Emperor Wen of Sui

Yang Jian rose through the ranks as a Northern Zhou official, serving under emperors Wu and Xuan with apparent distinction. When the erratic Xuan died in 580, Yang - his father-in-law - seized power as regent, then crushed General Yuchi Jiong's resistance and took the throne outright, founding the Sui. He became the first ethnic Han ruler to control all of North China since the Xianbei conquest centuries before. By 589 he had reunified China proper, ending the fragmentation that began in 304. His reign saw prosperity not matched since the Han: food stores said to last fifty years, a powerful military, and the start of the Grand Canal. He faced threats on every border - Göktürks north, Tibetan tribes west, Goguryeo northeast, Champa south - and by his death in 604, the Göktürks had split and the eastern khaganate bent the knee, as did Goguryeo. A Buddhist, he spread the faith through state channels and left an empire intact.