The reason why Li Bao proposed to move the capital was not only because he was a traverser, knowing that the trend of the capital setting of the later dynasty was to move eastward, and Chang'an was basically insulated from the capital of the Chinese dynasty since the Tang Dynasty.

There were two main reasons for the eastward movement of the capital of the dynasty, one was the struggle between the Central Plains Dynasty and the northern nomads, and the other was the decline of the Guanzhong region. Leaving aside the relationship between the struggle between the Central Plains Dynasty and the northern nomads, let's just talk about the unfavorable factors in the Guanzhong region.

Later scholars divided the history of Chinese feudal society into three stages, namely the Qin and Han dynasties during the First Empire, the Sui and Tang dynasties during the Second Empire, and the Ming and Qing dynasties during the Third Empire. The Guanzhong region, where Chang'an is located, has always served as the functional area of the capital during the First and Second Empires.

In ancient times, Guanzhong was relatively wealthy in the Qin and Han dynasties, but it was already in a state of overdevelopment during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Ancient China is known as the rich in China, and the natural advantage of the fertile land of the four solid mountains and rivers was the excellent capital area for the feudal rulers after the Qin and Han dynasties.

However, the over-enrichment of the population in the capital area has led to the intensification of vegetation reclamation and deforestation in the Guanzhong area, which has led to the aggravation of soil erosion in the Guanzhong area. At that time, there was a folk proverb that said: Jingshui has a bucket of mud several liters, which shows the degree of soil erosion in the Guanzhong area, and the most fundamental result of soil erosion is that the grain production in the Guanzhong area is not as good as the year after year.

However, after the Tang Dynasty, the grain production in Guanzhong became more and more poor, and the Tang Dynasty had to transfer grain from other places, which solved the grain shortage in Chang'an. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the scale of Caoyun was not large.

On the occasion of Taizong's Zhenguan and Yonghui, Chang'an mainly relied on Guanzhong for self-sufficiency, and only 1 or 200,000 stone were transferred from Shandong (east of Kunshan) to Guanzhong every year.

In the Gaozong period, the shortage of food in Chang'an has begun to appear, and Gaozong and Empress Wu often tour the east because of the lack of food in Chang'an, and they have to bring hundreds of officials and palace people to Luoyang to "eat".

At the beginning of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Xuanzong transported about one million stones every year, and from the twenty-second to twenty-fifth years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, it only transported seven million stones in three years. In Tianbao, about 2.5 million stones are transported every year, and the Jingshi relies on Jianghuai Caoyun. As long as the feudal towns are isolated, "the north and south are all extinct, and the Beijing division is terrified".

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty of Dezong Zhen (785 AD), "Taicang for the six palaces of the Son of Heaven is less than ten days, and wine cannot be made in the ban." So the transport of Jianghuai was increased, and a total of 3 million stones of corn were transported from Zhejiang East and West Road, Jiangxi, Huguang, Eyue, Fujian, and Lingnan. After Dezong learned about it, he went to the East Palace and said to the prince: 'The rice has arrived in Shaanxi, and my father and son have to live.' ’”

Li Bao looked at everyone, and he spoke: "The manuscript paper has listed all my reasons, and from the information on the manuscript, we can see that Chang'an, as the capital, has already reached a very serious level of dependence on Caoyun. But today's Datang is poor and lacks everything, the section from the Grand Canal to Luoyang and the Yellow River to Bianzhou have been stagnant for many years, and a lot of manpower and material resources are needed to dredge, both of which are the most scarce in Datang today.

In addition, in the past few years, the Huangchao bandits and the rebels in the feudal town have seriously damaged Chang'an, and the once beautiful Daming Palace has now been burned to ruins by the Huangchao bandits. The official family has been sullen for these days, and he has been sick again in the past few days, which is probably due to the fact that Chang'an is too dilapidated.

Nowadays, Chang'an's grain is transported through the Yangtze River and then transferred by land, which is a huge cost, so I proposed to move the capital. ”

Although Zheng Zhen and Yang Yan were shocked at first, after they read Li Bao's manuscript and what Li Bao said, they were also reasonable, so the two of them basically approved Li Bao's proposal.

But the matter of moving the capital is too big to be cautious, so Zheng Zheng said: "Liulang proposed to move the capital, so the location of the capital can be decided?" ”

Zhao Zhizhao never spoke, he knew that since King Ji had raised this question, he must have considered this question holistically, and he must have already had the answer in his heart. So he wasn't in a hurry, he just stared at Li Bao, he knew that Li Bao would tell everyone what he liked.

"I've thought about some of the things myself, but I'm not sure yet, so I'll talk about them for everyone to discuss. In addition, I would like to explain what I considered as the basis for choosing a place in Kyoto, and I would like to hear if it is reasonable. ”

Yang Yan and Zheng Yan looked at each other and smiled, nodded and said, "I know that you have a lot of ghost ideas, okay, don't sell it, let's talk about it." ”

"There are three main reasons why I chose the capital: first, the central area of cultural prosperity, with convenient transportation conditions, mainly reflected in the favorable rule and regional wealth, and the fertile land can support a large number of people; Second, it has a natural geographical defense advantage of mountains and rivers, which is easy to protect militarily, and has a certain hinterland for retreat; There are three rivers passing through, which is convenient for water transportation and water transportation. ”

"There are a few places that the king chose, hurry up and say it, I can't wait." Xu Anwen said that as a newcomer to Li Bao's core decision-making circle, although Xu Anwen is not young, he has a strong desire for expression and curiosity.

"I initially chose Luoyang, Bianzhou (Kaifeng), Youzhou (Beijing), and Xiangyang, and everyone will discuss it." After Li Bao finished speaking, he sat down in his seat and stopped talking, while the other people started talking in a whisper.

Of the four places proposed by Li Bao, Bianzhou (Kaifeng) and Youzhou (Beijing) were the capitals of later dynasties, so he added these two places.

However, judging from the current situation of the Tang Dynasty, the probability of Youzhou being recognized by Zheng Zheng and Yang Yan is not high, after all, the Khitan and Jurchen ethnic minorities that emerged in the northeast are still only border tribes at this time, which is not worth mentioning.

Luoyang is located in the advantageous position of the Yellow River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and it is also the capital of the thousand-year-old king, and it is also the capital of the Tang Dynasty. However, Luoyang has been in dilapidation after repeated wars over the years, and the Yellow River has been stagnant for a while and cannot be cleaned up.

Moreover, the Huangchao bandits have made the Central Plains region a thousand miles of white bones and tired, and the popularity and influence needed as the capital have been greatly reduced.

Bianzhou is also a large city in the Central Plains, and is located at the hub of the Yellow River, which also has advantages as the capital. Otherwise, the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty would not have chosen this place as the capital.

However, now that Qin Zongquan is rebellious, and there is no danger to defend around Bianzhou, and now the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun are still there, if it is lost, Bianzhou is located in the plain and there is no danger to defend, which is very unfavorable, and the probability of Yang Yan and Zheng Jin's agreement will not be too high.

The rest of Xiangyang is the most suitable place among these cities, first of all, Xiangyang is located in the Nanyang Basin, the surrounding mountains and rivers are sufficient, and it is the only capital area that can be comparable to the Guanzhong area.

Moreover, Xiangyang had a reputation in the world in ancient times, and there were convenient passages from Xiangyang to all directions. In Chinese history, there have been several times when Xiangyang was established as the capital, and twice in the history of the Tang Dynasty, Xiangyang was established as the capital.

The earliest time was that Gaozu Li Yuan sent the Chinese scholar Lang Yu scribe to the whole country to inspect the location of the capital because of the Turkic invasion of Chang'an, and Xiangyang was listed as the first choice. The second time was during the period of Tang Zhaozong, Dr. Zhu Pu of Guozijian believed that Xiangyang was blessed, and Li Bao also liked Xiangyang the most.

However, he can't do it, he must first convince Yang Yan and Zheng Jin, after all, the two of them have strong prestige in the court and among the people.

After waiting for a long time, everyone basically finished discussing, Zheng Zheng looked at Li Bao, and he said: "Liulang listed these four places, presumably Liulang already has a favorite place, I don't know where it is, say it to see if it is consistent with the selection of a certain class." ”

"My favorite is Xiangyang, I don't know what you think?"

After Li Bao finished speaking, Zheng Yan and Yang Yan looked at each other, they were a little disappointed in their eyes, Yang Yan twisted his beard and said: "After discussing with Zheng Xiang, I feel that Luoyang is the most suitable and Xiangyang is also good, but after all, people have stable minds, if they move the capital to Xiangyang rashly, they are only afraid that the Tang Dynasty will be worried." ”

Yang Yan's words represent the voice of everyone, the authority of the center of Datang's current situation is basically gone, if the capital of Datang is changed, then Datang's influence and sense of identity in the hearts of the people will only drop even lower.

It was not an easy task to move the capital from ancient times to the present, and the road to moving the capital was no less than a large-scale coup d'état, which had a profound impact on the dynasty and the people.

Not to mention far away, let's just say that in history, after Zhu Wen became big, he forced Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang, when all the people from Zhaozong, the Son of Heaven, to the people of Li were crying, and the people along the way from Chang'an to Luoyang were killed and injured, which can be called a tragic road.

After all, Li Bao knows the general trend of historical development, and the Jiangnan region will become more and more developed in the future, and the efficiency of the Yangtze River waterway shipping has also developed rapidly because of the more frequent floods in the Yellow River.

In addition, navigation technology will become more and more developed in the future, and it is necessary to build the capital city on the edge of the Yangtze River. In addition, Xiangyang is also closer to Shuzhong, which is more in line with the concept of economic hinterland and radiation circle.

But these are not factors that Li Bao can use to convince Zheng Zheng and Yang Yan, he must convince them from a higher perspective, "The reason why Xiangyang is more suitable than Luoyang is because Xiangyang is a clean region, so that the original princes and nobles of the Tang Dynasty can be dragged and contained."

Chang'an and Luoyang are the royal capitals of the Tang Dynasty, so Guanzhong and Sanfu are all over the fiefs and food of the princes and nobles, and after Li Bao appeared, the Huangchao bandits did not realize the wanton slaughter of the princes and hundreds of officials, but they all lived well. In this way, their power in the Guanzhong region still exists, so the pro-noble forces in the Guanzhong region are very strong.

Most of the Weizhou group led by Li Bao came from the bottom of society, and they were full of vitality, but they lacked a social foundation. In the future, after Li Bao forges ahead, it is bound to produce a new aristocratic group, and they are bound to conflict with the old aristocratic class, so Li Bao also chooses Xiangyang as the new capital for the long run.

After Zheng Zhen and Yang Yan listened to Li Bao's reason, they were silent, thinking for a long time, and they nodded with difficulty. After all, what Li Bao said is related to the nascent Weizhou Group and the new life of Datang, and they must look at the problem from Li Bao's point of view.

So the proposal to move the capital has formed a resolution, and to make Xiangyang a new capital, the first thing to do is to take Xiangyang first.