Live History Broadcast: Opening Ceremony Spoilers - Our Ancestor Was Enraged

Chapter 666 Moving the Capital

During the Yongle era, Zhu Di, who had just finished drinking tea, spat it out. His brows furrowed deeply. "Damn it," he thought, "who gave him the audacity to refuse to attend court for thirty years?!"

Starting a business is hard, maintaining it is even harder. I've worked myself to the bone, just so you can lie down and relax?!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the angrier he became, the more he wanted to hit someone. Zhu Di stared at Zhu Gaochi, who was looking down and not looking at him.

I'm sorry, my dear son, I'm taking it out on you first!

Zhu Gaochi, who was being punished with exercise: You lying-down grandson, I'll remember you! Don't let me see you again!

Meanwhile, during the Hongwu era, Zhu Di was running around the house in a panic. Old Zhu was chasing after him, panting. "Damn it," he thought, "this brat doesn't even know how to give way to his father! What's wrong with me giving him a beating?!"

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"Of course not! Zhu Di immediately rebuilt the Embroidered Uniform Guard and set up the Northern Garrison to handle imperial prisons."

"Besides that, Zhu Di moved, and the emperor changed, so he also had to move around."

"So Zhu Laosi said, 'Father and Mother, you can rest easy here. I, Zhu Laosi, am moving back to Beiping!'"

Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: ………

"In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had considered moving the capital, and even sent his son, Crown Prince Zhu Biao, on an inspection tour. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang's base was still too far from the north."

"Not to mention Beiping, which was once the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. Although Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty and drove out the Yuan people, it wasn't completely destroyed and is no longer threatened."

Yuan Ren: (???) You don't mean you want to fight anymore!?

"Therefore, even after he became emperor, he still valued the north and continued to resist the Yuan people. If the Mongols were to invade the south again, they would have to fight again."

"Moreover, there is a significant economic disparity between the North and the South. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the economic center was in the South, while the Jurchens and Mongols were based in the North. Therefore, it was only natural for Zhu Yuanzhang to move the capital."

"When choosing a capital, Zhu Yuanzhang referenced the model of the two capitals, designating Yingtian as Nanjing and Kaifeng as Beijing. However, building a city, especially a capital, requires a great deal of money." (Hongwu Records)

Kaifeng: ?????? I have served as the governor of Tokyo, Beijing, and Nanjing.

Lin Ke spread his hands and continued, "It's obvious that Old Zhu didn't have that much money, and with the war going on for years, Kaifeng's prosperity has long become a legend in history."

"Reconstruction would be a massive undertaking. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did try to build a capital city in Fengyang, but it was abandoned on the grounds of being a waste of manpower and resources. The ruins can still be seen now."

"Later, Zhu Biao inspected Xi'an, but the crown prince died young, and the plan to move the capital was abandoned. When Zhu Di came to power, Beiping was renamed Beijing and Beiping Prefecture was renamed Shuntian Prefecture."

"During Judy's reign, people were relocated to Beiping, palaces were built based on the old imperial palace, and a mausoleum was built on the same site. The canal was opened up for north-south transport. In the eighteenth year of Yongle's reign, Judy officially moved the capital to Beiping, with Nanjing as the secondary capital."

Judy: Bury your father in the north and south, bury me in the north!

"The emperors of the Zhu family probably had a rebellious streak. Zhu Di went through all sorts of difficulties to finally move the family, and his eldest son, Zhu Gaochi, was just like his father."

"As the crown prince, he stayed in Nanjing for a long time. After ascending the throne, he even planned to move the capital to Nanjing. However, he was not in good health and did not live to see his father in the first year of Hongxi's reign."

"However, his son, Judy's beloved grandson, said, 'We're doing just fine in Beijing, why move back?' So the family never got to move."

"Neither father nor son reigned for long. It wasn't until Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne that the issue of the Ming Dynasty's capital was officially resolved."

"From then on, there was the clear-mindedness of 'the emperor guards the country's gate, and the monarch dies for the state.'"

……