Why did the Sui and Tang emperors have to destroy Goguryeo?
A long war
The war against Koguryo in Sui and Tang Dynasties was long. In June, 598, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty took Yang Liang of Hanwang and Wang Shiqi of the Lord as the marching marshals, and led a "land and water attack of 300,000". As a result, Lu Junshi encountered difficulties in crop failure and epidemic disease, and the Navy encountered strong winds and suffered heavy losses before the war. However, when the troubled Sui Jun arrived in Liaohe River, Goguryeo was afraid, and Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty found a way out. After Yang Di ascended the throne, he launched three symbols, Koguryo, at an amazing cost.
In the first month of 6 12, in the Sui Dynasty, "all four soldiers gathered in Zhuojun County", accounting for1130,000 people, claiming to have an army of 2 million, and launched an attack. As a result, a command error is a failure! In the first month of 6 13, Yang Di expropriated Koguryo again, regardless of the domestic peasant uprising. This time, because Yang Xuangan opposed Sui, he was forced to end early. In February 6 14, when the world was already in turmoil in the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang Di simply organized another conquest. As a result, "the world is in chaos and cannot be recovered."
It can be said that the requisition of Koguryo was an important reason for the demise of the Sui Dynasty, and the "Song of Never Going to Liaodong" was almost an elegy of the Great Sui Dynasty.
Emperor Taizong earnestly learned the lessons of the demise of the Sui Dynasty, but he was also unambiguous in levying Koguryo.
In 645, Emperor Taizong personally conquered Goguryeo. Although he won some victories, he still withdrew because of the withered grass in Liaodong. Since then, Emperor Taizong, who originally wanted to levy again in person, adopted the minister's suggestion and adopted a harassment policy. In 647 and 648, Emperor Taizong sent Li Ji, Xue Wanche and others to launch two harassment actions. In 649, Emperor Taizong tried to conquer Goguryeo himself again, but he died of illness. After Tang Gaozong ascended the throne, he launched two harassment wars in 65 1 and 658. Since then, Tang Gaozong has organized many attacks on Koguryo.
Until 668, Li Ji and other talents settled in Koguryo. The Sui and Tang Dynasties' war against Koguryo lasted for 70 years! Why did the Sui and Tang emperors have to destroy Goguryeo?
Unified industry
The reason is actually very simple: Koguryo is the local government of the Chinese Empire. When Yang Di was in the Sui Dynasty, Pei Ju, assistant minister of Huangmen, began to play: "The land of Korea (in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, King Koguryo began to call himself the King of Korea, so Sui and Tang Dynasties called it the Koguryo regime, but this Korea is not the same as Korea in 9 18, so we should pay attention to the distinction) and it is also an isolated bamboo country. The Zhou Dynasty was sealed in Ji Zi, the Han Dynasty was divided into three counties, and the Jinshi was unified in Liaodong ... "
At that time, Pei Ju and Wen Yanbo began to play: "The land of Liaodong is the ear of Xuantu County of Han family at the time of Zhou Wei. Before the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was within the scope of the seal, and it was not allowed to disobey. " All these show that the rulers of Sui and Tang Dynasties realized that Koguryo was originally a part of the Chinese empire. Koguryo regime was originally established in the eastern part of Liaoning Province to the southwestern part of Jilin Province. Its territory is a county directly under the jurisdiction of the Western Han Dynasty.
Before the establishment of Koguryo regime, its ancestors and chiefs were crowned princes by the Han Dynasty and still belonged to the Western Han Dynasty. After Wang Mang's rebellion, Goguryeo surrendered to the Han and Wei Dynasties. Since then, Koguryo has continuously expanded its territory and accepted the titles of Jin, Hou Zhao, Qian Qin and other regimes. Goguryeo is not only a vassal tribute, but also their kings have to accept the knighthood and official position of the Central Plains Dynasty, not only the "king", but also generals in title of generals in ancient times, chariots, Dongyi a captain and viceroy.
Therefore, Koguryo has always been regarded as a part of the Chinese empire. It is particularly worth mentioning that although Koguryo later moved to Pyongyang and occupied the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, its essence has always been in Liaodong. Therefore, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Goguryeo was often represented by the symbol of Liaodong Dynasty. For example, Emperor Taizong once said, "Today is a big day, Liaodong is not open to guests." The destruction of Koguryo is only part of reunification.
Huge threat
Because Koguryo is a part of the empire, its foreign policy is also developed with a typical separatist thinking. In order to maintain his separatist position, he adopted the policy of contacting and opposing the forces of the Central Plains dynasty for a long time. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, although he surrendered to the Northern Dynasty, he had a good relationship with the Southern Dynasty. During the Northern Expedition in the Southern Dynasties, Koguryo sent horses many times, which was an important source of the Southern Dynasties. After the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, Goguryeo was worried that she would be destroyed like Chen, so she urgently recruited to protect herself.
Since then, Goguryeo has contacted Turkic and surrounding ethnic minorities in an attempt to form an alliance. "As a China patient outside Turkic, there is nothing more beautiful than Gao (sentence)." It can be said that when the Turks were weak, Goguryeo was the leader against the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In fact, Koguryo started the war! In 598, it was Goguryeo who drove more than 10,000 riders to harass Liaoxi County in the Sui Dynasty, which made Emperor Wendi of Sui determined to crusade against Goguryeo.
During the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo contacted the hostile forces of the Tang Dynasty, such as Turks and Xue Yantuo, and the ethnic minorities, such as Mohong and Qidan, and attacked Silla, which surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, challenging the order in Northeast Asia.
The last part of the imperial order
Nevertheless, the Sui and Tang Dynasties were still "polite" to Koguryo. The Sui and Tang Dynasties began to solve the Koguryo problem only after solving or alleviating the threats from the West, such as Turks and Tuguhun. In fact, as long as the Turks were suppressed, the Sui and Tang empires basically became the leaders of the surrounding order. On the other hand, Goguryeo is the last destroyer of order. On the one hand, Koguryo blocked or even attacked Silla and other countries that surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, on the other hand, it contacted some forces opposed to the Tang Dynasty. Solving Goguryeo will be the last piece of imperial order.
Eager to fight
Because of this, the atmosphere of Koguryo was very strong at that time. "At the end of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country was rich and the people were strong, and the ruling and opposition parties all took Liaodong as their meaning." As early as the later period of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, recruiting Koguryo became the knowledge of the ruling and opposition parties. When Emperor Taizong arrived, the whole people were in this atmosphere. In 643, Emperor Taizong issued a draft order, and all the warriors in the world actively participated. "Every man takes his own way", "If you get 10 100, if you get 100 1000, those who are not allowed to join the army will all sigh with anger."
Many people are willing to join the army in private clothes. "I don't want a reward from the county magistrate, I will die in Liaodong." It can be said that in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, except for the excessive expropriation in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which seriously affected people's livelihood and led to "Liaodong's death without Song Dynasty", at other times, both the imperial court and the people were eager to conquer Goguryeo. It was very difficult to collect Koguryo in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Every August and September in first frost in Liaodong area, the grass is withered and frozen, and it is difficult to supply, so it is difficult for Shima to stay long.
Therefore, every time the Sui and Tang Dynasties conquered, the time window was actually only more than half a year. If you can't succeed then, you must return to China and give up all your previous efforts. However, Koguryo is different from nomadic people such as Turks. This is a country with battlements, high mountains and fortified cities. Even if defeated, it is not easy to win quickly. Therefore, although the Sui and Tang Dynasties were powerful, it was more difficult to destroy Goguryeo than to destroy Chen and Dongtu.
Even though it paid a huge price, the Sui and Tang Dynasties still wanted to destroy Koguryo and recover the native land of Liaodong, and their determination was worthy of recognition!