Reborn as Emperor Yang of Sui: I Steal the Li Tang Dynasty

Emperor Yang Guang of Sui was a deeply controversial ruler. In short, his achievements benefited later generations, but his crimes burdened the people of his own time. His projects and institutions had a profound impact on the future, but the suffering he inflicted on ordinary people was so severe that the Sui dynasty fell after just two emperors. In 604, Yang Guang ascended the throne and adopted the era name Daye. He immediately launched a series of major construction projects. In 605, he ordered the construction of the Grand Canal, mobilizing millions of laborers. People died, fled, and were injured, while farmland was left barren, but the canal eventually linked the waterways of the north and south and became a vital artery for transport and commerce in later generations. He also promoted the imperial examination system, seeking to break the Guanlong aristocracy’s monopoly and allow the sons of poor families to enter officialdom through exams. Later, he moved the capital to Luoyang, shifting the center of politics eastward, but this further drained the country’s strength. He expanded the borders, personally leading a campaign against Tuyuhun, establishing commanderies in Qinghai, and reopening the Silk Road. He launched three campaigns against Goguryeo, but they failed one after another because supplies ran short and countless soldiers died. Forced labor, war, and taxes ignited popular anger, and uprisings broke out across the land. Yang Guang retreated to Jiangdu. In 618, Yuwen Huaji launched a coup and strangled the 49-year-old emperor.

A political-history expert transmigrates into the body of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui. With the dynasty’s fall counting down, he turns the tide of the Jiangdu coup, first striking back against Yuwen Huaji and preserving what remains of the Sui. Then he snaps up Qin Qiong, recruits Wei Zheng, intercepts Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and puts Li Jing to work, turning the future dream team of Li Shimin’s Tang dynasty into the core of his own new Sui regime ahead of time. He rebuilds the military and political system, shatters the Mandate of Heaven destined for the Li Tang dynasty, and ultimately transforms the Sui from a doomed dynasty into a new empire that dominates the world.