Chapter 348: Incomparable Prosperity, Luoyang, the First of the Five Capitals
No matter how good the banquet is, it will eventually come to an end. Tonight's banquet at Cao Shuang's house was also a joyful one, dissipating in the heat of the summer night.
The invited officials and ladies each boarded the carriages and horses at the gatehouse, and then began to disperse outside the mansion. The lights gradually shone towards Yishouli, Yongkangli, Lingyinli and Yiguanli in the distance.
And go, the stars are disappearing in the darkness,
It is rare that an official's residence can be located in Buguangli. After all, next to Cao Shuang's residence is the arsenal area. Apart from Cao Shuang, no minister dared to build his residence here.
Cao Shuang was blowing the cool night breeze on the gatehouse, watching the banquet guests leave with Jian Jia, Bai Lingjun and Sun Luban. He looked at the palace not far away and the sparse lights in various buildings and sighed: "
Luoyang deserves to be the first of the five capitals of the Wei Kingdom. Chengdu and Jianye must not be comparable. In a few years, I will take you to Chengdu and Jianye to see it."
Cao Shuang was thinking that even Luoyang could not compare with the prosperity of a provincial capital in the 21st century at night, but here he had everything he had not had before, but it was not easy to hold on to it all.
ah!
One of the differences between Cao Wei, Shu, and Wu is that they have many capitals, five in total. Although the others are not famous, they are not as good as the other two countries.
Due to various political, military, and economic considerations, many dynasties will choose some other important cities as their capitals in addition to the capital, so as to play their role as regional centers and strategic locations.
During the Qin Dynasty, there were the old capital Yongcheng and the new capital Xianyang; the Eastern Han Dynasty established the Xijing Chang'an and the Tokyo Luoyang;
However, Cao Wei is an "outlier" among them. Its territory is only half of the northern half of the country, but it has set up five capitals for the first time. Regarding this, "Three Kingdoms" records "(Wei) changed Chang'an, Qiao, Xuchang, Ye, Luoyang
"Five Capitals". The number of its capitals is so large that it even exceeds that of many unified dynasties with vast territories and large populations.
Luoyang is a famous ancient capital in Chinese history. Its capital history can be traced back to the period when King Ping of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty moved eastward. It was also the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Although it was severely damaged in the warlord melee at the end of the Han Dynasty, which later caused Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to move the capital to Xuchang (of course, more of it was "coerced" by Cao Cao), as the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, its legitimacy and authority are beyond doubt.
of.
Cao Cao has been rebuilding and repairing the city of Luoyang, and even lived in Luoyang for a long time during the later period of his rule. His thoughts and intentions are self-evident. After Cao Pi came to power, he accepted the "abdication" of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in Luoyang (of course he had no choice but to
Act of).
As the capital of the Cao Wei Dynasty, it actually proved to the world that it was the orthodox successor of the Eastern Han Dynasty (of course Wu and Shu would not think so).
In addition to political considerations, Luoyang's geographical importance cannot be ignored. Luoyang is surrounded by the natural dangers of the Yellow River and is surrounded by Taihang Mountains, Funiu Mountains, Songshan Mountains and other mountains. It can be said to be a "city of mountains and rivers". It also has Luoyang's geographical location.
Located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, the establishment of the capital here has the majestic momentum of "standing in the middle of the world".
Chang'an has always existed as a companion capital during the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was also damaged by wars during the late Han Dynasty and has not been well restored, so its status at that time was not as good as Luoyang. However, Chang'an is an ancient capital after all, and it is a "skinny camel" after all.
Bigger than a horse”.
In addition, it also plays the role of a military center. Not far to the south of Chang'an, across the Qinling Mountains is the Hanzhong area controlled by the Shu Han regime (and the multiple northern expeditions of the Shu Han Dynasty also had the strategic purpose of capturing Chang'an), while to the west of Chang'an, there are
An area where the Qiang and other nomadic people gather.
Because of this, Cao Wei has been gathering heavy troops to guard the Chang'an area, and those who are stationed here are Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, Guo Huai and other imperial clan or important ministers.
It can be seen that Chang'an, the western capital, has more important military significance for Cao Wei. It can be called the bridgehead of Cao Wei's western defense front line.
In Xuchang, the southern capital, the symbolic meaning is greater than the actual meaning.
Xuchang, also in Yuzhou, is less than 400 miles away from Luoyang. It is rare in history to have a companion capital at such a "close door" distance.
Cao Cao moved Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty here, thus beginning his career of "holding the emperor to command the princes". It can be said that it was the starting point of his hegemony, which was of great significance to Cao Wei.
But in fact, due to the existence of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, Xuchang gradually became the "base area" of the "support Han and anti-Cao" side (of course it was still under the strict control of Cao Cao's side and could not afford to cause too much trouble). Cao Cao actually later became more
He lived in Yecheng and Luoyang for a long time.
It can be said that, in addition to Gongwei Luoyang, Xuchang was chosen as the companion capital because of its symbolic significance in politics and history.
The northern capital of Yecheng (now Linzhang County, Handan City, Hebei Province) was the "base camp" of the Cao Wei regime.
Although Yecheng may not be as famous as Chang'an and Luoyang, it is also an ancient capital with a long history (Cao Wei, Hou Zhao, Ran Wei, Qian Yan, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, etc. established their capitals here, but there was no unified dynasty).
After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he began to manage Ye City. Later, after Cao Cao was "titled" Wei Gong and even Wei King by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, Ye City became Cao Cao's royal city. Cao Cao even carried out extensive construction work and built the famous Tongque Tower and so on.
Buildings, and the Cao Wei Ancestral Temple were also built here. It can be said that Yecheng was the real "home base" for Cao Wei, and building a capital was not a problem.
In addition, Yecheng is located on the north bank of the Yellow River. Setting up a capital here can also deter the nomadic tribes such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan in the north and consolidate the northern border.
Qiaocheng, the eastern capital (today's Bozhou City, Anhui Province) is the "Longxing Land" of the Cao family.
Using the hometown as the capital can be called the "consistent operation" of many heroes. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao took such a groundbreaking move at this time.
Xiang Yu, the overlord of the Western Chu who "stretched the mountains and conquered the world", made his capital in his hometown Pengcheng (today's Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province) after destroying the Qin Dynasty, and threatened that "wealth and honor will not return to the hometown, but will travel at night like embroidered clothes, who knows"; Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang
He also made his hometown Fengyang the central capital of the Ming Empire and mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to carry out large-scale construction projects (which were ultimately abandoned halfway due to the huge cost).
As the "Longxing Land" of the Cao clan (including the Xiahou clan), it is not surprising to establish the capital here. After Cao Cao's death, he was also buried in Qiaocheng, which can be regarded as a return to his roots.
In addition, Qiaocheng, located in the Huaihe River Basin, is the territory controlled by the Soochow regime to the south. When Cao Wei went south to fight against Wu, Qiaocheng was also an important military base. The establishment of the capital here also served to consolidate the southern frontier.
effect.
The reason why Cao Wei, the "semi-unified" regime in the split period, established five capitals.
The first is the political consideration, which is to "show" to the world its arduous journey and fruitful achievements from raising troops in the hometown to unifying the north, and to establish its legitimacy and legitimacy of "standing on behalf of the Han Dynasty"
Secondly, there are military reasons. Although Cao Wei had the largest territory and the most powerful strength during the Three Kingdoms period, it was often the target of public criticism.
Whether it is the "indestructible" alliance front formed by Wu and Shu (of course there are times of fierce fighting), or the brave and sturdy nomads in the west and north, none of them are fuel-efficient lamps. It can be said that they have been in many situations for a long time.
Fighting on the front line, in a state of exhaustion.
In this case, the Cao Wei regime did not so much set up multiple capitals and accompanying capitals as it built multiple military bases and strategic fortresses at the same time in order to achieve the purpose of conducive to war and the use of troops.
Judging from the subsequent actual effects, Cao Wei's "Five Capital System" also provided strong support for Cao Wei's military and political dominance to a certain extent.
It is worth mentioning that the "Five Capitals System" implemented by Cao Wei was imitated and adopted by later dynasty regimes more than once in later history (it is also said that the Spring and Autumn Period Qi State was the first to establish the "Five Capitals System").
Countries such as Bohai and Silla have also implemented the "Five Capital System" invariably (of course the territory is smaller and can only be regarded as a "miniature version"). From this, we can also see that the "Five Capital System" has great influence on later generations and surrounding areas.
The profound and important influence of small countries.