Why did Zhu Yuanzhang choose Nanjing instead of Beijing?

In A.D. 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtianfu (Nanjing), with the title Daming and Jianyuan Hongwu.

"A Record of Ming Taizu" records: "There must be a world name, Daming, Jianyuan Hongwu." Why did Zhu Yuanzhang choose Nanjing as the imperial capital of the new dynasty when he proclaimed himself emperor? I think the main reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang made the world step by step from the south, and his base camp is in the south. At that time, Zhu Sheng's strategy of "accumulating more grain, building a high wall and slowly becoming king" and Liu Ji's people-friendly suggestions were adopted. He has deep roots and strong control in the south. Moreover, the south is relatively rich, and it was a land of plenty at that time. The capital of the new empire is built here, and the logistics has no worries at all.

Moreover, there are still palace buildings left over from past dynasties for use. It is really a waste of money to build another palace. From the perspective of saving manpower, this is also a better choice.

What was the domestic situation at that time? At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, national reunification was far from being realized. Zhu Yuanzhang only occupied today's two lakes, southeast Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and other places, which was basically the most fertile land, the highest population density and the richest area in the country at that time. The rest, such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Shanxi and Guangdong, are in the hands of various forces. During this period, Beijing, also known as Dadu, was the capital of the Yuan Dynasty and was still under the control of the Yuan Dynasty, so it did not have the conditions to build a capital here.

Throughout the country, Nanjing is undoubtedly the best choice. Control the lifeline of the national economy, advance and retreat, and defend and attack.

1July 367, General Xu Da went north. On July 18th, Yuan Shundi abandoned Dadu and fled. On the second day of August, Xu Da's army entered Dadu. Therefore, until then, Beijing was incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the best opportunity to build its capital here has been missed.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little taboo about Nanjing, because since ancient times, the capitals here have been short-lived dynasties. Will Daming follow their footsteps?

So Zhu Yuanzhang considered the issue of moving the capital. At that time, he had considered his hometown Fengyang, Shaanxi Xi, Henan Luoyang, Beijing and other places. Prince Zhu Biao was also sent to investigate. Zhu Biao finally chose Luoyang, and when he came back, he set about preparing to move the capital to Luoyang. It's a pity that Zhu Biao was a short-lived ghost and died soon, so moving the capital to Luoyang would go away. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was old and had no determination to host the capital move. Therefore, during the Hongwu period, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was always in Nanjing.

Reference book: Twilight and Rebirth? Zhang