The Grand Canal: Emperor Yang of Sui's Song of Ice and Fire

Name: The Grand Canal: Emperor Yang of Sui's Song of Ice and Fire
Author: Madam Xiao of Qingcheng Mountain

大运河：隋炀帝冰与火之歌

by Madam Xiao of Qingcheng Mountain (清城山的潇夫人)

Status: Completed
Length: 205k Words
Genre: Historical
Subgenre: Historical & Ancient
Updated: 4mo ago
Source: Fanqie

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64Chapters

14Reads

5.8Score

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376Reads · all time

Synopsis

Yang Guang, Prince of Jin under the Sui, was handsome, shrewd, and patient, biding his time in secret. While Emperor Wen, Yang Jian, lay gravely ill at Renshou Palace, his affair with Lady Xuanhua was exposed. He responded by murdering his father, forging an imperial edict, deposing and killing Crown Prince Yang Yong, and imprisoning his brothers until they died. He seized the throne in a bloody coup and renamed the era Daye. Once emperor, he broke the power of the great clans and established the imperial examination system, welcoming scholars from humble backgrounds. He conscripted a million laborers to dig the Tongji and Yongji Canals, linking the north and south with the Grand Canal. He sailed to Yangzhou in a dragon boat, indulging in extravagant luxury. During this time, he met Shen Qingwan, a talented woman from Yangzhou. They recognized kindred spirits in each other, and she became a glimmer of humanity in his years of rule. But his ambition turned to tyranny. He launched three campaigns against Goguryeo, losing a million soldiers, while rebellions erupted across the land. His cousin Li Yuan raised an army in Taiyuan, and Dou Jiande of Wagang swept across the Central Plains. Yang Guang became trapped in Jiangdu. Knowing his mandate had come to an end, he drank and composed poetry with Shen Qingwan, refusing to return to Guanzhong. In the fourteenth year of Daye, the Xiaoguo Army mutinied, and Yang Guang was strangled in Yangzhou. The Sui dynasty fell. Li Yuan founded the Tang and gave Yang Guang the posthumous title “Yang.” The Grand Canal, however, continued to flow for a thousand years, and the imperial examination system endured for just as long, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

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