Yang Su - During Northern Zhou

During Northern Zhou

It is not known when Yang Su was born. His grandfather Yang Xuan (楊喧) was a mid-level official during Northern Wei or its branch successor state Western Wei. Yang Su's father Yang Fu (楊敷) served as a general for Western Wei's successor state Northern Zhou, but in 571, while defending Dingyang (定陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi), Yang Fu was defeated and captured by the Northern Qi general Duan Shao (段韶). Yang Fu refused to surrender and was kept in captivity for the rest of his life, but it is not known when he died.

After Yang Fu's death, Yang Su, who was considered highly talented in his youth, repeatedly sought posthumous recognition for his father from Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. Eventually, Emperor Wu was so pestered that he ordered that Yang Su be killed -- perhaps stating the order publicly to scare Yang Su so that he would relent. Instead of begging for forgiveness, however, Yang Su yelled out, "I serve a ruthless emperor, and it is proper for me to die!" Emperor Wu, impressed with Yang Su's fortitude, released him and gave Yang Fu posthumous honors, including the title of Duke of Linzhen. He made Yang Su an official in his administration, and once, when he had Yang Su draft an edict for him and was impressed by both the fast speed that Yang Su wrote the edict aned the beauty of the language, he commented, "Just work hard. Honor and wealth will come to you." Yang Su responded, "I am worried that I will be forced to accept honor and wealth, as I have no desire for them." In 575, when Emperor Wu launched a major attack on Northern Qi, he granted Yang Su's request to lead the remains of Yang Fu's old army. While Emperor Wu was soon forced to abandon the campaign, Yang Su was, for his contributions, created the Viscount of Qinghe. When Emperor Wu relaunched the attack on Northern Qi in winter 576, Yang Su served under Emperor Wu's brother and major general Yuwen Xian the Prince of Qi, and during a battle, when Yuwen Xian was ambushed by forces under Northern Qi's emperor Gao Wei, it was Yang Su who fought hard to save Yuwen Xian. Thereafter, he continued to make contributions under Yuwen Xian during the campaign against Northern Qi. After Emperor Wu conquered Northern Qi in 577, he promoted Yang Su's title to Duke of Chen'an. In 578, he served under the general Wang Gui (王軌) in defeating the Chen Dynasty general Wu Mingche, and for this contribution, Emperor Wu created his brother Yang Shen (楊慎) the Marquess of Yi'an. After Emperor Wu's death later in 578 and succession by his son Emperor Xuan, Emperor Xuan conferred the title of Duke of Linzhen, which Emperor Wu had posthumously created Yang Fu, on Yang Su, transferring Yang Su's title of Duke of Cheng'an to his brother Yang Yuē (楊約). Yang Su subsequently served under the general Wei Xiaokuan in capturing the region between the Yangtze River and the Huai River from Chen.

In 580, Emperor Xuan, who had by that point become retired emperor, died, and Emperor Xuan's father-in-law Yang Jian seized power as regent over Emperor Xuan's son Emperor Jing. Yang Su became close to Yang Jian, and Yang Jian made him the governor of the important Bian Province (汴州, roughly modern Kaifeng, Henan). However, before Yang Su could report to Bian Province, the general Yuchi Jiong, suspicious of Yang Jian's intentions, rose against him. One of Yuchi's supporters, Yuwen Zhou (宇文冑) the governor of Ying Province (滎州, roughly modern Zhengzhou, Henan) defended Hulao Pass against Yang Jian's forces, and Yang Jian sent Yang Su against Yuwen Zhou. Yang Su was able to defeat Yuwen Zhou, and after Yuchi had been defeated and had committed suicide, Yang Jian made Yang Su the commandant at Xu Province (徐州, roughly modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) and promoted his title to Duke of Qinghe, transferring his title of Duke of Linzhen to his brother Yang Yuè (楊岳, note different tone and character than the other brother).