Yang Di listened to rumors and ordered the Grand Canal to be dug to cut off southern Long Mai. Emperor Yang Di was dissolute and heartless, and was criticized by later generations together with this matter.
In Qin Shihuang's time, the south was still very powerful, such as Chu State. Because, at that time, Long Mai in the south was not broken. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the powerful territory of Chu occupied two-thirds of the world. At that time, uniting with Lian Heng meant uniting with Chu or Qin. In addition, Fu Cha, the king of Wu who dominated the south, and Gou Jian, the king of Yue who dominated the Central Plains.
Among them, during the Warring States period, there was a folk saying: "Being in Qin" actually meant that princes were fickle, and there was another meaning that Chu was the only one who could fight against Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
At that time, people born in troubled times, other C's often repeated actions in Lian Heng's alliance, and it is also common to renege, as is common practice. I surrendered to the State of Qin in the morning and took refuge in Chu in the evening. It means that the princes turned against each other too fast and the speed changed too fast. At the same time, we can also see the power of Chu from the side.
However, after Yang Di destroyed Long Mai, you saw the later Wu Chu. Where is the domineering?
During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan was still very powerful. Because at that time, the Grand Canal had not been opened and Long Mai had not been dug. Even if Cao Cao led 800,000 troops south, he would be completely annihilated in Battle of Red Cliffs and almost died in Huarong Road, risking his life.
Even a generation of lean Cao Cao lamented that having children should be like Sun Zhongmou.
It can be seen that the stone city at that time was so unbreakable. How hard it was in the south at that time.
After Yang Di dug up Long Mai and destroyed the scenery in the south, there were no such powerful people in the south.
Like Li Yu, the great genius who wrote "Young Beauty". There is also Chen, the king of Chen, who wrote Flowers in the Back Garden with Zhang Lihua in his arms, but they are all weak.
According to folklore, when the Grand Canal was opened, ghosts and wolves howled every night in the south, birds and animals panicked and fled everywhere, and even the dogs in the village couldn't sleep at night, and they were on tenterhooks all day. It can be seen how far-reaching the impact of the opening of the Grand Canal is. Of course, this is only a historical legend and there is no way to verify it.
However, historical rumors have certain historical basis. With the opening of the Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains imperial court can leisurely fill up the gold, silver, jewelry, food and property in the south and transport them back to the national treasury of Beijing through the Grand Canal.
Before that, those treasures that could not be carried by horses can now be shipped away. The most important thing is that grain and cloth can also be transported back to Beijing on a large scale!
Then the opening of the Grand Canal weakened the strength of the South in an all-round way, both economically and militarily. Moreover, when the Grand Canal was opened, emperors of past dynasties could not only send money and food to the south by boat, but also, once they heard that there was any trouble in the south, they mobilized large-scale military forces from the Central Plains to take a boat to the south through the Grand Canal to suppress those anti-thieves.
When people in the northern grasslands call and the situation is critical, the emperor can quickly take a boat, abandon his subjects and go south alone. It's true: a thousand miles away in Jiangling, fireworks went down to Yangzhou in March, just like when Emperor Yang Di fled from anti-thieves such as Shandong Dou Jiande and went down to Yangzhou, and stayed in Yangzhou and never wanted to go back.
Yang Di opened the Grand Canal, which made the world cry. This is a great historical feat, comparable to Qin Shihuang's contribution to the construction of the Great Wall. The Grand Canal also promoted ethnic integration and safeguarded national unity. Then, the merits and demerits of Emperor Yang Di will be judged by later generations.