Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1088: Intent to Move the Capital
Zhu Chun's question made Zhu Chun very happy. He felt that there were still many talented people among his sons.

After taking his sons to inspect the farms on the outskirts of Fengyang, Zhu returned to his palace with satisfaction.

That night, he called Zhu Su, Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang, Zhu Di, his older legitimate sons, and the crown prince Zhu Xiongying to the main hall in the palace.

"We want to move the capital. What do you think?"

Old Zhu's first words were earth-shattering and shocked everyone present.

"Royal grandfather... this."

"Why do you suddenly have such an idea? The matter of moving the capital involves a lot of interference. One move can affect the entire body, so it cannot be ignored..."

Zhu Xiongying said. As the grandson of the emperor, he received a complete imperial education and knew how important the capital was to a country... It was for this reason that Zhu Xiongying was most shocked by what Old Zhu said about moving the capital.

On the contrary, after the initial shock, Zhu Chong, Zhu Di and Zhu Su felt that this matter was very normal.

Zhu Chong thought that although the matter of moving the capital was a big deal, what did it have to do with me? Zhu Di thought that moving the capital was also normal, and I also moved it in history. As for Zhu Su, he thought of the death of Zhu Biao in history.

There is a saying that Zhu Biao died on his way back from a tour of the four regions for Zhu. One of the speculations of later historians is that Zhu Biao was ordered by Zhu to find a suitable place for Zhu to move the capital.

Now, because of Zhu Su's prior intervention, Zhu Biao almost never left Yingtian Prefecture in his entire life, and successfully lived to inherit the throne. However, Zhu's intention to move the capital was never brought to the table.

Perhaps it was because of Zhu Biao's matter, which had been dormant in Zhu's mind for a long time. Now he had finally "retired to the second line" and could do it himself.

"Why does your Majesty want to move the capital?" Zhu Gang asked.

He had no intention of moving the capital, but he subconsciously felt that this matter would cause too much turmoil, so now he only put forward his ideas cautiously.

"Yingtian is located in the center of the world. It is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. It controls the pass of the Yangtze River and locks the throat of the Grand Canal. The ten-mile Qinhuai River is a land of gold and powder, and is the economic lifeline of the world. Whether in terms of military strength or financial resources, it has unique advantages."

"I can't think of any place more suitable to be called the capital than Yingtian."

"I think that Yingtian is a place with too much of the smell of cosmetics, and it is located in a remote corner of the south. It is really not suitable to be the capital of our Ming Dynasty." It was Zhu Di who interrupted.

"Father and eldest brother are of course fine, and Xiongying is also passable, but after that...the emperor and ministers who grew up in Yingtian have been in this comfortable and wealthy place for too long. How can they still remember their ambitions? How can they understand the sufferings of the people of our Ming Dynasty's overseas expeditions?"

"By then, I'm afraid I'll be like those gentle emperors of the former Song Dynasty, intoxicated by the evening breeze and making Hangzhou look like Bianzhou!"

"I think what the fourth brother said makes sense." Zhu Chong also nodded.

"Let's not talk about anything else, just talk about the palace city of Nanjing..."

"It was fine when it was built in the early years, but over the years, the foundations have sunk and I don't know how many temples have collapsed."

"How can the emperor live in a palace like that? This is not a good omen. It seems that the Ming Dynasty is unstable."

The imperial city of Yingtianfu was built by Zhu Yuanzhang in the early years by filling up Xuanwu Lake. It is indeed magnificent and has the atmosphere of a great country.

But the palaces built by filling the lake had weak foundations after all. After more than 20 years, many places had cracked. Some remote palaces that were not repaired frequently did collapse.

After Zhu Di and Zhu Chong finished speaking, Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Gang fell into deep thought. For a moment, they actually felt that moving the capital really made sense.

"Do you want to move the capital to Fengyang?" Zhu Su asked Lao Zhu.

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Su, and asked Zhu Xiongying to change his position so that he could lie comfortably on the couch. "In the early years, we did intend to move the capital to Fengyang."

"Fengyang is our hometown after all. Our Zhu family has settled down in Fengyang as our capital, which can be regarded as returning to our roots... Why, Lao Wu, do you think it's inappropriate?"

In his early years, Zhu Yuanzhang issued several decrees to build Fengyang City. Even when the country was just established and many things were in need of reconstruction, the construction of Fengyang City was always promoted.

Since then, he had thought about moving the capital to Fengyang, but because Fengyang was in ruins, he had no choice but to build Fengyang first and then move the capital.

He is a nostalgic person, and he wants his descendants to live in his hometown Fengyang for a long time.

But...it is not appropriate to make Fengyang the capital. So Zhu Su solemnly advised: "Father, I think if we want to make Fengyang the capital, it is better to keep the old capital of Yingtian."

"Fengyang can be used as a place to rest and occasionally live. But it is definitely not suitable to be the imperial capital."

Since Zhu ascended the throne, no one knows how much money and effort he has invested in Fengyang. He has built a lot of buildings and relocated wealthy households. The investment in Fengyang is staggering.

Later, when Zhu Di built the Beijing Zijian City, he referred to the layout of the Fengyang Palace, but the area was far smaller than that of the Fengyang Palace. The area of ​​the Beijing Forbidden City is 72 square meters, while the Fengyang Palace is 84 square meters.

Fengyang's geographical conditions were flawed. If we say that Yingtian's biggest flaw was that it was "far from the Central Plains and difficult to control", and that there were no strategic locations to defend, Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly dissatisfied with Yingtian.

Well, all these problems that exist in Yingtian also exist in Fengyang. Fengyang is quite close to Yingtian, but also very far away from the Central Plains.

Fengyang also has no strategic location to defend.

However, Fengyang does not have the advantages of Yingtian, such as convenient transportation, well-connectedness, and prosperity.

From any perspective, it is not suitable to be the capital of the empire.

Secondly, Fengyang is not only the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, but also the hometown of the Huaixi nobles.

Although the Huaixi nobles had been suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang and their arrogance had been reduced, if the capital was moved to Fengyang, it would be like adding fuel to the fire for these Huaixi nobles who had already been very honest.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to expand and forge ahead, it would have to rely more on the power of the military and noble families. If the capital was set in Fengyang, the power of the nobles would have expanded too much. It would be difficult to suppress them, and they might even backfire on the Ming Dynasty itself.

For these two reasons, the Ming Dynasty should not have established its capital in Fengyang.

"Tiande and Dingchen have already told us about this matter." Old Zhu raised his eyes, glanced at Zhu Su, and then said.

"They all advised us not to set the capital in Fengyang. If we really set it in Fengyang, wouldn't our fellow villagers who command the troops have to fly to heaven again?"

Zhu Su breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. Fortunately, Xu Da and Tang He were both sensible people and had advised Zhu Su in advance not to make Fengyang the capital.

"We came to Fengyang first. We did want to investigate whether Fengyang was suitable for relocating the capital. But now,"

"This Fengyang City is indeed not suitable for relocating the capital."

He looked a little melancholy. The old man was still sentimental. He must have felt regretful that the Zhu family could not move to their hometown for generations.

But soon, Old Zhu's eyes became firm again, and he said, "The most important thing for our tour is to find a suitable place for the Ming Dynasty to move its capital."

"Where do you think we should go for our next inspection?"

After saying this, he glanced at Zhu Di, Zhu Chong and Zhu Su.

This time, Lao Zhu said on the surface that he would move to Fengyang for a short stay, but secretly, he had already decided to go around Ming Dynasty with Lao Zhu.

But I didn't expect that although I thought he was just relaxing, Lao Zhu actually had such a big thing in his heart.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Su. Zhu Su thought about it and wanted to say Beijing, which is now called Shuntian Prefecture. However, when Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing in later generations, his biggest slogan was "Born in sorrow and die in comfort" and "The emperor guards the national gate."

But now, the grasslands are all part of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty has gradually gained a firm foothold. Shuntian can no longer be considered a national border, and naturally there is no need for the emperor to guard it.

So he was not sure whether Shuntian was suitable.

After thinking for a while, he said, "I think that the capital should be located in the north anyway."

"It's for the sake of grain. If the capital is in the north, then naturally no one dares to slack off in transporting grain from the south to the north. Then, if a natural disaster hits the north, the court won't be helpless."

When Old Zhu heard this, he knew that Zhu Su was talking about the "Little Ice Age".

If the Little Ice Age really occurred in the future, if the imperial capital was in the south and the emperor was incompetent, he might really turn a blind eye to the cold and famine in the north.

But if the capital is in the north, and the imperial capital of a country feels the same pain as the Little Iceberg, then officials will naturally not dare to slack off on the transportation of grain.

This angle was something that Old Zhu had not thought of before. He nodded solemnly. Then he asked Zhu Chong: "Where do you think it is appropriate to move the capital to?"

"Ah? I... your son, I think Xi'an is nice!" Zhu Chong was like a primary school student who was suddenly called by the teacher. He thought for a long time and decided to guess an answer.

He had only been to Xi'an, where he had been stationed for a period of time in his early years. At this time, he could only think of Xi'an.

"Xi'an... the former capital of the Tang Dynasty, not bad." Old Zhu nodded. Xi'an was indeed one of his alternative locations for moving the capital, so he nodded as well without further investigation.

"Third brother, what about you?" He turned to ask Zhu Gang.

"What do you think of Bianliang?" Zhu Gang asked. "Bianliang is the division of Yuzhou, the center of heaven and earth, the key point of all directions, and the important place in the heartland. Its name is Daliang, Liangzhou, Bianjing, and Bianliang. It has changed in different dynasties. It can be said that it has been a stable place for millions of years."

"The former capital of the Song Dynasty." Old Zhu thought for a moment and shook his head. "Kaifeng has no strategic location to defend, and has suffered from the Yellow River for a long time. During the 30 years that I have been in office, the Yellow River has burst its banks five times, and Kaifeng has always been in a dangerous place."

"inappropriate."

"My son's thoughts are shallow and reckless." Zhu Gang withdrew.

Old Zhu asked Zhu Di again: "Old Four, what do you think?"

"I think it should be in Shuntian!" Zhu Di said.

Shuntian was the place decided by his previous life, "Emperor Yongle", so he was naturally his loyal supporter.

"Dad, Shuntian Prefecture has a broad terrain and a strong pass. Among the vast and open areas of the Central Plains, none is better than Yan and Ji. Yan and Ji are surrounded by the sea on the left and Taihang Mountains on the right. They straddle the Central Plains and control the desert. They are suitable to be the metropolis of the world!"

Zhu Di actually had a good cultural background, and this passage was well-written and well-reasoned. After hearing this, Old Zhu nodded and agreed with Zhu Di's statement.

Because Zhu Su had already said that the capital should be located in the north, Old Zhu looked past Zhu Su and looked at Zhu Xiongying. "Grandson, where do you think we should go for our next inspection?"

Zhu Xiongying closed his eyes and thought. Although he had been to Daning, he had not been to many other places.

But he was also a decisive person, and he had a profound knowledge. After thinking for a long time, he had an idea in mind and said, "Grandfather, I think Xi'an is more suitable."

"Xi'an was Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. It was the old capital of Chang'an. It guarded Guanzhong and controlled the world. It was connected to all countries and gathered rare treasures from all over the world. The prosperity of our Ming Dynasty is similar to that of the Tang Dynasty."

"The Tang Dynasty could make Chang'an its capital, so the Ming Dynasty can also make Xi'an its capital."

This statement makes a lot of sense. In fact, the places that Lao Zhu himself has his eyes on are also Xi'an, Taiyuan and other places.

Zhu Xiongying suggested Xi'an to him, and he also had the idea.

"In this case, let's go to Xi'an." Old Zhu made up his mind.

Old Zhu wanted to go to Xi'an, and a group of princes and grandchildren would accompany him.

Duke of Wei Xu Da and Duke of Dingguo Tang He returned to Fengyang to worship their ancestors and see the scenery of their hometown.

Now that they have been here for some time, they have seen enough. Lao Zhu invited them to join him, and the two did not refuse.

So the team set out again, leaving Fengyang for Xi'an.

Although he did not completely hide his tracks this time, he did not use the royal banner in a big way. On the surface, the Emperor Taishang Hongwu still stayed in the palace in Fengyang City.

However, even so, the retired emperor suddenly changed his route to Xi'an, and memorials of advice and remonstrance from Yingtian Prefecture continued to pour in like snowflakes.

Fortunately, the throne has now been handed over to Zhu Biao, and Zhu Biao is not accompanied by many civil and military officials. Otherwise, this sudden northern tour would probably encounter even greater obstacles.

The journey between Xi'an and Fengyang was mostly by land, and it was quite bumpy. Zhu Suben was still a little worried about Old Zhu's health.

Fortunately, Old Zhu's health was better than Zhu Su thought.

Perhaps it was because the cabinet was established earlier than in history and Zhu Yuanzhang did not exhaust himself, or maybe it was because Dai Sigong took good care of him, or maybe it was because he left the small palace and his mind became more open.

Old Zhu was surprisingly in good spirits, and even had a tendency to become more and more vigorous. At first, he was still sitting upright in the four-horse carriage.

Later, he and his two old brothers Xu Da and Tang He were ready to indulge in their youthful passions, to ride horses and live a carefree life with the world as their companions.

This frightened the young people of the Zhu, Xu, and Tang families half to death. A large group of people tried their best to persuade the three old men to stay.

Afterwards, Zhu Su used mahjong as a powerful weapon, and the three old men finally calmed down.

(End of this chapter)