Pei Ju
In 581, Yang Jian had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing Sui Dynasty as its Emperor Wen. Pei Ju became a mid-level official in the new dynasty's government. In 589, when Emperor Wen sent forces to conquer the rival Chen Dynasty and to unite China, Pei Ju served as a secretary to Emperor Wen's son Yang Guang the Prince of Jin, the commander for the overall operation. After Chen's capital Jiankang fell and the emperor Chen Shubao was captured, Yang Guang had his assistant Gao Jiong and Pei collect the Chen archives. In 590, Pei was ordered to head to the Lingnan region (嶺南, i.e., modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam) to comfort the people there, but while he was still traveling there, nearly all of former Chen territory, with the people unfamiliar with and resenting Sui laws, erupted into rebellion. Emperor Wen initially recalled Pei, but Pei requested permission to continue, and Emperor Wen allowed him. He gathered several thousand soldiers at Nankang (南康, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi) and defeated and killed the rebel general Zhou Shiju (周師舉), who served under Wang Zhongxuan (王仲宣). He then approached Guang Province (廣州, roughly modern Guangzhou, Guangdong), where Wang was stationed, and Wang's forces, in fear, collapsed. In all, Pei pacified more than 20 provinces, commissioning governors and county magistrates in Emperor Wen's name. After he returned to Chang'an, Emperor Wen was pleased and praised Pei greatly. He created Pei the Duke of Wenxi and awarded him a large cache of silk. He also made Pei the assistant minister of census, and then "Neishi Shilang" (內史侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of the government (內史省, "Neishi Sheng").