In 657, Tang Gaozong designated Luoyang as the permanent capital of the East. In fact, during the period of Emperor Taizong, the imperial court moved the capital to Luoyang three times. But in 657, it was officially designated as the second capital, not the palace. Every department and every yamen set up branches in Luoyang, even in 662, imperial academy, the eastern capital, was set up there. Since then, the whole hospital has often moved to Xindu to handle official business, which has long been used to. Although there has always been a small left-behind government in the empty city, in fact, in these actions, not only the whole royal family and its entourage, but also all administrative organs of the central government have been transferred.
Moving the capital several times not only caused great confusion, but also cost a lot. Many retinue members bring poverty to the areas they pass through, and the areas they pass through are usually tax-free for a long time, which can make up for the losses to some extent. During the period of Emperor Gaozong, the imperial court moved the capital no less than seven times; During the 26 years after the capital was established, Emperor Gaozong mainly lived in Luoyang. In 682, the imperial court moved its capital to Luoyang for the last time. At the end of 683, after the death of Emperor Gaozong, Wuhou moved the imperial court to Luoyang permanently until 70 1.
The imperial court rushed back and forth between East and West Kyoto, which made the imperial finance extremely tense. Luoyang needs to build many new palaces and offices to provide the necessary facilities for Kyoto. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, expensive projects continued. Therefore, this new and expensive project must have a reason.
There are various explanations for moving the capital. The first is political explanation. Chang 'an is the natural center of the northwest region-when the northwest aristocratic group has been in a dominant position, it is the natural political center of civilian bureaucrats. Designate another center near the eastern plain where the imperial regime was located before 1000 BC, because the new capital itself is a symbolic symbol that the heyday of the northwest regime has passed. Moving the capital is also an action aimed at pleasing many northeast officials, who became high-ranking officials during the Gaozong period and were regarded as the most enthusiastic supporters of Wuhou.
The second explanation is purely economic. Chang 'an is located in a relatively poor and underdeveloped area, which is prone to long-term severe drought. It is difficult and costly to supply Chang 'an grain from other places. It is much easier to supply Luoyang's imperial court, because it leads directly to the complicated rivers and system of canals system built in the Sui Dynasty.
Both of these explanations have some truth, but neither provides a complete answer. During the period when the imperial court moved its capital to Luoyang, Chang 'an area was prosperous from time to time, and Xindong capital was famine from time to time. There is probably a third factor that often decides to move the capital, which is the mood and mental state of the marquis of Wu emphasized by traditional historians. It is said that after Queen Wang and Wu Zetian were horribly removed, superstitious people often saw their ghosts, so it was really unbearable to continue living in Chang 'an.
70 1, 10 In July, the government of Wu Hou moved to Chang 'an, probably to relieve the pressure accumulated in Luoyang on people who loved her. In 703, the court moved back to Luoyang. In a.d. 165438+706 10, Tang Zhongzong government moved its capital to Chang 'an again. In 709, there was a drought in Guanzhong, and Tang Zhongzong wanted to move the capital to Luoyang, but he was opposed by Wei Hou, whose political base was in Guanzhong.
At the same time, the Zhongzong period was characterized by years of famine. In 705, a big flood spread to Hebei 17 state, and at the same time flooded the Weishui River basin. A drought occurred in 706 AD, which lasted from winter to early summer of 707 AD, resulting in famine in Guanzhong, Hebei and Henan. In 708 -709, another severe famine occurred. At that time, grain was transported by cart from the Great Plains and by land from Jianghuai area to Chang 'an.
Li Jue and Song urged him to move the capital to Luoyang forever as early as the early years. Now the ministers have brought this matter up again, but they used their influence on the emperor to obstruct it. Cui Kun tried to find another route to the south through the mountainous commercial state, which was a disastrous and costly failure. The death of Zhongzong did not solve this problem. The new regimes of Zong Rui and Xuanzong are still very unstable, so it is impossible to leave Chang 'an, and natural disasters occur repeatedly. 7 1 1 year, a major earthquake occurred in Hedong fenshui valley, killing many people. There was a long drought in the spring of July12, and the other was early summer. From July12 to July13, severe famine occurred in the Weishui River Basin and the Gyeonggi area of Chang 'an. 7 14 Another drought. In July13, Xuanzong decided to move the capital to Luoyang, but the political crisis between him and Princess Taiping made this trip impossible.
At the beginning of 7 17, the inevitable thing finally happened, and Xuanzong was forced to move the court to Luoyang. As usual, the trip was difficult, expensive and long; Xuanzong and his party arrived in Luoyang in 24 days, and the court stayed here until the winter of 7 18. In the next 20 years, Xuanzong spent 10 years in Luoyang, and the imperial court moved the capital more than 10 times, which cost a lot of money and seriously disrupted government affairs.
When the imperial court moved back to Chang 'an in A.D. 165438+736 10, it stayed in Chang 'an for a long time because of the new rich situation. Luoyang is still the capital of the East. But it was not until 904 that the Tang government moved the capital to Luoyang again, and it was not until 907 that Tang died.
In 755, An Shi Rebellion broke out. During 756 -76 1 year, An Lushan and Shi Siming successively established the Yan regime in Luoyang.
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