In the second year of Daye under Emperor Yang of Sui (606 AD), the empire had about 8.9 million households and a population of roughly 46 million. By the eighth year of Wude under the Tang (626 AD), the number of households nationwide had fallen below three million. By the middle of the Zhenguan era, the lower reaches of the Yellow River still had fewer than 700,000 households, based on the commanderies and counties of Hebei, Henan, and Shandong. That was barely one-seventh of the 4.7 million households recorded in those three regions at the start of Daye under the Sui.
From the seventh year of Daye (611 AD), when Wang Bo of Shandong raised an army in rebellion against the Sui, to the end of Wude, when the Tang armies finally put an end to the wars in the heartland, the fifteen years of conflict claimed around 30 million lives from some six million households. The densely populated middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were left strewn with corpses and utterly deserted. At the end of the Sui and the beginning of the Tang, warlords rose on every side, arrows and blades shrieked through the air, and tiger and eagle banners soared. It was an epic age. When countless people sing of this stirring history and praise its celebrated heroes, do they ever hear the cries of the 30 million innocent people of the heartland? Do they ever see the countless bones bleaching on both sides of the Yellow River?
To be born in this age was like stepping into hell. And so he stepped into hell, traveling from Dunhuang to Luoyang, from garrison soldier to commander. Filled with hope and dreams, he plunged into the churning currents of history, trying to save those 30 million innocent people.
Great Han: I Kicked Liu Bang Out of the Car from the Start
Aren't You the South American Tyrant? Why Are You Fighting the Empire?
Do We Not All Have the Same Blood?
Emperor of Longevity: Emperor Xian of Han
Reborn in 1938: I'm Done Being a Landlord
The Hegemony of Shu
The Strongest Warrior of the Three Kingdoms
A Dungeon Just Appeared in My Living Room
Siheyuan: Starting by Picking Up Attributes
The Fall of Wei
Dragon Fang Soldier
Dreams Come True
At its peak, the Tang Dynasty had a smaller population than the Han Dynasty, which had 60 million people. Centuries later, the Tang Dynasty's population has actually decreased.
The book is good, but my understanding is limited, and it's uninteresting to read, so I have to abandon it...
Who can understand what this is actually saying?
This is already a very conscientious chapter, without any filler content. Furthermore, it breaks with the common practice in other books of criticizing Emperor Yang of Sui and the central government for incompetence and ostrich-like behavior. This author's book better reflects the original words of Emperor Yang of Sui as recorded in historical texts.
It's tiring to watch.
I don't quite understand! My educational level is insufficient.
Should we include the servants, slaves, private armies, and assassins of powerful clans and aristocratic families?
Does the author still write books?
I read a few dozen chapters. It's a good book, but unfortunately, my understanding is limited, so I had to stop reading.