Why did Zhu Di move the capital to Beijing?
1. Zhu Di wanted to control all the barbarians in the world with Beijing as the center.
2. Zhu Di’s original residence was in Peking.
3. Zhu Di captured the Nanjing Imperial Palace. The palace was severely damaged. Ancient feudal thinking believed that the feng shui of the old palace site was destroyed through this battle.
4. Geographical location: Beijing is surrounded by mountains, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The Yongle Capital Move, also known as the Ming Dynasty’s capital move to Peking, refers to the emperor Zhu Di’s move of the capital of the Ming Dynasty from Nanjing to Peiping. It is an event of great significance in Chinese history and has had a profound impact on China’s politics, economy, and culture. The influence continues into modern times. Moving the capital to Peiping will help control the political situation across the country, and at the same time help fight against the southern invasion of the northern Mongols, and also help manage the northeastern region.
Extended information:
Ming Dynasty Chengzu moved the capital to Beiping
In the first year of Yongle (1403) after the Jingnan Campaign, Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, and others reported that Yan Ping Beiping is the emperor's "Longxing Land", so he should follow the Ming Taizu's approach to Fengyang, Henan and establish it as a companion capital. Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty vigorously promoted the status of Yanping's Beiping Prefecture, renamed Peking Prefecture as Beiping Prefecture, and changed Beiping Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture, which was called "Xingzai". At the same time, people began to be relocated to enrich Peiping; those who were forced to move to Peiping included refugees from various places, wealthy households in the south of the Yangtze River, merchants in Shanxi, and other common people.
In the fourth year of Yongle, an edict was issued to build the Peiping Imperial Palace and city walls based on the Nanjing Imperial Palace (Nanjing Forbidden City).
In the seventh year of Yongle, Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty used Beiping as his base for the northern expedition. At the same time, he began to build Changling in Changping near Beiping. Building his mausoleum in Peking instead of Nanjing proves that Ming Chengzu had made up his mind to move the capital.
In the eighth year of Yongle, after returning to the army in person, Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty ordered a meeting to open up the river and open up water transportation from the north to the south. It was completed in the thirteenth year of Yongle. From then on, the materials needed in Peiping could be transported relatively economically.
In the fourteenth year of Yongle's reign, Ming Chengzu summoned his officials to formally discuss the matter of moving the capital to Peking. Ming Chengzu dismissed or severely punished the ministers who raised objections one by one. From then on, no one dared to oppose the relocation of the capital. The following year, construction of the Forbidden City in Peking, based on the Forbidden City in Nanjing, officially started.
In the 18th year of Yongle, the Peking Palace and Peking City were built. The Peking Imperial Palace is modeled on the Nanjing Imperial Palace and is slightly larger in scale. The newly built Beiping City has a circumference of forty-five miles and is in a regular square shape, conforming to the ideal shape of the capital in "The Rites of Zhou·Kaogong Ji". Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to officially move the capital, changing Yingtian Prefecture in Jinling to Nanjing, and Shuntian Prefecture in Beiping to be the capital. However, six ministries and other central agencies were still set up in Nanjing, which were called a certain ministry in Nanjing, with Nanjing as the remaining capital.
Ming Renzong returned the capital to Nanjing
In the early summer of the 19th year of Yongle, just a few months after the capital was moved, the three main halls of the Forbidden City, Fengtian, Huagai and Jinshen, were struck by lightning and burned down. There was a lot of discussion between the government and the public. Xiao Yi, the head of the Ministry of Rites, believed that everything would be inconvenient after moving the capital, and that abandoning the imperial lineage and Xiaoling Mausoleum was against God's will. Chengzu was furious, immediately executed Xiao Yi, and suppressed the ministers of the court with force.
After the death of Ming Chengzu, Ming Renzong ascended the throne. Ming Renzong had been supervising the country in Nanjing as the crown prince for a long time. After taking the throne, he faced the dilapidated Peking Palace and immediately planned to return the capital to Nanjing and ordered the Nanjing palace to be repaired. Immediately, the original seals of the Six Ministries of Peking were withdrawn, and the new seals were again printed with "Xingzai", which was equivalent to abolishing Peking's status as the capital.
However, Renzong's reign was short-lived and he died in less than a year. At this time, the actual action of returning the capital had not yet begun. Although Renzong's posthumous edict strongly indicated his desire to return the capital, Ming Xuanzong, who succeeded him, postponed his plan to return the capital. After Ming Xuanzong's son Ming Yingzong succeeded to the throne, he officially designated Peiping as the capital of the Ming Dynasty and no longer called it Xingzai. From then on, the Ming Dynasty never changed. Reference link: Yongle moved the capital - Baidu Encyclopedia