Why did no one settle in Shandong as the capital in history?
In the pre-Qin period, there were many vassal states in Shandong, which naturally had kings and capitals, such as Qi State with its capital Linzi, Lu State with its capital Qufu, Cao State with its capital Taoqiu, and Ju State with its capital Ju. As for the Qin and Han dynasties and the major dynasties that were not separatist regimes after the Qin and Han dynasties, most provinces did not produce emperors. However, Shandong is the only province that produced emperors. We count emperors, and they must be based on place of birth rather than the location of the capital. For example, Li Yuan was born in Chang'an, but both historical data and later generations believe that he was from Longxi Chengji. If the place of origin is unclear, the place of birth will be used. At the same time, several emperors or even dozens or twenty emperors in a dynasty all had the same place of origin. For example, Li Shimin, Li Yuan, Li Zhi, Li Dan, and Li Longji had the same ancestral home for several generations, so they were only the founding emperors. ?
The ancestral home of the King of Qin is uncertain. The First Emperor was born in Handan, Hebei, Han Emperor Liu Bang was born in Pei County, Jiangsu, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was born in Zaoyang, Hubei, Cao Pi was born in Bo County, Anhui, Sima Yan was born in Wen County, Henan, and Liu Yu Xiao Daocheng is from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and Lanling is from Shandong. Xiao Yan was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu. He was also from the Lanling Xiao family. Nan Lanling County, south of the Yangtze River in Lanling, Shandong, was a gathering place for Lanling expatriates specially set up in the Southern Dynasties. Chen Baxian was born in Luohe, Henan, Tuobagui was born in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, Gaoyang was born in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Yuwenjue was born in Wuchuan, Inner Mongolia, Taiyuan, Shanxi, Yang Jian was born in Huayin, Shaanxi, Li Yuan was born in Tianshui, Gansu, Wu Zetian was born in Wenshui, Shanxi, Zhu Wen was born in Dangshan, Anhui, and Li Cunxu They are Shi Jingtang from Yingxian County, Shanxi, Liu Zhiyuan from Taiyuan, Shanxi, Guo Wei from Xingtai, Hebei, Zhao Kuangyin from Zhuozhou, Hebei, Yelu Abaoji from Aruhorqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, Wanyan Aguda from Harbin, Heilongjiang, Temujin from Kent Province, Mongolia, Zhu Yuanzhang from Fengyang, Anhui, Shunzhi is Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Rough statistics include 3 people from Hebei, 2 from Jiangsu, 1 from Hubei, 2 from Henan, 4 from Inner Mongolia, 1 from Heilongjiang, 4 from Shanxi, and 1 from Shaanxi. 3, 1 was born in Liaoning, 1 was born in Gansu, 1 was born in Mongolia, and 2 were born in Shandong.
If you add nine of the Ten Kingdoms in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the South, the Sixteen Kingdoms in the Five Husties Period, and the separatist regimes of the Peasant War, then the scene will be chaotic, and there are many provinces. If so, Shandong would not suffer. For example, Huangchao from Caoxian County in Shandong was the emperor of Da Qi. In fact, peasant uprisings also show very obvious characteristics, that is, most of them are Hebei, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, and Sichuan and Hubei. In short, there are many provinces that have never produced emperors of any great country in history, but Shandong has indeed produced emperors. Shandong just did not have a well-known capital in China's imperial era from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty established its capital at Xianyang, the Han and Tang Dynasties established its capital at Xi'an, and even the eastern capital Luoyang during the Five Dynasties. During the Five Dynasties, the country's center of gravity shifted to Luoyang and Kaifeng. The main reason why the capital was Kaifeng was due to the development of the southeastern economy, from barbarism to prosperity and Kaifeng. What they enjoy is the convenience of water transportation, the natural danger of the Yellow River and the plains to accumulate troops, and the manpower to fight the danger. Half of the population of the capital is composed of soldiers and their families. As for Shandong, it is located in the east and has no danger to defend. It cannot radiate to the surrounding areas and is open on all sides. The door is wide open to welcome all friends. Therefore, it cannot be used as a national capital, and the emperor will not consider building fortifications in this area.