The location of an imperial capital had a profound effect on the development of the country. Generally speaking, emperors couldn’t move the capital casually in ancient China.
Therefore, Yongle Emperor moved the capital of the Ming Dynasty, not for his reasons but the future development of the dynasty.
In 1402, after four years of fighting, Yongle became the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. By this time, the second Ming emperor had disappeared.
After Yongle seized the throne, he was always considering whether to move the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
During Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he chose Nanjing as his capital firstly. Although Zhu Yuanzhang had the idea of changing the capital, the death of his eldest son made him have no ambition to realize it.
After Zhu Di became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he seemed to want to achieve his father’s ambition. In fact, Zhu Di’s actions were driven by the realities of the Ming Dynasty.
The most important reason
Although the Yuan Dynasty has been overthrown by Zhu Yuanzhang, the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty have always been active in the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty. The armed forces of Yuan posed a significant threat to the security of the Ming Dynasty.
To strengthen the defense forces in the northern border, and strictly prevented the Mongolian army from invading the Ming Dynasty. Yongle Emperor needed to move the capital of the Ming Dynasty to Peiping to shock the Mongolian army.
Secondary reason
Since the Yongle Emperor got the throne through rebellion, living in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing, which always reminded him of his father’s and nephew, so that his mood became very bad.
Meanwhile, Yongle lived in Peiping for more than 30 years, and he had become accustomed to the climate in northern China. But when the Yongle Emperor got the throne in Nanjing, the climate in the south made him feel very uncomfortable.
Eventually, after becoming the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Yongle began to build his palace in Peiping. In 1420, Yongle Emperor officially announced his plan to move the capital.
In 1421, the Ming Dynasty officially began to move its capital. From then on, Nanjing was not the capital of the Ming Dynasty but Peiping.
