釋氏稽古略 2.313

2.313

In the wuyin year, the second year of Yining, which was also the fourteenth year of Daye [618 CE], in the first month, Emperor Yang remained in Jiangdu. Seeing the world in peril and chaos, he had no heart to return north; thus he ordered the Danyang Palace to be renovated, intending to relocate the capital thither. At that time, grain was exhausted in Jiangdu. The elite Xiaoguo guards attending his entourage were mostly men of Guanzhong; having sojourned long abroad, they longed for their native lands, and seeing that the Emperor had no intention of going west, many plotted to mutiny and return. Sima Dekan, Yuan Li, and Pei Qiantong conspired together, saying, "If the Xiaoguo guards flee, it would be better for us to depart together with them." They reported their scheme to Yuwen Zhiji, who said, "Now Heaven is indeed ruining the Sui; heroes rise up together, and several tens of thousands already share the intent to rebel. Taking advantage of this to carry out the great undertaking—this is the foundation of emperors and kings!" Dekan and the others agreed with him, taking Yuwen Huaji as their leader. Dekan summoned all the military officers of the Xiaoguo guard and instructed them in what was to be done; all said, "We will obey only the general's commands." In the third month, on the bingchen day, before dawn, Dekan gave Qiantong troops to attack the guards at the various gates. Qiantong led several hundred cavalry from the gate straight to the Chengxiang Hall. Dekan and the others led troops entering from the Xuanwu Gate. Hearing the tumult, the Emperor changed into plain clothes and fled to the Western Pavilion. Qiantong and Yuan Li advanced their troops; Commandant Linghu Xingda drew his sword, strode straight forward, escorted the Emperor down from the pavilion, and brought him to the bedchamber. Qiantong, Dekan, and the others drew their gleaming blades and stood in attendance. The Emperor sighed and said, "What crime have I committed to come to this?" Ma Wenju, one of the rebel faction, said, "Your Majesty abandoned the ancestral temples, roaming on tours without rest; abroad, you toiled in military expeditions, and at home, you indulged in utmost extravagance and lust. You caused able-bodied men to perish by arrows and blades, and weak women to fill the ditches and ravines. The four classes of people lost their livelihoods, and brigands arose like swarming bees. You exclusively employed flatterers, covering up faults and rejecting admonitions. How can you say you are without crime?" The rebels wished to assassinate the Emperor; the Emperor asked for poisoned wine, but was not permitted it. Linghu Xingda strangled him to death. Empress Xiao and the palace women tore up lacquered boards to make a small coffin and encoffined him in the Liuzhu Hall of the Western Courtyard. Huaji proclaimed himself Grand Chancellor, overseeing all administrative affairs; by order of the Empress, he enthroned Hao, Prince of Qin, as Emperor, lodging him in a separate palace and merely having him issue edicts and sign imperial rescripts. Yuwen Huaji died in the second year of the Tang era Wude [619 CE]. Yuwen Zhiji and Feng Deyi surrendered to the Tang (Biography of Huaji). Emperor Gong of the Sui issued an edict granting ten commanderies to enlarge the State of Tang, and still appointed the King of Tang as Prime Minister overseeing all administrative affairs. The State of Tang established officials from the Chancellor down, and further conferred the Nine Bestowals. The King of Tang did not accept them, merely changing the Office of the Chancellor to the Office of the Prime Minister; the Nine Bestowals and other extraordinary honors were all returned to the relevant offices. In the fourth month, the report of Emperor Yang's demise reached Chang'an. In the fifth month, it reached the Eastern Capital. The retaining ministers enthroned Tong, Prince of Yue (Emperor Gong's younger brother) as Emperor, changing the reign era to Huangtai. They appointed Wang Shichong as Left Vice Director, commanding all military affairs within and without. Shichong's power shook the interior and exterior, while the Lord of Huangtai merely folded his hands. Shichong had originally attended Emperor Yang at Jiangdu (which is Yangzhou). When Li Mi rebelled, Emperor Yang dispatched Shichong leading crack troops from the Jiang and Huai rivers to rush to the Eastern Capital to assist in suppressing Mi, and he consequently remained in the Eastern Capital (Biography of Wang Shichong). In the fifth month, on the wuwu day, Emperor Gong of the Sui abdicated the throne to the King of Tang, modestly withdrawing to reside in the Dai residence. On the jiazi day, King Yuan of Tang ascended the imperial throne at the Taiji Hall, declaring a great amnesty and changing the reign era. Commanderies were changed to prefectures, and commandery governors to regional inspectors. In the sixth month, he honored the Sui Emperor as the Duke of Guo (Guo, pronounced hu-gui [xi], a settlement of Donghai). An edict stated, "In recent ages, fortunes and eras have shifted and reformed; of the imperial kin of preceding dynasties, none escaped execution and extermination. Yet how could the manifestations of rise and fall be merely human efforts? Let the descendants of Zhiji, Prince of Cai of the Sui, and others, all be remitted to the relevant offices, to be selected and employed according to their talents" (Tangshu).