From the death of his father 13 to the establishment of the late Jin regime, Nurhachi moved the capital four times: from the fifteenth year of the Ming Wanli (1587), he became king in Fiala; In the 31st year of Wanli (1603), the capital was moved to Hetuala, and in the 44th year of Wanli (16 16), the capital was established. After the victory of the Battle of Salhu, he moved the palace to Fan Jie; After the capture of Liaoyang, the capital of East China was built in Liaoyang; It was only four years after the capital was established in East China that it moved to Shenyang. Every time, I moved the capital to a place with relatively developed economy, large population, fertile land and superior geographical position. However, the last time I moved the capital, I had to move from Liaoyang, the largest city in Northeast China as the military, political, economic, cultural and commercial center of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, to Shenyang, which was less than half of its area. What is the unique capital advantage of Shenyang? Since you don't plan to live in Liaoyang for a long time, why should you build a large building and move to Shenyang in a hurry when the palace has just been built and the officials haven't decided? Historians have various explanations for this, and there are also various legends among the people.
When choosing the capital, all previous dynasties did not consider politics, economy and military affairs. Therefore, historians should first look for evidence from these aspects when discussing the reasons for moving the capital in the late Jin Dynasty.
Although Liaoyang was the military and political center of Liaodong at that time, the economy began to decline because of the corruption of the Ming court, while Shenyang's economy was booming. Shenyang has a flat and open terrain, abundant grain output, complete forests, livestock, water and grass, which is in line with the living conditions of Manchu hunting. Judging from the political situation at that time, due to the long-term coexistence of Manchu and Han in Liaoyang City, ethnic contradictions intensified; Shenyang is just a medium-sized city with a manageable population. Geographically speaking, Shenyang has always been a military stronghold, the so-called victory. It is not only convenient for defending Tieling, Xinbin's hometown, but also convenient for the Western Expedition and Northern Expedition. This is the conclusion drawn by historians comparing the advantages and disadvantages of Liaoyang and Shenyang, and why Nurhachi moved to Shenyang. Its basis is mainly related to the records of Qing Taizu and Manchu old files.
Nurhachi proposed to move the capital to Shenyang, but the king, Baylor and ministers did not understand the intention of the old Khan and unanimously opposed it. According to the records of Emperor Taizu of Qing Dynasty, the emperor called all the ministers to discuss the relocation of the capital to Shenyang, and all the ministers tried to dissuade them. Tokyo city is newly built, the palace is completed, and the private room is not prepared. We should move now, for fear that there is not enough food and the people will suffer. ? The emperor refused:? Where Shenyang extends in all directions, Daming starts from Durbi in the west and crosses the Liaohe River, and the road is straight and close; Hunhe River in Shenyang leads to Susu River, and logging is carried out at the source of Susu River, so timber cannot be used. There are many mountain hunting animals, and the benefits in the river can also be harvested. ? This record has always been the basis for discussing the reasons why Nurhachi moved to Shenyang. According to the Ten-year Destiny (1625) of the old file in the Qing Dynasty, Khan moved to Shenyang on the third day of March and set out from Tokyo in the morning. Before going to his father's grave for Hangzhou Jingsi, he killed five cows at the second gate, burned paper money, then went to Shenyang and stayed in Hupigang. On the fourth day, I entered the city before the moment. The above two articles are records of Nurhachi's moving to Shenyang in the old Manchu files.
In fact, a Record of Qing Taizu was compiled by Huang Taiji, the son of Nurhachi in the ninth year of Tiancong (1635). The discussion about Nuerhachi's move to Shenyang recorded in A Record of Qing Taizu is exactly what Huang Taiji did after he succeeded Khan, that is, going south to eliminate Mao's harassment in southern Liaoning; The Northern Expedition relieved the worries; To build its capital in the west, to cross the Liaohe River in the Ming Dynasty, and to send troops along the Great Wall. This was the case when Huang taiji inherited the Khan position. From the records of Qing Taizu, we can see that the reason why Nuerhachi moved to the capital is inconsistent with his actual actions after moving to the capital. "Records of Qing Taizu" contains: (the eleventh year of the mandate of heaven) the first month of February. On the day of Wuwu, Chen Geng was in Dongchangbao, and the next day he crossed the Liaohe River. The flag was like a forest, and the army reached Ningyuan (Volume 10 of A Record of the Qing Emperor). What is recorded here is the marching route of Nurhachi when he attacked Ningyuan City. This time, I crossed the Liaohe River from Dongchangbao in Niuzhuang, Haicheng. I didn't take the route of westward expedition and crossing the Liaohe River from Duerbi when Nurhachi planned to move the capital to Shenyang. Therefore, Nurhachi's statement about the reason for moving the capital to Shenyang recorded in A Record of Qing Taizu is not credible.
There is also a saying that Nurhachi moved the capital to Shenyang: Nurhachi thinks that Shenyang is a treasure trove of geomantic omen before the dragon.
There has always been a story among the people: when Nurhachi was building the capital of Tokyo, he built the Niangniang Temple in the southwest corner of Tokyo at that time according to the guidance of Mr. Feng Shui; Building Mituo Temple at the East Gate; Thousands of Buddhist temples were built at the foot of Fengling Mountain, and three temples were used to hold dragons to protect the royal spirit of Long Mai. However, the Three Temples only suppressed the dragon head, the dragon claw and the dragon tail, but the dragon backbone in the city was not suppressed. As a result, the dragon flew away with a bow and flew north to the north bank of Hunhe River. Nuerhachi was depressed because of this. Someone came to report that a phoenix had fallen in the Woods near his home. Nurhachi hurriedly took the ministers to watch. As soon as he approached, Phoenix suddenly took off and flew directly to Shenyang. Nurhachi knew that the phoenix never falls without treasure, so he invited Mr. Feng Shui to visit Shenyang and found that Shenyang was really a treasure land of Longxing. He immediately made up his mind to move the capital to Shenyang.
This legend seems too magical to be a reasonable explanation for Nurhachi's sudden move to Shenyang. However, the emperors of past dynasties put geomantic omen in the first place when they built their capitals and cities. This is a fact.
Shenyang is located in the Yang of Hunhe River, which is connected with Liaohe River, and Liaohe River is connected with the sea, backed by Huishan Mountain, where mountains and rivers blend. According to the Records of Shengjing Tongzhi, Huishan in Shenyang is all-encompassing, and it has the potential to control eight wastes. Liaohe River goes back to the right, Hunhe River goes around to the left, and the balloon is lush, which is once in a thousand years. Also known as its mountain source from the western foot of Changbai Mountain, from Changbai to Yongling (in Xinbin County), from Yun Qi Mountain to Fuling Tianzhu Mountain (Dongling, Shenyang), from Tianzhu Mountain to Zhaoling Long Ye Mountain, it comes down in one continuous line and ends in Tawan, west of Shenyang. This is Long Mai, also known as Longgang. Nurhachi's lair, Hetuala City, Zuling and Shenyang's Forbidden City, Ganling and Zhaoling are all built on this Longgang. There are many historical records about Longgang. "Shengjing Tongzhi" contains: Yun Qi Mountain, ten miles northwest of the capital, extends from the west foot of Changbai Mountain to Yongling, surrounded by mountains and arches, and is full of water, and the eternal Hongji is really here. Geography of the Qing Dynasty: Yun Qi Mountain is at the southern foot of Ping Ling Mountain, and the Qiaoshan Mountain of Yongling Mountain is there, which is the so-called positive vein of Longgang. As for Tianzhu Mountain, where Dongling is located, the Tibetan Records of Changbai Mountain records that Tianzhu Mountain is 240 miles away from Shanxi, and the mausoleum of Taizu Gaozu is called Fuling, which is more than 40 miles away from Fengtian. It is located in the northwest of Fengtian City 10 miles west, that is, Mount Long Ye. Emperor Taizong's mausoleum is called Zhaoling, which is more than 700 miles away from Changbai Mountain/KLOC-0. The locals call it Longgang. According to legend, when Nurhachi chose the tomb site for his father and ancestors, he asked Mr. Feng Shui for guidance. Mr. Feng Shui pointed to the mountain above the ancestral grave and said: This mountain looks like a dragon, the mountain in the south looks like a phoenix, and there is a river (perilla River) in the middle plain. This is the dragon and phoenix, and the younger generation is the emperor. Therefore, Nurhachi built the ancestral grave here for the sake of the eternal tomb, so that the ancestors in this ancestral grave could be emperors and build tombs to pay homage. When Emperor Qianlong visited Yongling in the east, he wrote "A Folk Song from the Clouds": Changbai Gan Long came to the southwest, and Lingshan Yun Qi Shentang opened. It's been a long time, and the majestic earth-cultivated emperor is faintly visible. It was not until 100 years later that the descendants of Nurhachi believed in Long Mai.
From the physical geography of Shenyang, there is indeed a natural ridge from Dongling Mountain to Shenyang Station passing through the west of the old city, and there is a very high protrusion at the old city. This is what people often call Longgang, which is the watershed between surface runoff and shallow underground runoff in urban areas. With a little attention, people will find that the terrain of Xiaonanmen is higher than that of Xiaonanmen, Xiaoximen is higher than that of Xiaoxibian, Xiaobeimen is higher than that of Xiaobei, and the terrain of other big south, big west and big north is also higher than that of side doors. Old Shenyang people must also know that there is also a Huangtu Mountain, which extends from the mouth of Dongling Mountain, passes through Maojuntun, Wenguantun and Beiling, and reaches Tawan in the west. For this loess hill, people's most obvious feeling is to go north along Huanghe Street or Changjiang Street, and start to climb uphill after crossing Xinkai River. This is what our ancestors called another one-stop post. These two kinds of slowly undulating landforms are called folds in modern science, which coincides with the ancient geomantic theory.
It can be seen that it is not groundless to say that Nurhachi identified Shenyang as a land of Longxing, so he insisted on moving to Shenyang only four years after the capital was established in East China. Perhaps the biggest secret in Nurhachi's heart when he moved to Shenyang was the discovery of the treasure land of Shenyang where Hunhe River and Tianzhu Mountain were integrated, and the discovery of mountains and water that intersected with Qi. So, he parted the crowd and decided to lead the Eight Banners Army and their families to quickly move to Shenyang.
The reason why Nurhachi moved to the capital this time must have its political, economic, transportation and other strategic considerations, but it is undeniable that it also has the influence of Feng Shui theory. If you talk about strategy, it proves that Nurhachi's talent is broad and far-sighted; If we say feng shui, Shenyang does have its unique geographical advantages. This geographical advantage, which was turned into a mysterious geomantic theory by the ancients, is believed not only by Nurhachi, but also by ordinary people. But no matter what consideration Nurhachi had, his move to the capital laid the foundation for the further development of the late Jin Dynasty, and also made necessary preparations for his descendants to further advance southward.