Sui Gaozu Ji
Yang Jian (541-604), surnamed Puliuru in Xianbei and Na Luoyan, was a native of Huayin County, Hongnong County (now Huayin City, Shaanxi Province). The founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, after his death, the temple was called Gaozu, and he was called Emperor Wen.
The founding monarch of the Sui Dynasty
Yang Jian was born in a famous family, and his ancestor was Yang Zhen, a famous minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty who was known as "Confucius of Kansai". His father, Yang Zhong, was a general of the Western Wei Dynasty, and was promoted to the general of the Zhu State after the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
At that time, the power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was in the hands of the Guanlong group with the Eight Pillars and the Twelve Great Generals as the core, so Yang Jian was born with rich political capital.
Yang Jian had a calm and dignified personality, entered the highest institution of learning Taixue to study, both civil and military, and at the age of fifteen was favored by the governor of Jingzhao County (now Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province) and hired as a subordinate. After seeing him, Emperor Wen of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwentai, said appreciatively: "This child's appearance and temperament are extraordinary. ”
At the age of seventeen, Dugu Xin, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, married his daughter Dugu Jia (qié) Luo to Yang Jian, who was later Queen Dugu. Since then, Yang Jian's official position has gradually improved, and he has served as the assassin of Suizhou.
Later, Yang Jian's eldest daughter Yang Lihua was chosen by Emperor Wu of Zhou to marry Emperor Xuan of Zhou, who was still the crown prince at the time, and his status was even more respected. Emperor Wu of Zhou's younger brother thought that Yang Jian had different ambitions, and said to Emperor Wu: "Yang Jian's appearance is extraordinary, and every time the minister sees him, he will lose himself. I'm afraid he won't be willing to be subordinate, please get rid of him as soon as possible. ”
Emperor Wu thought that Yang Jian was just a general and didn't care. Faced with rumors that it might lead to death, Yang Jian felt panicked and acted more low-key.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Zhou, his son Emperor Xuan of Zhou succeeded to the throne, and Yang Lihua was canonized as empress. But Emperor Xuan was absurd, and then canonized four queens, who competed with Yang Lihua for favor and spoke ill of Yang Lihua to Emperor Xuan many times.
Once, Emperor Xuan angrily said to Yang Lihua, "I want to destroy your clan!" and then summoned Yang Jian into the palace and said to the guards: "If Yang Jian's expression changes, kill him immediately." After Yang Jian arrived, his expression was calm and calm, so he was not killed.
The following year, Emperor Xuan of Zhou gave up the throne to his seven-year-old son, Emperor Jing of Zhou, who lived a more indulgent and moody life, often beating his concubines.
Yang Jian said to people in private: "The emperor is really not virtuous, and judging by his appearance, he will not live long." All the princes are also weak and incompetent, the foundation of the Yuwen clan has been shaken, will it last?"
A year later, Emperor Xuan of Zhou died of illness, and due to the young age of Emperor Zhou Jing, the ministers pretended to pass on the edict to announce Yang Jian's entry into the palace as an auxiliary minister, and appointed him as prime minister through the mouth of Emperor Zhou Jing.
Yang Jian had long planned to seize the throne, so he ordered the abolition of harsh punishment laws, the implementation of favorable policies, and the practice of frugality in order to win the hearts of the people. Later, in the name of rebellion, he killed five princes of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and cleared the biggest obstacle to becoming emperor.
In 581, Emperor Jing of Zhou relinquished the throne to Yang Jian. Yang Jian ascended the throne in the Linguang Palace, and named the country "Sui", which was for Emperor Wen of Sui.
At that time, the Sui Dynasty had already unified the north, with the Chen Dynasty and the Western Liang Dynasty in the south, and the Turkic Khanate in the north, which was eyeing the border, often harassing the border. In the second year after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the Turkic Khan led 400,000 cavalry to invade the south. Emperor Wen of Sui sent eight elite soldiers to defeat the Turkic cavalry and flee. Later, Emperor Wen of Sui took advantage of the internal discord of the Turks to carry out divisive division, so that the Turks were divided into two parts, the east and the west, which fought with each other endlessly, and their strength was greatly reduced, and they no longer posed a threat to the Sui.
After the consolidation of power and the stability of the northern border, Emperor Wen of Sui decided to pacify the south. In 587, Emperor Wen of Sui summoned the lord of Western Liang to enter the court, and Western Liang died without a fight. In the second year, Emperor Wen of Sui issued an edict to reprimand the queen of the Chen Dynasty for 20 charges such as debauchery and unscrupulousness and acting against the sky, and ordered people to copy 300,000 copies and distribute them widely in the south of the Yangtze River in order to break the hearts of the people of the Chen Dynasty.
Then, Emperor Wen of Sui sent his son Yang Guang and his minister Yang Su to lead an army of more than 500,000 to the south, and it took only three months to eliminate the Chen Dynasty and capture the Empress Chen alive. Since then, the division of more than 270 years since the Eastern Jin Dynasty has ended, and the country has been reunified.
After unifying the whole country, Emperor Wen of Sui cultivated the country and shifted the central task of the country to construction. He carried out the reform of the official system, formally established the system of three provinces and six ministries as the central administrative body, strengthened the centralization of power, and had a far-reaching impact on later generations. He also ordered a drastic revision of the laws of the previous dynasty, and ordered people to compile the "Kaihuang Law", so that the people could abide by the law, and the punishment was reduced, which became a model for later generations to legislate.
In order to recruit talents, Emperor Wen of Sui greatly revitalized the school, advocated Confucianism, abolished the nine-grade Zhongzheng system that had been implemented since Cao Wei, and changed it to the method of selecting talents recommended by local governors and unified examinations by the central government, which was the prototype of the imperial examination system.
Emperor Wen of Sui was also very considerate of the people. Once, the official said that the official warehouse was full, and there was still food and money that could not be placed, so he had to pile it up in the corridor. Emperor Wen of Sui issued an edict saying: "I would rather keep grain and money in the hands of the people than store them in warehouses." This year, Hebei and Shandong regions will be exempted from one-third of taxes, military dependents will be reduced by half, and all civilian servants who are serving hard labor will be exempted. After unremitting efforts, Emperor Wen of Sui created a brilliant "reign of the emperor".
In 604, Emperor Wen of Sui died at the age of sixty-four. Although the Sui Dynasty only existed for a few decades, the political, economic, cultural, military, and legal systems created by Emperor Wen of Sui were completely inherited by the Tang Dynasty and had a profound impact on later generations.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty
Yang Guang (569-618), formerly known as Yang Ying, was a native of Huayin County, Hongnong County. The second emperor of the Sui Dynasty. After his death, he was called Emperor Yang.
The king of the fallen country with a mixed reputation
Yang Guang is the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, who has been smart and intelligent since childhood, likes to read, works in articles, has a handsome appearance and a calm personality.
After Emperor Wen of Sui established the Sui Dynasty, his eldest son Yang Yong was established as the crown prince, and Yang Guang was named the king of Jin and served as the governor of Bingzhou at the age of thirteen.
In 588, Emperor Wen of Sui sent Yang Guang and his minister Yang Su and others to command more than 500,000 troops to defeat the Chen Dynasty, which had seized the south of the Yangtze River, and they won the victory in only three months.
Yang Guang beheaded the notorious traitors of the Chen Dynasty and ordered the local treasury to be sealed, and won the support of the people of Jiangnan.
In order to win the favor of his parents, Yang Guang paid attention to their words and deeds and deliberately imitated them. He knew that his parents admired frugality, so he decorated the palace very simply. Once, when Emperor Wen of Sui came to the palace of the Jin Dynasty, Yang Guang and his wife Xiao went out to greet him in coarse cloth clothes. Emperor Wen saw that the instruments in the palace of the Jin Dynasty were all broken and covered with dust, so he thought that he lived a frugal life and was not good at sound, so he praised him greatly.
Yang Guang knew that Queen Dugu hated men and was inattentive, so he pretended to be very affectionate with the Xiao family, and secretly killed the child born to his favorite concubine. Every time a eunuch came to the Jin Palace, regardless of his position, Yang Guang respectfully welcomed him in and out, and the eunuch was full of praise for him after returning to the palace. Yang Guang gradually accumulated a good reputation.
In contrast, the performance of the crown prince Yang Yong was overshadowed. Although Yang Yong is generous and honest, he lives a luxurious life and has many concubines, which makes Queen Dugu very dissatisfied. Moreover, he also had differences with Emperor Wen of Sui in terms of political views. With the support of Empress Dugu and Yang Su, Emperor Wen of Sui deposed Yang Yong and renamed Yang Guang as the crown prince.
In 604, Emperor Wen of Sui died, and Yang Guang ascended the throne as Emperor Yang of Sui. He immediately falsely passed on the edict to give his eldest brother Yang Yong to death. The fifth brother Yang Liang rebelled because of dissatisfaction, and Emperor Yang sent Yang Su to lead an army to capture him and imprisoned him until death.
After eradicating the potential threat, Emperor Yang of Sui stopped pretending to be and ordered the construction of the eastern capital of Luoyang, with as many as two million servants levied every month. Due to the over-the-top supervision, the death rate of migrant workers was as high as 450 percent, and corpse trucks were constantly on the road. Under high pressure, Luoyang was built in just one year.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ordered the capital to move to Luoyang, and in order to boast of his wealth, he ordered the shops in Luoyang City to be decorated neatly, and the trees were decorated with silk and satin. When a Hu man entered the tavern, he offered free food and drink, and said to them, "The kingdom is rich, and the guests don't need money to eat." A wise Hu man asked: "There are also poor people in your country who are not clothed, why don't you give them the silk wrapped around the trees?" In addition to Luoyang, Emperor Yang of Sui also ordered the construction of Jiangdu (now Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province) in preparation for his tour of the south of the Yangtze River.
At that time, the Jiangnan area had been developed for a long time since the Eastern Jin Dynasty and became an important source of food and wealth. In order to transport this money and grain to Luoyang in a steady stream, and in order to better control the south, Emperor Yang of Sui decided to levy labor on a large scale and dig the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal took six years before and after, with a total length of more than 4,000 miles, connecting the four major water systems of the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River, which greatly facilitated the north-south transportation. After the completion of the canal, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty took a luxurious dragon boat and took a mighty fleet to Jiangdu to play, and requisitioned 80,000 or 90,000 people.
In addition, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty also ordered the construction of the Great Wall and Chi Road, although these major projects had a positive effect, but they overwhelmed the people, and peasant uprisings broke out in various places.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did not pay attention to it, but raised troops to attack Goryeo (present-day northern Korean Peninsula) three times before and after. During the second crusade against Goryeo, Yang Su's son Yang Xuangan rebelled, and his ancestor, Li Mi, one of the Eight Pillars, became his advisor.
After Yang Xuangan's defeat, Li Mi defected to the rebel army in Wagangzhai (in present-day Huaxian County, Henan Province) and became the leader, and the Wagang army soon developed into the strongest fighting force.
When Prime Minister Su Wei saw that the rebel army was gaining momentum and that Emperor Yang of Sui was constantly conquering Goryeo, he advised: "It is better to pardon these rebels and let them fight Goryeo." To say the least, hundreds of thousands of people can be recruited, and these people are exempted from capital crimes, and they will inevitably strive for meritorious service, and they can eliminate Goryeo in one fell swoop. ”
Emperor Yang of Sui said disdainfully: "I have not been able to win the expedition in person, what is the use of these rats?" After Su Wei left, one of the ministers slandered him for exaggerating the number of rebels.
Emperor Yang of Sui scolded angrily: "This old thing, dare to threaten me with a thief, I can't bear to smash his mouth!" So, he ordered Su Wei to be put in prison and demoted him and his descendants to civilians. Other ministers no longer dared to tell the truth, and officials who were good at flattery prevailed.
After the chaos in the north, Emperor Yang of Sui retreated to Jiangdu. The following year, Li Yuan raised troops in Jinyang and occupied the capital Chang'an in a few months.
Emperor Yang of Sui knew that the general trend was gone, and said to the mirror depressedly: "Good head, I don't know who will cut it off!"
In 618, Emperor Yang of Sui was killed by the forbidden army general Yu Wenhua and others at the age of fifty.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was very accomplished, but he was also very happy, lived an arrogant life, cruelly abused the people, trusted traitors, and eventually led to the rebellion of his relatives and the death of the country.
This article is excerpted from "Twenty-four Histories Read Now, Language and History Are Progressing" - Volume 7 of "Book of Sui", officially authorized to publish, welcome to continue to pay attention.