As a continuation of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, abandoned the capital of Chang'an and set the capital at Luoyang, hundreds of kilometers east of Chang'an. Because the situation that Liu Xiu is facing is different from that of Liu Bang, specific problems should be analyzed in detail.
The capital of the Western Han Dynasty was Chang'an in Guanzhong, but in fact, the first capital of the Western Han Dynasty in the true sense was Luoyang. Liu Bang claimed the title of emperor in Dingtao, Shandong, but the smaller Dingtao was obviously unlikely to become the true capital of the Western Han Dynasty, and Liu Bang's choice was Luoyang. If the whole country is unified, from the perspective of cost savings, the capital Luoyang is obviously a very good choice.
Luoyang is located in the western north of Henan Province, the mighty Yellow River passes through the north of the city, and north of the Yellow River is the Zhongtiao Mountain, Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain, which can be described as a natural danger. To the west, through the narrow valley between the Yellow River and Kunshan Mountain, you will reach Fenglingdu at the bend of the Yellow River, and further west is Guanzhong Chang'an. To the south of Luoyang, past the Funiu Mountains is the Nanyang Basin, and further south is the fertile Jianghan Plain. To the east of Luoyang is the endless North China Plain. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Yellow River Basin, where Luoyang is located, is still the main distribution belt of China's economy, and many developed cities are located here.
If the capital is Luoyang, in ancient times when traffic was backward, it was very convenient to take the money and grain of the world, and the transportation cost was low. The Sui Dynasty fixed the capital chang'an, but the Sui Emperor Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang, and the northern and southern sections of the Sui Dynasty's Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal intersected in Luoyang. Luoyang to the north of the Grand Canal can enter the north, and at the same time can transport money and grain from the south of the river to Luoyang. The Tang Dynasty still had the capital Chang'an, but by the time of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Luoyang became the eastern capital, Wu Zetian changed it to the divine capital, which was the real capital of the Tang Dynasty, and Chang'an was more like a companion capital.
The Sui and Tang dynasties fixed the capital Chang'an, and could move the capital to Luoyang, so why couldn't Liu Bang? The reason is not complicated, the Sui and Tang Dynasties moved the capital luoyang because they have completely unified the east, and there is no power in the east that can threaten the capital, but Liu Bang does not have this condition. Liu Bang spent several years of efforts, through the power of Han Xin, Xiao He, Zhang Liang and Wen Wu, to eliminate the powerful Western Chu overlord Xiang Yu, seemingly unifying the world. In fact, it is not so much that Liu Bang destroyed Xiang Yu, but rather that Liu Bang united with those kings with different surnames to destroy Xiang Yu. Liu Bang was only the relatively strong of these forces, and he also carried an orthodox imperial court brand.
Although the power of these foreign kings was weaker than Liu Bang's Han army, they were still able to fight a battle. The Yan kings Zang Di, the Liang kings Peng Yue, the Huainan kings Yingbu, the Zhao kings Zhang Ao (Zhang Er's son), and Tian Heng of the Qi state's homeland were all east of Luoyang, not including Han Xin, who was strictly guarded by Liu Bang, and was renamed king of Chu by the king of Qi. If the territory of these kings with different surnames is connected, it just forms the confrontation form of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of the Han Jing Emperor.
At that time, the capital of the Han Dynasty was already in Chang'an, and there was a sufficient time difference between the middle and the heavenly danger, and the military town of Luoyang to the east. If Liu Bang had made the capital Luoyang, Luoyang would have been directly exposed to the attack range of the alien king on the eastern front. For example, Peng Yue, the king of Liang, the capital of the country was called Emperor Dingtao by Liu Bang, and there was not much natural danger to defend between Dingtao and Luoyang, which was very dangerous.
The strategist Lou Jing opposed Liu Bangding's capital Luoyang, on the grounds that Zhou Dehou and Han De were thin, but the real reason was that Luoyang was at the forefront of confrontation with the king with different surnames. "Qindi (Guanzhong) was taken by mountains and rivers, and the four plugs were thought to be solid, and there was a hurry, although there were millions of people, they could stand up." This is the focus of Lou Jing's proposal to abandon the capital of Luoyang. Zhang Liang, the chief strategist, also had this attitude, "Although Luoyang has this solidity (referring to the natural danger of Xiaoguanzhong), it is only a few hundred miles, the fields are thin, and the enemies are attacked on all sides, and it is not a country that uses force." "Then it is believed that Guanzhong is fertile for thousands of miles, the south has the fertility of Bashu, the north has the benefit of Hu Yuan, and three sides can be defended, and only the east side can be left to control the princes." For reasons of his own safety, Liu Bang eventually moved the capital to Chang'an, and Luoyang became a strategic transit point for balancing and pacifying the king with different surnames.
When Wang Mang usurped Han, the world was in chaos, but Chang'an had not yet been greatly damaged. Except for the Burning of Weiyang Palace, the rest is intact. The earliest capital luoyang was not the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, but the more important emperor Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan made the capital Luoyang and made Liu Xiu a lieutenant colonel. Liu Xuan was a grass bench team, and the people of Luoyang saw him traveling like a monkey. Liu Xiuwei was in a dignified hall, and the people looked at the tears and said that today they had first seen the prestige of the Han officials, and the hearts of the people belonged to Liu Xiu. However, emperor Gengshi moved the capital back to Chang'an.
By the time Liu Xiu settled the capital luoyang, Chang'an was already in chaos, and Liu Xuan was killed by the Chimei army. In other words, Liu Xiu's important enemies at this time were mostly concentrated on the western front, which was exactly the opposite of Liu Bang. In addition to the Chimei army in Guanzhong, there was also Kui Huan, who divided Longxi (around Gansu), and Gongsun Shu, who divided Bashu. Although there were Liang King Liu Yong in the Shangqiu area of Henan and Zhang Bu the King of Qi on the eastern front, on the whole, it was not a major problem for Liu Xiu's confidants. In the sixth year of Jianwu (30 AD), Liu Xiuping settled Guanzhong, and the focus thereafter was on Longxi and Gongsun Shu. It was not until the twelfth year of Jianwu (36 AD) that Liu Xiu destroyed Gongsun Shu and unified the world.
During this decade, Luoyang was recuperating and prosperous, which was no longer enough for Liu Xiu to have the idea of moving the capital. There are also three points, deciding that Liu Xiu must set the capital luoyang. First, the Chimei army plundered Chang'an, burning and looting, "There is no one in the city." In the case of Chang'an being dilapidated and Luoyang flourishing, Liu Xiu had no need to spend a huge amount of money to rebuild Chang'an. Second, since the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Qiang people have often attacked Longxi, and Longxi is relatively close to Chang'an and is not very safe.
Third, Liu Xiu started in Nanyang, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, nanyang's status was equivalent to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Fengyang, was an imperial township, and its significance was extraordinary. Luoyang is very close to Nanyang, which is of great significance to the stability of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the absence of opposition forces on the eastern front, the capital luoyang can be used to receive money and grain from the east nearby. Therefore, Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is also logical.