Although Yang Jian made immortal contributions, most people do not think he is the greatest emperor. However, in the eyes of Westerners, the greatest emperor of China was not Qin Shihuang , Li Shimin , Kangxi and others, but Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian.
In 2001, the British most influential " The Guardian " selected the world's 100 great emperors. Yang Jian ranked first among Chinese emperors.
Westerners’ views may not be accurate, but this at least shows that Yang Jian has great influence in the world. So, what is the attitude of Tang Dynasty , which was established on the basis of Sui Dynasty , towards Yang Jian?
The Tang Dynasty was established after the destruction of the Sui Dynasty, and had a hostile relationship with the Sui Dynasty. Tang TaizongLi Shimin attached great importance to the experience and lessons of the rise and fall of the Sui Dynasty, and asked his most trusted minister Wei Zheng to edit the "Sui Shu". How did the "Sui Shu" describe and evaluate Yang Jian?
"Book of Sui" records Yang Jian's origin, experience, family, and children, as well as a group of civil servants and generals who assisted him; records major events in Yang Jian's governance, and also records some of his ordinary trivial matters; records Yang Jian's great achievements , also chronicles his flaws and faults. Generally speaking, the description of Yang Jian in "Sui Shu" is relatively comprehensive and detailed.
Yang Jian was born as a general, and experienced ups and downs in his youth. Later, relying on chance, he became an auxiliary minister, usurping the Zhou Dynasty and establishing the Sui Dynasty relatively easily. However, it was not easy for Yang Jian after he came to power. He worked hard to quell the rebellion internally, conquered the Turks externally, took a series of measures to consolidate his rule, and then destroyed Nanchen and unified the country.
Yang Jian was emperor for twenty-three years and made great achievements in governing the country. He created the founding emperor's rule . Some institutional innovations had a great impact on later generations. Yang Jian also had some flaws and shortcomings, and made major mistakes in some aspects, which laid the foundation for the fall of the Sui Dynasty II. "Sui Shu" is generally positive about Yang Jian, and its evaluation of him is also relatively objective.
Judging from the records in the "Book of Sui", Yang Jian was an emperor who made great achievements, made outstanding achievements, and had a great influence on later generations. Yang Jian's achievements are mainly reflected in three major aspects.
First, it ended the chaotic situation of long-term divisions in Chinese society and formed a unified country with multi-ethnic integration. Looking at ancient Chinese history, it is always divided into more and less. In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang quelled more than five hundred years of war in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and established the first unified dynasty. However, the Qin Dynasty fell apart in just a dozen years. Liu Bang established Han Dynasty and achieved general stability for four hundred years. However, starting from 184 AD, Chinese society entered the Three Kingdoms, Western Jin , Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms , Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, which lasted for hundreds of years. During this period, except for the brief reunification in the Western Jin Dynasty, the country was divided at other times. It was a famous period of national division in Chinese history. After Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty, he ended this long-term division and established a unified country. This was his greatest achievement.
Due to the limitations of the times, Qin Shihuang's unification mainly unified the Central Plains region and the Chinese ethnic groups, while Yang Jian's unification was the integration of multiple ethnic groups and the territory was larger. Yang Jian's unification promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between the south and the north, enhanced the integration and unity of the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups, and ultimately formed a multi-ethnic Chinese nation family, which continues to this day. In this sense, Yang Jian's contribution to the unification of the country is no less than that of Qin Shihuang.
Second, to adapt to the needs of social development, we have explored and created several far-reaching institutional innovations. Mainly, he created the central official system of three provinces and six ministries, created an unprecedented imperial examination system, and revised the significant " Kaihuang Code". Yang Jian was a great reformer, and his institutional innovations had a profound impact on the development of Chinese society.
Third, careful governance created the founding emperor and laid the foundation for the subsequent prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. By adopting a series of political and economic policies, Yang Jian achieved political clarity, social stability, strict laws, honest officials, economic development, no strong external enemies, no major internal worries, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, which was called the rule of the Kaihuang by later generations. In feudal society, there were not many eras known as "the rule of so-and-so", and they were all prosperous times. Due to its rich country and strong military, the Sui Dynasty also had a high international status and was a veritable hegemon in East Asia. The development of the Sui Dynasty laid the foundation for the later prosperity and strength of the Tang Dynasty.
"Book of Sui" not only records the great achievements of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, but also records many of his good qualities and advantages, which are mainly reflected in three aspects.
One is diligence. Yang Jian went to court before dawn every day, had a simple lunch in the court hall at noon, and went back to the harem to rest after dark. Sometimes he had to work overtime at night, often working until late at night, almost every day, tirelessly. Yang Jian personally intervened and made decisions on all major military and state affairs, and arranged them very carefully. "Book of the Sui Dynasty" said that he "spent sleep and food, and took care of everything every day." Among feudal emperors, those as diligent as Yang Jian were rare.
The second is frugality. Yang Jian is a famous thrifty emperor in history. He never wore luxurious clothes or gold and jade decorations, and his diet was very ordinary, mainly vegetarian. Yang Jian does not like vocal music, does not indulge in lust, does not like drinking, and is very simple in everything. This is indeed very different from some emperors who indulged in extravagance and lust.
The third is to love the people. Yang Jian cherished the people's power and rarely carried out large-scale civil projects. He paid attention to reducing taxes and corvee so that the people could rest and recuperate. Yang Jian cared about people's lives and often sent officials to various places for unannounced visits to investigate the sufferings of the people. Whenever Yang Jian went out and encountered people writing letters, he would stop his car and receive and handle them personally.
One year, Guanzhong was hit by a disaster, and people's lives encountered difficulties. Yang Jian sent some officials to people's homes to check the food situation, and found that most of the people ate food such as rice bran and bean dregs. After Yang Jian learned about it, he burst into tears and immediately said that he would abstain from alcohol and meat for a month and share the joys and sorrows with the people.
In 595 AD, the area around Chang'an suffered from a severe drought and the grain harvest was poor. Many people, supporting the elderly and the young, fled eastward for famine. It happened that Yang Jian was also going to visit Luoyang, where he met people fleeing the famine. The people walked slowly, and the accompanying officials wanted to disperse them. Yang Jian quickly stopped him and ordered not to drive the people away, but to walk slowly among them. When he encountered a narrow place on the road, Yang Jian jumped off his horse and stopped aside to let the people go first. When he encountered someone carrying a load, Yang Jian asked his guards to take over the load and give them a ride. "Sui Shu" records this detail, which shows that Yang Jian loved the people very much.
In addition to describing Yang Jian's achievements and advantages, "Sui Shu" also records his many flaws and mistakes, and discusses the impact of these mistakes on the demise of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Jian's flaws and mistakes are mainly reflected in three aspects.
First, Yang Jian lacks generosity and magnanimity. "Book of Sui" said of him: "It's good for small skills, but it doesn't reach the general level." This means that Yang Jian likes to use small tricks to control people, but does not pay attention to the big aspects. There are problems in grasping the overall situation and the big ideas of running the country. During Yang Jian's period, due to the implementation of the policies of "exporting nationality registrations" and "drafting the status of the country", most of the private wealth was accumulated in the state treasury. Therefore, although the country was prosperous, the people were not wealthy. In particular, the national treasury was full of food at that time, but when there was a famine, Yang Jian only made some small actions to care for the people, but was reluctant to open a warehouse to provide food relief. Therefore, during Yang Jian's period, although it was a peaceful and prosperous era on the surface, the people's sense of happiness was not strong, which indicated that the Sui Dynasty's ruling foundation was not solid. Later, wars broke out, and it fell apart quickly. The Tang Dynasty learned this lesson, implemented the policy of hiding wealth among the people, and achieved a strong country and a prosperous people.
Second, Yang Jian lacks the ability to recognize and employ people.Yang Jian is diligent and hands-on, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Yang Jian came to power by bullying orphans and widowed mothers. Deep down in his heart, he was always afraid that others would not be convinced or dedicated, and he was also afraid that ministers would gain power and usurp the throne, so he had to do everything himself. If this goes on for a long time, it will be difficult for all ministers to use their talents, and the court will not be able to exert its overall effectiveness. Yang Jian also made a big mistake in hiring people. At the beginning, he reused some wise ministers such as Gao Jiao, Su Wei, Li Delin and so on, and the effect was not bad. Later, Yang Jian dismissed and killed some virtuous ministers and generals, and re-appointed Yang Su, especially the replacement of the prince, which directly led to the death of the second generation.
Third, Yang Jian lacks the capacity to tolerate others. Yang Jian is particularly strict with himself and has very strict requirements on himself, which is a great advantage. However, he is also strict with others, rather than being lenient to others, and does not allow others to make any mistakes. This is a big problem for the emperor. Yang Jian was jealous by nature and was mean to others. He was more intimidating and less gracious. Especially in his later years, his punishment was very harsh. The guards around him will definitely be severely punished even if they accept small gifts such as parrots and riding whips from others.
Once, Yang Jian inspected the arsenal and saw weeds growing in the official office. He was very angry and ordered dozens of people to be executed. Yang Jian often set traps and deliberately sent people to bribe ministers. Anyone who accepted the gifts would be executed. As time passed, Yang Jian and the ministers naturally became estranged.
At that time, the Sui Dynasty had just been established. It was a society in which the north and the south were integrated, all ethnic groups merged, and all kinds of contradictions were complicated. What was most needed was an openness to all rivers, the gathering of forces from all walks of life, and the formation of a dynamic and talented situation for joint promotion. The consolidation and development of the Sui Dynasty, which Yang Jian lacked. Yang Jian enforced the law strictly and treated people harshly. Although the officials were honest and there were few major corruption cases, people were timid and unable to take initiative and enthusiasm. As a result, when the country was in trouble, few people took care of the country's worries.
"Book of Sui" finally commented that the Sui Dynasty fell under Yang Guang, but the investigation of the origin of the decline of the Sui Dynasty actually started from the time of Yang Jian and did not happen overnight. If they could pay attention to these problems early, there would be no unfortunate ending.
Although Yang Jian had some shortcomings and problems, he created a prosperous age after all, and Yang Jian's era was still glorious. Yang Jian is dead, how is his son Yang Guang doing? Please watch the next episode. Yang Guang aspires to be an unprecedented and great emperor.
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