From the Grand Canal of Sui Dynasty to the Millennium granary, the great achievements of Emperor Yangdi have been inexhaustible for future generations.

Wen Duan Honggang There are two dynasties in Chinese history that are very topical, one is the Qin Dynasty, and the other is the Sui Dynasty. They experienced ups and downs. Although they disappeared in the long river of history in a short time, they all had a strong sense of existence and made great contributions to history, which benefited future generations. The Qin Dynasty was founded in 221 BC, when Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, and it lasted only 14 years until 27 BC, when Liu Bang attacked Xianyang, the capital city, and captured Zi Ying, the king of Qin. However, in the past 14 years, the Qin Dynasty has made a lot of contributions to history. The greatest contribution is to build a unified dynasty on the land of China for the first time, and to unify the weights and measures, which greatly reduced the waste of resources and facilitated economic exchanges and cultural exchanges in various places. At the same time, the Qin Dynasty also left the world-famous Terracotta Warriors and Horses and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor to future generations through large-scale construction, which are treasures in the field of ancient Chinese architectural art and amazing civilization wealth. Therefore, historians, writers, military strategists and politicians will not hesitate to praise the great achievements of Qin Shihuang. The Sui Dynasty began in 581, when Emperor Wendi Emperor Wen of Sui changed the country name to "Sui" and made Daxing City (now Xi 'an) its capital, and ended in 619 when Yang Dong, the grandson of Yang Guang, the last emperor deposed by warlord Wang Shichong, lived for 38 years. Yang Guang (569-618), Emperor Yangdi of Sui Dynasty, has a short history, but its development and contribution in various fields are remarkable, and some of its contributions are even unparalleled in the world, which laid a solid foundation for the rapid development of later dynasties. Emperor Wen of Sui, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty (541-64), after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, took history as a mirror, was convinced that "since ancient times, emperors could live long without luxury" and was determined to build the Sui Dynasty into a unified dynasty with a strong country and rich people. Therefore, he made drastic reforms in politics, culture, education, military affairs and people's livelihood, and achieved gratifying results. The famous system of "three provinces and six departments" was founded by Emperor Wen of Sui. Since its establishment, it has been in use until the end of the Qing Dynasty. All dynasties have taken the system of "three provinces and six departments" as the core, and supplemented and adjusted it according to the actual situation, which has made great contributions to consolidating centralization. The three provinces refer to the division of all bureaucracies in the country, which are divided into Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province and Shangshu Province. Zhongshu Province is the ruling central department of the whole country and the highest organ in feudal society. The chief executive is the prime minister, whose main duties are to make decisions on state affairs, formulate and revise state decrees and issue imperial edicts. Shangshu Province, the territory of Sui Dynasty, was developed from the secretarial office of the emperor of Han Dynasty, and was formed by six institutions responsible for the emperor's diet and daily life, namely, clothing, food, crown, table, bath and Shangshu. However, because these institutions are close to the water, they often have the opportunity to convey the emperor's orders, and their status has been continuously improved and they have become powerful ruling organs. Door province was originally the emperor's retinue organization, and with the continuous expansion of power in the later period, it became an institution that kept pace with Zhongshu province. Both of them discussed national politics, and were responsible for reviewing imperial edicts, signing chapters, and supervising whether the emperor's imperial edicts were reasonable. The six departments are the six subordinate departments of Shangshu Province, namely, the official department, the ritual department, the household department, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Punishment. The chief executive is called the official department minister, the ritual department minister, the household department minister, the Ministry of War minister, the Ministry of Industry minister and the Ministry of Punishment minister. Their ranks are between the first and the third, and they are in charge of the operation of all walks of life in the country, which is equivalent to the minister of every department in modern countries. Each Ministry has four divisions to manage specific affairs, which constitute a perfect and scientific state management machine, and play a self-evident role in consolidating the central political power and promoting the all-round and operational development of society. After Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, he saw that the system of selecting talents before the Sui Dynasty had always implemented the "Nine Grades System". The biggest drawback of this system was that it paid too much attention to the family background and lineage of talents, and it was easy to form the bad habit of cronyism, which set an invisible obstacle for truly talented children of poor families. As a result, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty ordered the abolition of the "Nine-grade Zhengzhi System" and promoted the "Imperial Examination System" shortly after he ascended the throne. The imperial examination system, regardless of origin and lineage, anyone can sign up for the imperial examination at all levels. As long as they have real talent and practical knowledge, anyone has the opportunity to stand out. The imperial examination system lasted for more than 1,3 years from the seventh year of Emperor Wendi's reign (AD 587) to the thirty-first year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (195). It was the longest-lasting method for selecting talents in the world, which effectively improved the various drawbacks of the previous dynasty's employment system, completely broke the monopoly of talented people by the aristocratic men relying on blood relationship, and gave many ordinary scholars the opportunity to enter the upper class and get the opportunity to display their talents. At the same time, it also provided great convenience for ancient intellectuals with lofty aspirations to go to their official careers and devote themselves to the country. It is a good thing that the imperial examination system can be successfully implemented during the period of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, which is beneficial to the country and the people. Emperor Wen of Sui, an ambitious and enterprising Emperor of Sui Dynasty, has made remarkable achievements in his 24 years in power, and initially built the Sui Dynasty into a powerful dynasty, which undoubtedly gave his prince Huang Sun a good start. After Emperor Wendi died in 64, his second son, Yang Guang (569-618), who was 35 years old, succeeded to the throne. He was known as Emperor Yangdi in history, and he reigned for 14 years (64-618). Generally speaking, his merits and demerits were mixed. Like Qin Shihuang, he did a lot of things in the early days of his reign. Yang Guang, the site of Chang 'an City in Sui and Tang Dynasties, has shown an ambitious and self-centered personality since he was a teenager, but he is very shrewd and likes to pursue the extreme, even extreme, for everything, but he is often good at hiding and disguising his motives. Because he is the second son, he can only be relegated to the King of Jin, and he is not qualified to be a prince. Therefore, he has been jealous of his half-brother, Yong Yang, and has been trying to catch him, and has been spreading rumors about his brother up and down in the DPRK. Finally, under the strong public opinion pressure of Manchu Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty ordered the abolition of Yong Yang in 6 and changed Yang Guang into a prince. It is only a matter of time before he sits on the supreme throne. In 64, Yang Guang finally got his wish and sat in the long-awaited dragon chair, but before he got hot, he came up with a crazy idea, that is, to move the capital from Daxing City (Chang 'an) to Luoyang, more than 7 miles away. He first re-selected a treasure trove of geomantic omen along the Luohe River, 18 miles east of the old city of Luoyang, and mobilized millions of craftsmen. After nine months of great construction, he finally built a new national capital comparable to Daxing City here. While building a new capital, another great project, the Sui Grand Canal, is also being dug vigorously. Moving the capital is a major event related to the country. Emperors of all dynasties were very cautious about moving the capital, and Emperor Yangdi's decision to move the capital was made after many considerations. The first reason for the model of Luoyang City in Sui and Tang Dynasties is that it is more advantageous to be optimistic about the geographical location of Luoyang than Daxing City. The Yellow River Valley, where the Guanzhong Plain is located for 8 miles, has fertile land and rich products. It has been the center of the national economy, culture and politics for a long time in history. However, with the 4 years of wars in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the economy has been seriously impacted. At the same time, the southern region is relatively peaceful and the economy has developed rapidly, and it has surpassed the north by the Sui Dynasty. On the other hand, at this time, frequent famine occurred in Guanzhong area, resulting in a sharp drop in grain output year by year, making it difficult to feed hundreds of thousands of residents in Daxing City, let alone supply soldiers stationed in the frontier. Luoyang has a very good geographical position, which is located in the center of the Grand Canal. If it runs through the canals around Luoyang, it can make full use of the advantages of waterways to transport grain from the south and supply it to other areas in the north. The second reason for the canal in Sui Dynasty was to strengthen the management and rule of the southern gentry. The gentry was a political group with special status formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was composed of bureaucrats and scholars. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the gentry ushered in a glorious period of development, and they relied on their strong strength to pose a serious threat to the security of the court. After the reunification of the Sui Dynasty, this contradiction still exists, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. In order to effectively manage and rule the south, Emperor Yangdi decided to connect the north and south of the canal at all costs, so as to facilitate the court to attack quickly and to disintegrate the threat of the gentry at the first time. In order to complete the feat of connecting the canal, Emperor Yangdi spent six years before and after, and used millions of laborers to dig rivers day and night every day. From March 65 to the end of the year, the Tongji Canal, with a total length of about 1, kilometers, was successfully opened from Luoyang to Qingjiang (now Huai 'an) in Jiangsu Province, which directly opened the water traffic between the Yellow River and Huaihe River. In the autumn of 68, the Yongji Canal, with a total length of about 1, kilometers, was opened from Luoyang to Zhuojun County, Hebei Province (now southwest of Beijing). In 61, the "Jiangnan Canal" with a total length of about 4 kilometers was opened, starting from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province and ending in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. At the same time, the channel of the Han River was widened. The Sixian section of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal in Anhui Province, together with the Guangtong Canal dug by Emperor Wendi in 584, has formed a criss-crossing water transport system with a total length of more than 1,7 kilometers between Luoyang and Hangzhou, so that ships can freely and quickly enter and leave the two cities, exchanging goods between the two places, which has effectively promoted the economic development of the two places. Another great contribution after the opening of the Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty was to cultivate the famous city Yangzhou. Yangzhou has a superior geographical position. With the north-south connection of the Canal, Yangzhou gradually became a north-south transportation hub. With the benefit of water transportation, it became rich in Jiangnan and became one of the most prosperous cities at that time. After the completion of the Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty, it immediately became a very influential artery of water traffic in ancient China. Apart from its outstanding role in military and politics, it also played an important role in people's livelihood, and it made great contributions to both the country and the people. Luoyang City and the Grand Canal have been built perfectly, but how to solve the problem of feeding hundreds of thousands of people in the new city has become another problem that has to be faced squarely. One day, when having a meal, Emperor Yangdi suddenly thought that the south is warm and rainy, and it can produce two seasons of grain a year, and there are more than enough to eat. Why not transfer the grain from the south to the north through the Grand Canal and store it in Luoyang City, which can not only meet the food demand of Luoyang City, but also distribute the grain to all parts of the north at any time with Luoyang as the distribution center, which can completely alleviate the pressure of insufficient food in the north. When the granary distribution map of Sui Dynasty was put into practice, Emperor Yangdi was very clear about the unity of knowledge and action. According to Sui Shu Shihuozhi, from the first year of Daye (64), Emperor Yangdi successively built six granaries in Luoyang City and its surrounding areas. They are: Xingluocang (located in Gongyi, Henan Province), Huiluocang (located in the northeast of Luoyang City), Liyangcang (located in Xun County, Hebi City, Henan Province), Guangtongcang (located in Huayin, Shaanxi Province), Heyangcang (located in Meng County, Jiaozuo City) and Changpingcang (located in Gushanzhou, now west of Sanmenxia). Among the six granaries, Luocang is the largest, which is not so much a granary as a fully functional granary city. It is divided into management area, granary pit area, road and canal. The overall shape is rectangular, with a length of about 1 meters from east to west and a width of about 355 meters from north to south, with a total area of 35, square meters, equivalent to the sum of the areas of 5 modern standard football fields. The management area is an office for recording the grain in and out, dispatching and distribution. The main road is 28-4 meters wide, which is convenient for all kinds of wagons to transport grain, and the canal is used to dredge and discharge groundwater. The granary cellar in Sui Dynasty was located in the innermost part of the whole granary city, and was used to store grain. It was cylindrical in shape and had good moisture-proof and waterproof functions. Each silo is 1m in depth and diameter, and can store 5, Jin of grain. It is estimated that there are more than 7 silos in Huiluo Warehouse, which are neatly arranged in the warehouse city, and the whole Huiluo Warehouse can store about 35 million Jin of grain. You can calculate an account. During the reign of Emperor Yangdi, the total population of the whole country was about 5 million, and the population of Luoyang, the new capital, was close to 1 million. If each person can consume 7 Jin of grain every year, only one grain stored in a warehouse in Luoyang will be enough for Luoyang residents to enjoy for half a year. If we add the stocks of the other five granaries, even if there is a disaster in Luoyang within a year or two, we will not worry about the food problem. The construction of such a huge project was completed by manpower without the help of any mechanical equipment. Emperor Yangdi and the people of the Sui Dynasty showed their unparalleled wisdom and perseverance. According to historical records, when building Huiluocang, 2 million laborers were summoned from all over the country at one time, with Minister Yang Su as the engineering director. It took 2 million people nine months to complete this big project day and night. Through archaeological excavation and restoration of the construction scene, it is conceivable that the construction steps of the granary are like this. Back to Luocang, firstly, an annular foundation trench was dug on the ground, with an outer diameter of about 17 meters, an inner diameter of about 11 meters, a width of 2-3 meters and a depth of about 2 meters. Then, the surface of the foundation trench was tamped with special tools to achieve high strength and toughness, and a silo pit was naturally formed. After that, a water tank-shaped cellar with a depth of about 1 meters was dug in the cellar mouth, and the prototype of the cellar was made. The next process is to dry the cellar with dry wood fire, in order to make it more firm, firm and dry. The next process is to give special treatment to the surface of the silo to increase the moisture-proof effect and protect the grain, which is the same as modern people applying a layer of paint to buildings. The usual practice is to apply a layer of mixed paint to the surface of the silo, which is mixed with white paste mud, diatom mud and hay powder. Because of its high viscosity and delicate texture, white plaster mud is not easy to seep, and when it is wet, it can effectively prevent moisture from further infiltration. Diatom mud has large pores and good moisture absorption. In the granary with heavy moisture, some charcoal will be placed, which also has the function of moisture absorption and moisture prevention. The last step is to lay a thin wooden board for the silo coated with mixed paint. Because of the high viscosity of white paste mud, it is completely possible to stick the wooden board on the surface of the silo, which is the same as modern people sticking ceramic tiles on the wall. After the board is laid, a layer of fine straw mat is laid on the board. At this time, the barn is officially built and can be directly used to store grain. Hangzhou, the destination of the Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty, is not high in technical content to build a granary in terms of the difficulty of modern architecture. However, in the Sui Dynasty, where technology was not developed enough more than 1, years ago, the time, manpower, material resources and financial resources spent in building them were astonishingly high, and the construction process was very complicated. Without the courage and perseverance, it could not be achieved at all. The completion of these major projects, for Emperor Yangdi, the satisfaction of vanity can not appease him for a lifetime and make him immortal. His ambition has not faded because of his age, but has become more intense. He sees that he has all the potential comparable to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, in his later years, Emperor Yangdi became more egotistical and ambitious, and built great projects at home, while at the same time, he pursued the east and the west, which was the main reason that aggravated the demise of the Sui Dynasty. He built the Grand Canal, granary and other great projects, but they didn't have time to play a huge role in the Sui Dynasty. They only enjoyed the 1% they brought.