What does Hongwu mean by looking at cows?

Hongwu sees the cow: Hongwu is Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang was very poor when he was a child. He used to herd cattle for the landlord.

Later, he made a living as a monk and begged, and finally joined the army and defeated Yuan Bing.

According to Ming History, "Zheng Zheng suffered from drought and famine in four years (1344). When Mao was seventeen years old, his parents and brothers were buried one after another, and the villager Liu Jizu was also buried there ... "It was also recorded that Mao was alone and entered the ancestral temple as a monk. "As for whether Zhu Yuanzhang really worked as a cowherd before becoming a monk in Huang Jue Temple, there is no way to prove it, but he is not afraid that he was born in poverty.

Extended data:

Hong Wu Bao Tong:

In the first year of Hongwu (A.D. 1368), Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, ordered Baoyuan Bureau of Beijing (South) Ministry of Industry and Baoquan Bureau of each province to cast "Hongwu Bao Tong", and the director of Ministry of Industry made money to set up Baoyuan Bureau. In order to avoid the Yuan characters in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang called all the Qian Qian characters he cast Bao Tong, not Yuanbao, and none of the money he cast in the future was Yuanbao Qian Wen.

After the successful implementation of this monetary system, Zhu Yuanzhang began to cast commemorative coins with the words "Hongwu Bao Tong". Why is there a picture of a shepherd riding a cow on the commemorative coin? This is related to the social environment at that time. "Ming History" contains: "In the fourth year of Zheng Zheng (1344), there was a drought locust and a great famine. When Taizu (Zhu Yuanzhang) was seventeen years old, his parents and brothers died one after another, and there was no place to be buried, so the villager Liu Jizu was buried there ... ",and it also included" ... Taizu was alone and became an emperor.

As for whether Zhu Yuanzhang was a cowherd before he entered the temple as a monk, there is no way to verify it. However, judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's poor background and no source of income, it is also possible to spare cattle for others in his childhood. Zhu Yuanzhang used to herd cattle when he was a child. Later, he cast a pattern of a shepherd boy riding a cow on his money, which just shows that the emperor was born in poverty and shared weal and woe with the people, encouraging them to develop production.