When it comes to the "prosperous age" in Chinese history, the first reaction of today's people is the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and the evaluation of the Sui Dynasty before the prosperous Tang Dynasty is mostly depreciated rather than praised.In the eyes of many people, the Sui Dynasty was just a short-lived dynasty that died in two generations.His short-lived itinerary is full of weird and unpredictable court scandals, misdeeds of abusing people's power, consecutive defeats in foreign wars, and the terrible situation of chaos in the world.Thanks to folk literature, the Sui Dynasty has long since become a useless garbage dynasty.The founding emperor, Sui Wendi, was a muddleheaded man with no distinction between right and wrong. The subjugated king, Sui Yang, was also the culprit of ruining the world alongside Shang Zhou and other tyrants.

But is this really the case? Looking through the real historical data, although it has been modified and processed countless times by the people of the Tang Dynasty, we can still see that the Sui Dynasty was as great as the Tang Dynasty. Its economic construction achievements and political achievements not only once created a The glorious country laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty, which rose from the Sui Dynasty.The Sui Dynasty was actually a silent cornerstone, on top of which was the peak era of Chinese feudal society.Zhenguan Kaiyuan, a prominent and prosperous age, was largely given by the Sui Dynasty. Whether it was Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty who ended the division between the North and the South, or Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty who left behind the notoriety of "tyrannical king", their illustrious achievements not only benefited the people at that time , has more profoundly affected future generations, and their achievements should not be buried because of the law of winners and losers.The Sui Dynasty was not a mess left to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, for Li Shimin who created the prosperity of Zhenguan, the Sui Dynasty was an extremely rich legacy.

Let us take a look at what the Sui Dynasty, which decried more than praised, really looked like. To talk about the Sui Dynasty, one cannot fail to talk about the founder of the Sui Dynasty—Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. The founding emperors of the past dynasties, some of the country was defeated, and some of the country was seized. When it comes to Yang Jian's proclaiming the emperor and the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the world has many criticisms: his country was usurped. In Jiazi, February 581, the last emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, issued an edict to "abide" the throne to the prime minister. His grandfather, Yang Jian, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which had dominated northern China for 24 years, perished.After several centuries in northern China, the regimes of various ethnic minorities took turns, and a Han named Yang Jian became the supreme ruler of northern China.He changed the name of the country to "Sui" and the name of the year to "Kaihuang". According to historical records, auspicious clouds rose over the city of Chang'an on this day, indicating that a powerful dynasty would be born, grow, and create an unprecedented prosperity——Sui Dynasty .

If it is said that Yang Jian obtained the country by seeking the court and usurping the throne, and the subordinates stole the high position, it is also a bit "injustice".Before this "peaceful transfer" of supreme power, the 40-year-old Yang Jian had experienced ups and downs several times, made countless meritorious deeds, and escaped death many times.The final result can only be said to be a matter of course. Yang Jian, a native of Huayin, Hongnong, Shaanxi Province, had a prominent family background and was one of the "Eight Pillar Kingdoms" when Yuwen's family conquered the world in the Western Wei Dynasty.His father, Yang Zhong, followed the Taizu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to fight in Guanzhong, and made great military exploits for the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.After Yang Jian inherited the title, his eldest daughter, Yang Lihua, was established as the crown princess, and became in-laws with the royal family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which can be described as a high position.And Yang Jian himself is not simple. According to historical records, he is "deep and serious", and belongs to the type of calm personality without anger and prestige.There are many history books that say that he has a strange appearance. For example, when he was young, Yu Wentai once praised him and said, "He has a strong character, which is not like contemporary people."Majestic in appearance, calm in dealing with things, and with the blood of the royal family, it is difficult for such a Yang Jian not to be successful.In the early years of Yang Jian, after 24 years of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yu Wenhu, the power minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, was in power first, and several young emperors took turns to sit in the manor. Finally, when Yu Wenyong, Emperor Wudi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was in power, he cut off the power ministers internally, worked hard to rule, and conquered the Sibari externally, and wiped out The Northern Qi Dynasty, which dominates the east, was finally unified in the north.During this period, Yang Jian put in a lot of effort.Especially during the conquest of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Yang Jian made overall plans and came up with strange tricks to help Yu Wenyong unify the North in one fell swoop.However, Yang Jian was also quite afraid of it.

There are many stories in today's history books that Yang Jian was almost killed when he worked for Yu Wenyong. The usual saying is: Yu Wenyong is afraid of Yang Jian's talent, and he is also very handsome. Kill heart.But Zhao Zhao, Yu Wenyong's favored astrologer, looked at Yang Jian and concluded that Yang Jian had no fortune, which made Yu Wenyong feel at ease.Later, Wang Gui, the internal historian, persuaded Yu Wenyong to make up his mind, saying that Yang Jian was "fearful of the opposite", and Yu Wenyong replied, "If so, it is destiny." Yang Jian, who had been repeatedly suspected, finally turned the danger into safety.But the actual situation is that the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which aimed to unify the world at that time, actually had constant internal and external conflicts. Opposition has been aroused.In this situation, the light killing of important ministers is bound to cause turmoil in the country, and any thoughtful politician will not act rashly.Of course, if the result of history is that Beizhou dominates the world, it is hard to say whether the high-ranking and powerful Yang Jian will end up as a "rabbit".

Yang Jian was lucky. In 578 A.D., Emperor Wudi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty died suddenly on the way of the Northern Expedition to the Turks at the age of 36.His son Yu Wenyun came to the throne and was known as Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in history.Yang Jian's daughter, Yang Lihua, was established as the queen, and Yang Jian, as the head of the country, was established as the great Sima, and became an important minister who held the military power in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.Compared with Yu Wenyong, who has worked hard to govern, this Yu Wenyun can be described as "a son is not like a father".Indulging in pleasure and play every day, the state affairs are almost neglected, and he has a lot of trust in Yang Jian and Yu Wenyun at first.Every time he went on a tour, he ordered Yang Jian to stay in the court and handle state affairs as appropriate.At that time, Yang Jian became a high-ranking minister in the country.The biggest problem of Yu Wenyun, Emperor Xuandi, was moodiness, and later Yang Jian's daughter fell out of favor, and there were rumors that Yang Jian had a "heart of disobedience". Once Yu Wenyun summoned Yang Jian, planted swords and axes in the palace, and ordered Yang Jian to change his face if he changed his face. Just start killing it.

At the critical moment, Yang Jian's calmness saved him again, and he "worshipped, just like in the past", finally dispelling Yu Wenyun's murderous intentions.Two years later, the moody and ridiculous emperor died of illness, and his 8-year-old youngest son Yu Wenchan came to the throne, known in history as "Northern Zhou Jingdi".There was a vacuum in the power of the empire in an instant, and Yang Jian's daughter became the queen mother. As the emperor's grandfather, Yang Jian's status rose naturally, and he became the auxiliary minister in charge of the government.

At this time, Yang Jian, after decades of "calmness and composure", finally began to seize power.In the 5 days before and after the death of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he first designed and ordered the five emperors of the Northern Zhou Dynasty who were guarding outside to enter Beijing, put the five people under house arrest, kicked away the stumbling block to power, and then quelled the rebellion in Qingzhou, Xunzhou, and Yizhou.In the spring of 581 A.D., Yang Jian first proclaimed himself King of the Sui Dynasty in the name of Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. A few days later, he succeeded in replacing the Zhou Dynasty with the trick of "abdication" and established the Great Sui Dynasty that eventually unified the world.

Yang Jian's seizure of power seemed to be quite lucky, and the foreshadowing had already been laid when Yu Wenyun appointed him as the chief minister.In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the imperial military system was implemented to deprive the clan of military power. The purpose was to strengthen the weak branches, prevent clan rebellion, and ensure that the military power was concentrated in the hands of the emperor. In a vacuum, the clan kings have no military power, and can only wait to die in the end.It can be said that Yang Jian's succession to the Sui Dynasty took every step of the way, and in the end it will happen naturally.

How is Yang Jian the emperor? After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian quickly quelled the rebellious forces of the Northern Zhou royal family by means of a thunderbolt, and even Yu Wenchan, the Jingdi Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty who had given him the "Zen throne", was eventually killed by him.After the internal troubles faded away, there were powerful enemies on the periphery. The Turkic Dynasty in the north was eyeing, the Chen Dynasty in the south was not peaceful, Tuyuhun in the northwest was constantly harassing, and the Silk Road was blocked. All kinds of problems were placed in front of the new king.

Fortunately, Yang Jian's greatest success from the head of the country to the emperor was to firmly control the army.Since he became the chief minister, he has firmly grasped the control of the army. Therefore, after Yang Jian ascended the throne, although there was a rebellion by the royal family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the army was loyal to Yang Jian, and the war was quickly quelled.But with Yang Jian proclaiming himself emperor, the Turkic issue first intensified. Since the Turks rose in Mobei at the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they have been fighting with the two dynasties of the "Northern Zhou" and "Northern Qi" in the Central Plains. Yu Wenyong, the Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou who destroyed the Northern Qi, died on the way of the Northern Expedition to the Turks.After Yu Wenyong's death, the Northern Zhou Dynasty had always adopted a kinship policy towards the Turks. Although there were minor conflicts between the two sides, no large-scale war broke out.But after Yang Jian became emperor, the situation changed suddenly. The queen of the Turkic Khan at this time was the daughter of the Northern Zhou clan.In the same year when Yang Jian proclaimed himself emperor, Turkic Sabriel Khan sent troops south three times, plundered the surrounding counties and counties of the Sui Dynasty, and even played the slogan of "revenge for the royal family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty". In the face of powerful enemies, Yang Jian had no fear. His policy was "first north, then south". Towards the lingering Chen Dynasty regime in the south, Yang Jian adopted a friendly policy and concentrated all his efforts on dealing with the ambitious Turkic Empire.Although the emperor was licentious during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the government military system was fully implemented, and the military power was strong.After the two battles of Jitou Mountain and Hebei, the Sui army defeated the main force of the Turks, especially in the battle of Jitou Mountain. The Turkic Khan fled in a panic with only 5 cavalry.Yang Jian did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but instead "slapped and rubbed three times", and after the victory, he took the initiative to send envoys to appease Sha Bolue.Under the power of the soldiers, Sha Bolue called Yang Jian "father-in-law" on the table, and surrendered wholeheartedly.At the same time, Yang Jian sent people to split up the Turks, bribed the Western Turks with a lot of money, and let the two sides kill each other. The so-called "barbarians and Dies attack each other may be for the benefit of China." Yang Jian's painstaking efforts soon paid off. Soon after the end of the war between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks, the Turkic Empire fell into a fratricidal war, and Yang Jian benefited from it.After the death of Khan Saborio, his two sons, Dulan Khan and Tuli Khan, killed each other. Yang Jian supported Tuli Khan, who was relatively weak, and canonized him as "Qimin Khan". To guard against the Turks.The Turkic Empire, which once threatened the Central Plains Dynasty, finally fell apart at this time under the disintegration and continuous attack of the Sui Dynasty.The northern border of China has finally temporarily avoided the suffering of the Hulu invasion. And the second force attacked by Yang Jian was Tuyuhun entrenched in Northwest China.Compared with the Turks, Tuyuhun was not powerful, but it was located at the hub of the Hexi Corridor, blocking the Silk Road, which was a huge obstacle to the westward expansion of the Sui Dynasty's power and the development of the Silk Road.In the early years of the Sui Dynasty, when the Sui Dynasty and the Turks were attacking and killing each other, Tuyuhun took the opportunity to expand his power, occupying huge territories in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and other places, making him a powerful force in the Northwest. At the same time, Tuyuhun plundered the Silk Road and blocked the Sui Dynasty Envoys, and even repeated eastward invasions, for the Sui Dynasty whose capital was built on the Guanzhong Plain, Tuyuhun was a real threat that must be cut off. For Tuyuhun, Yang Jian's initial strategy was to fight. After repelling the Turks in 582 AD, he sent general Liang Yuanshan to conquer Tuyuhun, defeated Tuyuhun in Erhan Mountain, and beheaded his famous king.Tuyuhun's power suffered a severe setback, and just when the Sui army was about to take advantage of the victory and pursue it, Yang Jian issued a division order and at the same time sent envoys to appease Tuyuhun.After this defeat, Tuyuhun saw the military strength of the Sui Dynasty, so he wholeheartedly surrendered to the Sui Dynasty.After that, the missions of the Sui Dynasty left Yumen Pass to the west, entered the Western Regions, and built Yiwu City.Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of the Central Plains Dynasty entered the Western Regions again. Whether it was against the Turks or the Tuyuhun, Yang Jian adopted an extremely clever method-military strikes, but controlled the strikes within a certain range.For all the surrounding tribes, they all "slap a lump of candy", those who are obedient will be given aid, titled, and honored, and those who are disobedient will be slapped until you are obedient.At the same time, "use the barbarians to control the barbarians", divide and disintegrate the Turks, ensure that various forces contain each other, and stop the Tuyuhun after victory, ensuring that the Tuyuhuns contain the Western Turks. The powerful Turkic people, under painstaking efforts, and the war-torn northern China, was finally hit by Yang Jian with a "strategic balance". The Khitan, Tuyuhun, and Turkic all sent envoys to surrender. The situation of "conquering the barbarians" has begun to emerge. Of course, there is another objection——Nan Chen. After rectifying the interior and conquering the north, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty finally made up his mind to launch this final battle to unify the world.In 587 A.D., Yang Jian first eliminated the Houliang regime entrenched in Jingzhou and removed the obstacles to the southward advance.At this time, Nanchen was in the reign of the absurd emperor Chen Houzhu. He was obsessed with poetry creation, and often gathered a group of scholars to have fun, and most of the country's government was abandoned. In 588 A.D., Yang Jian took Jin Wang Yang Guang as the Grand Marshal, and led Han Qinhu and He Ruobi to divide their troops into two groups and make a large-scale southern expedition.During this Southern Expedition, Yang Jian attached great importance to "propaganda work". In the imperial edict, he enumerated 13 serious crimes committed by Empress Chen, which were widely distributed in the Jiangnan area.At this time, the Jingzhou area was also occupied by the Sui Dynasty, and the natural danger of the Yangtze River that the southern regime could have relied on no longer existed.Chen Houzhu chose to commit suicide by himself, and he didn't panic when the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty pressed the border. He said that Jinling had "wangqi" and that the Sui Dynasty could not cross the Yangtze River at all.As a result, in just a few days, the southern states and counties were invincible, and the two armies of the Sui Dynasty were overwhelming, and soon surrounded Jiankang, the capital of the Southern Chen Kingdom. At this time, there are still more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in Jiankang City, and they can completely fight against the city, and even break out of the encirclement. Washing his face with tears in the deep palace, he was fond of poetry creation, and most of the most classic sad poems he wrote in his life came from this time.But writing poems could not save him. The Sui army then launched a strong attack and easily broke through Jiankang City. The Empress Chen and his concubine hid in a dry well, and were finally found by Sui army soldiers and captured alive.In April 589 A.D., Chen Houzhu and more than 200 captured officials were taken to the north. At this point, China, which had been divided for hundreds of years since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, finally returned to unity.This is the unworldly feat of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. Throughout the various wars after Sui Wendi ascended the throne, he can be described as a "promising" king, but another fact is more worthy of attention: where did he get so much money? Throughout the dynasties, most of the things like opening up territories and unifying the world required wars, and money was needed to fight wars, and there were not a few cases of economic collapse.The miracle created by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was that when he ascended the throne, he took over the land of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The north had just been unified, and the national economy was still recovering.Afterwards, the clan rebelled and the Turks invaded the borders. While fighting wars and restoring the economy, they made a smooth transition and unified the world. This cannot but be said to be a miracle. How to achieve this miracle?This is the most important thing that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty did in his life. It is more important than his unification of the north and conquering the barbarians. It has a far-reaching impact on later generations: the political and economic reforms of the Sui Dynasty. Speaking of the policies of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, economic reform was the first to bear the brunt. Fighting wars requires money, whether it is a unification war or an anti-aggression war against the Turks and Tuyuhun, it costs a lot of money.Before Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, in the 24 years of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, northern China fought almost every year, internally with the Northern Qi Dynasty, with the Southern Dynasty, externally with the Turks, and with the Tuyuhun. Everything is spending money like running water. Before Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty, the Northern Wei Dynasty implemented the land equalization system in the north, that is, allocating land and paying taxes according to the number of people. , is to further refine the land equalization system implemented in the Northern Wei Dynasty. On the one hand, in terms of population management, a strict household registration management system was established, that is, the Baolu system. For the clan, there are Baochang, Luzheng, and clanzheng.Beginning in 585 AD, Yang Jian organized the household registration system on a large scale across the country, requiring all prefectures and counties to check the people in the world one by one according to the age indicated in the household registration.In this way, the collection of taxes is made more transparent and detailed, the tax sources of the national finances are expanded, and the phenomenon that the household registration can be concealed at will in the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties is changed, and it is difficult for tax evasion to happen again.Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was able to exterminate the heroes and unify the world under the situation of powerful enemies. Stable taxation and abundant reserves were the basis of his success. Simultaneously with the adjustment of the agricultural policy is the dredging of the river.The world has criticized the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty a lot, but in fact, the large-scale renovation of the river began in the era of Sui Wendi Yang Jian.As early as 584 A.D., the Sui Dynasty diverted the Wei River into Tongguan, which was more than 300 miles long and named it Guangtong Canal.In 587 A.D., along the old canal dug by Fucha during the Spring and Autumn Period, the river channel from Jiangdu in the south to Huai'an in Jiangsu in the north was opened, and it was named Shanyangdu.These two large-scale water conservancy projects irrigated tens of thousands of acres of fertile land at that time, and the Guanzhong Plain, which had been desolate for several years due to drought, became a fertile land, and the canal route from the south of the Yangtze River to the north was also dredged.At the same time, the Sui Dynasty also built large-scale water conservancy projects in Puzhou, Shanxi and Shouzhou, Anhui, and rehabilitated the saline-alkali barren fields. These "hardest-hit areas" of famine during the Northern Zhou and Southern Chen dynasties became fertile lands.The development of agriculture in the Sui Dynasty was based on this. While promoting economic policies, Yang Jian also carried out political reforms. The most far-reaching influence on later generations was the "system of three provinces and six ministries" and "selecting scholars", which abolished the "six officials" in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Become a real central authority.The Ministry of Internal History has the decision-making power and drafts edicts, the Menxia Province has the right to deliberate, and the Minister of Shangshu controls major military and political affairs.Under the Shangshu Province, six departments of rites, officials, soldiers, Duzhi, punishment, and industry were established, all of which established the embryonic form of the later feudal dynasty.At the same time, the Sui Dynasty abolished the "Nine Grades of Zhongzheng System" that had been implemented since the Three Kingdoms, and stipulated that each state in the country should recommend three tributes each year. Since then, this kind of examination method has been continued, and it was officially established as the "Jinshi Section" by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to "select people by trying strategies".This new examination method that subverts the concept of China's elite society is known as the imperial examination. At the same time, Yang Jian also carried out "institutional reform" to simplify the organization from the central to the local level, and based on the principle of "combining the small into the big", abolished the three-level system of "state, county, and county" that began in the Han Dynasty, and changed it to Two levels of prefectures and counties, prefectures set up governors, and counties set up county magistrates, which changed the situation of redundant institutions and overstaffed people since the Northern Wei Dynasty, and abolished the old practice of local officials since the Han Dynasty. Return to the center.In 583 A.D., Yang Jian revised the criminal law and promulgated the "Kaihuang Law", which is the culmination of China's feudal social codes. 154, which can be called "governing the country with benevolence and virtue".The above achievements were not abolished due to the short life of the Sui Dynasty, but were passed on to the later dynasties on the contrary. Regardless of the final outcome of the Sui Dynasty, I believe that when Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian was alive, he must have firmly believed that he had already created a prosperous world: when the Sui Dynasty was first established, there were 4.1 million households in the country, and by the time Emperor Sui Yang reigned, it had surged to 8.9 million, and the number of cultivated land in the country At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was 19 million hectares, and when Emperor Yang of Sui ascended the throne, it soared to 55 million hectares. These two achievements not only far surpassed the "Government of Wenjing" and "Guangwu Zhongxing" that historians talked about before, even Li Shimin later The "Golden Age of Zhenguan" is also difficult to compare. The Tang Dynasty, known as the "Prosperous Tang Dynasty", did not reach the economic prosperity of the Sui Dynasty until the "Golden Age of Kaiyuan" when Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji was in power.Correspondingly, the storage of the Sui Dynasty was rich, and the "official warehouse" reserves of the Sui Dynasty increased sharply year after year. At the end of Yang Jian's reign, "the government's collections were full and there was nothing to accommodate."In the early days of Emperor Sui Yang's accession to the throne, the country's official treasury reserves were enough for the country to spend for 50 years.Even when the Tang Dynasty was founded, the Sui Dynasty set up official warehouses in Guanlong, Luoyang, and Bingzhou, and their reserves had not yet been used up.This era of prosperity is the famous "Kaihuang Reign" in history. It was an era of prestige, economic prosperity, political clarity, and people living in peace. However, such a prosperous era has moved towards riots and destruction at an incredible speed behind Yang Jian. Why is this? Everyone in the world blames the demise of the Sui Dynasty on the "tyranny" of his son Yang Guang after his accession to the throne. Although Yang Jian was criticized for "usurping", later historians are fond of talking about his good reputation as an emperor, such as his practice of thrift and rest with the people, such as his revision of the "Kaihuang Law", Reduce penalties, reduce and exempt taxes, light corvee and thin taxes.Looking at his life experience, perhaps the word "forbearance" can be used.When he was the prince and uncle of the state in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he was good at being a man with his tail between his legs. All wars focus on "letting go as soon as you see it".Whether it is against the Turks, who invaded aggressively, or the Tuyuhun, which blocked the Silk Road, they all won the first battle after winning the first battle, balancing the forces of various factions, and maintaining the "strategic balance" of the surrounding tribes; the same is true internally, while streamlining the organization, Establish centralization, rest with the people, reduce taxes, and strive to restore and develop the economy.However, during his reign, the border troubles were not completely eliminated, and there was only a temporary calm. He made minor repairs to the content of the land equalization system, but the rapid economic recovery also brought serious problems of land annexation.When he was alive, he could do his best to maintain the internal and external balance of the country's political power, but after him, if the incumbent is a successful one, this process will continue. The consequence of the balance is the turmoil of the country.Unfortunately, Yang Guang, the successor he selected with painstaking efforts, is exactly such a person.