What kind of emperor was Emperor Sui Yang? In the end, is he the wise king of the ages or the faint king of the ages?

Speaking of emperors throughout the ages, the Tang Zong, Song Zu, Qin Emperor and Han Wu must all be household names. Then there are those weird emperors, such as Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao who loved to be a carpenter and ignored government affairs, Emperor Wu of Liang who devoted himself to studying Buddhism, Song Huizong who was talented in calligraphy and painting but indifferent to state affairs, etc. These emperors either have great political achievements throughout the ages, or their legendary and weird things are well known to everyone, so I think there is nothing much to say. Today I want to talk to you about the somewhat controversial Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty.

Speaking of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, I believe that many people still say that he is an eternal emperor, and some people say that he He is a faint king who is very happy with his achievements, so whether he is faint or bright, today we will find out through some historical events.

Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty (569-April 10, 618) was the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty and the second son of Yang Jian. He was a very talented and shrewd man, and was generally a positive person. , enterprising people. He also had grand ambitions for national affairs and worked hard to realize them. After taking office, he inspected frontier expansion, opened up the Western Regions, and promoted major construction. However, in the end, because the people could not bear the burden, he resorted to violence again and again, and he became famous in the world for his cruelty. Some people compared him with King Zhou of Shang and Qin Shihuang, and called him a tyrant. He was very harsh on the people's enslavement and expropriation, causing serious damage to production. Under the attack of the people's uprising, his subordinates Yu Wenhuaji and others launched a mutiny and hanged him in Jiangdu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu). The above is a brief introduction to Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Dynasty in history books. Usually official historical records should be more critical of him.

But I still hold the consistent view that history is always written by future generations based on some attitudes of those in power. What is the real situation after repeated tampering by each ruling class? We can only glimpse the leopard with a tube. Some people say that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was so happy that he conquered the north of Saibei and went to the south of the Yangtze River. It is believed that after comparing with other emperors, he found that the frequency was higher, and later generations recorded this. So we believe this is true, but how many emperors in the past have enjoyed delicious food every day in the palace, three thousand beauties in the harem, and were willing to fight in the east and west?

And some emperors were still forced to go to war, because they were in troubled times and wanted to ensure that their dynasty did not fall. These emperors who passively went out were not counted. Various historical records of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty indicate that he went out on his own initiative. When the emperor travels, he must have a good posture. This is a bit wasteful for people and money and makes local officials very tired. But let's think about it if it weren't for his ambition and the need to be energetic. Would the average emperor be able to do so many southern and northern expeditions? ? Most emperors couldn't do it. Most people were content with enjoying themselves and their bodies were hollowed out in the palace. Even the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors who later fell in love with Jiangnan only went out to have fun during peacetime and picked flowers among the people. But every time Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went on a tour, he was either fighting wars to expand his territory, or engaging in large-scale project construction. This was different from simply going out for a tour. However, the emperor was willing to go through such troubles without fear of getting tired, but the officials and people below could not bear it. In addition, the ideological work was not done well, which caused more and more negative emotions among the people below. Naturally, many future generations talked about this matter. They will all speak with a critical attitude. But we must not forget the fact that the truth is often in the hands of a few people, and we must not follow what others say.

Let’s take a look at some of the major events that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did during his lifetime: moving the capital to Luoyang, building the Grand Canal, and marching north to conquer Korea. Great work. So what's the truth? I personally think that these things are all worth doing, and except for a few things that are not done well, everything else will benefit the future. Moving the capital to Luoyang was first of all based on strategic security considerations. Luoyang is located in the hinterland of China. In an era without today's high-speed transportation and long-range weapons, it is necessary to move the capital to a location with sufficient strategic depth where it can advance, attack, retreat, and defend. Moreover, moving the capital is the same as the current concept of building new districts and cities. It can stimulate the growth of the national economy through the development of real estate and infrastructure. I have to admire the economic acumen and political courage of this emperor from a thousand years ago.

Let’s talk about the Grand Canal. Before the Sui Dynasty, it experienced hundreds of years of war in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The people in the Central Plains were poor and the country was extremely weak. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty understood this situation and must have wanted to quickly restore his national strength, so he thought of building a Grand Canal to connect the north and the south. It has strengthened cultural communication, business exchanges, scientific and technological exchanges, and agricultural exchanges between the north and the south, and greatly reduced logistics costs. At the same time, the convenience of transportation made the mobilization of troops more convenient and rapid, and the state's control over the north and south became more stable. This strategic consideration can be said to be very correct at the time, and it has been effective for a long time. To this day, we are still enjoying the blessings of the Grand Canal. However, the Grand Canal with a total length of 2,700 kilometers was completed in about two years in the Sui Dynasty, which did not have large-scale construction machinery. This shows that the huge number of migrant workers recruited at that time made the task of meeting the construction deadline difficult! If the construction period is properly planned and not rushed, the canal project will be a perfect project that will benefit the present generation and future generations.

The world praises the magnificence of the Great Wall and the majesty of the pyramids, but in fact no one knows how many bones are piled up under these historical buildings. We should treat this canal project fairly.

Let’s talk about the three attacks on Goguryeo during the Northern Expedition beyond the Great Wall: Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went north to the Turkic Dachang and Zhangye, and climbed the Qilian Mountains of more than 4,000 meters, which was the farthest that any Chinese emperor had gone. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty took measures such as the Northern Patrol and the disintegration of the Turkic Alliance, which caused the Turks to fall apart for a time, surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and established counties in Qinghai and other places, truly ruling these areas. After stabilizing the north, the territory under his jurisdiction was one of the best in history. Why did he still attack Goguryeo? In fact, Li Shimin and Li Zhi after Yang Guang also did this. After successfully recovering Goguryeo, the peace and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty was established for hundreds of years, so there was nothing wrong with this action in itself. The danger of Goguryeo was clearly evident at that time. This local regime unified a large part of the Northeast. If it ruled the entire Northeast, it would pose a very serious threat to the Central Plains. Therefore, from the perspective of strategic decision-making, Yang Guang's judgment on Goguryeo was correct, and the policy was later realized in the Tang Dynasty.

Only three personal expeditions to Goguryeo overwhelmed the Sui Dynasty. Although Yang Guang himself could withstand failure and was determined, the national power at the time could not withstand such consumption. Therefore, when correct decisions encounter obstacles in the implementation process, sometimes you should know how to adapt, otherwise good things will turn into bad things. Our ancestors taught: "Excessive hardness is easy to break, and the combination of hardness and softness is the road to harmony between yin and yang." If Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had learned more from the wisdom of his ancestors and not to be too hasty or too strong in doing things, he would have done these things Things will surely be praised by future generations.

But since ancient times, the success or failure of heroes has been judged. I personally don’t agree with saying that Emperor Sui Yang was a coward because he didn’t do some things perfectly. It’s all about such a big event. How many people in the world can be perfect? If we only look at the results, how will future generations know what this king was thinking at the time? Perhaps he also wanted to borrow another five hundred years from heaven, so that he would have time to successfully complete these major events with lasting merits. But time waits for no one, maybe he knew his destiny, so he acted too hastily. Later generations think that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had mixed merits and faults, but I still think that his merits outweighed his faults, and I feel sorry for him. Maybe you have different opinions, please feel free to share them! History is always judged by future generations. The past is past, and drawing lessons from the past is the purpose of our exploration of history.