It's no secret that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to move the capital; it's quite normal.

First of all, Yingtian Prefecture is known as the ancient capital of six dynasties, which is an understatement. However, it was the capital of dynasties such as Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, Southern Song, Southern Qi, and Southern Liang. Relatively speaking, these were small dynasties, which generally had short lifespans or were confined to a small corner of the country.

Yingtian Prefecture was definitely not Zhu Yuanzhang's first choice for the capital, and the reasons were relatively simple.

First, dynasties that made Yingtian their capital in history had short reigns. Second, Yingtian was located in the southeast, making it difficult to control the whole country. Third, Yingtian was located on the left bank of the Yangtze River, and its defenses were vulnerable, allowing large armies to travel downstream from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and quickly reach Yingtian Prefecture.

Smiling at Zhu Xiong Ying, Old Zhu asked, "Ying'er, why are you thinking of moving the capital?"

"Grandpa Emperor, I am your own grandson." Zhu Xiong Ying said with a bit of helplessness, "Years ago, when you built Zhongdu in our hometown, who in the court and the country didn't know that you wanted to move the capital?"

Old Zhu was immediately delighted. He had tried building a palace in his hometown of Fengyang, and indeed wanted to make Fengyang his capital. However, these were just thoughts; they weren't really suitable, so he naturally gave up halfway through.

"Then tell me? Where do we want to go?" Old Zhu looked at Zhu Xiong Ying and asked casually, "Yingtian Prefecture, why isn't this place suitable?"

Zhu Xiong Ying bluntly stated, "Yingtian Prefecture is indeed unsuitable. Our Great Ming Dynasty is not a small dynasty confined to a corner of the country. If we want to govern the entire nation, we will naturally have to move the capital towards Guanzhong and the north. Moreover, the location of the imperial palace is not good now, so it is even more unsuitable."

Although these words were blunt, they struck a chord with Zhu Yuanzhang. Ultimately, the current location of the palace was somewhat low-lying, subsided, and asymmetrical. This was due to the filling of a lake during the palace's construction, which caused the current subsidence, making Zhu Yuanzhang even more displeased.

Zhu Biao casually asked, "What about Bianliang? It's the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, located in the heart of the Central Plains."

“There are no natural defenses to defend it, and it is also prone to flooding,” Zhu Xiong Ying replied. “It is said that the area has been ravaged by war for many years, and rebuilding the city would be very costly and not worthwhile.”

Old Zhu immediately smiled and nodded, then continued to test him, "Our Yingtian Prefecture is great! Yingtian Prefecture is prosperous and it is also a major tax-paying area of ​​our Great Ming Dynasty. With this land of fish and rice, we don't need to worry about taxes."

“It’s fine to make Yingtian Prefecture the secondary capital; there’s nothing wrong with having two capitals,” Zhu Xiong Ying continued. “At that time, we can also leave a team in Yingtian Prefecture, with trusted and reliable people to stay there.”

Zhu Biao then said, "Ying'er, even reliable people need to be guarded against. Remember, the most unreliable things in this world are trust and suspicion. Especially testing people's hearts with wealth and power is the most unreliable thing."

After all, he was a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, and deep down he was somewhat suspicious and paranoid. Of course, Zhu Biao's words reflected the mindset of a competent monarch; they couldn't really do things based on trust alone, especially given the extraordinary status of the secondary capital.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "Grandfather, if we move the capital, it would be a good thing. I recently read some memorials, and Yingtian Prefecture now has over a million registered households, which is quite prosperous. However, there are too many civil and military officials, and it's also too close to our hometown, which is not good."

The noble families of Huaixi were powerful, and many of them were arrogant and abused their power. The reason they didn't return to their ancestral home of Fengyang was because if the capital were moved to Fengyang, the Huaixi noble group would inevitably use their deeply entrenched clan and local relationships to expand their power, posing a greater threat to the imperial authority.

Old Zhu nodded and continued to ask, "Ying'er, what other ideas do you have about moving the capital?"

"Ever since Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, the northern lands have been out of control, and the hearts of the Han people have also been lost. After the Jingkang Incident, it was the Yuan Dynasty again. It is still unknown how many Han people still wear their hair loose and their robes fastened on the left."

This is true. Starting with the puppet emperor Shi Jingtang, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were no longer under the control of the Han Dynasty. Over these hundreds of years, many people in the north had become accustomed to the lifestyles of some nomadic peoples and the rule of some ethnic minorities.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has recovered the northern territories, it naturally needs to strengthen its influence on the people's hearts and minds and strengthen its control over the northern territories.

This was indeed one of the ideas for moving the capital, and it was also one of the fundamental reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to move the capital back to Guanzhong. Returning to Guanzhong to establish the capital would be beneficial for controlling the whole country, and it would also restore the influence of the Han Dynasty during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

"Grandfather, I don't actually want to move the capital to Xi'an." Zhu Xiong Ying didn't mind and said frankly, "Although it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is located east of the Yellow River, south of the Qinling Mountains, west of the Longyuan Plain, and north of the Gobi Desert. It is indeed the first choice for the capital. However, it is not good for the country."

Old Zhu, who had been listening attentively, became serious and immediately asked, "Why?"

“Sun Chen recently read some books. Although Xi’an was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, it is no longer suitable to be the capital of the Ming Dynasty.” Zhu Xiong Ying also became serious and said, “In recent years, the soil fertility there has declined and the grain output has been average. Moreover, there is already sandstorms.”

This isn't Zhu Xiong Ying spouting nonsense; it's the truth.

Soil erosion on the Loess Plateau has already affected these former grain-producing areas, and the once-thriving Guanzhong Plain is losing some of its appeal and influence.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "If we move the capital, the population of the capital will inevitably surge. The next Yingtian Prefecture will surely have a population of one million, and two or three million is also possible. If we establish the capital in Xi'an, we can rely on the Grand Canal to transport grain in the future."

Old Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Zhu Biao, "Biao, have someone take a look and see if this place, Xi'an, is different from what it was during the Han and Tang dynasties?"

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