Chapter 54 Thirteen. Move the capital to Luoyang

During Xiao Yu's reign, except for the five to six years of Yongming (AD 487-488) when Huan Tiansheng raised troops in the old city of Nanyang to join forces with the Northern Wei Dynasty, and there was a conflict on the border, the situation of "no war in the north" was maintained.In the last year of his reign, that is, the eleventh year of Yongming (the seventeenth year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty, AD 493), Xiao Yu suddenly ordered the construction of 3,000 chariots in Stone City, preparing to attack Pengcheng, an important town in Huaibei that had been lost for many years.

When the news spread to Pingcheng, Liu Chang, the royal family of the Song Dynasty, met Emperor Xiaowen several times, cried to him, and demanded to send troops to the south to avenge his shame.Emperor Xiaowen held a meeting of ministers in the Hall of Jingwu to discuss the plan to crusade against the Southern Qi Dynasty, and recruited troops and horses in the Huai and Si areas to accumulate food and grass.On Xiao Yu's side, Cui Huijing, the general of the right guard, was the governor of Yuzhou, ready to resist the invasion of the Wei army at any time.The two sides are at war with each other, and a big battle seems inevitable.But no one thought that this conflict triggered a top-down "Great Revolution" in the Northern Wei Dynasty-moving the capital to Luoyang.

In fact, in the 16th year of Taihe, the year before the capital was moved, there was a detail that was easily overlooked that was worth pondering: Emperor Xiaowen called a group of ministers to discuss the issue of the morality of the Northern Wei regime. The theory of virtue running times, or the theory of five virtues at the beginning and end, originated from the theory of the Yin-Yang School in the Warring States Period, and became a powerful tool for the feudal emperors to control the legitimacy of their rule after the Han Dynasty.In short, this set of theories means that each dynasty has its corresponding virtue, represented by one of the five elements.In the final analysis, the change of dynasty is the mutual generation and restraint between virtue and luck.For example, the Han Dynasty is Huo De, Wei and Jin respectively are Tu De and Jin De, corresponding to the principle of the five elements, fire begets earth, and earth begets metal. Later, the Southern Dynasties took over the Eastern Jin Dynasty and regarded themselves as orthodox. Of course, they consciously inherited it. It is the virtue of water, Qi is the virtue of wood, and so on.

The problem lies in the Northern Dynasties. After the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was great chaos in the north. Among the sixteen countries, the barely decent regimes were probably the front and back Zhao, the front and back Yan, and the front and back Qin.In order to maintain their rule, the monarchs of these dynasties have already established their own luck.Later Zhao of Shi Le believed that he inherited the regime of the Western Jin Dynasty, so virtue was the virtue of water. Murong’s Yan State believed that he would dominate the north after destroying Later Zhao, so he obeyed Mu De. Deyun took over and became Huode.The monarchs in the early Northern Wei Dynasty believed that the Tuoba clan started from the great split of the former Qin Dynasty. The natural successor of the former Qin Dynasty regarded itself as the natural successor of the former Qin Dynasty, and the virtue luck should be regarded as Tude.Gao Lu, the supervisor of Zhongshu, thinks so. He said: "Emperors all regard the Central Plains as the orthodox, and they don't care about the good and evil of their rule. Therefore, even if Jie and Zhou are innocent, King Li of Zhou and Emperor Hui of Jin are fatuous, Nor can it change the orthodox status of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Jin and other dynasties. Since the Jin Dynasty, the dynasties occupying the Central Plains have been the Zhao, Yan, and Qin dynasties. Moreover, our national surname Tuoba comes from the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, and the Yellow Emperor is also Tude, and I think that our imperial fortune should be Tude." This is the traditional view since the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Secretary Cheng Li Biao and author Lang Cuiguang disagreed. They said: "Our first ancestor, Emperor Shenyuan, had contacts with Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, and Emperor Huan and Emperor Mu also assisted the Jin family, so the fortune of our dynasty actually inherited Sima’s Jin dynasty, Zhao, Yan, and Qin dynasties were cramped, so how could we have the right to talk about virtue? How can our Wei State abandon Jin and become Tude?” The meaning of these words is to take advantage of the Western Jin The relationship between Tuoba Yilu and others who were acting kings and the Jin Dynasty regarded all the small dynasties experienced in the middle as hypocrisy (this is the theoretical foundation of Cui Hong's "Sixteen Kingdoms Spring and Autumn" later), and directly used water virtue to Jinde, who inherited the Jin Dynasty.

The debate was extremely fierce, but the views of Li Biao and others were high-pitched and gradually won the support of many ministers.Emperor Xiaowen made the final decision, and this was the way to do it, and Wei Guo's moral fortune was changed to water virtue. Although Deyun is a trick to promote the transformation of destiny, the connotation in it can reflect the self-positioning of the Northern Wei Dynasty in different periods.Obeying the morality of Tu means posing as the regime of the Central Plains, inheriting the situation of great division after the collapse of the Western Jin Dynasty, at best it was a separatist dynasty; following the virtue of water is different, inheriting the Jin Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty followed the Han and Wei dynasties (Cao Wei) It is the Chinese regime that is passed down, which is a higher level than the Central Plains regime.Emperor Xiaowen's decision shows that at this time, the Northern Wei Dynasty regarded itself as the orthodox dynasty holding the torch of Chinese culture high, and the legitimacy of the Southern Dynasty regime including the Eastern Jin Dynasty was denied.That being the case, the following series of thorough Sinicization measures are imperative.

The first task is to move the capital.Han people in the north recognize temples but not gods. If you put the country’s capital in Pingcheng, a remote place in northern Xinjiang, you will at most be a big Hu people’s country. Accepted by the broad masses of the people.However, relocation is a major event, how can we say that relocation is a matter of relocation, Emperor Xiaowen knew very well the stubborn and conservative characteristics of the Xianbei nobles, if hastily announced the relocation of the capital, it would definitely attract strong opposition, and even cause a split in the court.To achieve great things, we can only "outsmart" and not "attack".

The rumors of Xiao Yu's Northern Expedition gave him an opportunity, and a plan matured in his heart.On this day, when he was entertaining his ministers, he suddenly pretended to be on a whim, and asked Tai Changqing beside him to divination. After doing the calculations, he came across the "Ge" hexagram in the sixty-four hexagrams of the Book of Changes.Emperor Xiaowen said excitedly: "This is a good sign. We should follow the will of heaven like the 'Tang and Wu Revolution' and seek to destroy the ministers!" The ministers didn't know what the emperor was thinking about "revolution" today, so they didn't dare to speak.Emperor Xiaowen's uncle, Shangshu Rencheng Wang Tuobacheng couldn't stand it any longer. He thought the emperor was young and vigorous and didn't think carefully about the problem, so he persuaded him: "'revolution' means to change the sky. In the middle of the earth, it is probably not auspicious to encounter the hexagram 'revolutionary' when you want to conquer non-vassals."

Emperor Xiaowen's face darkened: "The country is my country, King Ren, do you want to shake the morale of the army?" Tuoba Cheng argued: "It is true that the country is Your Majesty's country, but the ministers are also the ministers of the country, how can we know the danger and not dissuade it!" Emperor Xiaowen was still angry, and he didn't speak for a long time. After a long time, he said slowly: "Everyone has their own ambitions, I don't care about it!" The officials witnessed this scene, who would dare to speak?When the banquet was over, everyone dispersed silently.Emperor Xiaowen left Tuoba Cheng alone, came to the back room, and said softly to him: "Uncle, don't worry about what happened just now! The reason why my attitude is so strict is just to scare me, and I don't want all the civil and military officials to obstruct me. My thoughts. To be honest, it is false to raise troops to the south, and it is true to migrate to the country. The current capital, Pingcheng, faces the enemy in the north (referring to Rouran). Confucianism education, we want to promote Han style and customs now, but there is no future in Pingcheng, and we can only make a difference by moving the capital to the Central Plains. What does uncle think?"

Tuoba Cheng suddenly realized, his sad face suddenly turned into a smile, and said: "Your Majesty moved the capital to the Central Plains, this is the root of the prosperity of Zhou and Han, and I, Tuoba Cheng, agree with it!" Emperor Xiaowen said again: "But you also know the temperament of the northerners. When the time comes, it will be hard to deal with it. What do you think?" Tuoba Cheng replied confidently: "Movement is an extraordinary matter, which extraordinary people can consider. As long as His Majesty makes up his mind, what can those people without foresight do!"

Emperor Xiaowen was overjoyed and praised: "King Ren Cheng is really my wife Zhang!" In this way, in June of the 17th year of Taihe, Emperor Xiaowen issued an edict to personally conquer, and laid a pontoon bridge on the Yellow River to prepare for the army to cross the river.Looking at this posture, many people thought of Cao Cao's Battle of Chibi and Fu Jian's Battle of Feishui. Fearing that Emperor Xiaowen would make the same mistakes again, Secretary Supervisor Lu Yuan specifically asked not to conscript himself.Emperor Xiaowen refused to listen, and led 300,000 cavalry, set off from Pingcheng, and marched to the south in a mighty way. It was God's will to say it, the army crossed the Yellow River from Pingcheng to Luoyang, the road was full of light rain, the road was muddy, and the march was difficult. The soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty were exhausted and had no fighting spirit.After staying in Luoyang for a few days, Emperor Xiaowen ordered the former army to set off again.Everyone didn't want to leave at all, and they all slacked off. Emperor Xiaowen didn't speak, put on his military uniform, held a whip in his hand, jumped on his horse, and was about to leave the city.The complaining ministers were dumbfounded seeing this scene. Could it be that the emperor is really crazy?They hurried to catch up, surrounded Emperor Xiaowen's horse's head, and knelt down in a large area. Emperor Xiaowen pretended to be surprised, and asked: "The army is about to enter, what do you mean?" Shangshu Li Chong and others said: "Today's South Expedition, the people in the world are unwilling, but His Majesty is willing to go it alone. Where does Your Majesty want to go when traveling alone? I know that I can't persuade Your Majesty, so now I have to fight to the death!" Emperor Xiaowen was furious, and said: "I am about to rule the world. You Confucian scholars, why are you so ignorant? It is really a big deal for me. If you want to talk again, don't blame my sword for being rude!" If you get out of the siege, you must continue to move forward. King Anding Tuobaxiu and other older clan members were terrified, hugging Emperor Xiaowen's horse and crying loudly.The weeping was so loud that Emperor Xiaowen couldn't bear to continue playing the play. He sighed and said to the people in front of him: "Hey, if you just give up halfway and achieve nothing this time, how can you explain it to future generations? Or How about this, since I live in the north, since I will not go south, I will move the capital here, what do you think?" A group of people were still hesitating, Emperor Xiaowen pretended to be impatient, and said: "Laughing, what is the system, those who agree to move the capital stand on my left, and those who disagree stand on my right." As soon as the words fell, Tuoba Cheng led many ministers to the left of Emperor Xiaowen, but Tuobaxiu and the others reluctantly moved to the right. Nan'an Wang Tuobazhen took the opportunity to say: "Those who achieve great success do not seek out others. As long as your majesty stops going south and moves the capital to Luoyang, it is the wish of the ministers and others, and the people are lucky!" Emperor Xiaowen laughed loudly, and the officials shouted "Long live". Several old-fashioned people knew that their arms could not hold their thighs, and they were afraid of Emperor Xiaowen's southern expedition, so they had to obey Emperor Xiaowen's order and discuss the matter of moving the capital together. Li Chong suggested that Emperor Xiaowen return to Pingcheng first, and then move to Luoyang after the people below are ready.Emperor Xiaowen smiled and said: "It's okay. I will tour the states and counties and stay in Yecheng and other places for a period of time. It is not appropriate to return to Pingcheng immediately at this juncture." He ordered Tuoba Cheng to take the lead, return to Pingcheng first, do ideological work on the officials left behind, and organize them to move the capital.Before leaving, he encouraged him and said: "Today's matter is just in line with the hexagram 'reform', the prince will work hard for it!" Emperor Xiaowen stayed in Yecheng for half a year before returning to Pingcheng in the eighteenth year of Taihe (AD 494) to persuade the few old antiques. Mu Wei, the governor of Yanzhou, said: "Now that the Quartet has not been decided, it is not suitable to move the capital. Moreover, there will be no horses in Henan. How can we win the battle?" Emperor Xiaowen said: "When we went to Luoyang, we didn't abandon Yan and Dai. Wouldn't it be better to turn this place into a special horse farm? Why worry about no horses. And Pingcheng is outside Kyushu, not the capital of emperors. Ah." In the words, he looked like the emperor of the Central Plains. Shang Shu Yu Guo also said: "I understand that Pingcheng is not as good as Luoyang, but since the first emperor started his business, he has lived here for a long time, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Once they move south, everyone will definitely not be happy." Emperor Xiaowen said: "He who dominates the world takes the four seas as his home. Our distant ancestors lived in Mobei, when Emperor Zhaocheng (Tuoba Shiyiqian) moved his capital to Shengle, and Emperor Daowu (Tuoba Gui) moved his capital to Pingcheng. I have done more than once. Why can't I move?" The ministers really couldn't argue for any reason, so they could only mutter: "For the important matter of moving the capital, we should make a divination to calculate good and bad luck." Emperor Xiaowen disagreed: "Divination requires a saint to do it, and we don't have a saint today. What's more, divination is used to resolve doubts. There is no doubt about moving the capital, so there is no need to do divination." Speaking of this, there is no market for dissent, and Emperor Xiaowen finally completed the feat of moving the capital to Luoyang City with his wisdom and eloquence.A new round of dawn for the prosperity of Chinese civilization looms faintly between the eaves and corners of Luoyang palaces.