The site of the Forbidden City was situated on the Imperial city during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty . After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty , the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the south , and in 1369 ordered that the Yuan palaces be razed . His son Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan with his seat in Beijing . In 1402 , Zhu Di usurped the throne and became the Yongle Emperor . He made Beijing a secondary capital of the Ming empire , and construction began in 1406 of what would become the Forbidden City . The Forbidden City 's plan was designed by many architects and designers , and then it was examined by the Emperor 's Ministry of Work . The chief architects and engineers include Cai Xin , Nguyen An , a Vietnamese eunuch , Kuai Xiang , Lu Xiang and others .

Question: who ordered the forbidden city to be built
Answer: Zhu Di