The Sui Dynasty was a * * dynasty, with only two generations. Only the founding emperor and monarch destroyed the country (not to mention the rest of the emperors). But in people's minds, it is a world of difference.
The first generation, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, is well known. He seized political power, established the Sui Dynasty, led the army, wiped out the Chen Dynasty in one fell swoop, unified the whole country, and ended the division between the North and the South for 400 years. Of course, it is impossible to be a good emperor by this alone. It not only unified the whole country, but also often handled political affairs all night. He advocates frugality, and neither he nor his queen usually wear gorgeous clothes. He loves the people and often sends people to know what they eat. When he learned that the people could only eat rotten beans and rice bran, he wept and blamed himself for not eating wine and meat, and shared joys and sorrows with the people.
During his more than 20 years in power, he has maintained the situation of national unity, with a light burden on the people and a large increase in population. The grain and cloth stored by the state can meet the government's expenditure for fifty or sixty years. Ma Duanlin, a Yuan Dynasty historian, even praised "the wealth of national economy in ancient and modern times is unparalleled". This is a rare good emperor with lanterns.
In ancient times, the transportation of goods between north and south mainly depended on land transportation, so it was very difficult to transport bulk goods. In order to facilitate the exchange of goods between the north and the south, people have used natural rivers or dug artificial canals between natural rivers for waterway transportation since the Spring and Autumn Period.
After the second emperor Yang Di ascended the throne, he recruited millions of migrant workers in order to strengthen the north-south traffic and consolidate the rule of the Sui Dynasty over the whole country. From 605, it took six years to dig a grand canal running through the north and south on the basis of existing natural waterways and Mangong Canal, which was the longest canal in the ancient world.
The opening of the Grand Canal has effectively promoted the economic and cultural exchanges and development between the North and the South, and played an important role in consolidating the rule. However, when the canal was built, a large number of migrant workers were requisitioned, which consumed a lot of material and financial resources, increased the burden on the people and greatly intensified social contradictions.
During the reign of Yang Di, he was determined to reform and made great achievements, but he was overjoyed and let millions of people build great buildings year after year. Many wars were waged against Korea, which led to the desolation of the fields. Although the state treasury is abundant, there are hungry people everywhere. Finally, in the face of endless corvee and military service, the people could not bear it, and anti-Sui forces in various places rose in succession, and a large-scale peasant uprising broke out. Finally, Yang Di was killed by his men, and the Sui Dynasty perished. He is the emperor who makes it impossible for the world to judge whether his works are greater than his own.
Life in the Sui Dynasty tells us that during this period, for all emperors who loved their country and loved their people, the social economy developed rapidly; Any emperor who harms others and wastes money will eventually perish.