Is Liu Bowen in the history of the Tang Dynasty over-hyped by later generations?

Inscription: Where are you going, sir? Towards the green hills and lakes in the dusk. This is a poem that Zhu Yuanzhang personally gave to Liu Bowen. I hope he can have such a wonderful life.

In the first year of Hongwu, when the Ming Empire, which had just been born for eight months, was in full swing, Zhu Yuanzhang received Liu Ji's request for "playing the newspaper" shortly after sealing the hero.

Portrait of Liu Bowen

Before he left, Liu Ji solemnly put forward two suggestions to Zhu Yuanzhang in writing, which was regarded as a parting message. The first thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang is not advised to use his hometown Fengyang as the capital. The second thing is to strike while the iron is hot and concentrate on eliminating the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Liu Bowen's first sentence was right, but he felt that it was unnecessary to investigate the remnants. Giving them a chance to live is not a kind of tolerance. However, in just a few months, the Mongolian army fled back to the desert and became a serious threat to the border. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized that he could not live without Liu Ji, so he wrote to invite him back.

In fact, in the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Ji had already resigned once. He didn't go to school until he was fourteen. Because of his poor family, he has no chance to study. For the classics, Liu Ji never forgets anything, and all the students admire him. "Xiao Wuying is unique in the group. She is literate, good at learning from the classics, working for others, and being at home."

Liu Bowen's calligraphy

Therefore, Liu Ji's outstanding talent and extraordinary efforts made him "full of curiosity and decisive doubt about his writing, which was unexpected." I have read and understood all the books on astronomy and Sun Tzu's Art of War. "

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Ji became a scholar and was released as a small official from Gao 'an County, Ruizhou. At that time, a man named Xi Si was very surprised to see Liu Ji and said, "This man is Kevin·Z and others, but ingram micro has surpassed him. He is a talent who can help the world." However, Liu Ji's first appearance was not successful, and he was excluded and dismissed by his colleagues. Later, he became the deputy director of Confucianism in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was removed from office. Since then, Liu Ji has been disheartened, drinking and boating with friends all day by the West Lake for fun.

The appearance of Zhu Yuanzhang seems to have brought Liu Ji spring, but it was too short.

Former residence of Liu Bowen

After laying the foundation of eastern Zhejiang, Zhu Yuanzhang called him, Zhang Yi and Song Lian "four gentlemen of eastern Zhejiang".

Before Liu Ji came out, he was not sure about his future. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was only the weakest separatist faction, so once he made a mistake, he was doomed. Just "the foundation is determined to be healthy, and many doubts have not been solved." It was his mother who wanted him to stay at home and study honestly. He even made the final accurate prediction: "Since ancient times, the declining and chaotic world has not assisted God. Is this ok?" In my mother's opinion, the world is too messy, and I shouldn't go out to help anyone, because it is difficult to have a stable ending.

Unfortunately, however, he didn't listen to all the big suggestions that affected Liu Ji's final fate.

Since then, Liu Ji has become the biggest soft power around Zhu Yuanzhang. For a while, the cloud chased the dragon and the wind chased the tiger, wrestling in the scattered world. When Zhu Yuanzhang needed advice on how to win the world, many counselors said nothing but vague nonsense of "winning the hearts of the people without killing", while Liu Ji put forward specific and targeted suggestions called "eighteen strategies", which were obvious and clear at a glance. For example, "Chen Youliang is in the west, Zhang Shicheng is in the east ... Today's plan is to cut the Han Dynasty first, and the Han Dynasty is vast and wins the Han Dynasty, and the trip to the world will be completed." The story of ministers in famous mountains and forests

Zhu Yuanzhang and his assistant

Therefore, in Liu Ji's first strategy, as Zhu Yuanzhang asked the doctor Tao An, "How do these four people compare with you?" Tao An said: "My strategy is not as good as Liu Ji's, and my knowledge is not as good as Song Lian's ..."

Indeed, Liu Ji's strategy has many advantages. He made the greatest contribution in the war of invading the north from the south. At that time, Chen Youliang occupied Huguang and Zhang Shicheng occupied western Zhejiang. Not sure which to deal with first. Most generals think that Suzhou and Huzhou should take Zhangtucheng first. Zhu Yuanzhang sought Liu Ji's advice. He advocated taking Chen Youliang first, saying: Chen Youliang hijacked the master, threatened his subordinates, and occupied my upstream, so kill him first. Zhang Shicheng is a miser and won't spend money to help Chen; After Chen was destroyed, Zhang was isolated and took him as if he were in a bag; Once the south is determined, the Central Plains will be further north, and the matter of the emperor can be determined. Zhu Yuanzhang adopted this strategic decision. Historians said: "Determined to attack Tucheng (Zhang) and establish the Central Plains (Liu) base for the whole north. Counselor Zhu Sheng commented on him like this: "Learn from Heaven and Man, and be both civil and military. "It can be said that people know the world.

So Zhu Yuanzhang finally chose the most correct strategy and won the world.

So why did Liu Ji resign just after calming down the world for more than 200 days It is said that because of a small matter, Liu Ji was impeached because of the drought and no rain. So, after only a few months of hints, he faded out of Daming's stage.

Movies and TV pictures

If this is gone forever, maybe Liu Ji will enjoy the joy of nymphs, but Liu Ji is not indifferent to Jiangshan, and he can't be so philosophical about Fan Li and Sean. Therefore, as mentioned above, Zhu Yuanzhang regretted not listening to Liu Ji to clean up the remnants of Dawan, so he brought him back as a confidential staff. This is the most frequent interaction between monarch and minister. Every time Liu Ji was summoned, Zhu Yuanzhang would give in and talk for a long time. In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Liu Ji as "founding minister, good doctor and general", which was full of sincerity.

Sincerity means sincerity and justice. In the former dynasty, Uncle Zhang Fanji's first discount was used: "The emperor is gentle, teaching people to be honest, and even governing the country at home." I think Zhu Yuanzhang was inspired by this, and I hope that Liu Ji, as the gentlest symbol of the Ming Empire, can realize this vision.

Perhaps, Liu Ji died in the line of duty.

Because he is a "honest man", in order to perform his duties, he should know everything and say everything. Therefore, Liu Ji finally died of "hiding nothing", and his seemingly "hiding nothing" was based on his duties.

Movies and TV pictures

Generally speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang consulted Liu Ji when he chose the prime minister. He wanted to recall Li Shanchang and asked Liu Ji if there was a more suitable candidate. However, as soon as Liu Ji heard that he wanted to replace a good leader, he immediately opposed it, thinking that he was a founding father and his strength was to reconcile various generals. Zhu Yuanzhang lamented: He has hurt you many times, and you still put in a good word for him. So virtuous, I want to appoint you as the Prime Minister. Liu Ji resolutely refused and said something quite meaningful: "If you want to change the beams and columns of a house, you must find a big tree. If you use a bunch of small trees as pillars, the house will definitely collapse. "

Then Zhu Yuanzhang asked him what happened to Yang Xian. Liu Ji said that he has the talent of a prime minister, but he doesn't have the temperament of a prime minister. Ask Wang Guangyang again? Liu Ji replied that this person is too shallow to be as good as Yang Xian.

Finally, what about Hu? Hearing this, Liu Ji was very contemptuous and said firmly, "I'm afraid this calf will have bad luck."

Zhu Yuanzhang once again reiterated: my candidate for prime minister is really nothing more than Mr. Wang, and the implication is to ask Liu Ji to take this position.

Liu Ji has already refused once. When Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned it again, he immediately refused in a firm and euphemistic tone: "I don't know, but I am too ill to scrub, and I owe it a big favor. There is no talent in the world, so please ask carefully. For example, at present, I sincerely didn't see it. "

That is to say, I certainly can't, and neither can others, so I still have to use Li Shanchang.

Zhu Yuanzhang's iron coupon for Dan Shu

The three people who were denied by Liu Ji were obviously candidates in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind and did not apply them according to Liu Ji's suggestion. On the contrary, these three people have been reused successively, but they have been executed successively.

Hongwu four years, Li Shanchang officially retired, followed by Liu Ji also offered to go home. The reason is that Liu Ji saw that Li Shanchang was replaced by Hu, so his previous remarks made him feel embarrassed.

Before Liu Ji left, the monarch and his subjects exchanged letters. Liu Ji wrote back: "After the frost and snow, there must be spring. Now that the national prestige has been established, it is advisable to be lenient and use less. " Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang personally wrote a poem for him, which was regarded as a farewell, and gave a high summary of his actions: building the capital, Wu Tianhan's death, showing great Britain. I don't live in Fengge to adjust the jinding, but go to Yunshan to smelt jade furnace. Career comparable to the four old businessmen, humble contribution. Where would you like to go, sir? Towards the base of Qingshan Lake. So is Liu Can really "flooding the lake at dusk"? Not only can't, not long after, Liu Ji died mysteriously after Hu seized power, because Liu Ji's evaluation made him very angry, so Hu ordered people to poison him, which eventually led to Liu Ji's "accumulation of things in his stomach". Zhu Yuanzhang pleaded with him and got the news that "Prime Minister Hu Yin drank poison and took the doctor to find Hou." So Zhu Yuanzhang rebuked Wang Guangyang for being disloyal to the country, knowing that Hu Weiyong poisoned Liu Ji and "sat idly by". Obviously, although "unpredictable" Liu Bowen finally failed to master his own life, it may be his duty of "knowing everything" that finally pushed him to a sad ending.