troops to incorporate the land south of the Huai River into its territory. The Northern Qi that followed was the strongest of the three kingdoms at this time. Western Wei took advantage of Hou Jing's betrayal of Northern Qi and took possession of the thirteen prefectures of Henan under Hou Jing's jurisdiction.
During Hou Jing's rebellion in Jiankang, Xiao Liang was stationed in various places as the princes of the clan domain, and in order to fight each other for the throne, Western Wei took the opportunity to send troops to capture Yizhou, Xiangyang and other places.
In 552, Xiao Yi proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling, and later generations called him Emperor Yuan of Liang. In 554, Western Wei sent troops to attack Jiangling, killing Emperor Yuan of Liang and seizing large areas of western Xiao Liang. At this time, Western Wei had incorporated Sichuan, Hubei and other places into its territory, and its strength was greatly enhanced than before.
In 557, Chen Baxian replaced Xiao Liang as emperor and established the last dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, the Chen Dynasty. By the time of the Chen Dynasty, the land area of the Southern Dynasty was much smaller than before. At the beginning of its establishment, the Chen Dynasty lagged behind Northern Zhou and Northern Qi in terms of comprehensive national strength. From beginning to end, the Chen Dynasty could only take the southeast as its main goal.
After the Houjing Rebellion, the southern region was greatly damaged, a large amount of land in the north was lost, and the national strength of the southern dynasty was seriously weakened, and it could only take a defensive position in the competition with the northern dynasty
After that, the Southern Dynasty no longer had the ability to launch the Northern Expedition, and could only take the southeast as the first target. Through the Houjing Rebellion, the rulers of the Northern Dynasty also saw that the decay and decline of the Southern Dynasty regime and the elimination of the Southern Dynasty were feasible to unify the world.
In stark contrast to the declining decline of the Southern Dynasty, the two regimes of the North are becoming stronger. Western Wei, which had the worst foundation at the beginning, by the time Northern Zhou established the state, it was already comparable to Northern Qi in terms of national strength, and it might have a slight advantage.
In the early days of the establishment of Northern Qi, Xiao Liang was tortured to death by the Houjing Rebellion and was about to be replaced by the Chen Dynasty; Western Wei flourished under Yuwen Tai's governance, but due to the relatively thin foundation, it could not become a climate for the time being.
Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, Gao Yang, personally led his army many times to attack the Khitan, Kumoxi, and Shanhu tribes in the north. Rouran rebelled before belonging to Northern Qi, and Gao Yang personally led an army to reconquest, breaking through the remnants of Rouran and capturing a lot of livestock and population. Gao Yang later indulged in wine, and after drinking, he often fornicated the harem, and would murder people violently.
In 559, at the age of 34, Gao Yang died of a sudden illness, and his son Gao Yin succeeded him. The Northern Qi dynasty quickly went downhill.
In the early days of the establishment of Northern Zhou, power was in the hands of the powerful minister Yuwen Go. Yuwen Hu was domineering and arbitrary, which caused dissatisfaction among the entire court of Northern Zhou. Yuwen Hu killed two emperors, Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Yu, and then supported the 17-year-old Yuwen Yong to the throne, which was Emperor Wudi of Northern Zhou.
Yuwen Yong was good at Taoguang and cultivated obscurity, and was obedient to Yuwen Hu, which made Yuwen Hu relax his guard. Seeing that the time was ripe, Yuwen Yong personally killed Yuwen Gou and truly took back his own power. During Yuwen Yong's reign, he continued to follow the state policies of Yuwen Tai and paid more attention to Confucianism to cultivate moral models, and Northern Zhou became more and more powerful.
While Northern Qi grew stronger, Northern Qi gradually declined. The most powerful Northern Qi before, how can it be said that if it doesn't work, it won't work? Because the emperors of Northern Qi after Gao Yang, one is more incompetent than the other, one is more colorful than the other, and the other is more perverted than the other. The emperors Gao Yin, Gao Zhan, and Gao Wei were all drunkard, and even committed incestuous and shameless acts.
Moreover, the ethnic contradictions in Northern Qi were also very sharp, and the Xianbei aristocracy, which had relied heavily since the Gao Huan era, often oppressed the Han bureaucrats, not to mention the oppression of the Han people.
On the one hand, the growing strength of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and on the other hand, the gradual weakening of the Northern Qi, the wheel of history began to roll forward. In 576, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, led an army to attack Northern Qi on seven routes, and destroyed Northern Qi the following year.
If you look at Chinese history, you will find an interesting phenomenon. That is, before the emergence of each great unified dynasty, there will be a dynasty that lays the foundation for unification, and all of them are dynasties with "Zhou" as the national name.
The Zhou Dynasty implemented a system of division and sealing, dividing the royal clan into various places to establish vassal states, and using the patriarchal system and the Zhou Tianzi as a link, laying the foundation for the unification of all parts of the world and creating conditions for the unification of the Qin Dynasty.
In the subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, during the five-year reign of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, Chai Rong traveled everywhere to fight in the east, weakening the two powerful enemies of the Khitan and Southern Tang, and laying a solid foundation for the unification of the Song Dynasty. This time the Northern Zhou unified the north, which laid a solid foundation for the unification of the Sui Dynasty below.
After the Northern Zhou unified the north, it was only a matter of time before China was unified from the north to the south.
Looking at these histories on this side, everyone may have questions, what does this have to do with Yang Jian? How did Yang Jian become emperor?
Yang Jian's founding process, there are really not many legendary stories, but there is indeed the favor of heaven, which should be the so-called "destiny of heaven". Yang Jian's father, Yang Zhong, was made the Duke of Suiguo because of his outstanding military merits.
After Yang Zhong's death, Yang Jian inherited his father's title as Duke of Suiguo and also served as a military general in the Northern Zhou court. Emperor Wu of Zhou asked Yang Jian's daughter Yang Lihua to make crown prince Yuwen Yun crown prince. During Emperor Wudi of Northern Zhou's personal conquest of Northern Qi, Yang Jian accompanied the army and was made the governor of Dingzhou for his military merits.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Zhou, the crown prince Yuwen Yun succeeded him as emperor, Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou. Yang Jian's eldest daughter, Yang Lihua, was made empress, and Yang Jian was made Grand Sima. Emperor Xuan of Zhou was absurd and shameless, indulged in sound all day long, and died of illness at the age of 22.
The new successor to the throne, Yuwen Xuan, was only eight years old, and Yang Jian officially assumed the power of the country. Human ambition is usually constantly expanding. Yang Jian, who held the supreme power in Northern Zhou, soon had the idea of becoming emperor himself.
In 581, Yang Jian replaced Northern Zhou as emperor and established the Sui Dynasty, and he became Emperor Wen of Sui. From officially grasping the supreme power of the country to putting on the dragon robe himself, Yang Jian only took a short nine months, perhaps this is the "destiny of heaven".
Now back to the original question, after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, why was it possible to quickly eliminate the Chen Dynasty and unify China again?
After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, some internal rebellions were first quelled, and the next goal was to go south to destroy Chen. But at this time, if the Sui Dynasty wanted to successfully eliminate the Chen Dynasty, it needed to first address the threat of the northern frontier. This northern enemy is the nomadic empire - the Turkic Khanate, which rose in the steppe of the desert.
The Turks are nomadic people in the northern steppe, originally nomadic in the Altai Mountains. In the mid-5th century, the Turks, led by the head of the territory, defeated the steppe overlord Rouran Khanate. Subsequently, after two or three decades of foreign conquest, the Turks established a vast Turkic khanate and controlled a vast land stretching from the Great Khingan Mountains in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west. In order to protect themselves, Northern Zhou and Northern Qi successively sought peace with the Turks in order to gain security on the border and isolate their opponents.
Emperor Wen of Sui adopted a strategy against the Turks, using both division and disintegration and military strikes. Originally, the steppe nomadic empire had a tradition of competing for the position of the Great Khan, and under the provocation of the Sui Dynasty, the Turkic Khanate split into Eastern Turk and Western Turk in 583 AD. Subsequently, under the strong pressure of the Sui Dynasty, the Eastern Turks were forced to submit to the Sui Dynasty. The northern security problems of the Sui Dynasty were finally resolved.
Finally, let's take a look at the Chen Dynasty, which is about to be eliminated, what is the situation now?
After Chen Ba, Emperor Chen Wen and Emperor Chen Xuan were still quite talented emperors, but the national strength of the Chen Dynasty was too weak to match a strong enemy like Northern Zhou. Emperor Chen Xuan also sent troops to the Northern Expedition to retake Huainan lands from Northern Qi. It is a pity that with the demise of Northern Qi, facing the strong enemy of Northern Zhou, the Chen Dynasty became more and more difficult to overcome.
After the death of Emperor Chen Xuan, his son Chen Shubao succeeded to the throne, and he became the lord of Chen. Empress Chen either chanted poetry with the civil servants, or played with the beauties in the harem, basically leaving national affairs behind. Seeing that the time was ripe to destroy Chen, Emperor Wen of Sui began to implement his unification plan.
In 588, Emperor Wen of Sui appointed Yang Guang the King of Jin as his commander and led a waterway army totaling 500,000 to attack the Chen Dynasty south. In 589, the Sui army attacked Jiankangcheng, the capital of Chen Chao's state, captured Houzhu Chen and his concubines, and the Chen dynasty collapsed. After more than three hundred years of division, the land of China was once again united under a powerful dynasty.
To sum up, Emperor Wen of Sui was able to unify China again, in addition to the solid foundation laid by his predecessors, his own heroism cannot be ignored.