dognovel Chapter 533 Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang were all furious.
Chapter 533 Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang were all furious.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang were in pain again. What were these emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties all made of? How could they be even less capable than the fool Sima Zhong?
Sima Zhong at least didn't do anything bad. Look at the group of people from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, was there a single normal one among them?
What sins have these poor people committed to deserve such a bunch of beasts?
The four of them were too tired to ask any more questions and slumped weakly on their heels, waiting for Guan Xing to continue.
Guan Xing continued, "The emperors of Northern Qi acted recklessly and squandered the land established by their ancestor Gao Huan. Meanwhile, the Yuwen clan of Northern Zhou, which dominated Guanzhong, was ambitious and gave birth to a powerful ruler who had the potential to unify the country and end three hundred years of chaos: Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong."
"Yuwen Yong destroyed the Northern Qi and unified the Central Plains. If he had just conquered the Southern Chen, he could have unified the world and ended the great chaos that had lasted for more than three hundred years. Unfortunately, Yuwen Yong was not destined for this. He died of illness before he could take action. His son was just as reckless as those beastly emperors of the Northern Qi, and easily destroyed the Yuwen family's foundation."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei completely broke down, trembling as he asked, "The Central Plains, which were only unified a few days ago, are in chaos again?"
They've been fighting for three hundred years and it's still not over. When the hell will this end?
Guan Xing said, "This time it didn't happen. It was usurped by Yang Jian, a relative of Yuwen Yong's children and in-laws. Yang Jian launched a coup, seized the Yuwen family's empire, changed the country's name to Sui, and the era name to Kaihuang. These two characters are enough to reveal Yang Jian's ambition."
"Yang Jian was also a wise ruler comparable to Qin Shi Huang. During his reign, he implemented reforms to strengthen central authority, abolished the Nine-Rank System which had been in place since Cao Pi, established the prototype of the imperial examination system, and carried out a large-scale review and verification of household registrations. He thoroughly integrated the divided ethnic groups, completed the great ethnic integration, and finally conquered the Southern Chen dynasty to unify the country."
"Turning our perspective back to the Southern Chen Dynasty, Chen Baxian died a few years after establishing the Southern Chen Dynasty. His nephew Chen Qian succeeded him as Emperor Wen of Chen. He was a rare wise ruler in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. During his reign, he worked diligently day and night to heal the wounds caused by the Hou Jing Rebellion. Unfortunately, he died young, having only served for seven years."
"After his death, his thirteen-year-old son succeeded him, and his younger brother Chen Xu served as regent. Not long after, Chen Xu usurped the throne. Although Chen Xu usurped the throne, he was a wise ruler who promoted water conservancy, allowed the people to recuperate, and even led an expedition to the north. Unfortunately, he also died a few years later, and the throne was inherited by his son Chen Shubao."
"Chen Shubao is a recognized incompetent ruler. He not only collected beauties from all over the country but also stole the wives of his generals. He hardly did anything good and was definitely a 'lying down' type of ruler."
"When Yang Jian conquered the Southern Chen dynasty, Chen Shubao was in power. He was captured with almost no resistance, and the Southern Chen dynasty was thus destroyed, and the world was unified."
"Everyone says that the fall of the Southern Chen Dynasty was the fault of Emperor Chen Shubao, but in reality, the fall of the Southern Chen Dynasty was inevitable. Even if Chen Shubao had worked as hard as his father and grandfather, he still could not have changed the fate of the country's demise. This is because the Southern Chen Dynasty was inherently weak and lacked resources. It did not even have Jiangling, let alone Bashu. Its territory was not as large as that of the Eastern Wu, which had seized Jingzhou. How could it possibly stand up to a unified Central Plains and Bashu?"
"With the fall of the Southern Chen dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, unified the country and ended three hundred years of chaos. During his reign, Yang Jian implemented various reforms, split the rising Turks on the grasslands, and created an unprecedented golden age. However, a power struggle broke out between the two emperors. Crown Prince Yang Yong could not defeat his younger brother Yang Guang, and after his death, his second son Yang Guang succeeded him."
"As for Yang Guang, some say he was a wise ruler comparable to Qin Shi Huang, while others say he was a tyrant comparable to Jie and Zhou. Opinions vary. The main reason is that Yang Guang did several great things during his reign that were both sinful in his time and meritorious for future generations, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty after only two generations."
Liu Bei exclaimed in astonishment, "It's dead again! What did Yang Guang do to bring down the unified and powerful Sui Dynasty?"
Sima Yi's usurpation took several generations to resolve, so how could Yang Guang have brought down the Sui Dynasty in just one generation? Even if he stayed in the palace all day sleeping and did nothing, the Sui Dynasty wouldn't have fallen, would it?
The War of the Eight Princes in the Western Jin Dynasty dragged on for decades, yet the Eastern Jin Dynasty still managed to destroy half of the country. Did they really think that a unified dynasty was so easy to overthrow?
Guan Xing said, "This is a long story. The Yang family usurped the throne from the Yuwen family, and the Yuwen family usurped the throne from the Tuoba clan of Northern Wei. Back then, in order to fight against Gao Huan, Yuwen Tai formed the Eight Pillars system with eight generals who held real power. Yuwen Tai was one of the Eight Pillars, and the Yang family was also one of the Eight Pillars. In other words, the Northern Zhou Yuwen family's empire belonged to eight people, not just the Yuwen family. These eight families and their subordinate families were collectively known as the Guanlong Nobles, also known as the Guanlong Group."
"At the same time, seven powerful Han families emerged in the Central Plains during the three hundred years of great chaos. They were the Cui family of Qinghe, the Cui family of Boling, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang, the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Li family of Longxi, and the Li family of Zhaojun. They were known as the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families."
"After Yang Guang ascended the throne, the Guanlong Group and the Five Clans and Seven Powers had become too powerful to control. The emperor was constrained by these forces and had no way to exercise his power. Yang Guang was also a stubborn emperor who did not want to be constrained, so the conflict broke out."
"Yang Guang first moved the capital to Luoyang, thus luring the Guanlong Group away from its stronghold. He then fully implemented the imperial examination system in an attempt to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families over officialdom. He also excavated the Grand Canal, connecting the canals built in previous dynasties into one."
"The Grand Canal is the longest and most complex ancient canal in the world. It starts from Zhuojun in the north and ends in Yuhang in the south, connecting five major river systems: the Haihe River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River. It is like building a blood vessel between the Central Plains and the Jiangnan region, allowing them to be completely connected. This canal, like the Dujiangyan Irrigation System in Sichuan and Chongqing, has benefited people for thousands of years and is still in use after more than a thousand years."
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang were all veterans of war, and they had a map of the entire country in their minds. After mentally calculating the distance from Zhuojun to Yuhang, they couldn't help but gasp in shock.
Zhuge Liang exclaimed, "A canal that stretches over three thousand miles—Yang Guang really had a grand vision! The scale of the canal project is comparable to that of the First Emperor building the Great Wall, isn't it?"
Liu Bei smacked his lips and said, "I want this canal too."
Zhuge Liang was startled. They couldn't afford to build the canal now, so he quickly changed the subject, saying, "What happened later? Although the canal was a waste of manpower and resources, it didn't lead to the downfall of the country, did it? You mentioned earlier that Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, created a very prosperous era."
Guan Xing said, "The last straw that broke the back of the Sui Dynasty was the three campaigns against Goguryeo. Although Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, unified the Central Plains and Jiangnan, there was still a powerful Goguryeo in Liaodong that posed a threat to the Central Plains dynasty."
Liu Bei quickly raised his hand to stop him, saying, "Wait a minute, the name Goguryeo sounds familiar. Could it be that small tribe that split off from Buyeo and is currently baring its teeth at the Gongsun clan in Liaodong, only to be beaten down by them?"
Seeing Guan Xing nod, he asked again, "How could a small tribe that was being suppressed by the Gongsun family pose a threat to the Central Plains dynasty?"
"Also, Goguryeo was still in existence by the time of Yang Guang. How did it rise to power with such a long reign?"
Guan Xing sighed, "The reason why Goguryeo was able to rise to power was because a great philanthropist named Sima Yi emerged in the Central Plains."
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang: "..."
Does this also involve Sima Yi?
How did Goguryeo get involved with Sima Yi?
Guan Xing said, "During Cao Rui's reign, he sent Sima Yi to attack Liaodong and destroy the Gongsun family. This was not a big deal, but Sima Yi, that brain-dead idiot, went crazy and after destroying the Gongsun family, he actually moved all the Han people in Liaodong back to Guanzhong, leaving the entire Liaodong to Goguryeo, thus completely liberating Goguryeo, which had been being rubbed into the ground by the Gongsun family."
“Our great Han Dynasty started to settle people on the border as early as the time of Emperor Wu, in order to stabilize the border and gradually turn the border into the inland. But Sima Yi was not only not settling people on the border, but also moved the people from outside the pass back, causing the hundreds of years of efforts of the great Han Dynasty in Liaodong to be destroyed. If I were the king of Goguryeo, I would have to kowtow to the great benefactor Sima Yi.”