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

It's a waste of resources and manpower, ruining the country and destroying families!

People before the Sui Dynasty had never witnessed such a massive war.

Some even speculate that this number might have been fabricated by later generations, as it's impossible to mobilize nearly five million able-bodied men just to fight a small country like Goguryeo.

But when I thought about Yang Guang building Luoyang, the eastern capital, and constructing the Grand Canal, I instantly felt relieved.

Given Yang Guang's mindset, it's not surprising that he would do anything.

Ambitious ambitions should be described as "bearish ambitions"!

Some dynasties did not even have Goguryeo, but when it comes to Liaodong, everyone basically knows about it.

They're just those savages from the Northeast.

Both Jizi and Weiman established states in that region and submitted to the Central Plains.

That place has been an inseparable part of our territory since ancient times!

Emperor Wu of Han used 100,000 troops to destroy Wiman Joseon, but Yang Guang used ten times that number!

Yang Guang's rampant abuse of the people's labor was initially tolerated by the common people, as it was understandable that a new official would make a big splash upon taking office, and it was also good for the new emperor to have some ideas.

However, Emperor Yang Guang used it every year, and multiple major projects were carried out in the same year.

In the first year of the Daye era, over two million laborers were employed for the construction of Luoyang, over one million for the Tongji Canal, and over one hundred thousand for the Han Canal. Tens of thousands of dragon boats were also built. An inspection tour of Jiangdu mobilized eighty thousand laborers.

The fact that Yang Guang was able to tour Jiangdu in August indicates that the Tongji Canal and the Hangou Canal had already been completed, with a construction period of approximately five months.

In the third year of the Daye era, the Great Wall was built, mobilizing more than one million laborers. This time, the construction period was even shorter, only ten to twenty days.

In the fourth year of the Daye era, the Yongji Canal mobilized a million laborers, initially employing women, to repair palaces and build the Great Wall.

In the seventh year of the Daye era, warships were built, and nearly two million people were conscripted within two months to transport grain from granaries.

[In the eighth, ninth, and tenth years of the Daye era, three campaigns were launched against Goguryeo.]

"What's his rush?"

"Doesn't he understand the principle that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish?"

Lao Tzu was so angry his beard bristled; this was something he simply couldn't have imagined.

So many wise and capable rulers emerged in later generations, how come Yang Guang was completely unlike a normal monarch?

It's as if there's some task to complete, and if it's not completed by the deadline, there will be terrible consequences.

If we say that Lao Tzu, or most of the capable rulers of later generations, were like simmering a pot of rich broth over a low flame, slowly creating a prosperous era, then we can say that Lao Tzu and most of the capable rulers of later generations were like simmering a pot of rich broth over a low flame.

Yang Guang was like someone who stir-fries things up over a high flame, and in the end, he burned it!

In the seventh year of the Daye era, Yang Guang launched his first campaign against Goguryeo. People in Hebei and Shandong suffered extremely cruel exploitation. They were forced to work day and night without rest. The people had nowhere to go and were even sent by Yang Guang to Liaodong to die.

In Shandong, a folk song gradually spread, called "Song of Dying in Liaodong," the last line of which is "If I were to die in Liaodong, what harm would be done if my head were cut off?"

The people would rather rebel and be beheaded than go to Liaodong to die.

The first uprising army emerged in Shandong, after which peasant uprisings spread like wildfire across Shandong, Hebei, and other regions.

Instead of reflecting on and correcting his mistakes in the face of these peasant uprisings, Emperor Yang of Sui continued to levy exorbitant taxes and levies.

He once told those around him, "I dislike being told what to do," and he never admitted his mistakes, knew they were wrong, or corrected them.

From the eighth year of the Daye era to the fourteenth year, the sparks had grown into a prairie fire.

Serves you right!!

If you don't like receiving advice from others, then I'll show you what I'm capable of!

"For example, if someone dies in Liaodong, what harm is there in beheading them?"

Many people pondered this saying, preferring to rebel rather than go to Liaodong and die in vain.

Liu Bang recalled that rainy night when he led his soldiers to slay the white snake and start a rebellion.

Zhu Yuanzhang could faintly hear the roar of the great river, mixed with the angry shouts of countless people.

"Don't say the stone man has only one eye; he can stir up the Yellow River and the world to rebel."

Zhongdu Fengyang....

Zhu Yuanzhang regretted it; he regretted building this capital city.

He regretted spending several years' worth of the nation's treasury just to build a capital city in his hometown that satisfied his deep-rooted feelings for his homeland.

"Biao'er, Zhongdu Fengyang..."

Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated, then spoke with great difficulty.

"Stop it, let's not fix it anymore."

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief.

Faced with this situation, the arrogant Yang Guang collapsed.

In the twelfth year of the Daye era, Yang Guang abandoned the foundation of the Sui Dynasty, leaving Luoyang to his grandson, the fourteen-year-old Prince of Yue, Yang Tong. He then embarked on his final journey to Jiangdu in a dragon boat, never to return to Luoyang.

Upon arriving in Jiangdu, Yang Guang immediately abandoned all pretense of luxury and began indulging in pleasure with an even more extravagant attitude, undertaking massive palace renovations and living in unrestrained extravagance, surpassing even the previous years.

In the fourteenth year of the Daye era, Yang Guang's confidant Yuwen Huaji staged a coup and assassinated Yang Guang. Yang Tong, who was left to guard Luoyang, was enthroned as emperor and gave Yang Guang the title of Emperor Ming of the Shizu clan.

After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan abolished Emperor Ming's posthumous title for Yang Guang and changed it to Emperor Yang.

[A person who is fond of internal affairs and avoids propriety is called Yang; a person who abandons propriety and alienates the masses is called Yang; a person who defies Heaven and oppresses the people is called Yang.]

Emperor Yang of Sui, truly deserving of the title!!

In the fourth year of Renshou,

The streets of Daxing City were guarded by soldiers.

Yang Liang led his army straight to Daxing, and the defending troops along the way surrendered without a fight. When they reached the walls of Daxing, the city gates opened without a single bloodshed.

With almost no losses, Yang Liang arrived in Daxing City, which he had always been extremely loyal to.

"Tap tap!"

Yang Guang, his hair disheveled, lay sprawled on the ground. He looked up at his youngest brother, who was walking towards him step by step, and gave a bitter smile.

"You've come. Have you come to take my life?"

Do you realize you were wrong?

Yang Liang, dressed in military attire with a long sword at his waist, stood before Yang Guang, looking down at his brother.

The Prince of Jin, once described as having "handsome appearance and early intelligence,"

"wrong?!!!"

"Where did I go wrong?!"

Yang Guang seemed to have been provoked by something; he forced himself to stand up and began to speak frantically.

"Didn't Li Shimin also kill his brother and imprison his father?"

"Why are you all, and your descendants, so lenient towards him?!"

"wrong!!"

Yang Liang shouted loudly, his voice so powerful that Yang Guang involuntarily trembled.

"Li Shimin was forced into it, but were you?"

"My elder brother is so kind and benevolent, has he ever coerced you in the slightest?"

Yang Liang's speech grew faster and colder as he slowly walked forward.

"Li Shimin never murdered his father, but what about you?"

"say!!!"

Yang Guang staggered, his legs gave way, and he fell to the ground again. Then, as if he had found some reason to argue his case,

"What does personal morality matter to an emperor?!"

"In the future, when I build the Grand Canal, establish the imperial examination system, and open up the Western Regions, every single one of these projects will be a tremendous boon to the country and its people."

"Your merit will be remembered for generations to come, didn't you see?!"

"But those lowly people!!"

Yang Guang, his eyes red, as if he had suffered a tremendous injustice, began to furiously curse.

"I feed them, and they dare to rebel against me!!!"

"Wrong again!!!"

Yang Liang showed no mercy, interrupting Yang Guang's lamentations with a tone of disgust.

"The food you gave them? Did you grow it?"

"It's all thanks to Father Emperor's frugality and the taxes and grains paid by the people that we've saved up."

"Are you going to feed them?"

Yang Liang's words were merciless, shattering Yang Guang's fragile illusions.

Yang Guang sat weakly on the ground, utterly dejected, as if his whole being was about to shatter. He spoke softly, his voice blank.

"Does that mean everything I do or say is wrong?"

"Still wrong!!!"

"You're right!!"

"Next, I will take you to see my father!"

"Go to the underworld and explain it to him yourself!"

Yang Guang raised his head, and a white, crescent-shaped, cold light rushed straight towards him, disappearing in a flash.

That cold gleam was like the crescent moon on the night he led his army to conquer Chen and enter Jiankang.