He said to Yang Jian: "In my opinion, only send one person who is your confidant, understands things, can adapt to changes, and has always been convinced by the generals, and quickly rush to the army

He said to Yang Jian: "In my opinion, only send one person who is your confidant, understands things, can adapt to changes, and has always been convinced by the generals, and quickly rush to the army to observe the situation and see what is going on. . In this way, even if someone has evil intentions, he will not dare to act rashly." Yang Jian was awakened by this, and he said, "If you hadn't said it, something would have happened." Seeing this situation, Gao Ying volunteered to take on the important task. Yang Jian readily agreed. Gao Ying immediately set off as ordered. He didn't have time to go home, so he only sent someone to say goodbye to his mother.

When Gao Ying arrived in the army, the morale of the army was greatly boosted, and the situation quickly changed. It turned out that Wei Xiaokuan's army was stationary on the west side of Qinshui (today's Qinhe River, in southeastern Shanxi Province), showing a timid and wait-and-see posture towards the enemy. After Gao Ying arrived, in order to change the situation, he built a bridge to cross the river. He estimated that the enemy would burn the bridge with fire from upstream, so he took precautions to prevent the enemy's destruction from succeeding. After the army had crossed, he followed the ancient story of burning cauldrons, sinking boats, and arraying against the water, and burned the newly built bridge to show a fight to the death. Then he went deep into the enemy's territory, discussed with Yu Wenxin, Li Xun and others, and devised strategies to defeat the enemy's army. Yuchijiong was stationed in Yecheng (now Linxian County, Hebei Province, south of Zhangshui River), and his army was in great power. At that time, when the two armies were fighting, there were often many civilians watching. This time Yu Wenxin obtained Gao Ying's consent and launched his army into the crowd of bystanders, causing chaos in the crowd. Yu Wenxin took the opportunity to shout: "The enemy has been defeated!" So Yuchi Jiong's army was defeated, and Gao Ying, Yu Wenxin and others led their troops. Taking advantage of the situation, he attacked Yecheng. The main planner of Pingchen

In the first year of Kaihuang (581), Yang Jian ascended the throne and formally established the Sui Dynasty. Gao Ying was appointed as Shangshu Zuopushe and accepted Yan, that is to say, he became prime minister. At the beginning of the founding of the Sui Dynasty, he and Su Wei worked together and discussed all political matters with them before implementing them. Therefore, within a few years, the world was stable. The Sui Dynasty directly inherited the political power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, but the laws of the Northern Zhou Dynasty were complicated and unclear. Emperor Wen issued an edict asking Gao Ying, Zheng Yi, Yang Su, Pei Zheng and others to revise the law; the laws they revised were not only implemented by the Sui Dynasty, but also used by later generations. Suwei's father was an official in the Western Wei Dynasty and presided over an increase in taxes. However, he believed that the increase in taxes was only a temporary solution and that future generations would be able to reduce the amount of taxes. Therefore, Suwei advocated reducing taxes; his opinion was supported by Gao Ying. Made possible through sponsorship. When Emperor Wen issued an edict to inspect household registrations to prevent tax evasion, Gao Ying proposed the "Registration Loss Law". All private taxes were recorded in the residence account, so that prefecture and county officials were not allowed to increase or decrease at will. Su Wei's opinions on reforming local construction conflicted with Li Delin's opinions, and it was only because of Gao Ying's support that they were put into practice. He was the sponsor of the construction of the new capital city of Daxing. He also led troops to resist the powerful Turks in the north. He presided over many things, but because his manuscripts were not preserved, there are many historical records missing. He was very conscientious and diligent in his work. After he retired from the court, he would often put powder in a basin and place it beside his couch. If he remembered anything, he would write it down so that he could deal with it after dawn. He is probably the first person in my country to use note cards.

After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen, with the assistance of Gao Shuo and others, stabilized the political situation and restored and developed the economy and culture. The issue before the dynasty is that in order to further consolidate and develop its rule, it is not enough to just pay attention to the affairs within the ruled area. It must also conquer the Turks in the north and pacify the Chen Dynasty in the south. In the process of completing these two tasks, Gao Ying's achievements were particularly outstanding. Especially in Pingchen, he played a major role.

How to defeat the Chen Dynasty and unify the southern half of the country with the Central Plains was a question that the Sui Dynasty monarchs, including Gao Chuan, often considered. Gao Ying advocated winning over the hearts and minds of the ruling and opposition parties in the south of the Yangtze River and dismantling their fighting spirit. Once the conditions were ripe, a large army could cross the river and capture them all at once. In the first year of Kaihuang (581), Emperor Wen, based on Gao Ying's recommendation, appointed He Ruobi as the general manager of Wuzhou (referring to the eastern region of Jiangnan centered on today's Suzhou City) and the town of Guangling (now Yangzhou City); Han Qinhu was appointed as the hut. The general manager of the state (now Hefei, Anhui Province), the town of Lujiang (southwest of today's Lujiang County, Anhui Province), asked them to plan for Pingchen. The next year, he sent troops to conquer the south, with Gao Ying as the commander-in-chief. This was obviously tentative.

But the matter is not over yet, and things that add insult to injury will always arise. Officials in the Duke of Qi reported: "Gao Ying's son said to Gao Ying: "Sima Yi pretended to be ill and did not go to court, but in the end he conquered the world. How do you know it's not a good thing that you are going through something like this now?" So Gao Ying was arrested. Someone else reported that a monk said to Gao Ying: "Next year the emperor is going to die. "A nun said to Gao Ying: "In the 17th or 18th year of the founding of the emperor, the emperor had a great disaster, and he could not survive the 19th year no matter what. "This is even more serious. Some people suggested that Gao Ying be killed, but Emperor Wen did not dare to do so for fear of opposition, so he removed him from the rank of citizen. Gao Ying was open-minded, and despite repeated misfortunes, he took it calmly and was reduced to a human being. Instead of resenting the common people, he was happy. His mother's teachings played a very important role in cultivating his character. When he first became prime minister, his mother warned him: "Your wealth has arrived." The head is gone, and all that's left is a beheaded one, so be careful!" Killed for slandering the government

After Gao Ying reduced his position to serve the people, Emperor Wen died a few years later, and Emperor Yang came to the throne. Yang The emperor appointed Gao Ying as Taichang Qing. He was very loyal to Emperor Yang and spoke out when he saw something was wrong. This quickly aroused Emperor Yang's hatred of him in the third year of Daye (AD 607). ), he was killed for slandering the government. Yu Wenbi and He Ruobi were also killed.

How did Gao Ying "slander the government"? The main reasons are as follows. . First, Emperor Yang issued an edict to collect old musicians from the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties and scattered music from all over the world. Gao Ying admonished him, saying: "This music has long been abandoned." If we collect it now, I am afraid that those who lack the ability to discern will abandon the original authenticity, chase this low-end, and learn from each other to spread it. " Emperor Yang was very unhappy after hearing this. Gao Ying said to Taichang Cheng Li Yi again: "Emperor Tianyuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty loved music, and as a result he lost his country. There is no lesson learned from the past, how could he do this!" The only one was the Mobei Turkic monarch. When Qimin Khan came to the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang, in order to show the prosperity of the Central Plains, entertained the guests with unprecedented pomp and expense. Gao Ying, He Ruobi and others believed that this should not be done. Gao Ying said to the Taifu Qing He Chou: " Qimin Khan is familiar with the reality of the Central Plains and the conditions of the mountains and terrain, and he may become a future trouble. "Yu Wenbi, the Minister of Rites, said to Gao Ying privately: "Compared with the current situation, isn't the extravagance of Emperor Zhou Tianyuan even more powerful?" He also said: "Building the Great Wall is really not a top priority. Another thing is that Gao Ying once said to his good friend Guan Wang Yang Xiong (formerly known as Hui), "The imperial court has been acting in a disgraceful manner recently." "

However, Emperor Yang had a more profound reason for killing Gao Ying. In the Battle of Pingchen, Yang Guang was the commander-in-chief, and Gao Ying was the long history of the commander-in-chief and held real power. The Sui army invaded Chenjing Jiankang, They captured Chen Emperor Chen Shubao and his favorite concubine Zhang Lihua. Yang Guang sent Gao Ying's son to Jiankang to tell Gao Ying that he wanted to keep Zhang Lihua. Gao Ying ignored them and killed Zhang Lihua, saying: "King Wu of Zhou destroyed Yin. , killed Daji. Now that Chen State is being pacified, it is not appropriate to marry Zhang Lihua. " Yang Guang hated this to the core.

There was another thing that made Emperor Yang want to put Gao Ying to death quickly. This is when Gao Yong was deposing the prince Yang Yong, Gao Ying always stood in opposition. stance. Gao Ying's stance not only directly offended Emperor Wen Yang Jian and Empress Dugu, but also put herself in a position of direct opposition to Yang Guang, because Fei Yong and Li Guang are two sides of the same issue. Guang cannot be established, and if Guang is to be established, Yong must first be deposed. Therefore, if the conflict between Gao Ying and Emperor Wen and the Dugu family is mainly due to differences of opinion, then the conflict between him and Yang Guang is mainly a conflict of interests, and it is a matter of life and death. Struggle. In this case, can Yang Guang spare Gao Ying? However, there are exceptions in history. Tang Taizong's relationship with his brother Li Jiancheng's important minister Wei Zheng is a very prominent example. However, what Tang Taizong could do was Sui Yang. Can the emperor do it?

Furthermore, the feudal dynasty was originally a place full of factions. In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, as some bragging and power-playing people became more and more powerful, such factions The struggle becomes even more complicated, which is very disadvantageous for Gao Ying, who is more upright and willing to risk the world's disapproval.

Take Yang Su, for example. He was originally recommended by Gao Ying, but when he deposed Prince Yong, he stood in completely opposite positions to Gao Ying. He observed people's words and engaged in political speculation. He took refuge in Yang Guang and won the favor of Emperor Wen and Empress Dugu. of joy. Gao Ying stepped down and his position as prime minister was replaced by Yang Su. After Emperor Yang ascended the throne, Yang Su continued to rule. Although there is no material sufficient to prove that Yang Su directly framed Gao Ying, there is also no material sufficient to prove that he ever protected Gao Ying, as He Ruobi and others did. He is also the most powerful to protect Gao Ying. It can be seen from this that there must be many people in the court who followed Emperor Yang to harm Gao Ying.

Gao Ying was killed by Emperor Yang, and the charges were announced. However, people did not feel that he deserved his crime, but felt sad and regretful. Until the early years of the Tang Dynasty, some people still felt that he died unjustly. Because he did contribute politically to the consolidation and unification of the early Sui Dynasty, and some outstanding qualities of landlord class politicians can also be seen in him.

First of all, he is good at discovering talents, has the courage to use talents, and respects talents humbly. Many of the famous ministers and generals of the Sui Dynasty were recommended to Emperor Wen by him. For example, Su Wei, who together with Gao Ying managed the government affairs, was convinced by the government and the public, and the world returned to its heart. For example, Yang Su was not only an important minister of Emperor Wen, but also an important minister of Emperor Yang. For example, He Ruobi and Han Qinhu were both famous generals in Pingchen and had commanded many battles. What is especially respected by people is that he is not jealous of talents. When the people recommended by him are as famous as him or surpass him, he feels happy instead of resentful. For example, in the first year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, he and Su Wei became prime ministers. Not only could he cooperate well with Su Wei, but he also had to step down and completely cede power to Su Wei. Another example is that after the Ping Chen, Emperor Wen asked him to discuss and summarize the Ping Chen with He Ruobi. He declined and said, "He Ruobi first proposed ten strategies, and then fought hard at Jiangshan (now Zhongshan, Nanjing City) and defeated the enemy. We He is just a civilian official, how can he comment on his military exploits with the general?" This kind of open-mindedness won the admiration of Emperor Wen.

Secondly, he dares to act boldly, does not avoid suspicion, and does not shirk responsibility. When he first surrendered to Yang Jian, he made it clear that he would fight with him to the end, regardless of success or failure. On this issue, Solvay and he became a clear contrast. When Yang Jian hinted to Su Wei that he wanted to usurp the throne and establish a country, Su Wei did not dare to express his position and ran away. During the Battle of Pingchen, he put aside the commander-in-chief Yang Guang, who was in his early twenties. He focused on the overall situation and monopolized power, and even openly defied the commander-in-chief's will and killed Zhang Lihua. After Chen was defeated, someone accused him of treason, referring to his behavior of not taking Yang Guang seriously. In the Battle of Liaodong, Han Wang Yang Liang was the commander-in-chief, and he was the commander-in-chief Shi. As always, he refused to adopt Yang Liang's opinions, which made the prince very angry. On many other issues, he also showed this spirit of courage and responsibility. Take the criticism of Yangdi's love of music as an example. He himself knew very well what position he was in in front of Yangdi, but out of loyalty to Yangdi and the Sui Dynasty, he still spoke out. .

Third, what he cares about is the rise and fall of the Sui Dynasty and the chaos of the country. As for his own progress and retreat, he takes it very lightly. It can be said that he resigned as soon as he got the opportunity. Even when it came time to reduce his position to serve the people, he had no resentment and took it calmly. This is very different from those feudal officials who only seek promotion and wealth. His demeanor is also different from those people in feudal society who protect themselves, keep themselves clean, and passively retreat from the world, because his attitude is always positive and he takes the world as his own responsibility.