Emperor Xiaowen once said: "This place (referring to Pingcheng) is hard to believe unless it can be governed by culture and change customs." This passage clearly shows that if we want to learn advanced Chinese culture and change the backwardness of our nation, we must move the capital to the political, economic and cultural center of the Han nationality, and Luoyang is a place where China culture is relatively concentrated. After Emperor Xiaowen moved to the capital, he carried out a series of sinicization policies, which shows that Emperor Xiaowen's move to the capital is related to his admiration of Chinese culture.
Second, the need to rule the Central Plains. Emperor Xiaowen is an accomplished politician. He doesn't want to be the king of China, nor does he want to be the king of the people. If you want to be the king of the people of China, you should naturally put your capital in the orthodox capital of China. Emperor Xiaowen once said: "The country started in the northern soil and moved to Pingcheng. Here, there is no place to use it, and it is impossible to be civilized ... I wrote to the Emperor's House, Heluo Wangli, and because of this, I made a big move and I lived in the Central Plains. " This shows that an important reason why Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang is that Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, is located in the north, which is not conducive to the rule of the vast Central Plains. His remarks about "imperial residence" and "royal residence" indicate that he wants to gain the orthodox status recognized by the Han landlords by moving the capital to Luoyang. In addition, after Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoyang, he fought against Nanqi for years until he died in the military action of the Southern Expedition. It can be seen that Emperor Xiaowen also hoped to achieve the goal of unifying the whole country by moving the capital to Luoyang.
Third, solve the problem of food supply. The north of Pingcheng is cold, and the grain output is very limited. At that time, someone wrote a poem "Sad for the City of Peace": "Sad for the City of Peace, drive the horse into the square, the mountains often snow, and there is no wind." Later, Pingcheng, as the capital city, had an increasing population and officials, and the problem of food supply became prominent. At that time, there was no land and water transportation in Pingcheng, and the traffic was extremely underdeveloped. It is not only time-consuming and laborious to transport grain from Shanhaiguan to Pingcheng, but also extremely expensive. Luoyang is located in the center of the north, in the plain area, with convenient transportation. Moving the capital to Luoyang solved the most fundamental food problem.
Fourth, the influence of geographical environment. Pingcheng (now northeast of Datong, Shanxi) is located in the north, with mountainous terrain, arid climate and low temperature, which is not conducive to the growth of crops, and natural conditions restrict the further development of the northern Wei economy.
Luoyang is located in the west bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, in the Central Plains, surrounded by mountains and waters, and is known as the "land of Kyushu". It has four distinct seasons and a pleasant climate. Since ancient times, it has been a battleground for military strategists and naturally became an ideal place for ancient emperors to build their capital. It was once the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei and other dynasties. Emperor Xiaowen's move to Luoyang is a wise move and a necessity of historical development.
Emperor Xiaowen's move to Luoyang not only showed the great talent of a generation of emperors, but also made Luoyang prosperous again after Cao Wei and the Western Jin Dynasty.
Objectively speaking, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, which promoted national integration, facilitated the management of the Central Plains and facilitated the feudal process of Xianbei people. Of course, it also promoted the progress of history.