Zhu Yuanzhang gave an opportunity, Liu Ji flatly refused, and Mao realized that the hero had to be killed.

Since ancient times, for the emperor, the founding heroes are probably the most difficult group to settle down. Call each other brothers when fighting Jiangshan, and I can't wait to wear a pair of pants and sleep in a bed. However, once I sit on my feet, that's another story. There are not a few founding emperors who are more tolerant of meritorious deeds in history. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's "drinking poison to quench thirst" is regarded as a model of leniency and is passed down as a much-told story; Another example is Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong. On the one hand, he needs to use heroes to resist powerful external enemies and manage internal affairs. On the other hand, the throne is not generous enough, and he dare not kill on this sensitive issue. Therefore, a tough emperor like Li Shimin must please his subordinates, which means that he is walking on thin ice. As the old saying goes, "A sly rabbit dies, but a running dog cooks." . "It is not easy to be in harmony with the pack after consolidating the country. On the contrary, there are countless things that have turned against former confidants in history, leaving a strong impression on people. Speaking of killing heroes, I'm afraid many people will think of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor. In the case of Hu alone, one person and thirteen Hou were executed and more than 30,000 people were implicated. Zhu Yuanzhang's act of killing heroes is staggering. He has his own considerations and difficulties. However, it is worth noting that Zhu Yuanzhang's complete "self-release" just started from the death of Liu Ji. Liu Ji, the Liu Bowen we are familiar with, is said to be a super magic stick predicted thousands of years later. We don't need to elaborate on its capabilities. In the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's step by step to the throne, Liu Ji played an extremely important role, and even Zhu Yuanzhang made important instructions many times: "(Liu Ji) My ovary is also. "As the leader of Dong Zhe Group, one of the two major groups in the early Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen has a high position in officialdom. However, when Zhu Yuanzhang became famous all over the world, Liu Ji, who had been blown up by him before, finally got the title of "Sincerity", with an annual salary of only 240 stone, which was simply a heaven and an underground compared with Li Shanchang, another top think tank of Zhu Yuanzhang. In addition, compared with Li Shanchang's position as the left prime minister, Liu Ji's advice to Cheng and a surname is very low. Although he ranks first among officials, it can't be said that he doesn't have much influence in the imperial court, but Liu Ji's power is very limited. On the surface, Liu Ji seems to have been suddenly left out in the cold. Is Zhu Yuanzhang disgusted with him? That's not true. On the contrary, even when Liu Ji was going to retreat to the imperial court, Zhu Yuanzhang specially invited him out of the mountain and asked him personally on many issues. So, what is the reason for the gap between Liu Ji and Li Shanchang? Experts have put forward a set of very mature explanations. First of all, as we said before, two major power groups were formed in the early Ming Dynasty. Besides Dong Zhe Group, which Liu Ji is shrinking, another big group is Huaixi Group with a large number of people. In addition to Li Shanchang, the forces also include Guo Xing, Xu Da, Tanghe and other dignitaries. To put it bluntly, Huaixi Group is the hometown association of Zhu Yuanzhang, and it is also the core force that Taizu can rely on to unify the north and the south. Is when the emperor, it is not convenient to stand on the side of the liegeman. Theoretically, even Zhu Yuanzhang himself should be counted as a member of Huaixi Group. It is not difficult to see that in the early years of Hongwu, the power of Huaixi Group should be stronger than that of Zhexi Group. But when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he was no longer concerned with how to make the villagers take advantage, but to ensure that the imperial power was not threatened, the blood of the royal family continued, and the Ming Dynasty would last forever. Except Chongzhen, most Ming emperors have a characteristic, that is, they have superb means of controlling people, and they are very good at using one force to resist another and sit quietly on the throne. From the dispute between eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang to the eunuch's war against Lindong Party, the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty was more like a sudden collapse, but for most of the time, the foundation of the dynasty was solid, unlike Han, Tang, Song and Qing dynasties, which experienced long ups and downs in the last years. As a child prodigy who came out from the darkest bottom of society, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally understood the importance of maintaining an unbalanced power balance. We might as well put ourselves in the position of an emperor in the traditional sense: unlike a grassroots emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang, he is pulling a group of brothers to fight the country. At this time, the "brothers" around him may be complacent and don't have much thoughts of "monarch, monarch and minister" in their minds. Instead, he shouted that "princes will have seeds": Zhu Yuanzhang is the eldest brother and deserves our service. But if Zhu Yuanzhang wants to strengthen centralization, he will definitely learn from it. Then you Zhu Yuanzhang are sorry for your brothers, and even more sorry for your brothers who risked their lives to disappoint them. Why are you still the eldest brother and the emperor? Let's do it again! This incredible idea seems absurd and naive, but for most grass-roots royal aristocrats who are not affected by the traditional concept of monarch and minister, such worries are not unreasonable; In addition, there is only one throne, and greed for power is almost human instinct. The throne is at hand. Who can guarantee that you will hold your hand? To sum up, at this point in time, Huaixi dignitaries as their agents have become an extremely dangerous hidden danger in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind. So, how to solve this problem? Zhu Yuanzhang has his own plans. In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Ji privately and asked him to enter Zhongshu Province as a photograph. Liu Ji refused, saying, "I am too jealous of evil to stand the complicated drama, so I am lonely and grateful." "There is no talent in the world, but the wise master is cautious." Liu Ji is a clever man. On the surface, the emperor wanted to entrust him with an important task, but in fact he was pushing him into the fire pit. Think of your former good student Yang Xian. It was in the position of Prime Minister Zuo that he was surrounded by Huaixi Group, and eventually he became notorious carelessly. In the second year, Liu Ji simply applied for retirement. Although far away from the imperial court, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to this person and often announced that Liu Ji entered the palace to discuss important matters. In the first month of the eighth year of Hongwu, Liu Ji fell ill, and Prime Minister Hu took the physician to visit him. Results Liu Ji's condition deteriorated after taking medicine. Only two months later, he died at home at the age of 65. Liu Ji's bizarre death aroused many people's doubts, and the spearhead turned to Prime Minister Hu. The death of Liu Ji is full of doubts in history. There is a view that Hu, who has been accused, just took the blame; The real black hand is Zhu Yuanzhang. Originally, when Zhu Yuanzhang visited the capital of song dynasty, he ordered Liu Ji to assist Li Shanchang in garrison the capital of song dynasty and the crown prince in supervising the country. At that time, many officials formed gangs for personal gain, and the wind of corruption was pervasive. Liu Ji proposed to Li Shanchang to punish him severely, but the latter promised, but did nothing in his hand. Later, with the support of the prince, Liu Ji "flies and tigers fight together", and an official named Bing Lin in Zhongshu Province was punished for his crime. It is worth mentioning that this person is Li Shanchang's confidant. Li's face was torn by his death. After Mao returned to Korea, Li Shanchang falsely claimed that Liu Ji was over-enforcing the law and bossing around, and accused his son of self-respect and not daring to rebel. These rumors finally aroused Mao's suspicion and Liu Ji had to resign. There is a story in the history of the Ming Dynasty that is worth pondering: "Mao blamed Prime Minister Li Shanchang for his merits, and basically said,' Being good at remembering the past can reconcile generals'." Mao said,' This is something that wants to harm you. Where are you? I walk like a gentleman. "Keaton first said,' It's as easy as a pillar and needs a big piece of wood. Tie a small wooden beam and it will stand up. ""Liu Ji didn't hate Li Shanchang, but let Zhu Yuanzhang read its benefits, saying that he could still contribute to the emperor. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart is like a mirror. He had already seen that Li Shanchang's every move was a trick and knew that the situation was unfavorable to Liu Ji and even himself. Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose is not to drink, in fact, he wants to use Liu Jizhi's hand to suppress Li Shanchang and Huaixi Group, so that Liu Jizhi can make up for the vacancy of the Prime Minister. The two groups are rival, and everyone is happy. However, Liu Ji didn't want to be a gun, so he was thankless. According to historical records, Hu Feng ordered Zhu Yuanzhang to come to Liu Ji's home with a physician. Liu Ji fell ill after taking medicine, so he went to the palace to find Zhu Yuanzhang and explained the reason. Zhu Yuanzhang just coldly let him have a good rest. This reaction seems inexplicable, but it actually has a lot of content. Liu Ji is a talent that is hard to tolerate in the world. After being invited out of the mountain by Zhu Yuanzhang, he immediately offered eighteen tricks to help Zhu Yuanzhang defeat Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang successfully and destroy Yuan. Later, we formulated a national policy, reformed the legal system, governed people's livelihood, and strictly observed the law and discipline. In addition, he was proficient in geomantic metaphysics, accurately predicted the relocation of the capital and the rebellion of the prince, and let Zhu Yuanzhang guard against the expansion of Timur. Later, his prediction was valid. Zhu Yuanzhang is an emperor who cherishes talents. Liu Ji helped him seize the country and made him understand the spirit. As a ruler, if he can't be tied around, he must be prepared, because he can always help another beggar to become an emperor in the future. Zhu Yuanzhang kept wooing Liu Ji, but the other party was ungrateful; Although Liu Ji's resignation was approved, Zhu Yuanzhang did not let him go and often tested Liu Ji. But Liu Ji saw through everything and refused to express his thoughts easily, which made Zhu Yuanzhang deeply uneasy; Zhu Yuanzhang then instructed Hu to kill it-if it can't be used for himself, it's best to avoid future trouble. Liu Ji's death finally triggered a terrible chain reaction: Taizu realized that Huaixi Group was likely to get out of control and had to kill the latter. Ten years after the Hu case, Li Shanchang finally failed to escape the fate of being executed. 1392, 17 In May, Prince Zhu Biao passed away, and Zhu Yuanzhang fought another war, cleaning up the team of "Prince" created by himself. Too harsh on heroes, respecting the old and loving the young, eventually led to bad results: the first generation of the founding emperor was accused of "indiscriminate killing" and "butcher", but later the emperor Wen Jian, who succeeded to the throne, could not suppress the situation and decided to play big; When Judy raised the flag, the army marched from north to south, and there was no one in the huge court.