In 960, Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, known in history as the "Northern Song Dynasty". At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, inheriting the tradition of the five generations, Kaifeng was set as the capital of the whole country. The Northern Song Dynasty also inherited the four capital system of five generations, with Song Prefecture (Shangqiu) as Nanjing, beijing as the big name, and Luoyang as the western capital, and Kaifeng was naturally Tokyo.
However, at the beginning of the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin did not want to set the capital here, he believed that the capital Chang'an was the best policy, the capital Luoyang was the middle policy, and the capital Kaifeng was the next policy. He said: "According to the victory of the mountains and rivers, go to the redundant army, follow the story of Zhou Han, and secure the world." In 976, Zhao Kuangyin led the group of ministers "Xixing" to Luoyang, "with the intention of moving the capital". At this time, there was a controversy in the imperial court about moving the capital. In the end, Zhao Kuangyin abandoned the plan to move the capital under the persuasion of his brother Zhao Kuangyi.
For a dynasty, moving the capital is not a child's play, and it must be carefully considered. Initially, Zhao Kuangyin's determination to move the capital was very resolute, and he believed that the reason why the Han and Tang Dynasties were strong and prosperous had a lot to do with the dingdu Guanzhong. However, Zhao Kuangyi made a lot of analysis of the current changes in the situation and finally persuaded Zhao Kuangyin. Although Zhao Kuangyi did not have the same military ability as his brother, he still analyzed the issue of moving the capital very thoroughly.
Among the five generations, in addition to the Later Tang, the other four generations are all scheduled to be in Kaifeng, which is no accident, this is the choice of history. The situation of the Five Dynasties was left over from the late Tang Dynasty, and to analyze this phenomenon, it is necessary to analyze the changes in the economic pattern during the Tang and Song dynasties.
During the Western Zhou and Qin and Han dynasties, Guanzhong was the economic center of gravity at that time. At that time, the climate was humid and milder than now, and there were more northern territories, from the Weihe Plain to the Hexi Corridor were fertile and fertile, and from the loess slopes to the Qilian Mountains, they were densely forested and green. In this environment, agriculture in the northwest is developing very well. Coupled with the construction of water conservancy projects such as the Zhengguo Canal, Guanzhong has become the "Kingdom of Heavenly Palace".
Commercially, the Guanzhong region is the largest hub of the Silk Road, connecting the western region and the inland, and is a transit point for Asia-Europe trade, and its status is very important. Sima Qian wrote in the "Biography of Cargo Breeding": "The land in Guanzhong is one-third of the world, and the people are no more than three; but if they are rich, they will live in six."
From the Eastern Han Dynasty, the climate became colder, the desertification in the northwest gradually became serious, and the agricultural area in the northwest shrank in large quantities, so there was a situation of "Guanzhong Rong Di Ju Half". China's economic center of gravity began to shift to the North China Plain, so Luoyang became the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Western Jin Dynasty, and Northern Wei Dynasty, and its status was very important. In the late Northern Dynasty, Northern Qi, which occupied the North China Plain, had the strongest economic strength, and its population reached more than 20 million.
The Sui and Tang dynasties continued the Northern Zhou Dynasty and set the capital at Chang'an, but the drawbacks of the capital Chang'an were soon exposed in the Sui and Tang dynasties. First of all, Chang'an is located in the northwest, and transportation is inconvenient; second, due to the destruction of the natural environment in the Guanzhong region, its grain has been unable to achieve since ancient times; third, the border defense pressure in the northeast direction has increased, and the fixed capital Chang'an is difficult to cope with this situation. In order to solve this problem, the Sui Dynasty built the Eastern Capital in Luoyang and excavated the Grand Canal, with Luoyang as the economic center of gravity, and stored a large amount of grain near Luoyang.
During the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang was also the eastern capital. Once there was a famine, the Tang emperor inevitably moved to Luoyang. In the late Tang Dynasty, the situation changed again. Due to the outbreak of the "Anshi Rebellion", the economy of the North China Plain suffered unprecedented damage, while the south developed steadily, and the Yangzhou area became the economic center of gravity. In the later period, the Tang Dynasty relied on Jiangnan for food and finance. In this way, the canal that maintains the economic connection between the north and the south has become the economic lifeblood of the country.
However, in the late Tang Dynasty, the North China Plain was dotted with a large number of feudal towns, who supported their own troops and divided one side, posing a constant threat to the economic lifeline of the Tang Dynasty. How to solve this problem? Then simply move the capital directly above the canal and control the canal yourself. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen settled in Kaifeng, which began the history of the dynasty's direct control over the lifeline of the canal. Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou also continued this policy.
Why choose Kaifeng? Located in the center of the North China Plain, at the confluence of the canal and the Yellow River, Kaifeng has been the center of gravity of water transport in the north since ancient times. During the Warring States period, a "chasm" was dug to connect the Yellow River and the Huai River system, making Kaifeng a transportation center in the north. In order to dominate the Central Plains, the State of Wei chose to move the capital to Kaifeng, which was then known as "Da Liang". After the opening of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, Kaifeng was connected to Youzhou in the north and Jiangnan in the south, facilitating the allocation of materials throughout the country.
Due to the importance of transportation location, Kaifeng's economy rose rapidly in the fifth generation, becoming the largest city in the country at that time. At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the population of Kaifeng had reached 500,000. Kaifeng's commerce and handicraft industry are very developed. On the contrary, Chang'an and Luoyang at that time were very withered, and the chancellor Li Fu commented on Luoyang at that time by "jingyi withering", "the palace is not finished", "the suburban temples are not repaired", "hundreds of officials are not prepared", "the people are trapped in Ki nei", "the military food is not enough", "the barriers are not set up", and so on.
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyi believed that the capital kaifeng could control the world's finances, "punish the disaster of the five generations of tang dynasty feudal towns, and prepare troops for the Beijing division, so as to become a strong and weak branch", which echoed the northern Song Dynasty's governing philosophy. Zhang Huan, the Governor of the People's Republic of China, once pointed out that "the waters of the river run across China, the first to inherit the great river, the cao to lead the rivers and lakes, the benefits of the South China Sea, the wealth of half the world, and the department stores of the mountains, all of which are advanced by this road." Under such circumstances, Zhang Kuangyin insisted so firmly on the capital Chang'an, it would be difficult to use the central forbidden army to control the lifeline, that is, it would be impossible to control the world's finances, laying hidden dangers for the division of the town.
The canal network of Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty
Let's talk about military factors. In the past, people always believed that Chang'an was located in Guanzhong, a country of four Cypriots, and "single-handedly controlled the princes". However, this good military pattern only existed in the Warring States period. In the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu rose, and the nomadic peoples could drive straight into the Guanzhong region from the Hetao Plain, making the gateway to the north of Guanzhong open. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Qiang people in the Ganqing area rose, making Guanzhong's abdomen and back enemies. By the Tang Dynasty, the rise of the powerful Tubo Dynasty made Chang'an directly threatened by the Tubo army, and the geopolitical advantages of the past four Cypriot countries had long disappeared.
At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the northwestern Xia Prefecture was divided and directly threatened Guanzhong; although Tubo was divided, its scattered forces were still invading the northwest; the overland Silk Road was controlled by the Qarakhanid Dynasty, the Xizhou Uighurs, and the Xia Prefecture, and the traffic value of Chang'an was also lost. In such a situation, if the Capital of the Northern Song Dynasty was set at Chang'an, it would be threatened by the Tubo, Western Xia, and Liao states at the same time, and it would be impossible to control the country's finances and mobilize grain and grass, which was very dangerous, which was equivalent to directly placing the capital under the iron horse of the nomads.
The presence of Western Xia posed a serious threat to Guanzhong
Luoyang was slightly better off than Chang'an, but Luoyang's status was also dependent on Guanzhong. Before the Song Dynasty, the political center of gravity was generally placed in Chang'an, and in order to control the finances of Northern China, the Eastern Capital was set up in Luoyang as a hub for the delivery of supplies from North China to Guanzhong. However, after the decline of Guanzhong, the economic strategic value of Luoyang also declined rapidly, and Luoyang was reduced from a first-class metropolis in the country to a second-rate or even third-rate city.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the place with the greatest defense pressure in the country was Hebei, which was directly threatened by the Liao State. Liao cavalry could drive straight in from the North China Plain, and if the capital was Chang'an, it would be out of reach. The capital of Kaifeng can garrison a large number of central forbidden troops in Hebei, forming a defensive line one after another, and at the same time consolidating the Beijing division and weakening the localities. In the event of war, the Northern Song Dynasty could quickly allocate materials to the front line through the canal, saving the suffering of the expedition. Shandong, Henan, Jianghuai, and Jiangnan have become vast economic hinterlands, which is conducive to mobilizing the strength of the whole country to fight against the Liao. However, because the Northern Song Dynasty failed to control Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, this also allowed the Liaojin Iron Horse to drive straight into the Central Plains. At the time when Zhao Kuangyin was in charge of the capital, he was still very confident in recovering Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, even if he knew that future generations could not inherit his cause.
Therefore, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty in Kaifeng is in line with the trend of historical development, to adapt to the new changes in the southward shift of China's economic center of gravity and the deterioration of the situation in the northwest. From the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng served as the capital for nearly 200 years. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng began to lose its qualifications to become the capital. However, at the end of the Jin Dynasty, the capital was also moved to Kaifeng. After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he also inspected Kaifeng and finally gave up. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the nomadic dynasty was established, and Yanjing, located in the transitional area of nomadic civilization and agricultural civilization, became the best choice. From Chang'an to Luoyang, to Kaifeng, and finally to Beijing, the history of thousands of years of capital changes reflects the changes in the background of China's history.