In 960, the Later Zhou capital Zhao Kuangyin launched a coup d'état and established the Song Dynasty, known in history as the "Chen Qiao Mutiny", and remained in Kaifeng, Henan after the Later Zhou Dynasty. At that time, Kaifeng was already the old capital of many dynasties, although Kaifeng had a superior geographical location, it lived in the "world's key meeting", and the water and other convenient canals connected to Jianghuai and other places, and the economy was relatively rich. However, from the military level, Kaifeng has no danger to defend and is difficult to defend. In particular, at that time, the powerful Khitan and other regimes in the north were looking at the tiger, and without the protection of the natural barrier of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, the Khitan cavalry could march south at any time, posing a direct threat to the Great Song Dynasty. And Kaifeng, such a flat and open place that is easy to attack and difficult to defend, is obviously difficult to resist the enemy's iron horse.
It was precisely for the sake of the national security of the Great Song Dynasty that in the ninth year of Kaibao (976 AD), Zhao Kuangyin led hundreds of officials to tour Luoyang in the west, and the "History of Song" recorded: "Shang was born in Luoyang, enjoyed its native style, and tasted the meaning of moving the capital." The purpose of Zhao Kuangyin's western tour was very clear -- he wanted to move the capital to Luoyang. But as a great politician, he was not only thinking about his hometown in Luoyang, but he saw the essence of Kaifeng that was not suitable for the long term. However, after his plan to move the capital was proposed, it was opposed by many ministers, such as Li Fu, the living man, wrote "Chen Eight Difficulties", proposing eight reasons why it was not appropriate to move the capital:
Jingyi withered, one also; the palace was not prepared, the second was also; the suburban temple was not repaired, the third was also; the hundred divisions were not equipped, the fourth was also; the people of Kiuchi were trapped, five also; the military food was not enough, the sixth was also; the barrier was not set up, the seventh was also; the thousand multipliers rode in the summer, and the eight also. Later, Du Yu waited for Li Huaizhong to also persuade Zhao Kuangyin: "There is a canal in Tokyo, and there are millions of rice in Jianghuai, and hundreds of thousands of troops have been sent down. His Majesty is here, will he take it? And the heavy troops in the treasury are all in the big beams, and they have been solid for a long time and cannot be shaken. Once they wanted to migrate, the subject did not see the benefits.
Although Zhao Kuangyin was a little shaken after listening to Li Fu and others, he continued to prepare for the matter of moving the capital, until Zhao Guangyi, the king of Jin, "prostrated his head and cut his advice", Zhao Kuangyin told Zhao Guangyi his thoughts, telling him that Luoyang's terrain was precipitous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it was the ancient capital of several dynasties, and the historical and cultural heritage was deep, etc. He hoped that Zhao Guangyi could support him, but he did not expect Zhao Guangyi to only say: "There is no danger in Germany." ”
After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin did not say much more, canceled the plan to move the capital, and when Zhao Guangyi left, he said to his subordinates: "The words of the King of Jin are solid and good, and now Gu obeys them." Within a hundred years, the people of the world have been exhausted. Perhaps, Zhao Kuangyin understood in his heart that Zhao Guangyi had formed a huge network of forces in Kaifeng, and moving the capital would undoubtedly destroy this huge interest group, which is why he was so opposed to the relocation of the capital.
Zhao Kuangyin's plan to move the capital was not implemented, and another important reason was that it stemmed from himself. Zhao Kuangyin was open-minded for benevolence and righteousness, and from the time of Chen Qiao's mutiny to the time of the release of military power with a glass of wine, it can be seen that he did not kill the people of the former imperial family, and his methods were gentle, so he knew that if he insisted on moving the capital, it would inevitably cause disputes in the imperial court, and even avoidable bloody sacrifices, which he obviously did not want to see.
Later history proved that Zhao Kuangyin's idea of moving the capital to Luoyang was a wise and far-sighted move, and the capital kaifeng caused at least three major troubles to the Song Dynasty:
1. The Song Dynasty had to pay a large amount of costs every year to ensure the grain supply of the capital, and indeed there was a situation of "the people under the world";
2. In order to defend the Beijing Division, it is necessary to gather a large number of troops around Kaifeng to form an unfavorable situation of "guarding the inside and outside, redundant troops and redundant officials";
3, Kaifeng has no danger to defend and is too close to the northern border, and after a hundred years, it is really powerless to stop the Jin army from going south, and so on.
Therefore, the failure to implement the plan to move the capital did leave a hidden danger for the Song Dynasty, and if Zhao Kuangyin had made a decisive decision at that time, the history of the Song Dynasty would inevitably be rewritten.