Introduction Using history as a mirror, we can know the ups and downs; using people as a mirror, we can know the gains and losses. By reading history, we can understand the rise and fall of a thing; by reading people in history, we can understand a person's success or failure. History is a memoir of human nature. Let us correct our shortcomings as much as possible and give full play to our advantages by reading history.
The Sui Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty are the most similar unified dynasties in Chinese history. They both drove the nomads northward, ended hundreds of years of chaos, unified the world, created a series of systems and influenced China's development. It lasted for thousands of years, but quickly fell apart in just 20 or 30 years. The achievements of the founding emperors of the Sui Dynasty, Sui Gaozu and Emperor Wen Yang Jian, can be said to be of great benefit to the present and future generations. Their achievements can be compared with those of Qin Shihuang.
Created a three-province and six-cao system. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty abolished the official and title system established in the Northern Zhou Dynasty based on the Zhou rites, and created an administrative system based on the Three Provinces and Six Cao system (later changed to the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system). Among them, the three provinces refer to Shangshu, Menxia, ??and Neishi. The three provinces and the six ministries refer to the six ministries of officials, rituals, soldiers, Duzhi (later renamed the Ministry of Civil Affairs), Duguan (later renamed the Ministry of Punishment), and the six ministries of work. The decision-maker is the Ministry of Internal History, and the chief officer is called the Internal History Order; the reviewer is the Ministry of Menxia, ??and the chief officer is called Nayan; the agencies that handle daily government affairs are the Shangshu Province, the Chief Minister Ling, and the left and right servants. There are six ministries: Bing, Duzhi, Duguan, and Gong. The chiefs are called ministers of each ministry. The governors of the three provinces all hold the position of prime minister, and the three ministers and ministers also participate in the government affairs and are also prime ministers. The three provinces check each other, and the emperor is responsible to the emperor. This expands the number of prime ministers and strengthens centralization of power.
The system of three provinces and six ministries can be said to be a strong administrative guarantee for the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It was inherited and reformed by later dynasties. During the Five Dynasties, the three provinces and six ministries system was continued; during the Song Dynasty, the three provinces system was weakened, and due to the establishment of the Privy Council and the Three Divisions, the three provinces system existed in name only; during the Yuan Dynasty, the Zhongshu Province commanded hundreds of officials, and the other two provinces were sometimes established and sometimes abolished; During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister, abolished the Zhongshu Province, promoted the status of the six ministries, and implemented the six-ministerial system; the Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty system. It can be said that the three provinces and six ministries system established by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty influenced China's administrative system for more than a thousand years. Although the three provinces existed for a short time, the six ministries were still used until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Economic policies that keep wealth among the people. The early dynasties in every dynasty took measures to cultivate their health and hide wealth among the people. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty were the best of these emperors. The governance of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty enabled the Sui Dynasty to achieve the remarkable achievement of doubling its household registration in twenty years, and its achievements far exceeded those of other emperors. This is not only due to the increase in productivity, but also the reason why Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the free warehouse and implemented the policy of thin taxation.
In the third year of Kaihuang's reign, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty adopted Chang Sunping's suggestion and established free warehouses for the first time in the four prefectures of Luo, Wei, Shaanxi and Hua. The management system of warehouses was clarified and a nationwide grain reserve system was established. This system not only helped the Sui Dynasty overcome frequent droughts and floods and avoid widespread food shortages and even cannibalism, it also enabled the people of the Sui Dynasty to retain and accumulate their wealth. Unlike Changpingcang, which was established over time, the free warehouse is a permanent system and has been continued by successive dynasties. The current national collection and storage system is also deeply influenced by the free warehouse system. It can be said that the establishment of the free warehouse system has benefited countless living people and will benefit the future. It is a great virtue left by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty that spans more than a thousand years!
In addition, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty's famous saying "It is better to accumulate in people than to hide in treasury" is really shocking. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty had always implemented the policy of encouraging teachers to work in farming and mulberry cultivation, and doing light corvee and low taxes. He was also extremely frugal and had reduced or exempted the country's labor service many times, which enabled the Sui Dynasty to quickly achieve prosperity. Therefore, when Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unexpectedly learned that the treasury could not hold the tax revenue in the twelfth year of his reign, he said, "It is better to accumulate in people than to hide in the treasury." At the same time, he ordered that Hebei and Hedong be exempted from three-thirds of this year's field rent. One, military service is halved and all taxes (taxes on household output) are exempted.
Create the imperial examination system. Although the origin of this imperial examination system is controversial, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty did carry out reforms. In the seventh year of the founding of the Emperor, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered each state in the country to recommend three talents each year to participate in the examinations of scholars and Ming Jingke; in the eighteenth year of the founding of the Emperor, he ordered the officials of the fifth rank and above, general managers, and governors in the capital to be honest, honest, and honest. Ji Er imperial examination candidate. This should be the original origin of the imperial examination system. It selected talents on a small scale regardless of their origin or family status, and only based on their talents and learning.
China's imperial examination system lasted for more than a thousand years and was not officially abolished by the Qing Dynasty until 1905. However, our college entrance examination is a continuation of the essence of this system.
Serve the Turks in the north. The Turks rose up after Rouran and became a serious problem for the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi. They took advantage of the opposition between the two countries to seize a large amount of gold and silver treasures. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty originally planned to destroy the Chen Dynasty first and realize the unification of the world. However, the Turks insisted on a large-scale invasion, so he had to change his strategy and had to make the Turks the primary target. At this time, Changsun Sheng rose to the occasion because he had intimidated the Turkic nobles and was familiar with the inside story of the Turks. He proposed to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty the strategy of "diplomating far away and attacking close, separating the strong and joining the weak".
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty fought two wars against the Turks within 4 years from the first year to the fourth year of his reign. This not only crushed the Turks' attack, but also caused the Turks to split into East and West Turks. The East Turks Shabolu Khan It was only with the help of the Sui Dynasty that it was able to gain a foothold. Finally, it sought peace from the Sui Dynasty and became a vassal state. It praised Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty that "there are no two days in the sky and no two kings in the earth. The Great Sui Emperor is also the true emperor" to show his submission. Especially in the first battle, Sui general Da Xi Changru led 2,000 people to encounter a Turkish army of more than 100,000 people. They fought fiercely for 3 days and fought 14 times. More than 10,000 Turks were killed, and only 400 or 500 people were left. The Sui Dynasty soldiers were outnumbered. of bravery.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty subsequently eliminated the Chen Dynasty and unified China. In the 19th year of the founding of the Emperor, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered Yang Su, Gao Xi and Yan Rong to attack the Turks in three directions. Yang Su abandoned the mixed combat method of chariots, cavalry and infantry in Lingzhou, and used the Sui Dynasty cavalry against the Turks cavalry, defeating them. Turki Datou Khan; on the other hand, Gao Xi also defeated Dulan Khan, causing him to be killed by his subordinates. After this battle, Tuli Khan was brought to Chang'an by Chang Sun Sheng, and was named Qimin Khan by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. Later, relying on the strength of the Sui Dynasty, Qimin Khan gave Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty the title "Saint Moyuan Khan" ", "From below the sky, above the earth, the sun and the moon shine only on the sage Khan. Today is a great day. May the sage Khan live forever." This also became Li Shimin's title of "Khan of Heaven". source sample. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty once again defeated the Turks in his later years, and the borders of the Sui Dynasty remained peaceful for more than ten years.
Destroy the Chen Dynasty and unify the world. The Rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty led to the Five Husties in China, and China immediately fell into a situation of confrontation between the ethnic minority regimes in the north (only the former Qin and the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the north) and the Han regimes in the south (Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen) , which lasted for 260 years. Most of the time, the southern regime was not only unable to defeat the northern regime, but could only defend passively. It also surrendered to self-destruction. It often talked about mysticism and indulged in Buddhism. During the period of Emperor Wu of Liang, it was devastated by Hou Jingzhi's chaos, which ushered in the coming of war. The weakest Chen Chao. Although the northern regime was a minority and relatively chaotic, it recognized Chinese civilization so highly that after Chen Qingzhi escaped from the north, he was especially polite to northern officials, believing that "all the people in fine clothes are in the Central Plains", so the Northern Dynasties gradually became unified. The capital of the world. After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the Chen Dynasty, the Chen Dynasty quickly showed signs of subjugation under the rule of Empress Chen.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty originally wanted to eliminate the Chen Dynasty first and then deal with the Turks. However, it was interrupted by the Turks' massive invasion. He realized that the Turks were the biggest obstacle to unifying the world, which allowed the Chen Dynasty to survive for a few more years. time. However, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty still listened to Gao Xi's suggestion: he sent spies to the south of the Yangtze River, and in view of the characteristics of the wooden houses in the south, he set fire to the south and burned the food and savings in the south. When the Chen Dynasty was busy with farming, he stationed troops on the border in large numbers, scaring the Chen Dynasty into defending. There is no time to harvest food. A few years later, the Chen Dynasty showed signs of a weak country and poor people. After eliminating the Turkic threat, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty appointed King Yang Guang of Jin as commander-in-chief to control an army of 500,000. With Gao Xi, Han Qinhu, He Ruobi, Yang Su and others as generals, he wiped out the Chen Dynasty in one battle and ended the division of north and south. governance situation.
There were three long-term divisions in Chinese history, namely the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Eastern Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Except for Song Taizu who was unable to unify China, Qin Shihuang and Sui Emperor Wen both successfully unified China, and both had pioneering personal achievements. The emperor system created by Qin Shihuang and the policy of "writing in the same text, driving in the same track, and doing the same thing" have influenced China for more than 2,000 years. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty's three provinces and six ministries system, the imperial examination system, and the free warehouse system have also influenced China for 1,500 years. For a long time, he was also a truly pioneering emperor. In terms of foreign wars, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was more successful in attacking the Turks than Qin Shi Huang's attack on the Xiongnu, laying the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to eliminate the Turks. In terms of personal aspects, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty had more serious flaws than Qin Shi Huang, such as the indiscriminate killing of ministers.
In addition, after Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty came to power, he canceled Xianbei names nationwide, restored Han surnames, and rewarded people for presenting books, which made great contributions to the preservation and restoration of Chinese culture. At the same time, the two of them had one thing in common, which was that they were both deliberately ignored. But no matter what, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty made great contributions and had profound virtues. He is still an emperor worthy of commemoration by the Chinese people.