Yang Liang
Yang Liang did not participate in the campaign that destroyed rival Chen Dynasty in 589 and unified China (in which his older brothers Yang Guang the Prince of Jin and Yang Jun the Prince of Qin participated), suggesting that he was not yet old enough by that point. In 592, he was made the governor of the capital province Yong Province (雍州, roughly modern Xi'an, Shaanxi). In 597, he was made the commandant at Bing Province (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), and was in charge of the 52 provinces north of the Yellow River. In 598, when Emperor Wen attacked Goguryeo, Yang Liang served as co-commander of the operation (along with the general Wang Shiji ())—a campaign that ended disastrously, as a drought prevented food supplies from being sent by water, and therefore the army ran out of food. As it arrived at Liao River, the border between Sui and Goguryeo, there began to be an epidemic in the army. Further, the ships commanded by the former Chen general Zhou Luohou () encountered a storm and suffered great losses. The Sui forces were forced to withdraw, although Goguryeo then sued for peace. (During the campaign, the general Gao Jiong served as Yang Liang's lieutenant, and, due to his senior status, often disobeyed the young Yang Liang, causing Yang Liang to be so displeased that he complained to his mother Empress Dugu, further straining the relationship between Empress Dugu and Gao over Gao's refusal to endorse Yang Guang, her favorite son, as crown prince, and in 599, at Empress Dugu's urging, Emperor Wen removed Gao from his post.)