《隋书·列传·卷三十二》
另外，炀帝问苏威讨伐辽东的计策，苏威不希望炀帝再去打辽东，而且想让炀帝知道天下多有造反的盗贼，于是回答说： 现在去打仗，不要调兵，只要下诏书赦免群盗，自可得几十万人。
又帝问苏威以讨辽之策，威不愿帝复行，且欲令帝知天下多贼，乃诡答曰： 今者之役，不愿发兵，但诏赦群盗，自可得数十万。
Additionally, Emperor Yang asked Sui Wei for strategies on suppressing Liaodong. Sui Wei did not want Emperor Yang to attack Liaodong again and wanted to let Emperor Yang know that there were many rebellious bandits in the world. Therefore, he replied: If we wage war now, we should not mobilize our troops. We only need to issue an edict pardoning the bandits, and we will likely gain hundreds of thousands of people.