An Xiaoyu said: "Yang Guang, don't get excited first, and then say." ”

Yang Guangdao: "I finished building the national capital Luoyang, repairing the Great Wall, digging the Grand Canal, and then I started Wenzhi. In the first step, I promulgated the Law of Daye in the third year of Daye. The state was changed to a county, the weights and measures were changed according to the ancient style, the official system was changed, and five provinces, three Taiwans, five supervisors, and sixteen prefectures were set up. I amended the law and reformed the harsher laws of my father's last years. Except for the ten evils. Where there are five hundred, it is eighteen. Within the five punishments, there are more than 200 people who are reduced to lenient punishments. The edict was executed. ”

An Xiaoyu said: "Yang Guang, to tell the truth, the "Great Cause Law" you promulgated is indeed very perfect, and the later "Tang Law" of the Tang Empire was revised in accordance with the "Kaihuang Law" and "Great Cause Law", and the "Great Cause Law" did not do anything to revise it. ”

Yang Guang showed a smug smile on his face, and continued: "The second step of my cultural rule is to implement the imperial examination system, in the past dynasties, the officials were hereditary, there was no knowledge, and they could not govern the country, but they were greedy and arrogant, sometimes they didn't even put the authority of the emperor in their eyes, I was deeply affected before I ascended the throne, and I had seen enough of the faces of the children of famous families, I must cultivate my own henchmen." During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a country that tried the imperial examination, but it was opposed by the nobles of the gate lords, and in the end, it was not done, and I decided to promote the imperial examination in the Great Sui Dynasty. Therefore, in the first year of my reign, I wrote in the edict: 'The monarch and the people should build a country, and teaching should be the first priority, and the change of customs and customs must start from here. ', restored the Guozijian, Taixue, and the state and county schools that had been abolished by his father. 'Teaching students and apprentices is a method of class examinations, so as to make the best of the way. The envoys who were instructed to inspect the states, among other tasks, were to discover men of exemplary conduct, outstanding literary talents, and learned expertise, and after investigation, send them to the capital division. Confucian scholars from near and far came and were organized to debate academic issues with each other. A senior official ranked them and reported them to me. As a result, many Han scholars were able to revive their courts, the study of classics flourished, the traditions of the north and the south were inclusive, and the ancient classics were annotated. ”

"With the decline of the Shi clan and the rise of the Shu landlords, the nine-grade Zhongzheng system, which has paid attention to the family since the Wei and Jin dynasties, can no longer continue. After my father ascended the throne, he abolished the nine-rank zhongzheng system. In the second year of my career, I added Jinshi Branch. At that time, the strategy of the Xiucai test, the strategy of the Jinshi test, and the Ming Jing test formed a complete set of national sub-discipline selection system. At that time, the Ming Jing was the most advanced, and the Jinshi test was secondary. Jinshike mainly examines political essays and selects talents who are 'literary and beautiful'. I prioritize personal qualities over literary talent. I have also increased the number of admissions for the imperial examinations. There are already 10 subjects for the exam. A perfect imperial examination system has been formed. In the third year of the great cause, I issued an edict: 'Those who have a ministry in civil and military affairs are known for their filial piety, virtue and generosity, moderation and righteousness, clean conduct, strong and upright, indomitable in the constitution, excellent in academics, beautiful in literature, talented and strategic, and strong in hips. In the fifth year of the great cause, I issued an edict: 'The counties should be able to pass their studies, have excellent talents, have strong hips, excel in their ranks, be diligent in officials, be able to manage political affairs, be upright, do not avoid the strong, and promote people in the four disciplines.' ’

”

An Xiaoyu said: "Yang Guang, you have carried forward the strong imperial examination system, and indeed closely linked study, examination and being an official, and improved the cultural quality of officials. ”

Yang Guangdao: "The third step of my Wenzhi is to organize and compile books. When I was the governor of Yangzhou in Jiangnan, I recruited scholars to sort out the classics, and in the nearly 20 years since I became emperor, a total of 130 books and more than 17,000 volumes have been completed. I also organized people to compile 400 volumes of "Cheung Chau Jade Mirror" and 1,200 volumes of "Ou Yu Tuzhi". After I became emperor, I issued an edict ordering all counties in the world to draw maps of customs and products in various places, and compiled 131 volumes of "Records of the Products and Customs of the Counties", 129 volumes of "Atlas of the Regions", and 100 volumes of "Collection of Atlases of the Prefectures". I want to make the Great Sui Holy World, and the books will be published repeatedly. ”

"I also ordered Pei Ju to manage the merchants of the Western Regions, and when he handed over the market, he collected information about the mountains and rivers and customs of the Western Regions, and compiled the "Atlas of the Western Regions", which contains maps, descriptions, and color maps of people of various ethnic groups wearing national costumes, which is a masterpiece of geography. According to the costume and shape of their own country, the king and the Shu people, each showing their tolerance, that is, Danqing model writing, for the "Western Regions Atlas", a total of three volumes, together with forty-four countries. Don't make a map, it's a bad thing. ”

Yang Guang not only built a school, but also visited and protected the lost books. "Feng's Wenjian Ji" recorded: "Emperor Yang limited the writing of fifty copies, divided into three products, in the east and west corridors of the Guanwen Hall in the eastern capital, listed for storage. "The Sui Dynasty had the largest collection of books in China, with large library halls built in Daxing City and Luoyang, and the final result was a large-scale secretarial province with a collection of rare books in Luoyang, with a total collection of more than 370,000 volumes. In order to allow the palaces, provinces, and government offices of the two capitals to be used, Yang Guang ordered the construction of the Guanwen Hall with excerpts. At its peak, the Sui Dynasty had a collection of 370,000 volumes and more than 77,000 types of books. However, most of the books were destroyed in the war, and the maximum collection of books during the Tang Dynasty was 80,000 volumes, and the Tang scholars had 28,467 volumes, and only 28,469 volumes of books were left before the Tang Dynasty.

An Xiaoyu said: "Yang Guang, I admit that compiling books is one of your great achievements. ”

Yang Guangdao: "The fourth step of my cultural rule is to revere Confucianism and Confucius, and I issued an edict in the fifth year of the Great Cause: 'The first master and nun father, the holy virtue is bowing, the posture of the birth of the heavens, the constitution of the way of civil and martial arts, the life of the world, the king of Yunzisu. And the sigh of the decadent mountain, ignoring the thousands of rituals, the beauty of Shengde, not in the hundred generations. Always be a fan, and there should be excellence. After Confucius, he was the Marquis of Shaosheng, and there was a division to ask for his Miao descendants, and he was recorded as Shenshang. ’”

An Xiaoyu said: "Although Confucianism has many drawbacks, it is indeed very effective in consolidating political power, although the literati are talented, they are also the most incomprehensible species, if you give them a little dignity, they will sell their lives for you." ”

Yang Guangdao: "The great success of my cultural rule has given me a lot of confidence, and my martial arts have also begun to be implemented. As soon as I ascended the throne, in the first year of the Great Cause, I ordered Wei Yunqi to lead the Turkic army to pretend to go to Liucheng to trade with Goguryeo, and lead the army into the border of the Khitans, but the Khitans were unguarded. Wei Yunqi led the army to a distance of fifty miles from the Khitan camp

, suddenly launched an attack, defeated the Khitan army, and captured more than 40,000 people. In the second year of the Great Cause, when the Turkic Qimin Khan entered the court, I recruited people from all over the country to entertain him. The next year, I went to Yulin, ordered Yu Wenkai to make a big tent, invited the Qimin Khan and the Khitan, Xi, and Xia patriarchs to participate in the feast and watch the music, and I ordered Yu Wenkai to temporarily build a big hall, called the Guanfeng Xing Palace. Those foreign leaders thought it was a miracle, and every time they saw the imperial camp, they would kneel and kowtow ten miles away, and they didn't dare to ride a horse when they walked, which really made my Great Sui Dynasty raise their eyebrows. ”

"Then I began to use troops to the northwest. Tuyuhun Khanate is a powerful country in Qinghai and Hexi, the ancestor is the eldest son of Murong Shegui, Xianbei of Liaoxi, Murong Tuyuhun, Tuyuhun and Murong Diao are not in harmony, led the people to move west, and finally settled in Qinghai. The customs of Tuyuhun are similar to those of Rouran and Turkic. In the fourth year of the Great Cause, I sent Pei Ju to command Gao Che to attack Tuyuhun, and Tuyuhun asked the Sui Dynasty for reinforcements. I took the opportunity to send troops, and in the second year I destroyed Tuyuhun and fled to the Khan of Busabo. In this war, I opened up thousands of miles of territory for the Great Sui Dynasty, ranging from the east bank of Qinghai Lake in the east, to the Tarim Basin in the west, from the Kuruktag Mountains in the north to the Kunlun Mountains in the south. ”

An Xiaoyu said: "Yang Guang, one of your two wars was to borrow the Tao, and the other was to pretend to rescue, but in the end you destroyed the country and did not pay attention to morality." ”

Yang Guangdao: "What is moral and immoral, haven't you heard of the false Dao in the 36 schemes? This is a ploy, I use the least price to achieve the greatest victory, I will not be Song Xianggong's teacher of benevolence and righteousness." ”

Yang Guang continued: "My greatest feat was to inspect the Qinghai and Hexi corridors. In the fifth year of the Great Cause, I personally led the army from Chang'an, Kyoto to enter Longxi, Gansu, westward to Qinghai across the Qilian Mountains, through the Great Douba Valley to the north, to Zhangye County in the Hexi Corridor. I promise that this trip is not for personal fun. On the way back, when passing through the Dadou Valley, they were hit by a snowstorm, the civil and military officials suffered from hunger, dampness and cold, two-thirds of the soldiers froze to death, the loss of horses and donkeys was tenth, and the accompanying harem concubines and princesses were embarrassed. My trip to the west lasted for half a year, and I traveled as far as Qinghai and the Hexi Corridor, causing a huge sensation. I dare to pat my chest and say that when the Emperor of China arrived so far in the northwest, I was the only one Yang Guang. In the course of my western tour, I also set up four counties, Xihai, Heyuan, Shanshan, and Jimo, to realize the management of the Western Regions. ”

An Xiaoyu said: "Your idea is for the emperor's vanity." ”

Yang Guangdao: "My lord, how can you tell the truth." After I arrived in Zhangye, the monarchs and ministers of the 27 Western Regions such as Gaochang Wang Lu Boya and Yiwu Tutun came to pay respects, and in order to show the prosperity of the Great Sui Dynasty, at the banquet, I ordered nine pieces of music to be played, which was very grand. I was in such a good mood. In order to show the richness of the Sui Dynasty, during the Lantern Festival in the second year, I played a hundred operas for the people of the Western Regions in Luoyang, and the lights shone at night and the day lasted for half a month before it ended. In order to boast of the country's prosperity and strength, I ordered that when ethnic minorities, foreign leaders, and businessmen gather in Luoyang in the first month of each year, they should order people to display a hundred operas and scatter music on the street outside Luoyang's Duanmen

Eight miles, nearly 30,000 kayaki were mobilized, and the music spread dozens of miles away. Merchants from the Western Regions wanted to trade in the market, so Yang Guang ordered the city to be decorated, the shops were decorated, the eaves were uniform, the treasures were abundant, and even the vegetable sellers had to put the green vegetables under the dragon beard mat. When these merchants pass by in front of the hotel restaurant, the owner of the hotel invites them into the restaurant to sit down and explain: 'We have a rich China, and we don't have to spend money to drink and eat.' I will also decorate the trees in the bazaar with silk, and I will let the envoys and merchants of all countries see the prosperity and prosperity of the Great Sui Dynasty, and I will tour the west to open up the territory, stabilize the western frontier, show great martial power, shock the countries, carry out trade, promote the national prestige of China, and unblock the Silk Road, which is the work of a generation of accomplished kings. The strength of the soldiers and horses of the Great Sui Dynasty has not been more than one or two generations since ancient times. ”

(End of chapter)