Lesson 24 隋炀帝亡国 Sui Yangdi Loses His Country

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原文：
迨至隋，一土宇。不再传，失统绪。
故事：
　　隋朝（581—618)的开国皇帝隋文帝结束了南北朝时期中国长期分裂的局面，使中国再次进入和平、强盛的时代。文帝死后，他的儿子杨广登上了皇位，就是中国历史上有名的暴君隋炀帝。

　　其实隋炀帝即位之初，还是很有一番作为的。他开拓了国家的疆土，实行了很多有利于国家发展的制度。为了巩固对全国的统治，方便南方和北方之间的交通运输，隋炀帝决定开凿一条贯通南北的大运河。为此，国家每年都要征发民工上百万人，经过五六年的努力，终于修成了这条全长四千 多里（相当于两千多公里）的大运河。这条世界历史上最长的人工运河，对中国社会、经济的发展具有重要意义。
　　大运河开通之后，隋炀帝决定到江南去巡游。他下令造了许多大船，他和皇后所坐的大龙舟有四层高，分隔成几百间装饰华丽的宫室。跟随他出行的官员、宫女和士兵有二十万人，他们分乘几千条大船，浩浩荡荡地走在运河上，头尾相连有二百里长！最后，隋炀帝在江南最繁华的城市扬州停留下来。
开凿大运河虽然意义深远，但对当时的人民来说，这个艰巨的工程是一场大灾难，在军队的残暴监督下，成千上万的民工惨死在运河工地上。修造数量庞大的船只和满足隋炀帝 一行几十万人的吃喝玩乐等需要，也耗费了无数的人力和物力。船队每到一个地方，当地人民就要负责提供吃的喝的，结果很多人家被弄得倾家荡产。更令人民感到绝望的是，炀帝这 样走了一次还不够，后来又两次到江南的扬州等地去巡游，每次都使人民蒙受巨大灾难。
　　在隋炀帝统治时期，他还不断向外扩张，发动了多次战争，但这些军事行动有的遭到彻底失败。不论胜败，连年的征战都使隋的人口和财富迅速消失，社会生产遭到严重破坏。而 为了支付战争、巡游和自己享乐的费用，隋炀帝不断加重人民的劳役和赋税。
　　人民被压迫得无法生存，各地纷纷爆发了反对隋炀帝的起义。最后，隋炀帝的部下在扬州发动兵变，勒死了这个残暴的统治者。虽然官员们又立了一个年幼的皇帝，但几年之后，隋朝还是灭亡了，取而代之的是唐朝。

Sui Yangdi Loses His Country
　　The founder of the Sui dynasty (581—618), Sui Wendi, succeeded in ending the long period of divided political power in China that was known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties. He led the country into a peaceful and prosperous age. After his death, his son Yang Guang ascended the throne, the man who later became infamous as the cruel tyrant Sui Yangdi.
　　Sui Yangdi was successful in a number of ways at the beginning of his rule. He opened up China’s frontiers, “developing the wastelands,” and he instituted a number of systems that were beneficial to economic growth. In order to consolidate his power over the entire country as well as to make transportation and communication more convenient between north and south, Sui Yangdi made the decision to build what is known as the Great Canal. To build this canal, the government requisitioned more than one million laborers from among the people every year. The work took between five and six years, and eventually resulted in a canal of more than 4 000 li, which is equivalent to over 2000 kilometers. Built in the 7th Century, this remains the longest man-made canal in human history and it has had a profound impact on Chinese social and economic development.
After the canal was finished, Sui Yangdi decided to take a journey“south of the river” to make an inspection. He ordered the construction of a number of large ships. The one in which he and his empress travelled was a huge “dragon boat,” four stories high, divided into several hundred palace chambers that were all ornately furnished. Some 200,000 officials, palace women and soldiers accompanied Sui Yang Di on the trip. Arrayed in several thousand boats, the entire procession made its stately way down the Canal—from front to back, the entourage was said to have measured two hundred li. At the end of the canal, Sui Yangdi stopped to rest a while at Yangzhou, the most prosperous city south of the river at the time.
　　Although the building of the Canal had great significance for the country, for the common people it was a major calamity. Under cruel overseers, many thousands of workers died in the course of its construction. When Sui Yangdi’s procession passed by, local people had to supply the daily provisions for several tens of thousands of people. Families were bankrupted in the process. What was worse, the emperor made the journey not once, but two more times, each time travelling all the way to Yangzhou and bringing calamity to the common people.
　　During his rule, Sui Yangdi ceaselessly expanded the borders of China, mobilizing a number of wars although some of these cam-paigns met with total defeat. Whether victorious or unsuccessful, the result of the campaigns was an inevitable decline in the population of the country and in its treasury as the economy was disrupted. In order to support his wars as well as his expeditions and the expense of his own extravagances, Sui Yangdi continuously levied higher taxes and higher requirements for conscripted labor.
　　Pressed beyond endurance, people in a number of places began to rise in revolt. In the end, Sui Yangdi’s own troops in Yangzhou staged a mutiny and forcefully killed this despotic ruler. Although officials quickly installed a young ruler on the throne, the Sui dynasty came to an end a few years later and was succeeded by the Tang dynasty.

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