Have you ever heard of an emperor named Yang Guang? It sounds ordinary, but there is a world of difference between his debauchery during his lifetime and the various evaluations of him today. Today, let me tell you about the ups and downs of the emperor's life, and maybe you can also appreciate some life philosophy from it.
Yang Guang, as the second child of Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian, was not originally a candidate for the prince. But greed, he regarded his brother Yang Yong's position as the crown prince as a treasure, and did not hesitate to take risks, and finally after a ghost spy plan, he not only brought down his brother, but also took advantage of the situation to usurp his father's country.
In this way, this young boy sat on the dragon chair and became the honor of the Heavenly Khan. When one person attains the Tao, the chicken and dog ascend to heaven. After Yang Guang became the emperor, he immediately showed his ambition and chose the word "Great Cause" as the name of the year, aspiring to reproduce the glory of his father's "opening the emperor's prosperous era", and even to a higher level.
In order to achieve this goal, he laid out a grand plan: building the river, building the eastern capital, sending troops to crusade against the frontier, and expanding the territory everywhere - it looks so bad! However, having said that, Yang Guang's actions in his life are not as desirable as those of an idealist.
On the contrary, many of his actions are ridiculous and disgusting! For example, the name of his lust has been around for a long time. It is said that after he became the emperor, the beauty in the palace was like a cloud, and he was still too little, and he even looked down on the palace maids left by his father, and took them all for himself, and his presumptuous behavior was extremely shameless!
Another example is the beautified "achievements" such as the construction of the Eastern Capital and the construction of the Grand Canal, the essence of which is the cost of labor and money, and the development of future generations. Have you ever seen a benevolent monarch who tramples on the interests of the people so badly?
This kid, who won the throne with his shrewdness and cunning in his early years, became more and more assertive in the later period. He conquered Goryeo three times before and after, suffered repeated setbacks and battles, and lost countless lives, but he was bent on capturing that hinterland. In the end, when the energy was exhausted, the resources were exhausted, and the national strength was exhausted, and finally he was burned and overthrown by the eunuchs, ministers, scholars, and cynical peasant uprisings.
Even his selfish desire to set up another prince in order to continue the great cause made his soul fly out of the sky. Obviously, he has been on the throne for more than ten years, but he still suffers from gains and losses, guarding against the power threats of courtiers and relatives everywhere, and only wants to support his son as the crown prince. This not only violated Emperor Wen's decision, but also buried the root cause of the family's internal strife in the future.
Fortunately, although he is a faint king, this heroic "leper prince" is not useless. His feat of building the canal not only strengthened the economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south, but also became an important driving force for China's social development. In addition, the implementation of the imperial examination system has become the foundation for shaping the civil official group in later generations, and it has built the essence of traditional Chinese culture.
However, in the final analysis, Yang Guang is still a tyrant with a gorgeous coat, just the so-called "drunken gold fan". To this day, Ouyang Xiu, a famous writer in the Song Gaozong period, has made an incisive evaluation of Yang Guang: "Poor and extravagant, arrogant and debauched."
From these words, it is not difficult for us to realize that in the pen of historians, Yang Guang is a generation of mediocre and extravagant dignity, and he is simply the embodiment of power! Although you are a generation of faint monarchs, what you do is also a part of the achievements of Chinese civilization, and it can be regarded as leaving a legacy for future generations.
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