After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he chose Nanjing as his capital and did not choose Xi'an as his capital for complicated reasons, which were divided into external and internal factors, and the external factor was that Xi'an was located in the northwest corner, although there were many dynastic capitals in history, but with the development of time, this position is no longer important. At that time, the country's economic lifeline and large population areas were basically concentrated in the southern and northern Central Plains, Xi'an's location was already relatively remote, and the local population was large and arable land, coupled with the indiscriminate logging of plants and other plants led to serious soil erosion, as well as sediment deposits from the Yellow River, which made the local land more and more barren, unable to meet the local population's food needs, and needed to transport a large amount of grain from other places to meet the local population's food needs. Once the food transport is cut off, it will have to wait for death. The internal cause is that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was born in the Jiangnan region, his roots are in this area, if he runs to Xi'an in the northwest to build the capital, it means that he has to abandon his original base area, there are many people, which he can not accept emotionally, and the economy of Jiangnan provides enough financial expenditure for the Ming Dynasty, and it is more difficult in Xi'an, so it is understandable that the capital is built in Xi'an, which is not in the northwest of Jiangnan. I'll talk about a few things:
The situation in Xi'an
The city's real rise to the historical stage was in 202 BC, where Liu Bang established the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Bangding, the capital of Guanzhong, took the meaning of the local Chang'an Township and established the name "Chang'an", which means "long rule and long peace". The ancient area of Chang'an was about 36 square kilometers, and its capital was the political, economic and cultural center of the country at that time. It can be said that it was the first large-scale city in ancient Chinese history with a large scale and many residents. And it was built on the basis of the qin xianyang site, and after the opening of the Silk Road of the Han Dynasty, it became the center of oriental civilization.
During the Sui Dynasty, due to the dilapidation of the original old city, it was no longer suitable for living, and a new capital Daxing City was built in the southeast of the city. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the Sui Daxing City was changed to Chang'an City, and it was added and expanded. Since then, the city wall, city tower, Xingqing Palace and other buildings have been continuously built. Miyagi completely coincided with the present-day city of Xi'an, and the imperial palace coincided with the Ming City Wall of present-day Xi'an.
The construction of Xi'an's ancient new city lasted 72 years, the urban area reached 84 square kilometers more than twice that of the original old city, and the layout of the city was more neat and reasonable, and the east and west were strictly symmetrical. There are also three parts in the city: Miyagi Castle, Imperial Castle and Waiku Castle.
In the Ming Dynasty, in 1370, Zhu Yuanzhang made his second son Zhu Zhu the King of Qin. In the same year, the northeast corner of Xi'an Fucheng began to build the Qin Dynasty Palace. The Qin Dynasty was called "Wangcheng" at the time, and later the city walls were newly built, and since then it has been until now.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not consider the main reason why Xi'an was the capital
The main reason is because xi'an's position is too remote, its side is located in the northwest corner, although it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is easy to be besieged, resulting in food shortages, the city is naturally not protected, such a situation has also appeared many times in history, which is extremely dangerous, especially for the new dynasty. And most of the materials in Xi'an are dependent on the Yellow River water transport, and the Yellow River situation is complex, coupled with sediment deposition, the river often has problems, which seriously affects the transportation of materials, so it is inconvenient.
Secondly, there is no more cultivatable land and corresponding cash crops near Xi'an, which has a great impact on fiscal revenue and expenditure, and if the capital is to be built here, it is necessary to rely on the taxes collected by various cities to maintain it, which requires an additional transportation expenditure, coupled with the loss of river transportation, which is too much different from the construction capital Nanjing.
Finally, there is the problem of people, the capital of Xi'an is bound to move the capital, and from Nanjing to Xi'an is a long way away, the cost must be astronomical, and most of the ministers of the imperial court are southerners, they have feelings for their hometown, and some people are bound to be unwilling to move the capital with them. Coupled with the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was born in Fengyang, Anhui Province, his roots are in this area, including many of his supporters, once the capital is moved, it is bound to bring serious impact, which can be said to be more than worth the loss.
In summary, Zhu Yuanzhang must consider a variety of factors when establishing the capital, because the above points lead to too much difference between Xi'an and Nanjing, and moving the capital to Xi'an is naturally not the best choice.