Su Wei (politician)

Su Wei was born in 542, although Yuwen Hu maintained power over the reigns of three emperors -- Emperor Xiaomin, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Wu. Yuwen Hu was impressed with Su Wei's talent and gave his daughter the Princess Xinxing to Su Wei in marriage. Su Wei, however, was fearful of the power that his father-in-law wielded, believing that it would eventually be a source of disaster, so for a while he fled into the mountains to be a hermit. As one of Yang's close advisors, Gao Jiong, had long praised Su for his abilities, Yang invited Su to join his staff. After serving under Yang for a month, Su heard that Yang was intending to seize the throne, and he fled into the country. Gao requested Yang's permission to track him down, but Yang responded, "He does not want to participate in what I will be doing. Ignore him for the time being." In 581, after Yang had Emperor Xuan's son Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing the Sui dynasty as Emperor Wen, he summoned Su back to his government, and posthumously honored Su's father Su Chuo as the Duke of Pei, and then had Su Wei inherit the title. == During Emperor Wen's reign ==

Emperor Wen made Su Wei the head of the examination bureau (Menxia Sheng, 門下省), one of the five main bureaus in his governmental structure, In 590, due to an investigative report submitted by Yu that pointed out that the township mayors were indeed often corrupt, Emperor Wen ordered that the township layer be abolished—but instead of punishing Su, he became angry when Li pointed out that he had previously opposed the idea but now wanted to wait to see if the idea could be reworked, and he demoted Li to a provincial governorship, particularly with Su accusing Li himself of corruption. Yang Su took over Su Wei's posts. By summer 594, Emperor Wen had restored Su Wei to his dukedom and again made him the head of the examination bureau. == During Emperor Yang's reign ==

In 604, Emperor Wen died—a death that traditional historians, while admitting a lack of direct evidence, generally believed to be a murder ordered by his son and Yang Guang the Crown Prince. Yang Guang took the throne as Emperor Yang, and Su Wei continued to serve as co-prime minister. In 607, despite Su's opposition, Emperor Yang built a section of the Great Wall from Yulin to Zihe (紫河, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia), employing over a million men in labor. Su was subsequently removed from office. However, Su escaped the fate of Gao Jiong, Yuwen Bi (), and Heruo Bi (), who were executed for their similar oppositions to Emperor Yang's construction and military campaigns. In the fall of 615, while Emperor Yang was touring the frontier districts, Shibi Khan and the Eastern Turks launched a surprise attack against Yanmen Commandery in reprisal against various offenses by the emperor. Princess Yicheng—daughter of a Sui clansman—secretly informed the emperor of the attack, and Emperor Yang and his entourage fled to the safety of the commandery seat at present-day Daixian, Shanxi. Shibi Khan then besieged the town on September 11. Yuwen initially suggested that Emperor Yang fight his way out of the siege, but Su opposed taking such risks and eventually, under the advice of Emperor Yang's brother-in-law Xiao Yu, Emperor Yang sought more aid from Princess Yicheng. Emperor Yang's extravagant promises of promotion and reward brought reinforcements and Princess Yicheng falsely informed the khan that the Turks were under attack from the north. Shibi Khan then lifted the siege. With the northern empire under the effects of agrarian rebellions, Su subsequently advised Emperor Yang to return to the capital Chang'an, and Emperor Yang initially agreed. However, Yuwen suggested going to the eastern capital Luoyang instead, and Emperor Yang went to Luoyang and would never again go to Chang'an in his lifetime. Subsequently, when Su was examining the proposed promotions to soldiers based on their contributions assisting Yanmen Commandery lift the siege, he reviewed them strictly and promoted few of them, a decision that Emperor Yang agreed with, but which brought much dissension among the army ranks.—a lament by the five brothers of King Taikang of Xia dynasty that he lost his kingdom due to his excessive cruelty and hunting—and believed that Su was criticizing him. He was further incensed when Su, while discussing the issue of another campaign against Goguryeo, sarcastically suggested that if Emperor Yang pardoned all of the agrarian rebels, there would be hundreds of thousands of soldiers available to attack Goguryeo. Emperor Yang thereafter complained about Su to Pei Yun, and Pei Yun then had a man named Zhang Xingben () accuse Su of inappropriate promotions and fear of Tujue. Emperor Yang removed Su from his posts, and then further accusations that Su was conspiring with Tujue were made. Emperor Yang had Pei Yun investigate it, and Pei proposed that Su be executed. Su, unable to prove his innocence, begged for forgiveness. Emperor Yang took pity and released him, but stripped him of citizenship rights, along with his descendants for three generations. Soon, however, it appeared that Su was restored to some extent, as he accompanied Emperor Yang to Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) in 617, although he was not restored to his posts, as Pei Yun and Yu suggested to Emperor Yang that Su was too old to be effective. == After Emperor Yang's death ==

In spring 618, a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji killed Emperor Yang, along with a number of his relatives and high-level officials. Yuwen Huaji, however, did not kill Su, as Su was at that point no longer involved in policymaking. Further, as Su was respected by the officials and the people, Yuwen made Su the nominal leader of the government, although Yuwen was in actual control. Yuwen subsequently made Emperor Yang's nephew Yang Hao the Prince of Qin emperor, and Su became a part of Yang Hao's regime, as Yuwen soon abandoned Jiangdu and headed north toward Luoyang. Later that year, after Yuwen was defeated by Li Mi, Su surrendered to Li, and people were surprised when he bowed readily to Li, stating, "I did not know that today I will again see a capable ruler!" When Li was subsequently defeated by Sui troops under Wang Shichong, who at that point-controlled Luoyang and was nominally supporting Emperor Yang's grandson Yang Tong as emperor, Su surrendered to Wang and was restored to the title of Duke of Pei. In 619, after Wang had Yang Tong yielding the throne to him, ending Sui and establishing a state of Zheng, he gave Su honorific titles, although Su tried to decline them. In 621, Wang, facing military pressure from Li Shimin, the son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, surrendered. Li Shimin set up headquarters at Luoyang, and Su requested an audience with him, but stated that he was too old to bow to Li Shimin. Li Shimin sent back a messenger to rebuke him for bowing to Li Mi and Wang and refused to meet him. Su subsequently went to the Tang capital Chang'an and sought an audience with Emperor Gaozu, and was similarly rebuked and not given an office. He died in 623. ==Descendants==

Su Wei had at least one son, Su Kui (苏夔), who served as hong lu qing during the Sui era. Su Kui's son, Su Dan (苏亶), was Inspector of Taizhou during Emperor Taizong's reign. Su Dan's son, Su Gui (苏瓌) had biographies in both Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. Su Dan's eldest daughter also became the wife and crown princess of Emperor Taizong's first crown prince Li Chengqian on 9 February 635. ==See also==