In Chinese history, people have always believed that Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong, Genghis Khan, and The Kangxi Emperor were emperors with outstanding political achievements. In the eyes of the Chinese people, the greatest emperors are none other than these. However, Westerners believe that the greatest emperor in Chinese history is the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian! Why?
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he carried out large-scale reforms of the state management system.
First of all, the system of three provinces and six ministries was established. The central government set up three provinces of Shangshu, Menxia, and Neishi, with Shangshu Ling, Nayan, and Neishi Ling as the chiefs, exercising the function of prime minister and assisting the emperor in handling state affairs. Neishi Province and Menxia Province are confidential departments, and Neishi Province is responsible for drafting and promulgating the Emperor's edicts; Menxia Province was responsible for reviewing the edict drafted by neishi Province and the drafted copy of Shangshu Province.
Shangshu Province is the highest administrative organ of the state, with 6 departments under it, including the Official Department, the Ceremonial Department, the Military Department, the Metropolitan Official, the Du Branch, and the Ministry of Works. Each department has Shang Shu as the chief. Under the Shang Shu Order, there are one left and one right servant shooting each, the left servant shooting is in charge of the three departments of officials, ceremonies, and soldiers, and the right servant is in charge of the three departments of the degree branch, the capital official, and the ministry of works. This not only strengthened the centralization of power, but also opened up a new stage in the system of separation of powers in China's feudal society.
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Second, simplify local administration. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the localities were chaotic, each governing independently, and the three levels of political districts of prefectures, counties, and counties were extremely chaotic, and the rulers did not hesitate to increase the number of administrative organs indiscriminately in order to make their relatives and friends become officials, and there were hundreds of miles of land and several counties; Households are less than a thousand, and the two counties are divided. By the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, there were 241 prefectures, 608 counties, and 1524 counties in the country, with a total of 2373 administrative structures of more than 2373 counties. In view of this maladies of having many people and many officials and ten sheep and nine herdsmen, and in line with the principle of saving idle and making small things big, Emperor Wen of Sui carried out drastic institutional reforms in the third year of the founding of the emperor, abolishing counties and implementing a two-level system of prefectures and counties, with prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the prefectures, and at the same time merging some prefectures and counties.
While streamlining the administrative apparatus, Emperor Wen of Sui also strictly implemented the fixed number of posts: the number of officials in the upper and lower states was 323, and the number of officials in the lower prefectures was reduced to 167; The number of officials in Shangshang County was 99, and the number of officials in Lower Xia County was reduced to 49. This not only greatly saves state expenditure and reduces the burden on the people, but also improves administrative efficiency and strengthens the control of the central government over the localities.
Third, abolish torture and revise the Kaihuang Law. The 81 capital crimes, 150 crimes of exile, more than 1,000 disciples, torture such as rods, and extermination of ethnic groups in the previous generation have all been abolished, which has greatly reduced the cruelty and barbarism of the law and is of epoch-making significance in China's legal system.
Fourth, continue to implement the equalization system. At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, on the basis of the former dynasty's equal field system, Emperor Wen of Sui stipulated that Ding Nan and Zhongnan should receive 80 mu of exposed fields (planting five grains), 20 mu of Yongye fields, and 40 mu of exposed fields for women. Lu Tian is returned after the death of the recipient, and Yong Ye Tian does not need to be returned. For the general peasants, implement the policy of lightly expropriating the small amount of money and encouraging the peasants; The annexation of land by powerful nobles was dealt with. As a result, the peasants' enthusiasm for production has been enhanced and the state's tax revenue has been increased.
Fifth, set up a righteous warehouse to help the hungry. The Yicang set up by Emperor Wen of Sui, also known as the Shecang, was set up in the countryside, and its grain storage was donated by the people to help the victims in case of famine. Moreover, it clearly stipulates the standard for private households to donate grain to the social warehouse: "The upper household is only one stone, the middle household is only seven buckets, and the lower household is only four buckets." "Ordinary people can afford to donate, which is an effective social security for the poor people.
Sui and Qin are similar, and have made pioneering contributions to the unification of China, reform and creation of various undertakings, but because of the excessive intensity of their reforms, they not only violated the interests of many aspects, but also exceeded the ability of the people's hearts and the country to bear, so that they became short-lived transitional dynasties, the Qin Dynasty died in only 15 years, and the Sui Dynasty only had 37 years of state. However, these did not erase the merits of Emperor Wen of Sui!
In 589, the Sui Emperor Yang Jian unified China, and in the same year the Ryukyu Islands surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. He put an end to China's long period of chaos and conquered barbarians of all ethnic groups and returned China to the era of peace. Chen Pu of the Song Dynasty sang in the "Songs of Teaching in Past Dynasties": "Northern Qi Hou Zhou Yu is a corner, And Sui Wen mixes with Shuo Nanji." The Great Confucian Wang Fuzhi praised: "Sui Wen's treatment of Wei Ye is based on the appointment of the ancient chancellor; The reason why Wei sees himself is also to take the peace of the world and the right customs as his own merit. "Emperor Wen of Sui was the first emperor in Chinese history to add a yellow robe to his body, "Reading through the Commentary": "In the first year of the kai emperor, the Sui lord served Huang, and the yellow was set as the honor of the upper service, and it was established as the eternal system." "Since Emperor Wen of Sui began to wear yellow robes, future emperors of China have worn yellow clothes since then.
After Yang Jian came to power, he immediately restored his Han surname, stopped the trend of xianbei in the military circles that had lasted for 80 years since 500 AD and the trend of xianbei in political circles that had lasted for 46 years since 535 AD, and practiced Sinicization. Yang Jian rebelled against the rebellious old ministers and high-ranking officials (Xianbei nobles), and he was not soft-hearted. He deposed incompetent ministers, including those who had contributed to his seizure of the throne, and promoted some people with real talent and hard work to assist him in managing the affairs of the country.
Emperor Wen of Sui pursued a policy of leniency toward the common people. After Yang Jian's regime was basically stable, Yang Jian began a series of reforms, including the central and local political system, taxation, land system, law, coin, foreign relations and other aspects. Yang Jian repaired the system internally, caressed the four Yi externally, advocated frugality, and was diligent in government affairs. "Seek labor day by day, operate the four sides", "Great reverence for the government, the laws and regulations are simple, the performance of thrift, the world is happy." "By chance, move Zhou Ding one by one", "The staff is included, merged into The JiangLi, Yu Gong Sotu, Xian Zhengshuo." ”