#The life of the ancient capable man Liu Bowen had a brilliant beginning but a tragic ending. What exactly did he experience?#
On June 15 of the lunar calendar in 1311 AD, in Nantian Town, Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province In Wuyang Village, a boy was born in a scholarly family named Liu. He was Liu Ji who would later become the founding father of the Ming Dynasty and one of the three immortal men.
Liu Ji, whose courtesy name is Bowen, was a child. Because his father Liu Yao served as a teacher in Suichang County and worked outside, his mother Fu became his first teacher. Liu Ji is very talented and could recite half of "Guo Feng" by heart when he was 5 years old.
Liu Ji was eager to learn all his life. He studied at Shimen Academy when he was young, passed the imperial examination at the age of 22, and passed the Jinshi examination at the age of 23. Liu Ji had a deep understanding of the corruption and incompetence of the Yuan Dynasty regime and saw through the hopelessness of the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, in 1358, he resigned and returned to Qingtian, where he poured his wealth of knowledge, indignation towards society, as well as his ideals and hopes into his pen and ink. He wrote the fable "Yu Ion" that sparkles with wisdom.
Liu Ji’s courage to break with the Yuan regime was the key to the turning point in his life. This step became the starting point for him to achieve glory.
Liu Ji’s historical merit lies in advancing with the times, conforming to the historical trend, advising Zhu Yuanzhang, and bravely undertaking the task of unifying China. His achievements are manifold.
Zhu Yuanzhang sent people three times to ask Liu Ji to come out. When Liu Ji met Zhu Yuanzhang for the first time after he came out of the mountain, he once stated the "Eighteen Policies" on affairs, putting forward his own opinions on the general trend of the world at that time, strategic countermeasures, governance strategies, employment principles, etc., covering politics, economy, military, diplomacy, etc. , culture, education, etc., the eighteen clauses of the Eighteen Policies were later called the "Eighteen Policies". This played a vital role in helping Zhu Yuanzhang understand the situation, build confidence, and unify the country. He felt that "a conversation with you is worth ten years of reading." For Liu Ji, the "Eighteen Strategies" had a golden sound, and in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, his status as "Emperor's Master" was initially established. Later generations often say that "there was Zhuge Long in the past and Liu Ji's eighteen strategies in the later period", which refers to the extraordinary nature of the "eighteen strategies".
Forming Zhu Yuanzhang's "Western Expedition and Eastern War Plan" is one of Liu Ji's most outstanding achievements. Zhu Yuanzhang raised his troops on the Huaihe River. After crossing the river, his forces were overwhelming, but they were limited to the Zhejiang area. Moreover, there were powerful enemies Zhang Shicheng in the east and Chen Youliang in the west. At that time, many people believed that Zhang Shicheng occupied the rich land of Suhu and should capture it first. But Liu Ji had his own opinion and thought: "Zhang Shicheng can only defend himself and don't have to worry; Chen Youliang hijacked his master and has a bad reputation. He is occupying the upper reaches and wants to destroy us all the time. We should deal with him first. After Chen is destroyed, we should build up momentum. He can be defeated in one fell swoop, and then he can conquer the Central Plains in the north. In this way, the king's career can be prosperous." Zhu Yuanzhang adopted Liu Ji's strategic decision and finally succeeded.
Liu Bowen was well versed in strategy and astronomy and geography. In major battles, he strategized or went to the front line to command the battle. In 1360 AD, Chen Youliang led 300,000 elite troops and 5,000 warships to capture Taiping, stationed in Caishiji, and approached Jinling with great arrogance. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang only had more than 100,000 troops stationed in Jinling, and there was a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Zhu Yuanzhang's army was shaken. Some advocated surrender, some advocated giving up, and some advocated a decisive battle. Only Liu Ji remained silent. Zhu Yuanzhang invited him to the inner room to seek advice. Liu Ji said: Those who advocate surrender and abandonment should be beheaded and punished because they do not see the good situation and spread a mood of defeat. In fact, Chen Youliang thought he had a strong army and had won several battles. He thought he was great and arrogant. We can take advantage of his pride, set up an ambush, lure the enemy deep, and defeat him with one blow.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Ji to formulate a battle plan. First, he sent someone to pretend to surrender and lured Chen Youliang to come to rob the city at night. He agreed to call "Lao Kang" at the wooden bridge in Jiangdong as a contact signal. Chen Youliang didn't know what the plan was, so he ordered 300,000 elite troops to go as promised. As a result, ambushes appeared everywhere, and there was a heavy rain, so he was forced to retreat to the riverside. Unexpectedly, the original warships were captured and plundered by Liu Ji, leaving only 300 warships on the riverside. Chen's army rushed to escape first, but was attacked by artillery from Zhu Yuanzhang's army. The ship was broken and more than half of the people were sunk. As a result, Chen Youliang's main force was completely wiped out, which frustrated Chen's army. They took advantage of the victory to regain Taiping and captured Anqing, Xinzhou, and Gunzhou. Chen Youliang fled back to Hanyang in panic.
Three years later, in July 1363, Chen Youliang regrouped and fought Zhu Yuanzhang again at Poyang Lake. During the Battle of Poyang Lake, Liu Ji was always with Zhu Yuanzhang. Once, he suddenly saw a group of water birds startled. Liu Ji had a premonition that something was going to happen, so he hurriedly asked Zhu Yuanzhang to move to another boat.
Before they could sit down, the enemy's artillery fire had smashed the boat where Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting. When this news came out, Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates all thought that they had God's help, so their morale was greatly boosted and they killed the enemy more fiercely. They finally defeated Chen Youliang. Chen also died in the water battle. This war commanded by Liu Ji was a victory with less A typical battle in which the weak defeated the strong was known as the "Battle of Poyang Lake" in history.
After the victory, Liu Ji repeatedly reminded Zhu Yuanzhang to be prepared for danger in times of peace. On the eve of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, in 1366, Liu Ji was entrusted by Zhu Yuanzhang to expand the land and build the city of Nanjing; in 1367, he was granted the order of Taishi, and together with Li Shanchang, Yang Xian and others, he made the order. After Zhang Shicheng was pacified, some ministers in the court wrote a letter praising Zhu Yuanzhang's merits and advising him to enjoy himself in time. Liu Ji immediately pointed out: "This is Zhao Gao's wish." He promptly reminded Zhu Yuanzhang to "be prepared for danger in times of peace."
Liu Ji also proposed the "Military and Health Law", which proposed the idea of ??"treating the people leniently and severely punishing corrupt officials", tightening disciplines, rectifying the administration of officials, and punishing corruption according to law.
After Liu Ji retired and returned to his hometown at the age of 61, he advised Zhu Yuanzhang, "After the frost and snow, there will be spring. Now that the country's prestige has been established, it is appropriate for Shaoji to be lenient." Before his death, he left a will to his second son Zhong Jing, After Hu Weiyong was defeated, he reported to Zhu Yuanzhang: "A husband must be generous and fierce in politics. The task now is to cultivate virtue and save punishment, and pray for eternal life. All forms are in key places. It is advisable to connect with the capital's momentum."
Liu Ji is erudite and talented, and has written numerous books. There are 20 volumes of "Collected Works of Chengyi Bo", including 323 essays, 1,613 poems, 23 poems and more than 100 miscellaneous articles. There are also books such as "A Hundred Battles" and "Golden Strategy". The famous prose work "Yu Ion" is a collection of fables. It is written in small stories, but it talks about big principles such as governing the country, running the army, ethics, morality, economy, society, and nature. He was an outstanding writer as famous as Song Lian in the Ming Dynasty. His works educate and influence one or even several generations.
The establishment of the Ming Dynasty ended 30 years of war and chaos, unified China, society began to stabilize, production developed, and people's lives improved. At that time, this promoted the progress of history and was a good thing that benefited the country and the people. It was Liu Ji who promoted such good things, so he was also a great contributor who made great contributions to the reunification of the motherland.
Liu Ji’s moral character has always been praised by future generations.
Liu Ji does not care about fame and position, nor is he greedy for rank or salary. When Zhu Yuanzhang distributed official positions, Liu Jijian resigned as duke and repeatedly resigned from the position. Among the 37 heroes awarded in the third year of Hongwu, Liu Ji ranked 36th. The other heroes were all made dukes or marquises. Only he and Wang Guangyang were made counts. His annual salary was 240 shi, and he was named Zhongqin Bo. Wang Guangyang's annual salary is 500 dan, while Li Shanchang's annual salary is 2,400 dan, 10 times that of Liu Ji. What should be mentioned here is that it is not that Liu Jizhi is inferior to others, nor is his dedication inferior to others, but that he "insists on giving in". This fully demonstrates his lofty quality of not seeking profit or selfishness.
Liu Ji is upright and not afraid of rape. Liu Ji served as an official four times in the Yuan Dynasty, resigned three times, and was dismissed once. The reason was not because of his mistakes, but because of his integrity and uprightness. In the Ming Dynasty, as the censor Zhongcheng, he dared to disregard the favor of Prime Minister Li Shanchang and executed his adopted son Li Bin, the capital of Zhongshu Province, according to law. This spirit of not fearing power, hating evil as much as hatred, and enforcing the law impartially will be a model for generations to come.
Liu Jizhong protects the country and does not form political parties for personal gain. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty·Biography of Liu Ji": Prime Minister Li Shanchang offended Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to replace the prime minister and discussed with Liu Ji. But Liu Ji said: Li Gongfeng has outstanding achievements and can reconcile the generals, so he can't give up. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Ji: Li Shanchang tried to harm you many times, but you said good things for him? Liu Ji said: "To replace the pillars, you must first get big wood. If you use small wood to replace the pillars, the building will collapse immediately."
However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not listen to Liu Ji's advice and dismissed Li Shanchang as prime minister. . Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use Liu Xian, Liu Ji's good friend, as his prime minister. Liu Ji said: "Xian has the talent but not the tools. The husband prime minister has a mind like water and weighs justice and reason. He has nothing to offer, but Xian is not like that." Question, can Wang Guangyang be appointed prime minister? Liu Ji replied that Wang was more narrow-minded and shallow than Yang Xian. When asked about Hu Weiyong again, Liu Ji said: "Like a calf pulling a cart, it will break the plow and ruin the country." When Zhu Yuanzhang heard him say that this is not good and that is not good, he said: "My appearance is extremely sincere. Sir?" Liu Ji hurriedly replied, "I don't dare to be greedy for God's merits. I am too jealous and impatient at work. If I become prime minister, I will live up to the emperor's kindness. There are many talents in the country. As long as the emperor searches for them carefully, I will definitely be able to find them. To get talented people.
"Liu Jiqian gave up his position, talked to the emperor, and dared to speak out. He did not care about personal grudges, did not engage in retaliation, and did not engage in cliques for personal gains. He was loyal to the public and served the country.
Many years after Liu Ji's death, once, Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu The second son of Ji said: "When your father was alive, the whole court was full of partisans, but he was the only one who disobeyed. You should do more good deeds and don't tarnish your father's good name. ”
Liu Ji’s moral integrity and lofty character have been admired by the world for generations to come.
Establishing moral integrity, meritorious service and theory, I ask who can achieve the three immortals in China for five thousand years;
Connecting with the sky, the earth, and the people, with ninety thousand miles of rivers and mountains, the public line has an all-round talent.