In March of the ninth year of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and Song Taizu went to the Western Regions. Jiamaying in Luoyang is the place where Mao was born and spent his childhood. Decades of military career made it difficult for him to have the opportunity to revisit his old place.
At this time, the Great Song Dynasty had unified the Central Plains and even the whole South, and achieved the closest unification of the Central Plains Dynasty for more than 200 years since the end of the Tang Dynasty. Although there are still strong neighbors in the north, since the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 16, the national strength of Dasong has been growing day by day and the national movement has flourished. Therefore, in the eyes of the accompanying civil and military officials, this trip to the Western Regions should be a nostalgic trip full of warmth. Legend has it that when Mao revisited Jia Maying's former residence, he was filled with joy and nostalgia. He even dug up a toy stone horse buried as a child from somewhere in Tackley and took it away affectionately.
However, this trip to the west is not just about eating and drinking all day. The monarch and his ministers had a good time together. Mao suddenly put forward the idea of moving the capital to Luoyang, which shocked his ministers and made Mao unhappy with his strong opposition. He simply lived in Luoyang for two months, refused to return to Kaifeng, and even offered to move to Luoyang and then to Chang 'an. This two-month stalemate is undoubtedly a torment for ministers, and Luoyang's days are spent in anxiety. Finally, Mao was persuaded by Mao's younger brother Zhao Guangyi. Although I am still unwilling, I am willing to drive back to Beijing in the end. Five months later, a generation of saints who founded the Great Song Dynasty suddenly died in the palace in Kaifeng.
This is the so-called "discussion of moving the capital" in the early Song Dynasty. If you are not familiar with the history of the Song Dynasty, you may have the following impressions when listening to this story for the first time: First, Song Taizu, like most emperors in feudal times, remembered that "one story is another story", which was obviously childish and difficult to serve; Second, the emperor was very democratic, and his anger turned into anger. Finally, he was able to listen to the opposition of his officials and give up what he wanted to do. As an emperor, this is extremely difficult. Third, the failure to move the capital to Luoyang may be a great regret in the last stage of his life.
Comparatively speaking, Song Taizu is indeed a kind-hearted king, and at the same time, he does have a difficult side. However, people who study and pay attention to the history of Song Dynasty generally believe that Zhao Kuangyin's proposal to move the capital is by no means a whim, and it is a great regret for the whole country that his idea has not been put into practice. If the capital had really moved to Luoyang at that time, maybe the Song Dynasty had been trapped in northern Xinjiang for 300 years, and the tragic fate of being killed twice by foreigners could have been avoided.
From the terrain, Luoyang is surrounded by mountains and waters, and the situation is the best in the world, while Kaifeng is located on the plain on the south bank of the Yellow River, which is a place where there is no danger to defend. If we compare only from this natural condition, the advantages and disadvantages of Luoyang and Kaifeng as capitals are obvious. Civil and military officials in the Qing dynasty unanimously opposed moving the capital. Of course, there are other reasons besides this.
Kaifeng was the capital of Wei during the Warring States Period. It was called Daliang at that time and later renamed Bianzhou. The canal opened in Sui Dynasty entered Jianghuai through the capital of Song Dynasty, and became the throat of north-south waterway transportation. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the towns in the northern vassal countries were divided, wars were frequent, and the economic center shifted to the southern region, so the capital of song dynasty became the only place for the transportation of grain from south to north. During the Five Dynasties, Hou Liang, the late Jin Dynasty, the late Han Dynasty and the late Zhou Dynasty successively established their capitals, and the scale of the cities continued to expand. When we arrived in Chairong, Zhou Shizong in the capital of song dynasty had triple walls, a high city and a deep pool. The city has regular buildings, wide roads and prosperous business, which is quite imperial. After more than ten years' operation in Zhao and Song Dynasties, Bianliang "became the most important city in the world, with many boats and cars, controlling the throat and estuary of the river and drawing water from Jinghu Lake", where the Korean princes lived for many years. At this time, it is really felt that the country has been shaken at all. What's more, Luoyang at this time has basically lost its status as the capital city because of years of war, serious damage to the city and economic decline since the late Tang Dynasty. In fact, since the Tang Dynasty, Chang 'an has never been the capital of any dynasty, and Luoyang has been moved to Kaifeng since the Jin Dynasty and Shi Jingtang.
Zhao Kuangyin seized the post-Zhou regime through the Chen Qiao mutiny, so the initial capital Kaifeng was not an option, but a natural inheritance. Kaifeng is indeed a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Previously, all the capitals here were short-lived regimes, but Song Taizu was very talented. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in the Song Dynasty, for the purpose of expanding territory, it began to wage wars in the south and the north. Strategically, the main battlefield is in someone else's territory. For more than ten years, the capital of Kaifeng has never been threatened, and the accessibility of Kaifeng has become the advantage of war. It should be said that Kaifeng, the capital of the early Song Dynasty, was the best plan to meet the objective needs of society, economy, politics and military affairs.
The problem is that when the Great Song Dynasty swept the southern countries like the autumn wind and turned its eyes to the north, the situation began to change fundamentally. The Northern Han regime in Shaanxi joined forces with the Qidan in the north, relying on the favorable terrain of Taiyuan, the capital, and successfully prevented Song Jun from moving northward. Song Taizu attacked the Northern Han Dynasty three times, but all suffered setbacks. When the strategic attack turns to confrontation, as an emperor who has been through many battles and outstanding military talents, he will of course realize the great danger, except the disappointment and helplessness brought by helplessness. The Northern Han Dynasty is north of the Yellow River, just across the Bianliang River. And the powerful Khitan may go south at any time. With the flat and open terrain of the capital of song dynasty, how to resist the Liao army fighters?
In order to ensure the security of World War IV, only soldiers were in danger, so the number of imperial troops stationed in Kaifeng expanded rapidly. Ministers who are used to a comfortable life may feel at ease when they see that the capital is heavily guarded, but Mao has obviously realized the huge consumption of national strength by a huge army. He proposed to move the capital to Luoyang in order to "make redundant soldiers according to the dangers of mountains and rivers." Unfortunately, his idea failed to be understood by ministers, and finally he had to make a compromise under Zhao Guangyi's persuasion, that is, "there is no danger in keeping the world safe".
In fact, there is another speculation about this move: Zhao Guangyi, the royal brother, has long had the ambition to find a job and has been making careful preparations. He has been an official for more than ten years and has trained a large number of cronies in Beijing. Whether Mao is aware of this or not, the proposal to move the capital is tantamount to putting all your eggs in one basket. Of course he will try.
At that time, on my way back to Beijing from Luoyang, I went to Gongxian County and Mao went to Yong 'an Mausoleum to pay homage to my parents. In the corner of the cemetery wall, he looked around in disappointment. He sighed, pulled out a carved arrow and shot it into the distant field. Watching the arrow fall silently in the distance, he sighed and told all the ministers around him that life must have a destination. Today, the place where the arrow landed is the place where I died. After that, he took out the toy stone horse, ordered it to be buried where the arrow was hit, and named his mausoleum Yongchang. This is the origin of the legendary Yongchang Mausoleum in Mao Zedong.
Whether it is to cut off the strength of the royal brother or protect the capital. The proposal to move the capital was finally shelved and rejected. If this policy is successfully implemented, perhaps the war between the Song Dynasty and the northern nationalities will become another situation.