If history can be truthfully recorded, there will be no saying that Sima Qian was imprisoned, but how many people can do it like Sima Qian?
There are many things in history that are difficult for us to distinguish right from wrong. When we study history, we should learn more from it instead of repeating the same mistakes. Without historical prejudice, we may have a better understanding of history and sum up more wisdom from the historical experience of our ancestors.
What is Yang Guang's right and wrong? First, let's look at Yang Guang's badness. Yang Guang is the second son of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, and there is another eldest brother above him, namely Emperor Yangdi Yong Yang. But this Yong Yang is not scheming. In order to sit on the position of the prince, Yang Guang deliberately framed his eldest brother Yong Yang.
Yang Guang took advantage of his mother's psychology. Men hate concubines and don't love their wives. While speaking ill of Yong Yang in front of his mother, he pretended to be a good husband, and finally won the support of his mother, Queen Dugu. Under the pillow wind of Queen Dugu, Emperor Wendi of Sui gradually became disgusted with Yong Yang until he abandoned Yong Yang and made Yang Guang the prince.
Yang Guang obtained the position of prince through deception and framing, and finally even had a relationship with his father's concubine. After being discovered by Emperor Wendi, Yang Guang directly killed Emperor Wendi. Yang Guang is a heartless and unfilial person. If speaking from his personal morality, he is really a bad king.
After Yang Guang became emperor, he did two things, which became the root cause of the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
The first is the three signs of Koguryo. At that time, why did Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang insist on Koguryo?
Because Koguryo had controlled the whole northern land of the Korean peninsula at that time, not only that, Koguryo continued to eat into the north, that is, the Liaodong area of the Sui Dynasty. If the Sui Dynasty doesn't fight back, Koguryo's power will grow bigger and bigger, and it may even threaten the stability of the northern border of the Sui Dynasty.
It is said that the couch does not allow others to sleep soundly, and Li Shimin behind it also conquered Goguryeo.
Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang was not so lucky as Li Shimin. His failure to conquer Koguryo three times in a row led to a sudden uprising in China, which also opened the curtain of the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
In addition to the three signs that Koguryo led to the final demise of the Sui Dynasty, there is another thing that is also the fundamental reason for the demise of the Sui Dynasty, and that is the construction of the Grand Canal.
Because the political center of the Sui Dynasty was in the north at that time, and because there was a war in the north every year since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a large number of Han people chose to cross the south. The northern war triggered by the rebellion of the eight kings in the Jin Dynasty intensified the migration of Han people from the north to the south.
With a large number of people moving south, the economic center has gradually moved south. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River became one of the main sources of tax revenue in the Sui Dynasty. However, it is difficult to support the huge freight transport and the court's tax collection in Jiangnan area only by land transportation.
Therefore, Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang decided to build the Grand Canal, but it was a very huge project. In ancient times, there were neither excavators nor a large number of transport vehicles and various tools, and they relied entirely on a lot of manpower to dig.
In ancient times, productivity was originally low, so many people were recruited to build canals, and no one produced them, so grain production was reduced. As soon as the grain production was reduced, many workers who repaired canals themselves refused to do so voluntarily, which aggravated the social crisis.
Until Yang Guang failed to sign Goguryeo, various domestic contradictions broke out instantly, which was out of control and directly led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
From this point of view, the demise of the Sui Dynasty is more due to the failure of Yang Di Yang Guang to recruit Koguryo militarily, which is the fundamental reason for the demise of the Sui Dynasty.