History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 967: Taizu's Past 6
"Proposal to Move the Capital"

In July of the fifth year of Kaibao (972), Princess Yongqing married Wei Xianxin (son of Wei Renpu), and all officials congratulated him and gave him a lot of money. Zhao Kuangyin then asked the accountant (Sansi) to help calculate how much money he had received. He had to calculate the money from his family and the treasury. It didn't matter, but the Sansi gave him a bolt from the blue:
"The national treasury storage is only enough to last for half a year. I suggest that the troops should be allowed to cultivate the land as soon as possible, and civilian ships should be requisitioned to transport food to the Jianghuai area."

Zhao Kuangyin was furious and immediately called Chu Zhaofu, the judge of the three courts, to scold him, "The country's strategic reserve is nine years of grain, nine years is the minimum. Now there is only half a year, how did you manage? Do you still want to keep you for the New Year? Do you believe that I will kill you?"

Chu Zhaofu was a close confidant of Zhao Kuangyin. During the Chenqiao Rebellion, he was responsible for appeasing Zhao Kuangyin's mother, Empress Dowager Du. Because he was shrewd and good at accounting, Zhao Kuangyin gave him the empire's purse and let him judge the three courts. In addition, Chu Zhaofu also served as the Xuanhui Envoy and the Privy Envoy, which shows Zhao Kuangyin's absolute trust in him.

Chu Zhaofu was terrified. After retreating, he found Zhao Guangyi and begged him to help him out of the predicament so that he could continue to serve the people. He didn't want to leave us too early.

Zhao Guangyi was also shocked when he learned about the situation, so he asked his staff, who eventually analyzed the reasons for the poor transport of grain and found a solution.

There are many reasons, which can be summed up in one sentence: administrative orders violated the objective laws of the market. For example, the official price guide at the time was 70 coins per dou of rice, but the actual price of rice in Bianzhou was much higher than this number (the specific number is not recorded in historical records). Rice merchants had no profit to make, so they were unwilling to transport grain to the capital. Supply was less than demand, and rice prices had to rise. The "rice price" here is actually the black market price, which is the market price that truly reflects the supply and demand relationship.

The higher the rice price, the less profitable it is for rice merchants, and the less willing they are to transport grain to the capital, resulting in greater food shortages in the capital and higher prices, thus starting a vicious cycle.

The wealthy merchants in Bianzhou City did store a large amount of grain, but they were unwilling to sell it at the official price, and they dared not sell it to the black market at the actual price. Those who had grain did not dare to sell it, and those who did not have grain would starve to death.

In addition, the unreasonable official pricing of grain transport also affected the enthusiasm of the boatmen. At the same time, the official ships were in disrepair and the rivers were seriously silted up... These were the main reasons for the shortage of food in the capital and the rise in grain prices.

Only by finding out the cause can the problem be solved. After Zhao Guangyi sorted out the food problem, he reported it to Zhao Kuangyin, who fully adopted Zhao Guangyi's suggestions, and Chu Zhaofu was thus saved.

Some people like to compare the capital of a country to the human heart, but this is not accurate. It should be more like the human brain. The heart outputs energy, while the brain needs to continuously input energy. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, there have been frequent records of food shortages in the capital. The capital seems to be very fragile and needs to be continuously supplied by the local areas.

Because the capital not only needs to maintain a huge imperial bureaucracy, but also has a huge imperial army to support. Especially after the reforms of Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, the imperial army is huge. For example, Comrade Lin Chong, the "instructor of the 800,000 imperial army" we are all familiar with, Song Huizong supported 800,000 imperial army, 800,000 mouths to feed. The daily expenses of the imperial army alone are an astronomical figure, which cannot be met by relying solely on the capital area.

This story laid a small foreshadowing for the later proposal of "moving the capital".

Zhao Kuangyin had long intended to move the capital. Historical books say that because Zhao Kuangyin was born in Luoyang and "liked the local customs", he had always planned to move the capital to Luoyang after he ascended the throne.

In the first month of 976, Zhao Kuangyin, who had recovered Jiangnan (Southern Tang) and unified the southern vassal states, was ordered to visit Xijing (Luoyang), and in April "had an event in the southern suburbs" to report to his ancestors the gratifying progress of the reunification of the motherland. When passing by the Yong'an Mausoleum in Zhengzhou, Zhao Kuangyin paid homage to his father Zhao Hongyin, and cried bitterly in front of the tomb, and everyone around him wept. Afterwards, Zhao Kuangyin climbed up the Quetai, shot a whistling arrow in the northwest direction, and said to the people around him: "I will be buried there after I die."

This detail is easy to be overlooked. Some people believe that Yong'an Mausoleum is a Feng Shui treasure land, saying that Zhao Kuangyin meant to be buried in the northwest of Yong'an Mausoleum, which is the location where Zhao Kuangyin's arrow fell to the ground. This is the blessed place that Zhao Kuangyin chose for himself. In fact, this is a pun by Zhao Kuangyin. The northwest of Zhengzhou is Luoyang, and the "that place" Zhao Kuangyin mentioned refers to Luoyang, implying that the capital would be moved to Luoyang.

What's interesting is that Zhao Kuangyin died half a year later. I'm not promoting feudal superstition, but in certain situations, some things can't be said carelessly.

It is said that when Zhao Kuangyin arrived in Luoyang, he was delighted to see the magnificent palaces in Luoyang. After years of renovation, Luoyang had already met the conditions to serve as the capital of the empire. It seemed that everything was ready, so Zhao Kuangyin formally raised a serious topic to his ministers: move the capital to Luoyang!
A single stone caused a thousand ripples, and the ministers began to discuss the matter. The result of the discussion made Zhao Kuangyin very unhappy: they all unanimously opposed moving the capital.

Among them, Li Fu, the attendant of the imperial court, summarized eight reasons for opposing the relocation of the capital: the capital was in decay; the palaces were not well prepared; the suburban temples had not been repaired; the various government offices were not in good working order; the people within the capital were in distress; the army had insufficient food; the fortifications had not been built; and the army had to march with thousands of chariots and horses in the sweltering heat.

There are some overlapping parts in the “Eight Difficulties”. Let us simplify and summarize them. There are actually two main reasons: one is that the objective conditions of infrastructure do not allow it, and the other is subjective public opinion is not in favor.

Zhao Kuangyin scoffed at this and said that since everyone disagreed, then it was settled. Zhao Kuangyin planned to postpone his return to Beijing indefinitely after the suburban sacrifices were completed, and stay in Luoyang to make the relocation of the capital a fait accompli.

Although the ministers were against it, no one dared to persuade him. Only Li Huaizhong, the general of the imperial guards, risked his life to persuade him. Li Huaizhong raised two very practical issues. One was that it was inconvenient to supply food. Bianzhou had a mature and developed water transport system, and it had experienced the dangerous experience of food supply shortage. Luoyang was far away from the main grain production area, and supply would be even more difficult. The other was that the treasury and heavy troops were all in Bianzhou. If they strongly opposed it... Zhao Kuangyin was also unmoved.

Finally, Zhao Guangyi stepped in and persuaded Zhao Kuangyin not to move the capital to Luoyang.

Zhao Kuangyin still gave face to his brother and said, "You are right. It is indeed inappropriate to move the capital to Luoyang. Well, then let's continue westward and move the capital to Chang'an (moving to Henan has not yet been completed, and it will eventually be moved to Chang'an)!" The Henan here refers to Henan Prefecture, which is Luoyang.

Say it, say it again, if you dare to say that I will move the capital to Kazakhstan, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona... it won’t be over until we get to New York!

Zhao Guangyi knelt down and kowtowed, "Brother, can we stop making trouble?"
After calming down, Zhao Kuangyin suppressed his anger and explained to Zhao Guangyi calmly: "The reason why I want to move the capital to Luoyang is to ensure the stability of the country, to rely on the dangers of mountains and rivers to reduce redundant soldiers, to reduce national fiscal expenditures, and to emulate the story of the strong Han and prosperous Tang dynasties."

Zhao Guangyi silenced Zhao Kuangyin with one sentence: "Virtue is more important than danger."

After Zhao Guangyi left, Zhao Kuangyin looked unhappy. He sighed and said to his attendants, "The words of the King of Jin are good, but within a hundred years, the people of the world will be exhausted!"

A hundred years later, Song Jiang, Fang La and other "officials forced the people to rebel", the Jin people went south and created the "Jingkang Incident", and the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed, everything happened just as Zhao Kuangyin predicted.

Looking back at this conversation between the two brothers, the amount of information contained in it is enormous. Some people even regard it as the prelude to "Candle Shadow and Axe Sound".

On the surface, the reason why Zhao Kuangyin insisted on moving the capital was that Bianzhou's geographical location was not ideal. It was located in a vast plain area, with no strategic location to defend and was too fragile. In contrast, Luoyang was located in a strategic location, easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the capital was moved to Luoyang, part of the army could be disbanded, thereby reducing the financial burden. Although supply would be difficult, demand would also decrease accordingly; and it would also have a more sufficient strategic buffer in large-scale wars.

However, Zhao Guangyi exaggerated the issue and responded to practical problems with lofty ideals.

Do you remember the lesson of Li Cunxu's conquest of the Later Liang Dynasty? After 20 years of bloody battles on both sides of the river, Li Cunxu sent out a surprise force led by Li Siyuan, who set out from today's Shandong Province and rushed day and night. In two days, they arrived at the gate of Bianzhou and completed a surprise attack, creating a miracle in Chinese military history.

Zhao Kuangyin was very interested in Li Cunxu's story and had done considerable research and insights into it. He also had a clear understanding of the disadvantages of Bianzhou, which was easy to attack but difficult to defend.

However, the debate on food transportation, military defense, etc. was too superficial. Many people dug up a deeper political contradiction - the rise of the Jin Dynasty.

Some people say that the proposal to move the capital was a showdown between Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi.

Zhao Guangyi had served as the prefect of Kaifeng for a long time, and his position in Bianzhou was deeply rooted, and the officials in Bianzhou were "firm and unshakable". Those who supported Zhao Guangyi's killing of his brother to seize power believed that Zhao Guangyi was quite similar to Zhao Kuangyin of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He had been secretly accumulating his own strength, and had gained widespread support from civil and military officials, and had established a firm foothold in Bianzhou. The reason why Zhao Kuangyin insisted on moving the capital was to avoid the threat of Zhao Guangyi, or to weaken Zhao Guangyi's influence on the central government.

Some people also believe that at this time, Zhao Guangyi was about to sideline Zhao Kuangyin, so Zhao Kuangyin had to flee to Luoyang to get rid of Zhao Guangyi's control.

In the end, Zhao Kuangyin could not withstand the tremendous pressure and chose to return to Bianzhou. Half a year later, the "Candle Shadow and Axe Sound" incident occurred.

The discussion of moving the capital added a touch of weirdness to "Candle Shadow and Axe Sound", and left endless imagination for the "Jingkang Change".

Thanks to old friends "Jiang Hu Liu Bai", "Nong Min Xiao Dang Jia" and "Yang Kui" for their monthly ticket support, and thanks to "Jiang Hu Liu Bai" for his reward support!

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(End of this chapter)