Background
It is not known when Yuwen Huaji was born. He was the oldest son of the Sui Dynasty official Yuwen Shu, a close associate of Yang Guang the Prince of Jin, the son of Sui's founder Emperor Wen, and played a large role in helping Yang Guang displacing his older brother Yang Yong as Emperor Wen's crown prince in 600. Thereafter, Yuwen Huaji served as a guard commander for Yang Guang's palace. It was said that he often rode strong horses at a high speed through the streets of the capital Chang'an, holding a sling and shooting stones from the sling, and several times, he was removed from his post for receiving bribes, but each time Yang Guang persuaded Emperor Wen to restore him, and Yang Guang gave a daughter (the Princess Nanyang) to Yuwen Huaji's brother Yuwen Shiji in marriage.
In 604, Emperor Wen died—a death that traditional historians generally believed to be a murder ordered by Yang Guang, although they admitted a lack of direct evidence—and Yang Guang took the throne as Emperor Yang. He made Yuwen Huaji the deputy minister of husbandry. In 607, Emperor Yang visited Yulin Commandery (榆林, roughly modern Yulin, Shaanxi), and Yuwen Huaji and another brother, Yuwen Zhiji (宇文智及) engaged in forbidden trade with Tujue. Emperor Yang was incensed and ordered that they be executed, but at the last minute spared them, formally awarding them to their father Yuwen Shu as slaves.
In 616, with the northern empire engulfed in agrarian rebellions, Emperor Yang, at Yuwen Shu's suggestion, went to Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu). Yuwen Shu and his sons followed Emperor Yang there, and in winter 616, Yuwen Shu died. Emperor Yang, remembering Yuwen Shu's contributions to him, made Yuwen Huaji a general and returned his brother Yuwen Zhiji to office as well. He also allowed Yuwen Huaji to inherit Yuwen Shu's title of Duke of Xu.
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