Zhu Yuanzhang's Geomantic Position in Nanjing
The choice of such a city is closely related to the political environment and geographical location at that time. Zhu Yuanzhang is from Anhui, and most of his troops are from this area. At that time, Nanjing, as the largest city in this area at that time, had a unique position. First of all, occupying this place means having its own base area, and it is very easy for a big city like Nanjing to attract talents after occupation.
1368 proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, with the year number "Daming". However, the capital had not been decided at that time, and it was not until the following September that he called ministers to discuss the decision. At that time, the alternative capitals were Chang 'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng (then called Beijing), Beiping (now called Beijing), Lin Hao (now called Fengyang, Anhui) and Nanjing. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to build his capital in his hometown of Lin Hao, but under the strong persuasion of Minister Liu Ji, he decided to make Nanjing his capital.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang captured the capital of the Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), and it was suggested to build the capital here. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to this suggestion and personally led a team to visit the capital of song dynasty. As a result, he was very dissatisfied. The capital of song dynasty is surrounded by enemies, and the terrain is not as good as the weather.
Although it was not suitable as a national capital, the northwest was undecided at that time, and the capital of song dynasty was an ideal base for transporting grain, planting grass and supplementing troops. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang borrowed from the system of the ancient capital cities of north and south, taking Yingtian as Nanjing and the capital of song dynasty as Beijing. The name Nanjing has been called since then.
The main force of the Red Scarf Army headed by Wang Xiaoming and Liu Futong in the north greatly contained the Yuan Army, while the strength of Zhang Shicheng and Xu Shouhui was not enough to annex Zhu Yuanzhang. At this time, with Nanjing as the capital, we can develop our own strength well. Because of its unique geographical position, Nanjing is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and there are natural barriers along the Yangtze River. In order to accumulate strength, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted the strategy of "building a wall high, accumulating grain widely and becoming king slowly", and began to rise rapidly during this period.