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Chapter 351 Guangshen's "Great Achievements"

The First Emperor and others only felt that Yang Yong was really brave, but his brain was not very good. Even if you favor Yun Zhaoxun, don't be so anxious.

As soon as your wife died, you couldn't wait to make your concubine your wife. What would your father and mother think?
They will definitely think that it was you, Yang Yong, who killed your wife in order to help Yun Zhaoxun take the throne!

What Yang Yong did was no longer just stepping on Empress Dugu's minefield, but dancing vigorously in Empress Dugu's minefield.

Empress Dugu was not polite either and dealt a heavy blow to her eldest son!

"After these actions, Yang Yong finally made Empress Dugu dislike him. Compared with Yang Yong, his brother Yang Guang was quite smart. Knowing that his mother advocated frugality, he also practiced frugality. His mother did not like men to have three wives and four concubines, so he did not take concubines and stayed with his principal wife, Concubine Xiao."

From this point of view, Yang Guang was a very smart man who knew how to adapt to the times.

Then how did this guy bring down the Sui Dynasty after he ascended the throne?

In fact, although Guangshen has a bad reputation in history, no one would think he is stupid.

If he had been a little more stupid, perhaps the Sui Dynasty would not have perished so quickly. The destructive power of bad things done by a fool is far less than that of bad things done by a smart person.

"The two brothers behaved in different ways. It's obvious that Yang Guang's actions were more in line with Empress Dugu's wishes."

"Empress Dugu praised Yang Guang highly and began to think of deposing Yang Yong and enthroning Yang Guang. Her attitude naturally influenced Yang Jian, making him dislike Yang Yong and like Yang Guang."

"Yang Yong noticed the change in his father's and mother's attitude towards him and felt scared, but he couldn't think of a solution. He lived in fear and worry all day long. In addition, seeing his younger brother Yang Guang being loved by his father's and mother's, he couldn't help but feel resentful."

"Then, Yang Yong made another mistake!"

Yang Yong made one mistake after another, but he couldn't think of a good way to solve the problem, which was really fatal.

"Although Yang Jian was influenced by Empress Dugu, he did not make up his mind so quickly on whether to depose Prince Yang Yong. However, Yang Yong often complained when he felt resentful!"

For ordinary people, it is not a big deal to have resentment and complaints in their hearts, but Yang Yong is the prince, not an ordinary person.

"Yang Yong blamed his father, the emperor, and his mother for being partial, and his brother, Yang Guang, for being sinister. These complaints naturally reached the ears of Yang Jian and Empress Dugu, making them dislike him even more."

Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. Although you are the crown prince, you are not yet the emperor. You are still a subject in front of me, your father. No matter what I give you, you have to accept it willingly. You actually dare to complain. What will happen after you ascend the throne?
"So Yang Yong was deposed, and Yang Jian made his second son Yang Guang the crown prince instead."

"In the process of Yang Yong being deposed, another important official of the Sui Dynasty played an important role."

"This man's name is 'Yang Su', and he is highly valued by Yang Jian. However, Yang Su is good friends with Yang Guang. Yang Jian once sent Yang Su to observe Yang Yong, but Yang Su deliberately angered Yang Yong and made him complain."

"After Yang Yong was deposed as the crown prince, he felt that his crime was not serious enough and repeatedly sought to see Yang Jian. In desperation, he once climbed a tree and shouted loudly, hoping that Yang Jian would hear him and allow him to see him."

"But this was also stopped by Yang Su, who told Yang Jian that Yang Yong had gone mad, so Yang Yong was unable to see Yang Jian."

This is also caused by the lack of communication between father and son. Many problems between emperors and princes are caused by the fact that father and son do not communicate directly, which creates a gap between father and son and gives others the opportunity to take advantage.

"Speaking of Yang Guang, after he overthrew Yang Yong and was made the crown prince, Yang Guang was still the same as before he became the crown prince. He was frugal, wise, filial, kind, and not interested in women. But as Yang Jian's health declined and Yang Guang's power in the court grew, this situation changed."

"In the second year of Renshou, Empress Dugu died. After her death, Lady Xuanhua Chen and Lady Ronghua Cai were both beautiful and favored by Yang Jian. At this time, Yang Jian was over 60 years old and his health was getting weaker. In the fourth year of Renshou, which was the fourth year after Yang Guang was appointed as the crown prince, Yang Jian fell ill and lived in Renshou Palace."

"Yang Jian summoned Yang Su, the Minister of the Left, Liu Shu, the Minister of War, and Yuan Yan, the Imperial Court Assistant, to the palace to attend to his illness, and summoned Yang Guang to live in the Great Treasure Hall."

"Yang Guang considered that Yang Jian might die suddenly and needed to take precautions in advance, so he wrote a letter to Yang Su for advice."

"Yang Su wrote back to Yang Guang, and then as expected, something unexpected happened. The messenger delivered the reply to Yang Jian's bedroom, and Yang Jian was furious after reading it."

This is easy to understand. I am not dead yet. What do you, the crown prince, want to do by colluding with important officials?

Once you have colluded with each other, will I be killed by you even if I would not die originally?
Li Nian continued, "Yang Jian's anger is understandable, but this matter can be big or small. Yang Jian should not have thought of abolishing the position of Crown Prince Yang Guang, but after dawn, another incident happened!"

"At dawn, Lady Xuanhua came out to change her clothes. Yang Guang saw that she was very beautiful and wanted to force her to make peace with him..."

Although they had expected that Yang Guang might make a 180-degree turn after ascending the throne, the First Emperor and others were still a little surprised when they actually heard about it.

Lady Xuanhua was his father's concubine, but this guy actually wanted to force himself to sleep with his father's woman, while his father was still alive.

This guy has been enduring for so many years and finally can't help but expose his true nature. He is not the holy prince at all, but a wild and lustful beast.

In particular, Yang Guang's desires had been forcibly suppressed for many years. Once released, they would only become stronger.

"Lady Xuanhua did not obey Yang Guang. After escaping from Yang Guang, she returned to Yang Jian's residence.

Yang Jian noticed that Lady Xuanhua looked strange and asked her the reason. Lady Xuanhua told him the truth.

Yang Jian was furious, and he leaned against the bed and said, "How can a beast be entrusted with important matters! Dugu has misled me!"

Hearing this, the First Emperor shook his head and said, "Yang Guang dared to be so reckless, he must have been extremely confident. Even if Yang Jian recognized Yang Guang's face, it would be useless! He said that Empress Dugu misled him, but in fact he was also responsible, he was also deceived by Yang Guang's appearance!"

The First Emperor made this evaluation because he saw similarities between himself and Yang Jian. In the history that Li Nian mentioned, he was also deceived by Hu Hai's appearance.

Li Nian said: "As your majesty said, although Yang Jian knew Yang Guang's true appearance, it was too late. Yang Jian called Liu Shu and Yuan Yan and asked them to summon Yang Yong to the palace, but Yang Su and Yang Guang knew about it."

"Yang Guang falsely conveyed Yang Jian's order to arrest Liu Shu and Yuan Yan, and transferred soldiers from the Eastern Palace to guard Renshou Palace, prohibiting entry and exit. He ordered the right son Zhang Heng to enter Renshou Palace to serve Yang Jian. Soon, Yang Jian died!"

Although it was just a few short sentences, the information revealed in them made everyone think deeply: Yang Jian's death was probably not normal, and it was very likely that Yang Guang took the initiative to "help" his old father.

The throne is only for one person, if Yang Jian doesn't leave, how can Yang Guang make progress? Moreover, the father and son have completely torn their faces apart by this time. If Yang Jian is allowed to leave alive, Yang Guang will be the one to die.

Only one of the father and son can survive.

"Yang Jian reigned for 23 years and died at the age of 64. His temple name was Gaozu and his posthumous title was Emperor Wen. He was known in history as Emperor Wen of Sui. Yang Jian was a very capable emperor. The biggest mistake he made in his life was to make Yang Guang the crown prince. It was this mistake that led to the collapse of the Second Sui Dynasty."

"Without his mother, and now without his father, there is no one in the entire Sui Dynasty who can restrain Yang Guang. So, Yang Guang began to let himself go!"

"In the early years, Yang Guang lived a very depressed life because he had to please Empress Dugu and Yang Jian. The more he was suppressed, the stronger the backlash!"

"He was not able to enjoy himself freely in his early years. After ascending the throne, Yang Guang tried his best to enjoy himself again to make up for what he missed in his early years."

"Yang Guang was extravagant and also very proud. In the third year of Daye, Yang Guang gave 20 million pieces of silk to Qimin Khan of the Turkic region, and Qimin Khan's subordinates were also rewarded. How much silk could the Sui Dynasty produce in a year at that time? How much was given to the foreign race at once?"

"When foreign envoys came to the Sui Dynasty, in the first month of the sixth year of Daye, Yang Guang had a month-long performance of a hundred plays held on Duanmen Street in Luoyang City. There were more than 10,000 musicians participating. The music could be heard dozens of miles away, and the lights were on day and night."

"In order to show the wealth of the Sui Dynasty to envoys from other countries, he ordered that silk be wrapped around the trees in Luoyang City, that shops in the city be renovated and decorated, that the eaves be of the same style, that shops be filled with rare goods, that shop assistants be dressed in fancy clothes, and that even vegetable vendors bedding the floor with dragon whisker mats."

"If foreigners pass by a restaurant in Luoyang, the owner will invite them to sit down and eat without paying. The owner will also tell the foreigners: 'China is rich, and the food and wine are not charged.'"

Even with the mental cultivation of the First Emperor and others, they still felt that Yang Guang was really outrageous and his behavior was too abstract.

Using this self-deceptive method to show foreign countries the strength of your country?

Daqin will not use this method now, nor will it need to in the future. It is not necessary and there is no need!
The Great Qin will use its upright strength to let other countries know of its might, and foreigners should feel lucky that they can come to the Great Qin, rather than the Great Qin flattering them.

Wang Jian couldn't help but ask, "Then these foreigners didn't notice anything unusual?"

Li Nian replied: "According to historical records, foreigners also noticed it. When they saw silk wrapped around trees, they asked, 'There are also poor people in China whose clothes can't even cover their bodies. Why don't you give them this? Why wrap it around trees?' The people in the market were ashamed and couldn't answer."

Even foreigners could see that Yang Guang was trying to show off his wealth and power to outsiders, but Yang Guang was unaware of this and thought he was demonstrating the wealth and power of the Sui Dynasty to foreigners.

I will take out the treasures in my home to show you, and let you enjoy the fine wine and delicious food. Do you understand how powerful our Great Sui is?

"But although these losses were great, they were not enough to bring the Sui Dynasty to its knees, and they were still far from Yang Guang's truly 'great' achievements."

Compared with Guangshen, Emperor Qin Shihuang's construction of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and the construction of the Great Wall can only be called small projects, while what Guangshen is doing can be called a big project.

If Li Nian were to travel to Guangshen Palace, he would definitely find a way to kill Guangshen.

Some people in later generations actually compared the First Emperor with Guangshen, which was a pure insult to the First Emperor.

"In the first year of Daye, Yang Guang built the eastern capital Luoyang, which lasted ten months, and 2 million people were conscripted for labor service every month. In the same year, Yang Guang ordered Yuwen Kai and the internal historian Feng Deyi to build the Xianren Palace, connecting Zaojian in the south and Luobin in the north. He also brought rare materials and stones from the south of the Yangtze River and the north of the Five Ridges to Luoyang. He also sought fine trees and rare grasses, rare birds and rare animals from all over the country to fill the gardens."

"He also sent Wang Hong, the Imperial Court Assistant Minister, and others to the south of the Yangtze River to build tens of thousands of dragon boats and other boats. The officials in Luoyang supervised the work very strictly, and 40 to 50 percent of the laborers died. The vehicles carrying the bodies went from Chenggao in the east to Heyang in the north. Yang Guang also built the Tianjing Palace in Luoyang to offer sacrifices to Yang Jian in all four seasons!"

This is a madman. Even if the death toll is exaggerated at 40% to 50%, or only 10% to 20%, it is still a horrifying number.

Wang Wan commented: "It was Yang Jian's great fault to make Yang Guang the crown prince and allow him to ascend the throne. If Yang Jian knew what Yang Guang did after his death, he would be furious!"

Yang Guang had the nerve to offer sacrifices to Yang Jian. If Yang Jian knew what he had done after his death, he would probably want to go back in time and strangle Yang Guang to death when he was just born.

Li Nian continued to elaborate on Guangshen's "achievements". After listening to him, the First Emperor suddenly felt that his historical deeds of building the Great Wall and repairing mausoleums were nothing compared to that of the Great Emperor Yang Guang.

He even felt that compared to Yang Guang, Hu Hai was obedient and sensible...

Look at the manpower Yang Guang used and the scale of the construction: he built the Western Garden, with a circumference of 200 li, inside which was the sea, with a circumference of more than ten li. After the branches and leaves of trees fell in autumn and winter, he would cut colorful silks into flowers and leaves and decorate the branches to make the scenery always as if in spring.

The extravagance and waste has reached an outrageous level!
"Yang Guang ordered the construction of a dragon boat so that he could travel to Jiangdu. The dragon boat was divided into four levels, 40 to 50 feet high and 200 feet long. The upper level had the main hall, the inner hall, and the east and west court halls. The middle two levels had 120 rooms decorated with gold and jade. The lower level was for the eunuchs."

"When he traveled to Jiangdu, he led the kings, officials, concubines, and palace maids, totaling 100,000 to 200,000 people. His ships were more than 200 miles long, and every prefecture and county within 500 miles of his destination had to contribute food. His extravagance and waste were extremely serious."

"The local people didn't have much food to begin with, and because of Yang Guang's dragon boat, they were forced by local officials to offer all kinds of delicacies. Yang Guang and his men couldn't finish eating them, so they had to be wasted."

Li Nian shook his head and said an adapted poem: "The dragon boat race is full of wine and meat, and there are starving people on the road!"

"In order to travel to Jiangdu smoothly, Yang Guang also spent the people's manpower to build a canal."

"It is quite funny that some people in later generations often confuse this canal with another canal, and attribute the credit for the other canal to Yang Guang, saying 'the sin is in this generation, but the credit will be passed down through the ages'. It turns out that it was not them who were forced by Yang Guang to build the canal."

"Moreover, the canal built by Yang Guang had already been built in dynasties before the Sui Dynasty, and some waterways were even built during the Spring and Autumn Period. Why was it all attributed to Yang Guang alone?"

"And Yang Guang built this canal not to benefit the country or the people, but to facilitate his trip to Jiangdu for pleasure! Moreover, this canal was abandoned during the Song Dynasty, and the later canal was built during the Yuan Dynasty."

"In order to build this canal, Yang Guang conscripted millions of people for labor service, and many died."

"In the first year of Daye, Yang Guang ordered the construction of Tongji Canal and Han Canal. Construction began in March and was to be completed in autumn. The tight deadline required river workers to work day and night. It is said that two-thirds of the workers died."

Two-thirds of the people died, and more than half of the people who went to build the canal died. How many people and how many families were destroyed because of this?
No wonder Yang Jian left Yang Guang a prosperous dynasty, but Yang Guang still brought it to its end. It was true that with Yang Guang's way of playing, no matter how rich the family fortune was, he could squander it all.

"It is said that when a section of the canal was being built, it failed to meet the standards after repeated inspections. Yang Guang then ordered that tens of thousands of officials and laborers responsible for digging this section of the canal be buried alive on the spot."

The First Emperor now had only one feeling about Yang Guang: this Yang Guang was really not a human being. If Yang Guang was his son, he would immediately pick up his sword and kill this guy. Compared with Yang Guang, Hu Hai seemed much more pleasing to the eye.

But this is only part of Guangshen’s “achievements”, there is even more!
(End of this chapter)