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When Emperor Yang of Sui launched his second expedition to Goguryeo, he mainly used Liyang Granary near Hebei as a grain supply base, which fully demonstrated the war preparedness role of the granary.

In the 618th year of Daye ( AD), there was a severe drought and famine in the country, but Emperor Wen of Sui ordered that no disaster relief be given, leaving the people to find their own way. This shows that the food reserves of the Sui Dynasty were not prepared for the people, but for the privileged class and military needs.

In addition, according to historical records, the storage period of grain in the Sui and Tang dynasties was 3 to 9 years. Therefore, the grain left by Emperor Wen of Sui had to be replaced at the latest in the ninth year of Emperor Yang of Sui (613 AD), otherwise the remaining grain would exceed the storage period and become inedible.

At this point, the statement that "the grain left over from the end of the Sui Dynasty could feed the Tang Dynasty for 50 years" has been completely overturned.

So, was there any grain left at the end of the Sui Dynasty? First of all, the Sui Dynasty did have a lot of grain reserves. According to the "Book of Sui: Food and Goods", large granaries were built around the two capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang during the Sui Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, granaries were managed in Weizhou, Changping Granary was set up in Luozhou, Guangtong Granary was set up in Shanzhou, and Huiluo Granary was set up in Huazhou.

During the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, in view of the scarcity of resources and poor water transport in Guanzhong, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered Yuwen Kai to oversee the construction of the eastern capital Luoyang, dig the Grand Canal, and build three large warehouse cities around Luoyang: Hanjia Warehouse, Luokou Warehouse, and Huiluo Warehouse.

Among them, the site of Hanjiacang was discovered in 1971, and cellar No. 160 alone stored about 50 kilograms of grain. This shows that the grain reserve system of the Sui Dynasty was very complete.

However, even with abundant food reserves, they could not withstand the turmoil. On the one hand, during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, large-scale construction projects were carried out, such as the construction of the Eastern Capital, the excavation of the Grand Canal, and the expedition to Goryeo, which consumed a large amount of money and food, and even forced the people's hidden reserves to be diverted.

On the other hand, during the chaotic period at the end of the Sui Dynasty, since the people generally had no food to eat, when the various separatist forces rose up, in order to win the hearts of the people, they would often open their warehouses and release grain. This almost became a standard operation at the time.

Among them, Li Mi was the most outstanding. After he captured the main granaries in Luoyang, Xingluo Granary and Huiluo Granary, he decided to open the granaries and release grain. No matter men, women, old or young, anyone could take as much as they wanted, and the road was crowded with people.

The end result was a massive waste of food: many people could not carry the food and threw it on the roadside. From the granary in the suburbs to the city gate, the discarded rice covered the road several inches thick, attracting a large number of refugees.

From the outskirts to the city gate, there were nearly 100 million refugees on the road with their families, and a lot of food was wasted. Because there were no clay pots, they could only use gold-rimmed baskets to wash rice, and a lot of food fell into the water, making the river within 10 miles of Luoshui full of rice, which looked like a white beach from a distance. This shows that the food reserves at the end of the Sui Dynasty were wasted in large quantities during the war and had long been "eaten up".

In summary, the statement that "the Tang Dynasty was still eating the food of the Sui Dynasty" is actually a wrong interpretation of history. The Kaihuang reign of the Sui Dynasty was indeed prosperous, but by the late reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, with the turmoil in the world, the country had already "eaten away all the food".

History needs to be explored in depth, and the spread of certain exaggerated views is precisely a disrespect for historical facts.

[Read all the stories of Liu Wenjing, the founding hero and counselor of the Tang Dynasty who was unjustly killed. A little historical knowledge of the Tang Dynasty]

He was Li Shimin's top think tank, with strategies far superior to Fang Xuanling, and could be called the first counselor of the Tang Dynasty. He was also a veteran meritorious official in the founding of the Tang Dynasty, holding two gold medals of immunity from death, but ultimately could not escape death. He was the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty who was buried in history - Liu Wenjing.

Liu Wenjing, courtesy name Zhaoren, was from Zhao, now Wugong, Shaanxi. His father Liu Shao died in battle during the Sui Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty posthumously conferred the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi on Liu Shao, and the young Liu Wenjing inherited his father's title as a "son of a deceased person". However, although he inherited his father's political legacy, his family fell into decline. As an adult, Liu Wenjing was both civil and military, and quite strategic.

At the end of Emperor Yang of Sui's reign, he became the magistrate of Jinyang County. At that time, he had a very good relationship with Pei Ji, the military commander of Jinyang, and they were close friends.

However, who could have imagined that this pair of good friends would become enemies in the future, and Liu Wenjing eventually died at the hands of her own friend, which is truly a pity.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the country was in chaos and many heroes emerged. Liu Wenjing also wanted to make achievements. As a small county magistrate, the first thing he had to do was to find someone who was worthy of his reputation and ability.

It has to be said that Liu Wenjing's reputation for judging people must rank among the best in history.

He immediately took a liking to Li Yuan, who was then the governor of Taiyuan. Liu Wenjing thought that Li Yuan was of noble birth and had great ambitions, so he made friends with him.

In addition, he also admired Li Yuan's second son Li Shimin very much. He believed that Li Shimin, who was often excluded, was by no means a mediocre person. He was open-minded, generous, brave and heroic, a figure similar to Emperor Gaozu of Han and Emperor Guangwu. Although he was young, he was a genius.

But Pei Ji disagreed with this. In comparison, it can be seen that Liu Wenjing was good at judging people.

Later, Liu Wenjing was imprisoned because of his relationship with Li Mi, the leader of the Wagang Army. It was this imprisonment that made him and Li Shimin forge a deep friendship. After Liu Wenjing was imprisoned, Li Shimin thought that he could conspire with him for great things, so he went to visit him in prison and asked him about his views on the current situation.

This scene is a bit like Liu Bei's three visits to the thatched cottage to seek advice on the world. According to the "Old Book of Tang", Liu Wenjing said to Li Shimin in a rather tentative manner: "The world is in chaos. Unless there is a talent like that of Shang Tang, King Wu of Zhou, Emperor Gaozu of Han, and Emperor Guangwu of Han, it is impossible to pacify the world."

Li Shimin replied: "How do you know that there is no such person now? Ordinary people just can't see it." There is a sense of "who else but me" in his words.

This shows that Li Shimin was an ambitious man, and his desire to seize power did not begin with the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Therefore, the fratricide over the position of crown prince was largely inevitable.

As for Liu Wenjing's attempt, it was actually to make friends with Li Shimin wholeheartedly. Liu Wenjing knew that Li Shimin had plans to rebel, so he proposed the famous "prison countermeasures". Many historians believe that this countermeasure is comparable to Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Strategy".

Afterwards, Liu Wenjing analyzed the situation for Li Shimin and said, "Now Li Mi's Wagang Army is besieging Luoyang, the emperor has fled to Jiangdu, and the troops from all directions are numerous. All we need is a true emperor to lead them.

Now the people of Taiyuan who are hiding from the bandits have all entered Jinyang City. I have been the county magistrate here for several years. Once I raise the banner and call for action, I can get 100,000 strong soldiers. Right now your father has tens of thousands of soldiers. If you can raise the banner, the people will respond.

"Advance into the pass, command the world, and you will accomplish your great cause in less than half a year." After listening to this, Li Shimin became more determined to fight against the Sui Dynasty. After this meeting in the prison, Liu Wenjing also became Li Shimin's absolute confidant.

In 617 AD, Li Yuan and Liu Wenjing launched an uprising against the Sui Dynasty in Jinyang, which is known in history as the "Jinyang Uprising."

Regarding the Jinyang Uprising, according to the records of "The Diary of the Great Tang Dynasty" and "The Two Tang Books", there are different opinions as to who was the mastermind between Li Yuan and Li Shimin, but no matter what, there is no doubt that Liu Wenjing was the core figure in the preparatory stage of the Taiyuan uprising.

During the Li Tang's entrepreneurial process, Liu Wenjing, as a meritorious official, served as a strategist, diplomat, and general, and his contributions were extremely great.

Before starting the uprising, Li Yuan faced a huge problem. Although Emperor Yang of Sui appointed Li Yuan as the governor of Taiyuan, he was not confident in him, so he sent Wang Wei and Gao Junya as deputy generals to monitor him. If Li Yuan wanted to start a rebellion, he had to eliminate them first. So Liu Wenjing took on this responsibility and designed to execute the two.

In addition, although many heroes emerged at that time, many of them had no great ambitions and only wanted to protect themselves or were hesitant and indecisive. A clear political direction was undoubtedly the key to success.

In response, Liu Wenjing refined his prison countermeasures and formulated a strategy of "advancing into the pass and commanding the world". Based on this strategy, Li Yuan took entering the pass and seizing Chang'an as his military goal, and aimed to establish a foundation and replace the Sui Dynasty, and implemented it step by step.

After Li Yuan started his army in Jinyang, he established the General's Mansion, with Liu Wenjing as the Sima and Pei Ji as the Chief Clerk.

Liu Wenjing pointed out that although Li Yuan's military campaign was huge, the Turks in the north were a serious threat. Therefore, he took the initiative to request to go to the Turks to solve this problem for Li Yuan.

After arriving in the Turkic region, Liu Wenjing successfully persuaded Shibi Khan to cooperate with Li Yuan with his eloquent speech.

He not only solved the worries of Li Yuan's old nest Jinyang, but also brought back 2000 war horses and hundreds of Turkic cavalry. It can be said that his mission was perfect.

When Li Yuan besieged Chang'an, Liu Wenjing served as a general and was responsible for defending against the Sui Dynasty general Qu Tutong.

At that time, Liu Wenjing believed that Tongguan was a strategic location, so he moved his army to the west of Tongguan in an attempt to fight with Sui general Sang Xianhe. Liu Wenjing led his troops to resist tenaciously, and then took advantage of the enemy's slackness and sent his army to take a detour, directly defeating the main force of the Sui army.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Qu Tutong prepared to flee to Luoyang. Liu Wenjing led his troops to pursue him all night and finally succeeded in capturing Qu Tutong, making great contributions to the Tang army's final capture of Chang'an.

In the first year of Wude (618), Li Yuan accepted Yang Gongren's suggestion and established the Tang Dynasty, becoming Emperor Gaozu of Tang. Liu Wenjing was appointed Shangshu You Pushe and became the prime minister. As a meritorious official of Taiyuan Yuanmou, he also obtained the privilege of "exemption from death" together with Qin Wang Li Shimin and Pei Ji, which was equivalent to obtaining two gold medals of exemption from death.

However, in the second year of Wude (619), Liu Wenjing followed Li Shimin to guard Changchun Palace. Liu Wenjing was more talented than Pei Ji and had made many military achievements, but his status was far inferior to Pei Ji. He felt unfair and opposed Pei Ji when discussing state affairs.

Thus, the former good friends also became enemies. Later, Liu Wenjing and his brother Liu Wenqi complained after drinking, drew their swords and chopped the hall pillars, claiming that they wanted to kill Pei Ji.

It happened that "evil spirits" happened several times in the family, so Liu Wenjing invited a wizard to perform rituals at night with his hair untied and a knife in his mouth to drive away the evil spirits. Liu Wenjing had a concubine who had fallen out of favor, and she told her brother about this, asking him to report it to the emperor, falsely accusing Liu Wenjing of treason. Emperor Gaozu of Tang sent Liu Wenjing to the Dali Temple and ordered Pei Ji and Xiao Yu to interrogate him.

Liu Wenjing said frankly during the interrogation: "When the Taiyuan uprising began, I was a Sima, with the same status as Pei Ji. But now Pei Ji is a Pushe, and my official title and rewards are far less than his. I have fought in many battles, but my family has no one to protect them. I am dissatisfied."

Originally, Liu Wenjing was just complaining after drinking. Xiao Yu and Li Gang believed that Liu Wenjing was not plotting a rebellion, and Li Shimin tried his best to protect Liu Wenjing and plead for him. However, Pei Ji took the opportunity to say that Liu Wenjing's talent and strategy were indeed superior to others, but he was suspicious by nature, insidious and cunning, and his ugly face had already been revealed.

Now the world is not stable, there are powerful enemies, if Liu Wenjing is pardoned, it will cause troubles in the future. Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty was suspicious of Liu Wenjing, and believed Pei Ji's slander, so he executed Liu Wenjing and Liu Wenqi and confiscated their property. In this way, even if he held two golden medals of immunity from death, they were invalidated.

This also shows the cruelty of politics under imperial power. Before leaving, Liu Wenjing sighed: "The high birds are gone, and the good bows are hidden. This is true." He was 52 years old.

The murder of Liu Wenjing can be regarded as the first unjust case in the early Tang Dynasty. He made great contributions to the founding of the Tang Dynasty, but was unjustly killed because of Pei Ji's jealousy and Li Yuan's suspicion. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he not only restored Liu Wenjing's official position, but also let his son inherit the title. This is enough to prove the important position of Liu Wenjing in Li Shimin's mind.

Liu Wenjing played a great role in the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and his contribution was second only to Li Shimin. In the biographies of the founding heroes, the New Book of Tang deliberately ranked Liu Wenjing before Pei Ji.

The founding war of the Tang Dynasty lasted for six years, but Liu Wenjing achieved outstanding achievements in just two years. His ability can be described as a "genius", and he was in no way inferior to famous officials such as Fang Xuanling.

However, his outstanding talent and his lack of emotional intelligence formed a sharp contrast, which ultimately led to his tragic ending. Li Yuan's unequal rewards and punishments and his exclusive favoritism towards Pei Ji were the causes, but Liu Wenjing's frivolous personality and narrow-mindedness were also his fatal flaws.

Nevertheless, as an outstanding figure in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, Liu Wenjing's achievements and tragedies are worth remembering. He should not be forgotten by history.

[Read all the historical facts about the ten famous generals of Wagang in one go]

As the strongest anti-bandit force at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Wagangzhai had many heroes under its command. In folk novels, there are stories such as the 46 friends of Jiajialou and the 13 generals of the Five Tigers and Eight Tigers. Among them, "Little Mengchang" Qin Shubao and "Devil of the World" Cheng Yaojin are household names. So, in official history, which famous generals came from Wagang? In this video, let's take stock of the top ten famous generals of Wagang.

First place: Legendary hero Liu Heita

Liu Heita was born in a humble family in his early years and was actually a scoundrel. When the world was in chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he first joined the Wagang Army, but was not reused by Li Mi. Later, he joined his good friend Dou Jiande, and was known for his bravery and strategy, and was called "the brave general". After Dou Jiande's defeat, Liu Heita rebelled against the Tang Dynasty twice, proclaimed himself the King of Handong, and led his old troops to recover their homeland. He successively defeated Li Shentong, defeated Xu Shiji, captured Xue Wanjun and his brothers alive, beheaded Li Daoxuan and Luo Shixin, and defeated 16 famous generals of the Tang Dynasty in succession, shocking the world and becoming the most threatening opponent of the Li Tang Dynasty. However, with the strong suppression of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Heita was first defeated by Li Shimin, and then defeated and beheaded by Li Jiancheng.