The Northern Wei Dynasty was in Pingcheng for a long time, and the northern part of Pingcheng was cold, and in June the wind and snow, the wind and sand often rose, and at that time someone wrote a poem "Sad pingcheng" and said:
"Sorrowful and peaceful city, driving horses into the clouds, the yin mountains are often obscure snow, and the desolate pines are not stopped."
Popular ballads also sing like this:
"If you freeze to death in the mountains (now east of Datong City, Shanxi), why don't you fly to live and be happy!"
The harsh climatic environment was difficult to adapt to economic development; the northern geographical location was even more unfavorable to the Northern Wei's rule over the entire Central Plains, so Emperor Xiaowen of northern Wei decided to move the capital. Moreover, at that time, the external "threat" weakened, which was crucial, because the establishment of successive national capitals would take into account the "border defense" and would not let the military forces of the "border" fall out of the control of the imperial court.
At that time, Rouran was no longer overbearing, which gave Northern Wei an excellent opportunity to move its capital. Liangzhou Assassin Yuan Tuan once expressed his feelings: "After our country moved the capital, the two countries of Rouran and Gaoche fought fiercely, one would kill the rouran king to the opponent, and the other would be the gaoche king was captured by the other side." Because of this, the border of our country can be peaceful for decades, which is really a fortunate thing! ”
If the foreign forces on the border are strong, even if the relocation of the capital is successful, because the political and military centers are far away, it will lead to the "heavy pressure" of the border defense forces being overwhelmed by the strong enemy, and even bring dangers that threaten the survival of the country. If, at the border, a military force sufficient to counter the encroachment is set up, another "drawback" will arise.
That is: who is responsible for commanding the army on the border?
If the power given to him is small, it is not enough to form a strong military force to resist aggression, and if it is a great decentralization, the local governor will hold a heavy army, and over time, he will form his own forces, and even "counter" the imperial court. There have been many cases in history of local military forces "countering" the imperial court, including, of course, the Northern Wei Dynasty itself.
Suppose, at that time, Rouran was still "strong", even after the capital moved south, its main military forces had to be deployed in the area centered on Pingcheng. Otherwise, the other side will attack, and the country will be quite passive. So, this raises the question of who is going to "lead" these armies? How did the imperial court manage them?
At that time, the transportation and communication conditions could not allow the monarch to "remotely control" the important military forces on the border for a long time in Luoyang, far away from Pingcheng. If the capital continues to be located in Pingcheng, then none of this is a problem. In reality, Rouran is already "not as strong as before", so the deployment of troops on the front line of Pingcheng does not need to be "heavy" as in the past.
Therefore, as the monarch of a country, he will be assured to start the "southward migration" plan, because he is fully capable of controlling the deployment of troops here. The threat of external troubles on the northern border is reduced, and the importance of military forces here will be relatively reduced. However, the subsequent defeat of the Northern Wei Dynasty was still related to the inability of the imperial court to control the area centered on Pingcheng.
In addition to the reduction of the "threat" on the periphery, another major reason is the rise of the strength of the Han nation. Without the support of this condition in China, "moving the capital" has become a dream. In the early days of the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Han people were just a "ruled people", with no right to speak and no influence, so at that time, their status was far inferior to that of the Xianbei people.
However, the Han people have a natural advantage, that is, there are many people, and in addition, the culture is still advanced. At that time, there was no prohibition on "mutual communication" between ethnic groups, so the prevalence of inter-ethnic marriages made the Han nation more and more existential, and its influence became greater and greater. Therefore, for the Han people, of course, the relocation of the capital should be supported, and it will also support the "Sinicization" movement, which is only good.
Therefore, as the power of the Han people in the Northern Wei Dynasty expanded, the voice of this "reform" became louder and louder, which was unimaginable in the early days of the Northern Wei Dynasty. But the humble upper class will never let that happen. They started the war only for the sake of the land, not to change "themselves", and they did not want to sit on an equal footing with the Han people.
However, the expansion of the han nationality's power is bound to "speak" for the interests of its own nation. When the monarch's ideas are inclined to them, they will support them with all their might, and they will consolidate the imperial power and further expand the interests of their own people. Therefore, with regard to the relocation of the capital, two factions of opinion have been formed. The royal family is basically the "capital transfer" faction, and most of the humble nobles oppose the capital transfer.
Traditional scholarship holds that this is their "ideas" different, and bring about opposites. In fact, the deeper reason for supporting ideas is "interests". Supporters are undoubtedly the beneficiaries of the benefits, and vice versa, the victims of the benefits. Most of the Han people support the relocation of the capital and support the Sinicization, because their "interests" have been satisfied and their status has risen.
It can be said that without this, the relocation of the capital and the Sinicization are almost impossible to complete.
So, why did Emperor Xiaowen try to do this?
In fact, in addition to his own admiration for the Han national culture, what is more crucial is that he needs to strengthen his dominance through such things. During this period, he issued such an order: the eight Xianbei clans of Mu, Lu, He, Liu, Lou, Yu, Ji, and Wei (surnames after Sinicization) "enjoyed" the same status as the four tribes of the Han people, Lu, Cui, Zheng, and Wang.
These humble clans are first-class nobles. On the surface, it is greatly "respected", but careful analysis is another matter. On one side are the former "princes and nobles", on the other hand are the "conquered" Han people. Can the two be the same? The Northern Wei Dynasty is a country that can be said to have these "eight surnames" as the core, and now let them sit with those "Han People".
From this point of view, moving the capital + Sinicization is, in fact, the suppression of the Xianbei nobles of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is why Mu Tai and Lu Rui want to rebel. They were the representatives of the two major families of Mu and Lu, and in the same way, Tuoba Pi, a member of the clan, joined them, and the reason was nothing more than this.
At that time, almost all of the personnel used by Emperor Xiaowen were from the Han ethnic group, and before moving the capital, he also issued a government decree excluding other personnel except Tuoba Jue from the "king". Those who already have the title of "king" are demoted to "gong" and "gong" to "hou". In the early days, there was no such "exclusion" of foreign surnames.
The purpose of this is quite obvious.
Through the "relocation of the capital", with the support of the Han nationality, the power of the Xianbei nobles except for the imperial family was further restrained. Therefore, these nobles must jump to their feet and try to obstruct, because their interests are eroded. Of course, the royal family holds the "approval vote", before moving the capital, they "people speak softly", although there is an important figure "Yuan Pi", but he is not a Tuo family.
Therefore, in the process of moving the capital, and after the relocation of the capital, the royal family has robbed the right to speak.
Of course, this also brought drawbacks: the contradictions within the royal family also became more and more intense, and the empire gradually declined. The people of the Han nationality naturally support it, and their own status has been guaranteed, so why not enjoy it?
The process of "Sinicization" begins with "culture", because the Han nationality occupies an absolute superiority in culture, and the humble upper class is the first to be "popularized". This also gave Emperor Xiaowen an important basis for promoting the "Sinicization" of the Xianbei people, so "Sinicization" in the simple sense would not cause any opposition.
However, once the "interest" is involved, the injured party will inevitably resist. As lowly nobles, the interests of the members of the royal family did not affect in the slightest, and they were naturally happy to "go with the flow", while for other nobles, doing so meant that their status was reduced, as well as economic damage, and they were bound to "revolt indignantly".
First of all, the first step is to resolutely oppose the "relocation of the capital." Despite all their efforts, by refusing to cooperate, they openly opposed and even rebelled. However, in the end, these contests of strength were won by the imperial family and the Han people. The biggest "criticism" left over from this matter is that the door system has been "legitimized".
Emperor Xiaowen used the form of law to recognize that the eight major families of Mu, Lu, He, Liu, Lou, Yu, Ji, and Wei, and the four Han families of Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang, were all listed as "first-class nobles", and their descendants had the right to speak first while enjoying imperial power.
Therefore, everything the emperor did was only to "strengthen" his rule as a starting point, whether good or bad, as long as it was conducive to the rule of the imperial family, he would implement it. Juxtaposing the Xianbei nobles and the Han nobles on the one hand "restricts" the expansion of the interests of the Xianbei nobles from their ancestry, on the other hand, it also "promises" them the protection of their vested interests, and eases the contradictions between them and the imperial family.
Since then, the Han nobles have been clearly "respected" and their status has been guaranteed by law. At the same time, it also "inspired" them to firmly side with Emperor Xiaowen and help him consolidate his imperial rule. The two invisibly formed an "alliance party", in which the monarch chose a woman to marry as a wife in each of these four major families, and also selected a Han noble woman as his wife for his brother.
In August of the seventeenth year of Taihe, Emperor Xiaowen paid homage to Empress Feng yongguling and led a group of hundreds of officials and more than a million people from Pingcheng to the south. Tuoba Yu, the prince of Guangling, remained in Pingcheng, with Tuoba Gan, the king of Henan, as the general of the cavalry, in charge of the military affairs around Guanyou, and together with Sikong Muliang, The Annan general Lu Yuan, and the Pingnan general Xue Yin.
The army lined up out of the city, all the way up, the lineup was neat, vast, and where it passed, Qiu did not commit any crime, passed through Hengzhou and Wantian Prefecture, and arrived in Luoyang at the end of September...
Resources:
[General History of China, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Psychological Analysis of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei's Move to The Capital Luoyang and Sinicization," "Supplementary Theory of the Reasons why Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei Moved the Capital to Luoyang"]