[Chinaconqueror]

Can someone tell me the history about Emperor Sui Yangdi 隋文帝 or Yang Jian 扬坚? How did he founded the Sui Dynasty?

Did Sui dynasty fought many wars?

[General_Zhaoyun]

I'll narrate the founding history of Sui.

For a brief, before the Sui dynasty,China was divided into north and south dynasty. The North was controlled by Northern Zhou dynasty after it conquered Northern Qi in 577 AD. The South was controlled by Chen dynasty.

Yang Jian

Yang Jian (扬坚), who would become "Emperor Wen Di of the Sui" or "Sui Wendi" (AD 541 - 604), was born into powerful noble family during the Northern Dynasty. He inherited the title Duke of Sui (隋国公) from his father and also held key posts in the northern Zhou government. He was appointed the Grand Minister of War and later, Prime Minister. He was both a powerful military general and an important political figure in the royal court.

Yang Jian was a close relative to the imperial throne through his daughter, the royal wife of Emperor Xuandi of northern Zhou dynasty. Later his daughter gave birth to a son, who would become Emperor Jingdi. Yang Jian was often in the company of powerful court officials, such as Liu Fang (刘昉) and Zheng Yi (郑译). Together, they formed a powerful political clique.

The growing influence of Yang Jian created jealousy among imperial court ministers who tried to discredit him. Emperor Xuandi also wanted him eliminated.
He often met with them to plot against Yang Jian.

One day, Emperor Xuandi planned to use 4 beautiful concubines to trap Yang Jian. He told them to dress provocatively and stand at his sides. Then he sent for Yang Jian. He ordered his guards, "When he comes, if you see a lustful expression on his face, you should immediately kill him." (imperial law invoked the death penalty for anyone guilty of lusting for a royal concubine).

To the emperor's surprise, when Yang Jian entered the palace, he remained composed, his face expressionless towards the 4 women. The emperor had no choice but to let him go.

Xuandi lived a profligate life, ignoring court affairs. He eventually passed his throne to his son, Jingdi. When his father died a year later, Jingdi was only 8 years old. Liu Fang and Zheng Yi, high ranking officials, forged Xuandi's will to name Yang Jian in charge of court affairs.

Rebellion and foundation of Sui

The royal relatives of the Northern Zhou rebelled against Yang Jian, who believed was going to take the throne. In April 580, governor Wei Chijiong (尉迟迥) of Xiangzhou (today's Anyang in Henan province), was the first to declare war. Other uprisings quickly followed throughout the land. The rebel army totallled several hundred thousand men.

Yang Jian named veteran general Wei Xiaokuan (韦孝宽) his commander-in-chief to suppress the uprisings. Wei stationed his army in Wushe. Rebel leader Wei Chijiong sent his son, Wei Chidun (尉迟惇), to lead 100,000 soldiers against the government. The two armies faced off across the Qin river.

The government forces built bridges across the Qin in preparation for attack. At the sight of this, Wei Chidun, set fire to driftwood upstream in an attempt to ignite the pontoon bridges. Wei Xiaokuan, the imperial general, ordered his soldiers to push earth into the river, successfully forming a barrier against the burning driftwood.

When Wei Chidun failed to burn the bridges, he aligned his army in a formation stretching 10 km. He ordered them to retreat slightly in the hope of making a surprise attack when the government forces reached the middle of the bridges.

When Wei Xiaokuan saw the retreat, he ordered the government troops to advance rapidly. Once they crossed the river, they burned the bridges. With no possibily of escape, all the soldiers fought bravely, decimating the rebels. Wei Chidun managed to flee alone from the impending destruction.

The imperial army advanced to Yecheng (today's western Linzhang county in Hebei province) where Wei Chijiong's forces were stationed. Wei Chijiong led 130,000 soldiers in a formation south of the town. His son, Wei Chiqin, led the reinforcements, with his 3,000 cavalry soldiers coming first to join the battle. When the two armies engaged, the imperial troops were defeated and forced to retreat.

Tens of thousands of the townspeople came to watch the battle. The imperial archers fired at the spectators who fled in confusion. Their screams for escape was as loud as thunder. Seizing the opportunity created by the confusion, the government army captured the town. Wei Chijiong's forces were routed and he committed suicide.

Yang Jian soon suppressed the rebellion and consolidated his political position in the Northern Zhou. In February 581, he forced Jingdi to abdicate, making himself the emperor. He changed the dynasty name to Sui and built his capital in Chang'an (today's Xi'an in Shaanxi province). Yang Jian became Emperor Wendi.

[General_Zhaoyun]

Sui destroys Chen dynasty and unified China

The last ruler of the Chen dynasty was Emperor Houzhu (陈后主), who reign was marked by extreme extravagance, political corruption and debauchery. He built 3 immense pavilions of precious sandalwood inlaid with gold, jade and pearls. Legend says the fragrance from the sandalwood spread several miles during a breeze.

Houzhu disregarded court affairs. He often took his favourite concubine, Zhang Lihua, to the 3 pavilions accompanied by a favourite group of attendants. They would lavishly entertain themselves far into the night.

While Houzhu was lost in his sensual pleasures, Emperor Wen Di made preparations to conquer Chen. He ordered General Yang Su (杨素) to build warships. The largest one was called "Five Teeth (五牙)" as it was 5 stories tall and about 70 meters long.

Emperor Wendi created false impressions to mislead the Cheng army and lessen their vigilance. After the warships had been built, he ordered Yang Su to spread the news of the newly-built fleet and to float the leftover wood down the Yangtze River to frighten the Chen army.

Sui General He Ruobi (贺若弼) sold the army's old horses to the Chen and bought additional ships. He hid the better ships inside the harbor and anchored the dilapidated ships on the river. From afar, the Chen army could only see a few broken-down ships. They believed the Sui army would be unable to cross the river because of the shortage of ships, so they slackened their guard.

Whenever the Sui redeployed the troops, they set up many flags and tents. The soldiers were ordered to hunt around the river, creating an uproar and acting as if they were going to cross. When the Chen sent troops for defence, the Sui soldiers would withdraw. This ploy was created many times and the Chen army became even less vigilant.

In 588, Wen Di issued a royal edict which listed 20 crimes Houzhu had committed, declaring a punitive expedition would be launched. Over 300,000 copies of the edict were distributed across Chen territories. In October of the same year, Prince Yang Guang (杨广) led more than 500,000 troops to conquer Chen from eight different routes.

From the upper Yangzi river, Yang Shu led thousands of warships through the Three Gorges and arrived at Liutoutan (west of today's Yichang in Hubei Province). At that time, Chen General Qin Xin (戚昕) commanded hundreds of warships and several thousand soldiers holding the Langwei rapids (also west of today's Yichang), where mountainous terrain provided good natural defence.

Realising daytime operations would make it easy for the Chen army to gather intelligence about his force, Yang Shu led his warships down the river at night. At the same time he sent his cavalry and infantry to advance on both sides of the river. Together the forces crushed the Chen stronghold and took the Langwei rapids.

Chen minister Lu Zhongshu (吕忠肃) held his defence at Qiting (today's Western Gorge, southwest of Yichang). He blocked the Yangzi with three huge iron chains to halt the upstream Sui warships. The Sui had to fight more than 40 battles before capturing the Chen position and destroying the chains. Finally, the Sui ships sailed through Qiting.

With the Sui's advance, Chen generals stationed at border areas repeatedly beseeched the court for reinforcements. However, Emperor Houzhu did not take the request seriously. Deceiving himself, he declared, "we are invincible. The Qi army came three times and the Zhou came twice, they were crushed. Today, the Sui army comes. They were doomed to defeat as well. " His grand minister added, "the Yang Tze River is a natural moat. Can the Sui army fly over?"

On the foggy morning of New Year's Day 589, two battalions of the Sui army quietly crossed the Yang Tze river, one from the east, and one from the west. The eastern battalion, led by General He Ruobi, crossed the river from Guangling (today's Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province). They first seized Jingkou (today's Zhenjiang in Jiangsu province). Then General He marched his best forces into Mt. Zhongshan (today's Mt. Zhijin in Nanjing).

Western Battalion General Han Qinhu (韩擒虎) made a night crossing from Hongjiang (today's Hoxian County in Anhui province). He launched a surprising attack against Chaishi and captured its drunken defence soldiers. He continued to penetrate into Chen territory, joining the siege of Nanjing.

Emperor Houzhu decided to stake everything on a single battle. He led his army in a 10km curving formation to the south of Mt. Zhongshan. However, he did not appoint a commander-in-chief, nor did he personally have the resolve to wage a decisive battle. There was a resulting lack of co-ordination among the troops. When He Ruobi's army arrived, they routed the Chen forces.

At this time, Han Qinhu's battalion entered the outskirts of Nanjing. Chen General Ren Zhong (任忠), who had just retreated from the front, surrendered and guided Han Qinhu's men to the city gate. The soldiers defending the gate started to resist, but Ren Zhong said, "I am an important general and have already surrendered. Why do you common soldiers want to fight?" Hearing this, the defenders dispersed. The Sui army marched into the capital, meeting little resistance.

When the Sui army entered the capital, Emperor Houzhu and his favourite concubine, Zhang Lihua, hid themselves in a dry well. They refused to get out after being discovered. The Sui soldiers warned, "if you don't come out, we will bury you with stones." Houzhou had to allow himself and Zhang Lihua to be pulled up. he surrendered to the Sui dynasty, and thus Chen collapsed. China once again was unified.