During his reign, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty initiated the imperial examination system, built the Sui Dynasty Grand Canal, built the Eastern Capital, and moved the capital to Luoyang, which had a great influence on later generations. However, he later became greedy and launched frequent wars, including personally conquering Tuyuhun and three expeditions to Goguryeo. Finally, he abused the power of the people, which led to frequent popular rebellions, causing chaos in the world and unstable people. He was eventually overthrown, which directly led to the fall of the Sui Dynasty. Goethe said: "If you are too greedy, you will always suffer. If you don't have a contented heart, you will definitely suffer a lot of losses." There is also the famous Niu Hulu Heshen, a politician and businessman during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and a powerful official in Chinese history. One of them, he once held many positions and was awarded the first-class title of Zhongxiang Gong. He served as the chief bachelor and the foreman of the military aircraft minister. He was also in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Husbandry, the Ministry of Punishment, the Court of Lifan, and the Three Treasurys of the Ministry of Hubu. He also served concurrently as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, "Sikuquanshu" holds the positions of chief executive, leading bodyguard and internal minister, and infantry commander. Heshen was the official with the most assets in the history of the Qing Dynasty and the richest man in the world in the 18th century. It can be said that he had all the power in the world. Later, he was sentenced to death by Emperor Jiaqing because of excessive corruption.

There is a famous saying in ancient Greece: Some people want to get more things because of greed, but they lose what they have now. I still remember the famous Napoleon. France under his rule once occupied most of Europe. It was the largest area and the strongest influence in the entire history of France. Then the expedition to Tsarist Russia encountered Waterloo. Although he came back later, he could no longer continue his glory and ended up hating Saipan.

“If greed is not enough, the snake will swallow the appearance, and if human heart is not enough, the snake will swallow the elephant.” It means that people are greedy enough, just like the snake wants to swallow the elephant. Once upon a time, there was a very poor man who saved the life of a snake. In order to repay his life-saving grace, the snake asked the man to make requests and fulfill his wishes. At first, the man only asked for simple food and clothing, and the snake was satisfied. Later, greed gradually arose in him, and he asked to be an official, and the snake satisfied him. Until he became the prime minister, he was still not satisfied and asked to be the emperor. The snake finally understood at this time that human greed will never be fulfilled. There was no limit, so he devoured the person in one bite. The snake swallowed the prime minister, not the elephant. Therefore, the allusion of "people's hearts are not enough and snakes swallow them" remains.