Why did the ancient emperors still rush to build their capitals in Nanjing, knowing that all of them were short-lived?

Introduction: Nanjing is one of the four ancient capitals in China and is known as the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. But the dynasties that established their capital in Nanjing were often very short-lived. Even the slightly longer Ming Dynasty only served as the capital during the period of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. By the time of his son Ming Chengzu, the capital was moved to Beijing. So why did these ancient founding emperors choose Nanjing as their capital one after another despite knowing that the dynasties that established their capital in Nanjing were short-lived?

A treasure land of Feng Shui

Nanjing is a treasure land of excellent Feng Shui, known as the tiger sitting on the dragon's plate. This thing is rather mysterious, and modern people don’t have much feeling about it. But in ancient times, Feng Shui was very important. We often heard that in order to frame others, a certain treacherous official would say that someone else's ancestral tomb chose a piece of land that had the aura of an emperor. The emperor would often be very angry at the treacherous official. It can be seen that in How highly valued was Feng Shui in ancient times. It is said that Qin Shihuang found out about Nanjing's imperial aura and felt that he could not suppress it, so he built the Qinhuai River to remove the imperial aura from Nanjing, which led to the short-lived dynasties that had their capital in Nanjing.

Economically developed

Since China's economic center of gravity moved southward, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have always been very economically developed places, including now. The products here are very rich. If this condition were met now, it might not be a problem. All the products produced would be shipped to Beijing. But in those days, transportation was extremely slow. The capital area often needs to consume a lot of food, cloth, etc.

Geographical location

Nanjing is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with an excellent geographical location. On the one hand, various materials from other places can be transported continuously to Nanjing through the canal and the Yangtze River. You must know that there were no trains in ancient times. Escorting things by carriage is unsafe and consumes a lot of money. Waterways are undoubtedly the most important transportation channel. In addition, the Yangtze River, as a natural barrier, can block the attacks of northern peoples. In particular, northern soldiers are not suitable for water warfare. The Battle of Chibi is a good example.

North-South Separation

Three of China's four ancient capitals are in the north, and Nanjing is the only ancient capital in the south. This shows that Nanjing is the most suitable city to build a capital in the south. Let’s take a look at the dynasties that established their capital in Nanjing. The Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties were the Southern Dynasties among the Northern and Southern Dynasties. There was also the Cao Wei regime in the north of Soochow, and when the Ming Dynasty established its capital, the north was still under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. It can be seen that Nanjing, as the capital, is generally in an era of separation between the north and the south. The editor believes that this is the biggest reason why the dynasties with their capital in Nanjing were short-lived. The unification wars in ancient China were generally from north to south, and the south could not defeat the north. Therefore, Nanjing, as the capital of the southern separatist regime, was often destroyed after a period of confrontation.