Chapter 1141: Both Capitals Held in Equal Regard

"Minister, I have fully understood your meaning!" Inside Wansui Hall, Emperor Liu looked relaxed as he spoke to Wei Renpu, who sat respectfully below: "Thank you for your counsel. As for the matter of moving the capital, I still need to give it further thought!"

Hearing this, Wei Renpu rose and bowed to Liu Chengyou, saying: "There is still official business at the Hall of State Affairs, so I shall take my leave!"

Having said all he had to say, and seeing that Emperor Liu showed no intention of keeping him, Wei Renpu took the initiative to depart.

Over these past two days, over the capital-moving proposal that had stirred up such a commotion, Emperor Liu had summoned the court's important ministers one by one for consultation, and Wei Renpu was the last.

He did not spend much time voicing his own views. On the pros and cons of moving the capital, Wei Renpu said nothing at all, because during this period all sorts of opinions had already been put forward by the court up and down. In the end, it all came down to how strong Emperor Liu's own will was.

Wei Renpu merely told Emperor Liu that the matter of moving the capital was of great importance; as things stood, the court was not yet prepared for such a move — not just a question of popular sentiment, but also preparations at every level from officials to commoners, including the matter of Luoyang's urban construction.

At the same time, Wei Renpu indicated there was no need to agonize excessively over the capital question, and cited the Tang dynasty's practice of holding both capitals in equal regard as an example for Emperor Liu. Luoyang was already the Western Capital; it was only because the Emperor and the court had long been in Kaifeng that it had been reduced to a mere foil.

If the Emperor found Kaifeng's strategic position unfavorable, then Luoyang could be renovated accordingly, but the court need not move there entirely — it only needed to follow the example of previous dynasties, setting aside a period each year to tour Luoyang. In this way, both the effect of holding the Eastern and Western Capitals in equal regard could be achieved, and those whose minds had been unsettled by the talk of moving the capital could be pacified. Moreover, in the future, Luoyang could suppress the region west of the Passes while Kaifeng governed the east of the Passes — truly the best of both worlds.

Hmm, Wei Renpu's view was in fact somewhat slick. This kind of consideration had, of course, already occurred to Emperor Liu. It seemed a fairly comprehensive solution, and one that would easily win consensus.

But there is rarely a perfect plan in this world. If both capitals were to be held in equal regard, that would also mean the court would have to set up two sets of administrative organs — this was not something a single Regent's Office could resolve, and it might in turn create a problem of redundant officials. At the same time, Emperor Liu had another worry: might this lead to a kind of confrontation between east and west, or even division?

Emperor Liu had always been a man of much thought and much worry, and this habit sometimes turned into wild imaginings. Still, through this exchange with Wei Renpu, the conflict in his heart had been somewhat relieved. Indeed, there was no need to agonize too much.

"It has been a long time since I was this hesitant and indecisive!" Uncrossing his two legs, which had gone numb from sitting cross-legged, Liu Chengyou massaged them himself and let out a sigh.

Yan Tuo, being perceptive, stepped forward and knelt down, carefully massaging him. Liu Chengyou asked him: "In your view, is Luoyang better, or Kaifeng?"

At the question, Yan Tuo answered cautiously: "Matters of state are great affairs; this humble one would not dare speak recklessly!"

"It's not as if I'm asking you to decide whether to move the capital. If I tell you to speak, then speak!" Emperor Liu said flatly.

"Yes!" The Emperor's face showed neither pleasure nor anger, but hearing his tone, Yan Tuo did not dare continue displaying his humility and caution. He lowered his head and said: "This humble one only passed through Luoyang once twenty years ago in the imperial retinue, and does not know the Western Capital well. If asked which city is better, I naturally lean toward Kaifeng. It's just that this humble one is somewhat puzzled — Kaifeng is the Eastern Capital and Luoyang the Western Capital, both equally capitals of the Great Han. What difference does it make whether we move or not?"

Hearing this, Emperor Liu laughed: "Your view, though one-sided, does carry some logic."

That was what he said, but the difference between the two was far greater than that.

"This humble one knows nothing of military and state affairs, and merely speaks at random!" Yan Tuo accompanied his words with a somewhat fawning smile: "In this humble one's view, Your Majesty is the master of the altars of state. Wherever you are, that is the capital, that is the center of the world..."

Hearing himself flattered like this, Emperor Liu did feel that perhaps he had indeed been overcomplicating things? Of course, the matter of the capital was of great importance, bearing on the fate of the state and touching the interests of all levels — how could it be decided by a snap of the fingers? Thinking more was not a bad thing.

Still, after this period of consideration and exchanging views with his ministers, Emperor Liu's thinking had basically been settled: hold both capitals in equal regard.

In fact, even if an imperial edict were truly issued to all under heaven declaring the Great Han's capital to be Luoyang, would Kaifeng become useless? Absolutely not! Thus, Emperor Liu decided that while maintaining Kaifeng's status, he would develop and build up Luoyang. As for himself, in the future he would simply have to "work a bit harder" and run between the two.

On the matter of moving the capital, the court was in a great uproar, but one point seemed to be a consensus among all: the Great Han's capital could only be one of two options — Kaifeng or Luoyang.

To the west, Chang'an had long since declined. It could serve as a major regional stronghold, but was no longer worthy of being an imperial capital — it was the first to come to mind and the first to be ruled out. To the south, only Jinling possessed "dragon aura" as a land fit for a royal enterprise, but it was a royal enterprise suited to a partial regime; moreover, since the Great Han ruled the south from the north, how could it abandon the north for the south?

As for the north, there were many places to choose from. Taiyuan was the land of the dynasty's rise, but over half a century and several changes of dynasties, its vitality had been spent; Youzhou had the potential to become a great capital, but it was too remote; the most presentable option was Daming Prefecture, yet to be honest, it was still not as good as Kaifeng.

Weighing all factors, only Kaifeng and Luoyang remained. Kaifeng had its objective advantages, while Luoyang had been the center of the world since the Eastern Zhou period, and throughout history the capitals of unified empires had never been anything other than these two choices — Chang'an and Luoyang. Now that Chang'an had declined, only Luoyang was left.

On the other hand, while the eastward and southward shift of the economic center had caused Kaifeng's rise, that did not mean the western regions were unimportant. They still constituted half of the empire's territory — from Hexi to the Guanlong region to Chuanshu, all were inseparable parts of the Great Han.

And in the role of connecting the west of the Passes and pacifying the western regions, Luoyang's advantage was even greater. Moreover, present-day Chuanshu, especially the Jiannan Circuit, was one of the court's foremost sources of tax revenue, and the Guannei region was not truly a stretch of ruins and desolation — its annual output was still considerable. The Eight Hundred Li of Qin Plain could not support a unified empire's capital, but as the economic center of the west of the Passes, it was more than sufficient.

At least after twenty years of development, the present-day Guannei region had already surpassed the central Shanxi area. It was just that the ethnic question remained a chronic ailment, and precisely for that reason, the importance of Guannei could not be ignored. It was an important link connecting He-Long and maintaining the stability of the Great Han's northwestern frontier.

And when it came to communications and connections with all eight directions under heaven, as the central pivot, the only place that could occupy the center of the world and suppress all quarters was Luoyang.

As for the pressure on grain transport caused by moving west to Luoyang — Emperor Liu knew that the Ming and Qing dynasties had both made Beijing their capital. Could the pressure possibly be greater than those two dynasties?

"Tomorrow is the twenty-third, isn't it?" Emperor Liu suddenly asked Yan Tuo.

At the question, Yan Tuo glanced at Emperor Liu and reminded him cautiously: "To answer Your Majesty, today is the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month!"

"Oh?" There was no trace of embarrassment on Emperor Liu's face. It had been a long time since he kept track of the days and months.

"So fast — another year is about to pass!" After this sigh of emotion, he instructed Yan Tuo: "It's been a long time since a grand court assembly. Issue the decree: tomorrow there will be a grand assembly, and all officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital are to attend court!"

"Yes!"

The next day, at the grand court assembly in Chongyuan Hall, after handling several matters that had already been decided, Emperor Liu formally announced two major items.

The first was the matter of the imperial tour in the coming year.

The second was the matter of rebuilding the Western Capital. As expected, the task fell upon Murong Yanchao, Duke of Luan, and Guo Rong, Regent of the Western Capital.

With that, discussion of moving the capital was shelved. Yet the outcome had already been decided. Not long afterward, Emperor Liu had Wei Renpu and Dou Yi take charge of selecting a group of officials from the various departments of the Eastern Capital to head west to Luoyang as staff for the branch office.

In earlier years, there had been a batch of officials in Luoyang as well, but Emperor Liu had deemed them redundant and dismissed them all, retaining only the Regent's Office of the Western Capital as an institution. Now, this could be considered a reversal of that decision.

But regardless, Emperor Liu's determination to build and develop Luoyang was beyond doubt. There was no shortage of clever people at court; some officials who were dissatisfied with their positions in the Eastern Capital began to work their connections, seeking advancement by requesting posts in the Western Capital.

And afterward, nobles and ministers who built secondary residences and acquired property in Luoyang grew even more numerous.

Luoyang, too, should no longer be merely a retirement place for meritorious nobles who had laid down their offices.