In fact, although the Sui Dynasty experienced a short time, it also had a period of political stability, social stability and people's prosperity, which was called "imperial rule" in history. In the later period of Emperor Taizong's "Zhenguan rule", for a long time, he failed to reach all the economic indicators of the Sui Dynasty.
Map of Jiangnan of Emperor Yang Di
Wei Zhi once comforted Emperor Taizong: "What is the rank of a long plan?" In other words, it is much worse than the five years since the opening of the Sui Dynasty. Even the Tang Dynasty, which has always regarded the Sui Dynasty as a negative textbook, commented on this. How rich was the Sui Dynasty?
1970, Luoyang Museum excavated a warehouse of Sui Dynasty, including Jiacang, with a total area of 430,000 square meters, which is as big as dozens of football fields, including 287 granaries, which can store millions of stone grains. At that time, the archaeological team found hundreds of thousands of kilograms of carbonized millet from this warehouse, and the number was amazing.
During the reign of Emperor Kaizhi of Sui Dynasty, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and there was no place to store the produced millet, so the Sui Dynasty built many large granaries all over the country. In addition to Jiacang, there are Changcang, Guangtong Cang, Liyang Cang and Luo Huicang, which shows the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty.
A warehouse containing additional positions.
In addition, according to Sui Shu Shihuozhi, it is recorded that:
"At pingkiang, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty was a family under heaven, so he bowed first to save money. In the seventeenth year of the emperor, the household registration was full, and both domestic and foreign warehouses benefited. All donations, not exceeding the funds, are accumulated under the outline, and Gaozu stopped giving Li Yuan this year. "
In other words, in the seventeenth year of the reign of the emperor, the tax revenue of the Sui Dynasty was huge, and the national treasury was full, even piled up under the eaves outside the library. Emperor Wendi of Sui was certainly happy to see this scene, and ordered to stop collecting this year's positive tax and distribute it to the people all over the world.
The country's main source of income is tax, and Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty exempted it for one year, which is enough to excite the world and can be said to be rare throughout the ages. Emperor Wen was so "generous", which also showed the wealth and confidence of the country at that time.
Stills of Emperor Yang Di of Sui Dynasty
How did the Sui Dynasty become so rich after only thirty-eight years?
First, the strong foundation of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
As we all know, during the reign of Emperor Wendi, the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen in the south and reunified the whole country. In the same year, Ryukyu Islands surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and Turkic Khan honored Emperor Wendi as a saint. It can be said that Emperor Wendi ended the long-term chaotic situation in China at that time. After reunification, the people were able to rebuild their homes and resume production, which further promoted economic and cultural exchanges between the North and the South.
Can have such achievements, in fact, can not be separated from the strong foundation established by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After more than ten years' efforts, Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty rectified the official administration, making the Northern Zhou Dynasty politically clear, the people's lives stable and the country prosperous. Later, the Qi Dynasty was destroyed and the North was unified, which laid a solid foundation for the final reunification of the Sui Dynasty.
As the saying goes, "Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty is more likely to win the world since ancient times", and Emperor Wendi's accession to the throne can be said to be "enjoying the success". The untimely death of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the sudden death of Emperor Xuandi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the indoor struggle in the Northern Zhou Dynasty directly contributed to the accession of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty at that time.
Portrait of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty
Second, the system established and reformed by Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty.
In the political system, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty abolished the chaotic "six officials" system in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, initiated the system of five provinces and six Cao, and later renamed it the system of five provinces and six ministries. Among the "five provinces", "two provinces" cannot play an important role in actual government affairs. In addition, the establishment of the "three provinces" enabled officials to check and balance each other and avoid authoritarian power, which was also the "three provinces and six departments system" followed by the Tang Dynasty.
On the system of selecting officials, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty also abolished the method of selecting officials that China had practiced for more than 300 years since Cao Wei, and established the imperial examination system, which can be said to be an epoch-making move and broke the monopoly of the aristocratic class on political power.
There is an old saying that "the imperial examination system enables ordinary people to get the opportunity to be an official through their own efforts and talents, which is fair in a certain sense." . Under the guarantee of the imperial examination system, the imperial court also obtained more outstanding talents, which increased the talent guarantee for the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty.
Scene map of imperial examination
Third, Emperor Wendi of Sui attached great importance to economic development.
After Emperor Wendi ascended the throne, he took the rich country as the main goal and neglected taxation to solve the people's difficulties. He also ordered that the service age be raised from 18 to 2 1 year. In addition, he also built water conservancy and dredged water transportation. These measures all promoted the people's enthusiasm for production and promoted the development of agriculture at that time.
Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty grew up in a temple when he was a child. plain clothes was a vegetarian, so he developed a frugal life. Emperor Wendi of Sui never paid attention to meat, nor did he use gold and jade ornaments, nor did his concubines make beautiful ornaments. Queen Dugu is a model of frugality in the palace. She once said, "(Jewelry) is not what I need. At present, the army can't attack again and again, and the soldiers stop working, but they don't reward 8 million people who have made meritorious deeds. "
After this incident, many courtiers expressed their appreciation for the Queen and took the Queen as an example, which greatly reduced extravagance and waste. But in his later years, Emperor Wendi and Queen Dugu gradually weakened their diligence and thrift, which is another matter.
Stills of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty and Empress Dugu
Fourth, the article on taxation.
It is recorded in The Rise and Fall of Zhenguan Politicians that in the second year of Emperor Taizong, he sent someone to inspect the treasury left by the Sui Dynasty. As a result, he received such a report: "Sui Wen did not pity the people, but cherished the warehouse. Compared with the previous year, it is worth fifty or sixty years. "
In other words, the property and food left by the Sui Dynasty will last for 50 or 60 years. As we all know, during Yang Di's reign, there were many major projects in the country, which consumed a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources, such as repairing the Great Wall, digging the Sui and Tang Grand Canal, building the majestic Luoyang City and levying Koguryo. After so many projects, the state treasury still has so much balance, which shows another problem, that is, the Sui Dynasty made an "article" on taxation.
The first is to read big books. The so-called "looking at the overall situation" means conducting a nationwide census of household registration, requiring people to match the recorded information and prepare for paying taxes according to the head. In the early years of Sui Dynasty, people evaded paying taxes by hiding their household registration and pretending to be "women and children".
In this way, officials record people's gender, age and physical characteristics to prevent such things from happening. Through this inspection, a large number of hidden accounts were discovered. From the first year to the third year, the population of Sui Dynasty increased from 2 million to 7 million. Such a large growth rate in a short period of time shows that it was not completed through normal delivery.
The second is household analysis. The so-called "household analysis" means the separation of household registration. In the Sui Dynasty, in addition to the "poll tax", there was another tax called "household tax". The government stipulates that children who get married and have children should be registered separately from their parents so that the government can collect additional "family tax".
The disadvantage of this method is obvious, that is, "there is no support for the old." When parents are old, the government does not force their children to support their parents. They are tightly bound by morality.