Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

During the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty,

"Alas, they're talking about me!!"

"This is fantastic!!"

And almost all of them were compliments!

Yang Jian released Dugu Jialuo's hand, which he had just been tightly gripping, and was enveloped in a strange excitement.

Yang Jian thought that since his Sui Dynasty had only lasted two generations, his reputation wouldn't be much better.

Furthermore, the legitimacy of his claim to the throne seemed rather questionable.

He had long been deeply doubting himself, feeling that his reputation in posterity was doomed.

Now that he is called a great ruler, one of the first emperors after the first emperor of all time, people are naturally overjoyed and extremely excited.

"Hiss~"

In a daze, Yang Jian felt a sharp pain in his waist. He snapped out of his excitement and gritted his teeth as he gasped for breath.

"Don't get too cocky; the sky says you've become senile in your later years!"

Dugu Jialuo spoke forcefully, her hands moving without stopping, twisting hard to pull Yang Jian back from his excitement.

Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, perfectly illustrates one thing: the worries of the Eastern Han emperors, and indeed the worries of emperors throughout history, were correct—the maternal relatives of the emperor could indeed usurp power.

Yang Jian was born into the Hongnong Yang clan, the son of Yang Zhong, a high-ranking official of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He inherited the title of Duke of Sui and was a member of the imperial family. His daughter, Yang Lihua, was the empress of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yun.

In 581, Yang Jian accepted the abdication of his grandson, Emperor Jing Yuwen Chan, changed the dynasty name to Sui, and established his capital at Daxing City.

Many scholars of the Eastern Han Dynasty felt as if they had found kindred spirits upon seeing the words displayed on the celestial screen.

"Maternal relatives are truly a great scourge!!"

"If they dare to seize power today, they'll dare to usurp the throne tomorrow, and they'll dare to murder the emperor the day after!!"

"Let's see if His Majesty will still heavily rely on relatives of the empress now!!"

"What if His Majesty says they are different?"

The scholars were filled with righteous indignation, as if they were about to storm into the mansions of those powerful relatives and cause a ruckus.

"Then let's fight!!"

"fighting!!"

After ascending the throne, Yang Jian immediately launched a sweeping reform across the country.

First, he thoroughly reformed the system that had been in its rudimentary form since the Wei and Jin dynasties, establishing the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, a system that has influenced China for thousands of years.

During the Sui Dynasty, there were three departments and six ministries. The three departments were the Inner Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Department of State Affairs, which were responsible for decision-making, deliberation, and execution, respectively.

The Six Ministries, responsible for the administration of the people, rites, military, justice, and public works, categorized and handled all national affairs separately, greatly strengthening the emperor's power.

Han Dynasty

Liu Che slapped his thigh—this was exactly what he wanted!

As an emperor with exceptional political acumen, Liu Che instantly grasped the meaning behind it.

He was planning to weaken the power of the prime minister, and originally intended to appoint a series of trusted confidants, such as the Minister and the Attendant-in-Ordinary, to participate in political decision-making, thereby gradually reducing the prime minister's power.

But this is nowhere near as good as the assignments given directly by later generations!

"Xue Ze!!"

At this moment, Prime Minister Xue Zewei trembled almost imperceptibly.

He was always cautious and dared not voice any objections to Liu Che.

Liu Che suddenly called his name, and his heart skipped a beat.

"The Three Departments and Six Ministries system will also be implemented in the Han Dynasty, but for now, let's get the Three Departments set up first. These things can't be rushed."

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Seeing the cold glint in Liu Che's eyes, Xue Ze dared not utter a word of objection, and quickly agreed, retreating to the ranks.

He inwardly groaned in despair.

Bitter! !

Many emperors before the Sui Dynasty followed suit, applying the Three Departments and Six Ministries system to their courts. However, some powerful prime ministers argued forcefully, hindering the implementation of the Three Departments system.

The prime ministers wished for the emperor's power to be as small as possible, because only when the emperor's power was reduced could their power be increased.

[The Kaihuang Code was enacted to reduce penalties]

[After a thorough search and review of the population registers, a nationwide population re-examination and tax reform were conducted. As a result, the Sui Dynasty's revenue increased year after year, its population surged, and its treasury became overflowing.]

[In the north, a strategy was employed to divide the behemoth that was the Turkic Khaganate into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates. Later, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate submitted to the emperor and bestowed upon Yang Jian the honorific title of "Sage Khan".]

To select talented individuals, Emperor Yang Jian officially issued an edict abolishing the Nine-Rank System of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, ordering all prefectures and counties to recommend talents and conduct examinations based on two subjects: moral character and ability.

Although this was not the fully developed imperial examination system of the Tang and Song dynasties, this examination method laid a solid foundation for the imperial examination system.

Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin nodded approvingly, fully affirming the achievements of his maternal uncle, whom he had never met.

"Emperor Wen of Sui unified the north and south into one country, achieving unification over three hundred years. He governed the country diligently and frugally, and can naturally be considered a great ruler."

"However, the title of 'Sage Khan' is still inferior to 'Heavenly Khan'!"

"It's just a pity!!"

Li Shimin shook his head, paused for a moment, as if waiting for something.

Cheng Yaojin already understood; it was time for me to step in!

"Your Majesty, what is the pity?"

Cheng Yaojin is already a qualified straight man, always able to pick up on the conversation at just the right moment, and given his performance, it's not surprising that he says anything.

"Emperor Wen of Sui was extremely discerning but lacked clarity of mind; he was overly suspicious and distrustful!"

In 589, Emperor Wen of Sui sent troops to conquer Chen, reunifying the north and south, which had been divided for nearly three hundred years since the end of the Jin Dynasty.

He himself set an example by living a very frugal life, opposing extravagance, and demanding that members of the royal family follow suit. Crown Prince Yang Yong was particularly disliked by him because of his extravagant lifestyle, and was eventually deposed.

Was Yang Jian really that wise?

But judging from these facts, he was practically a model emperor comparable to Emperor Wen of Han.

The people couldn't help but imagine how wonderful it would be to live during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui.

He would surely be no different from Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin—a benevolent emperor who loved his people.

We'll definitely be living a much better life back then than we are now!

As for his senility in his later years, how senile could he be? The heavens even say that Li Shimin was senile!

However, perhaps due to his illegitimate accession to the throne, Yang Jian felt extremely insecure and harbored deep suspicion towards his ministers.

In his later years, he became extremely suspicious and distrustful, and began a large-scale purge of the founding heroes and early pioneers.

[He even personally led the charge in violating the Kaihuang Code, which he himself had created, and began to convict people based on his personal likes and dislikes.]

While Yang Jian was frugal, his frugality bordered on stinginess—stinginess towards the country and its people.

When the famine victims in Guanzhong were suffering from severe disasters and could no longer make a living, the ministers requested that the granaries be opened to distribute grain for disaster relief. However, he still refused to open the granaries and let the hungry people embark on a difficult journey to Luoyang for grain.

The ancient people under the sky were suddenly stunned.

I originally thought he was a good emperor, but how come he's just like Liu Che?

Liu Che is not a name, not an emperor, but a disease, right?

Emperors often become incompetent in their later years, and Liu Che (Emperor Wu of Han) set this bad precedent!

Moreover, what Tianmu said was absolutely right. Even the emperors before the Sui Dynasty were puzzled...

How exactly did they manage to do it? How did they transform a chaotic world with empty treasuries and a north-south divide into a prosperous and well-fed world?

Now they understand, it all comes down to one word.

"Stingy!!"

They're really stingy!

They don't even distribute disaster relief grain, yet when famine strikes their own core territory, ministers request the release of grain.

They actually forbid it!!

Such actions have long since alienated the people.

Besides, what's the use of keeping that grain? You can't keep it to breed!