Liu Ji, courtesy name Bowen. Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty was born in the fourth year of his reign (1311), and Taizu Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty died in the eighth year of Hongwu (1375) at the age of 65. Liu Ji came from a distinguished family. He was smart and studious since he was a child, and was known as a child prodigy. In the fourth year of Yuan Zhishun (1333), 23-year-old Liu Ji passed the Jinshi examination and began his official career. He was determined to serve his country, but the imperial court was fatuous and corrupt, which made his official career of more than 20 years suffer repeated hardships and debasement. In March of the 20th year of Yuan Zhizheng (1360), he accepted Zhu Yuanzhang's invitation and became counselor of military affairs, making great contributions to the establishment and development of the Ming Dynasty. He was upright and courageous, and Zhu Yuanzhang respected him as "my son-in-law (Zhang Liang)". There is a saying among the people that "Zhuge Kongming is above and Liu Jibowen is below." Living in troubled times and full of knowledge, Liu Ji was born into a scholarly landlord family in Wuyang Village, Nantian Mountain, Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province (now Wencheng County, Zhejiang Province). His distant ancestor was from Fengpei, Jiangsu. There is a poem saying that his family is "the descendants of the Liu family in Qingtian", which may have some relationship with Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty. His seventh generation ancestor, Liu Yanqing, was the military governor of the Zhenhai Navy. In the second year of Emperor Jingkang of the Song Dynasty (1127), he defended Kaifeng, the capital, and died for his country in order to resist the invasion of the Jin people. Liu Yanqing's son Liu Guangshi traveled south with Emperor Gaozong and took up an official position in Shaobao, the Xuanfu capital of the Song Dynasty. Starting from the fourth generation ancestor Liu Ji, the Liu family moved to Qingtian County. By the time Liu Ji was born, his family had been living in Wuyang for five generations and was a prestigious local family. Great-grandfather Liu Hao was not only proficient in Confucian classics, but also proficient in astronomy, calendar, yin and yang, medical divination and other studies. He once served as the Hanlin Secretary in the Southern Song Dynasty. Liu Ji's father, Liu Entropy, was an upright man with outstanding intelligence. When he was 10 years old, he and his grandfather Liu Hao conspired to save the lives of many people in the same town. It turned out that after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the rebel armies in Qingtian County were also surrounded and suppressed by the Yuan army one after another and lurked. In order to eradicate the evil and consolidate their power, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty sent Gou Tier, deputy envoy of Xuanwei of East Zhejiang Province, to investigate the situation of the anti-Yuan rebels in Qingtian County. With the help of the traitor Li Xiong, they created a blacklist and prepared to report it to the court for suppression. This black list is related to the lives of thousands of people. When Gou Tie'er passed by Wuyang Village, he was warmly entertained by the famous squire Liu Hao and his family, and stayed with them at home for the night. Liu Hao got Gou Tie'er drunk, stole the blacklist and burned it, and then personally set fire to his ancestral house. They pretended to be panicked and rescued Gou Tie'er from the fire. Gou Tie'er knew that drinking caused trouble, but luckily escaped death and was extremely grateful to the Liu family. The people of Qingtian County greatly admire the Liu family's righteous deeds of saving their compatriots without sacrificing their wealth. Liu Entropy later became a famous Confucian at that time and served as the lecturing official (county school principal) in Suichang County (now part of Zhejiang Province). When he was in his 40s, he gave birth to his son Liu Ji, whom he regarded as the apple of his eye. He devoted all his energy to the cultivation of his beloved son, so that Liu Ji received a good education. Liu Ji is eager to learn and demanding, and extremely intelligent. He passed the examination as a scholar at the age of 12 and was called a "child prodigy" by the village elders. In the first year of Taiding (1324), 14-year-old Liu Ji entered the county school (i.e. government school) to study. He studied the Spring and Autumn Classics under his tutelage. This is a Confucian classic that is obscure, concise and profound, and difficult to understand, especially for beginners, who usually just hold the book and recite it without understanding its meaning. Liu Ji was different. Not only could he recite it fluently after reading it silently twice, but he could also elaborate on the meaning of the text and express it in a way that no one before him had said. The teacher was greatly surprised when he saw this, thinking that he had read it before, so he tried several other passages, and Liu Ji could recognize the gist of it at a glance. The teacher admired him very much and secretly praised him, "What a genius. He will definitely not be an ordinary person in the future!" Liu Ji finished learning the Spring and Autumn Classic without much effort. In the fourth year of Taiding (1327), Liu Ji was seventeen years old. He left the government school and studied Zhou (Dun Yi) Cheng (Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi) Neo-Confucianism under Zheng Fuchu, a famous scholar in Chuzhou, and received the education of Confucian classics and practical application. . In addition, he has read a lot of books, and has a glimpse of all the scholars. He has special interests in astronomy, geography, art of war and mathematics, and he has devoted himself to studying and studying, and is very proficient in it. Once, he saw an astronomy book in a bookstore and couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. The next day, he could recite it fluently from beginning to end. The shop owner was very surprised when he found out and wanted to give this astronomy book to him. Liu Ji said: "This book is already in my chest, and it is of no use to me anymore." "Liu Ji's open-mindedness, studiousness and outstanding intelligence not only enabled him to learn and master a wealth of knowledge, but also made him famous in his hometown when he was young. Everyone said that he was as famous as Wei Zheng (Tang Dynasty) and Zhuge Kongming (Three Kingdoms Shu). ) talent. In the first year of Yuan Tong (1333), 23-year-old Liu Ji went to the capital of the Yuan Dynasty (today's Beijing) to take part in the joint examination and passed the Jinshi examination. From then on, he entered a bumpy and ups and downs official career.
The official career was bumpy and he lived in seclusion. China in the 1450s was a period when the Yuan Dynasty regime was gradually heading toward total collapse. Since the founding of the Yuan Dynasty for half a century, it has ruled China in an extremely barbaric and backward way, ruthlessly massacring and cruelly exploiting the people. The people can no longer live, so peasant uprisings and riots have appeared everywhere in China. The Yuan Dynasty was in danger. On the one hand, there is greed and confusion, drunkenness and dreams of death; on the other hand, there is dire straits and fire, rising up. Under such circumstances, Liu Ji entered the official career, which forced him to either cooperate with the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty, collude, and eventually die together; or he could do the opposite, stand on the side of the people, and bury the greedy and cruel dynasty together. As an intellectual who advocates integrity and a sense of justice, Liu Ji chose the latter, even though it was full of thorns. After a bumpy official career, he retired and retired. After Liu Ji passed the Jinshi examination, he lived at home for three years. In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (1336), he was awarded the title of Cheng of Gao'an County, Jiangxi Province by the Yuan Dynasty government. As a disciple of the Emperor, he was infinitely grateful to the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty for giving him this opportunity to display his talents and realize his ambitions set since childhood. Therefore, as soon as he became an official, he was determined to use all his talents and loyalty to do something big. Although the county magistrate is a minor official assisting the county magistrate. Liu Ji did not hesitate to perform his duties because of his humble position. He was diligent in his duties, enforced the law strictly, and quickly made political achievements. He went deep into the countryside, observed the people's sentiments, and found that some wealthy gentry and landlords in Gao'an County colluded with corrupt officials, were lawless, defrauded people of their money, took away their wives and daughters, and committed murder and murder. After listening to the people's cries, Liu Ji was filled with righteous indignation and determined to eliminate harm for the people. After conducting open and covert investigations and obtaining real evidence, we resolutely punished several notorious bullies and punished corrupt officials in the county government. The social atmosphere in Gao'an County soon improved. Liu Ji was upright and upright and won praise from the people. Jie Maosi, a great scholar at that time, once said to people: "Liu Ji is a first-class figure like Wei Zheng, and his heroism is even greater than that of Wei Zheng. He will definitely be a great talent in governing the country and ensuring peace in the future!" In the fifth year of Zhiyuan Dynasty (1339) ), a murder case occurred in Xinchangzhou (now Yifeng, Jiangxi) on Ruizhou Road. The initial trial of the case ruled that the deceased committed suicide, but the plaintiff refused to accept the verdict and appealed. Because the case involved a wealthy family in Qingtian County, the manager of Ruizhou Road thought of Liu Ji who dared to plead for the people, so he handed the case over to Liu Ji for review. Liu Ji reviewed the case files and conducted an investigation and found out that it was a premeditated murder case. During this period, the wealthy gentry asked people to bribe Liu Ji many times, but when inducements failed, they resorted to threats. What’s even more troublesome is that the official who made the original verdict in the case was the first-class Mongolian nobleman with privileges in the Yuan Dynasty. Liu Ji is not afraid of rape or power. He reports the truth truthfully and enforces the law impartially. The murderer was finally executed, and the Mongolian officials were dismissed from office for dereliction of duty. Liu Ji did not shy away from using power to redress the grievances of the people, and for a time he became a good talk both near and far. In the late Yuan Dynasty, bribery became common in government offices. Liu Ji is honest and upright but is hated and ostracized by his colleagues. Especially the Mongolian officials who offended him were even more intolerant of Liu Ji. They attacked him in groups and spread rumors and slanders. Liu Ji has an upright nature and will never follow the crowd. He saw that it was difficult for him to make a difference in this environment, so he resolutely resigned. In the sixth year of Zhiyuan (1340), Liu Ji returned to his hometown in Qingtian and studied behind closed doors. At this time, Liu Ji was already well-known. Less than three years after returning home, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces appointed him for the second time as a deputy Confucian scholar and appointed him as a provincial examiner. But this time as an official, like the previous one, it did not last long. Shortly after taking office, his outspoken temper broke out again when he saw injustice, and he wrote a letter to expose the supervisory censor's dereliction of duty. Shangfeng scolded him for being nosy and what he said was untrue. In anger, he resigned and left. Frustrated, he moved to Hangzhou and fell in love with the mountains and rivers. He entertained himself by drinking and composing poems by the West Lake and at the foothills of Wulin Mountain. However, at that time, the world was already full of wars, the anti-Yuan rebels were in full swing, and Liu Ji's hometown was reduced to rubble in the flames of war. Liu Ji stood from the standpoint of the landlord class and hated the rebels extremely. At this time, Fang Guozhen, a native of Taizhou, raised his troops at sea, and the imperial court ordered Zhejiang Province to take precautions. In the twelfth year of Zhizheng (1352), Zhejiang Province once again appointed Liu Ji, who was familiar with the art of war and strategy, as the capital of the Marshal's Mansion in East Zhejiang. Although Liu Ji was extremely dissatisfied with the politics of the Yuan Dynasty, his ignorant orthodox ideas of loyalty to the monarch and the court were not lost. After some hesitation, he went out of the mountain and joined the government to participate in the suppression of Fang Guozhen. In view of the fact that Fang Guozhen often used Ningbo in eastern Zhejiang as a springboard to invade the mainland, Liu Ji proposed the strategy of building the Ningbo city wall to prevent Fang Guozhen from capturing it. After building the city, Guozhen really did not dare to invade Ningbo easily.
In the thirteenth year of Zhizheng (1353), Zuocheng Tieli Tiemu'er of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces was promoted to Liu Ji as the provincial capital, and he was summoned to Hangzhou to discuss the precious affairs of recruiting Fang Guo. It turned out that shortly after Fang Guozhen raised his troops at sea, he accepted the imperial court's offer and was awarded the title of national captain. However, he was uneasy about this position and still went to sea to rebel against the Yuan Dynasty many times, forcing the imperial court to continue recruiting officials and appeasements. This time Fang repeated his old tricks and raised troops to threaten the court. From the standpoint of safeguarding the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Ji opposed blind recruitment. He believed that the Fang family's rebellion should be suppressed and appeased by both methods. The Fang family brothers sometimes surrendered and sometimes rebelled, aiming to obtain high positions and rich salaries. They could not tolerate this and should be captured and killed. Most of their subordinates were coercive followers, so then It is advisable to recruit him. Tie Li Tie Mu'er felt that what he said made sense, so he reported it to the court and acted according to this plan. Liu Ji's strategy of using this division and disintegration strategy to suppress Fang Guozhen's rebel army was indeed sinister. Fang Guozhen was naturally panicked when he found out, and immediately secretly sent someone to send gold and silver silk to Liu Ji, hoping that he would give up the plan of arresting people and use the method of summoning him leniently. Liu Ji refused to bribe and insisted on his own opinion. Fang Guozhen had no choice but to change his method and directly bribe most of the high-ranking officials in the court with heavy sums of money, quickly opening up the relationship. The imperial court not only recruited Fang Guozhen's safety, but also rebuked Liu Ji for advocating the plan to arrest the Fang family, which was an insult to the imperial court's benevolence and was good at imposing authority, and ordered the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to detain Liu Ji in Shaoxing. He was loyal to the court, but he received such retribution. This was undoubtedly another blow to Liu Ji. At this time, peasant uprisings led by the Red Turban Army spread almost across the country. In the 16th year of Zhengzheng (1356), an uprising broke out among the mountain people in Zhejiang, and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang appointed Liu Ji in Shaoxing as the capital. At this time, Liu Ji had become more and more aware that the imperial court was hopeless and that he had no way to serve the country. He wrote in a poem: "The top is blocked but not clear, the bottom is greedy but not chaste; power cannot be controlled." "You cannot succeed alone; you are eager to advance but have no steps; you are eager to retreat but have no way; your loyalty is deep but not white, and your heart is wavering but not solid." This fully expresses Liu Ji's inner resentment and despair. . He has no intention of staying in officialdom anymore. After perfunctory for a while, he finally resigned and returned home for the third time in the eighteenth year of Zhizheng (1358), and retired to Qingtian. Liu Jiji was a well-known scholar full of knowledge and talents. He had already passed the Jinshi degree at the age of 20. He originally hoped to make contributions to the world and serve the country, but after more than 20 years of officialdom, he could not be satisfied after many ups and downs. Looking back on the past and looking back on the present, he was filled with emotions, so he wrote vigorously after returning to his hometown in Qingtian, and wrote an important work "Yu Ion" handed down from generation to generation. This is a collection of essays based on fables based on "Zhuangzi". He borrowed the words of the protagonist Yu Li to express his views on politics, education, the state of the world, human relations, etc. His main spirit was to analyze and criticize the bad governance of the Yuan Dynasty and summarize the experience of running the country for future generations to learn from. Therefore, this book is actually a summary and reflection of Liu Ji's personal experience, ideals and world view. While Liu Ji was immersed in writing at home, the situation in eastern Zhejiang suddenly changed dramatically. This change also completely changed his secluded life of writing silently in the countryside, giving him finally the opportunity to display his ambitions and talents on the political stage, and became the founding civil servant of the Ming Dynasty who was the most meritorious and famous throughout the ages. The Huaixi Red Turban Army Zhu Yuanzhang, who had great foresight and foresight, raised troops in Haozhou in the twelfth year of Zhizheng (1352). He used Liu Futong to fight against the Yuan army in the north and sent his troops to march south. He went all the way up to Chuzhou, captured Taiping, and occupied Jinling. , established a base area, and then marched into Anhui, approaching Zhejiang, and successively attacked Wuzhou, Quzhou, Chuzhou and other places. In less than six years, it went from a small nine-man commander to a powerful force. Not only did he fight bravely and be good at organizing and commanding, he also attached great importance to recruiting intellectuals to serve him. Especially after listening to famous Confucian scholars such as Fan Chang, Tao An, Zhu Sheng, and Tang Zhongshi, he banned massacres, calmed people's hearts, and occupied Jinling and Gaozhu. After implementing strategies and suggestions such as building a wall, accumulating grain widely, and slowing down the throne, his power and reputation have been greatly improved. He respects people of insight even more. Whenever he goes to a place, he always asks to visit local celebrities and invite them to come out. After occupying Chuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Liu Ji, a famous scholar in eastern Zhejiang, was living in seclusion in his hometown in Qingtian, so he sent someone with heavy coins to hire Liu Ji to come out. As a subject of the Yuan Dynasty, defecting to the rebel army was an act of betrayal and disloyalty. For Liu Ji, a famous scholar, this decision was really difficult to make. So he politely refused on the grounds that he was physically ill, his aging mother needed filial piety, and his two underage sons needed upbringing. Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to send Sun Yan, a famous Jiangnan scholar and general manager of Chuzhou Road, to Qingtian to invite people. Seeing the hopelessness of the Yuan Dynasty, realizing Zhu Yuanzhang's sincerity and the fact that only Zhu Yuanzhang could succeed among the heroes, he finally decided that applying for a job and assisting Zhu Yuanzhang in establishing his great cause was his own way, so he no longer hesitated and packed his bags. , arrived at Jinling via Qingtian Road in the third lunar month of the 20th year of Zhizheng (1360).
As soon as Liu Ji arrived in Jinling, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately summoned him personally and said to Liu Ji: "I summoned your husband to come out for the sake of the world. I am really wronging you." Then he respectfully asked Liu Ji for advice on how to destroy Yuan, rejuvenate the country, and unify the universe. Big plan. Liu Ji immediately presented the eighteen current affairs strategies that he had already conceived and drafted, analyzing the situation in detail and listing various strategies. After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was overjoyed and regretted that it was too late to meet him. He immediately ordered you to build a courtesy hall to treat Liu Ji as a guest, and arranged for him to be beside him to participate in the planning of confidential matters. Liu Ji was deeply moved by Zhu Yuanzhang's trust and felt lucky that he had met the Ming Lord. It also greatly triggered his long-cherished wish to serve the country and the people. So he made suggestions, helped Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the east and level the west, competed in the Central Plains, and accomplished a vigorous undertaking. The legendary Liu Ji was a strange man who was well versed in Yin and Yang Bagua, specialized in Feng Shui divination, could call the wind and rain, and predict events like a god. This was of course deified. But he is indeed strong, knowledgeable, and quick-thinking. In addition to epic poems, he is also very proficient in military strategies, military tactics, astronomy, geography, and even the Yin and Yang Five Elements. He is also alert, decisive, and possesses the courage and courage of an excellent counselor, so he converted to After Zhu Yuanzhang came to power, he quickly showed his extraordinary ability in doing things and became the core of Zhu Yuanzhang's think tank. When Liu Ji first arrived in Jinling, Zhu Yuanzhang was at a critical moment in an important stage of development in terms of military and politics. In the process of establishing a foothold in Jinling and occupying parts of Zhejiang, Zhu Yuanzhang's power has greatly developed, but Zhang Shicheng in the east and Chen Youliang in the west are not weak either, and their joint intention to attack Zhu Yuanzhang from both sides poses a great threat to Zhu Yuanzhang. Secondly, although Yuan Zhang had already followed the wishes of Peigong Liu Bang, he never established his own banner. Instead, he respected Han Lin'er, the Xiao Ming king under Liu Futong's control, and was knighted by him, using the title of Dragon and Phoenix. Therefore, breaking the situation of being flanked by Zhang and Chen in the military and being controlled by others politically was a key step for Zhu Yuanzhang to continue to develop his power and strive for supremacy. Liu Ji firmly opposed Zhu Yuanzhang's respect for King Xiao Ming. He believed that when heroes were fighting, to achieve great things, they had to get rid of the control of others and control their own destiny. Therefore, in the first lunar month of the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (1361), Zhu Yuanzhang set up a throne in Zhongshu Province in Jinling and led his civil and military staff to pay homage to him. When King Ming was celebrating, Liu Ji stood alone and refused to bow. Zhu Yuanzhang asked why he didn't worship him. Liu Ji replied: "He is just a shepherd boy. Why should we respect him?" Then he told Zhu Yuanzhang why he should get rid of King Xiao Ming and fight for the world by himself. Zhu Yuanzhang was very enlightened after hearing this. In the 23rd year of Zhizheng (1363), Zhang Shicheng's general Lu Zhen attacked Han Lin'er in Anqing (now Shouxian County, Anhui). Liu Futong asked Zhu Yuanzhang to send troops to rescue him. Liu Ji advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to rescue him. He said that now Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng are waiting for an opportunity to attack us. How can we disperse our troops to take care of others at this time? Besides, if King Xiao Ming is rescued, how will he be arranged? Forcing Zhu Yuanzhang to abandon Han Lin'er. Zhu Yuanzhang refused to listen and personally led his army to rescue him. Sure enough, Chen Youliang took advantage of the opportunity and led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Hongdu, an important town in Jiangxi Province (now Nanchang, Jiangxi Province) under the jurisdiction of Zhu Jun. In order to rescue the siege, Zhu Yuanzhang traveled back and forth all night, exhausted, and Han Lin'er finally became Zhu Yuanzhang's burden. Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed with emotion Di said to Liu Ji: "I almost missed a major event if I didn't listen to your old gentleman. Fortunately, Chen Youliang attacked Hongdu instead of Jinling, otherwise it would be unthinkable." Not long after, Zhu Yuanzhang completely abandoned Han Lin'er and killed him. It should be said that this was the inevitable result of Liu Ji's long-term influence on Zhu Yuanzhang. In May of the 20th year of Zhengzheng, Chen Youliang captured Taiping, an important town outside Nanjing, and killed Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son Zhu Wenxun and the guard Hua Yun. In Taiping, he claimed to be the emperor and mobilized his fleet to head east from Jiangzhou. He claimed that with the cooperation of Zhang Shicheng, the capture of Yingtian was imminent. Faced with Chen Youliang's arrogance, Zhu Yuanzhang's generals felt the situation was tense. Some advocated leaving the city to fight to the death, while others advocated surrendering the city. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he asked Liu Ji who stood silently and answered decisively, He said, "Chen Youliang has robbed his master and proclaimed himself emperor. He has never forgotten Jinling. Now he is marching eastward along the Yangtze River to demonstrate against me and force me to do so." Give in. We can't let them succeed. We can only resist resolutely. As the saying goes, the one who moves first wins. Although Chen Youliang has a arrogant and powerful army, they marched thousands of miles to attack us. They are both tired and unjust. Strike later, wait for work, and wait for the enemy to penetrate deeply. Then I will ambush them. This battle is of great importance to us, and we must fight it well.
Liu Ji's words strengthened Zhu Yuanzhang's determination to fight. He adopted Liu Ji's strategy and defeated Chen Youliang's attack with a surprise attack. Zhu Yuanzhang not only won the victory in defending Yingtian, but also regained Taiping in one go. The base area of ??Jinling was consolidated. This battle came only two months after Liu Ji defected, fully demonstrating Liu Ji's outstanding military talents. Although Chen Youliang retreated to Jiangxi and Hubei, he and Zhang Shicheng were still Zhu Yuanzhang's main rivals. In order to wipe out the heroes, conquer the Central Plains in the north, and finally overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's army held different views on the two strategic directions of east and west. Most generals advocated doing the easy things first and then the difficult ones, that is, attacking Zhang Shicheng first. This strategic thought also had an impact on Zhu Yuanzhang. Liu Ji's opinion is the opposite. He believes that Zhang Shicheng is timid by nature, has no ambitions, and only wants to protect himself. This kind of person is nothing to worry about. Chen Youliang is ambitious and powerful. He also controls the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and poses the greatest threat to me. If we attack Zhang Shicheng first, Chen Youliang will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to attack me; but if we attack Chen Youliang first, Zhang Shicheng may not dare to act rashly. Therefore, we should get rid of the old things first. Once the Chen family is destroyed, the Zhang family will be left alone, and my life and death will be up to me. Once Chen and Zhang are at peace, they can march northward and sweep across the Central Plains, and their great cause will be accomplished. Liu Ji's analysis is far-sighted and should be said to be Zhu Yuanzhang's only correct strategic plan for conquering the world and establishing a great cause. Zhu Yuanzhang adopted Liu Ji's plan and decided to attack Chen Youliang first and then Zhang Shicheng, taking a decisive step on the road to comprehensive victory. In the 21st year of Zhengzheng (1361), Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the three armies to march westward along the Yangtze River to conquer Chen Youliang. The first attack on Anqing failed. Liu Ji knew that Chen Youliang was heavily stationed in Anqing and his hometown in Jiangzhou (today's Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province) would be empty, so he suggested that he immediately attack Jiangzhou. Sure enough, Chen Youliang abandoned his army and fled to Wuchang. Soon, Chen Youliang's minister Hu Tingrui, the prime minister of Jiangxi Province, came to negotiate a surrender on the condition of retaining his troops. Zhu Yuanzhang persuaded Liu Ji to accept Hu's conditions. Seeing this, Hu Jiang and other generals came to pay the money, and the whole of Jiangxi was quickly merged into Zhu Yuanzhang's territory. In April of the 23rd year of Zhizheng (1363), Chen Youliang took advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang to go north to relieve the siege of Xiaoming King Han Lin'er Anfeng. He led an army from Wuchang to besiege Hongdu, hoping to defend this important town. The defender Zhu Wenzheng refused to resist, and the two armies were in a stalemate for many days. In July, Zhu Yuanzhang led his army south and fought a decisive battle with Chen Youliang on Poyang Lake. Liu Ji accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang day and night and participated in military aircraft. The two armies fought fiercely, staining the lake with blood. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and ended up in a stalemate on the lake. At this time, Liu Ji suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang that he send heavy troops to guard the exits around Poyang Lake to trap Chen Youliang. Soon, Chen Youliang led the remaining troops to break through. He wanted to escape from the Xiaogang branch, but was choked by Zhu Yuanzhang's army. Chen Youliang died in battle, and the remaining army was defeated. After wiping out Chen Youliang's forces, Zhu Yuanzhang did not stop and immediately moved eastward to conquer Zhang Shicheng. In September of the twenty-seventh year of Zhizheng (1367), when Pingjiang (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) was captured, Zhang Shicheng had no choice but to hang himself. From then on, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were all owned by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang said to Liu Ji: "Sir, he is the first-class contributor to my founding of the country." Liu Ji also had many unexpected tactics, and he often used strange tactics to win every battle. When he was attacking Jiangzhou, he saw that the city wall of Jiangzhou was built along the river and was very low, so he ordered the construction of a ladder bridge on the warship. At night, they drove to the foot of the city wall and set up a flyover on the wall. The soldiers climbed up the ladder and successfully broke through the city. In the 23rd year of Zhizheng Dynasty (1363), he returned to Jinling from Chuzhou to attend his mother's funeral. He passed through Yanzhou (now Jiande County, Zhejiang Province). Zhang Shicheng's troops were invading. Yanzhou guard Li Wenzhong wanted to send troops to meet him, but Liu Ji dissuaded him. It is said that within three days, the enemy will retreat on their own. When the time comes, troops will be sent to pursue them, and they will win a great victory. Li Wenzhong followed Liu Ji's advice. At dawn on the third day, the enemy troops retreated. Li Wenzhong attacked and returned with a great victory. Liu Ji's strategizing and clever calculations not only attracted the admiration of his colleagues and subordinates, but also won the trust and respect of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang compared him to Zhang Liang, the counselor of the Han Dynasty, and respectfully addressed him as "Old Sir" without calling him by his first name. He often discussed military and political affairs with him. Sometimes when there were important decisions, he would only call him into a secret room to discuss, and the discussion lasted half a day. . Zhu Yuanzhang sometimes almost relied on him. When Liu Ji's mother passed away, he wanted to take leave and return to his hometown for the funeral. Zhu Yuanzhang was reluctant to let him leave, so he politely asked him to stay and refused to take leave. Later, he reluctantly got it right, and he wrote letters to Qingtian Township from time to time to ask for advice on military and political plans. Liu Ji analyzed the answers in detail, which always made Zhu Yuanzhang very satisfied. Despite this, Zhu Yuanzhang finally called him back in advance. Seeing that his master was treating him with such sincerity, Liu Ji regarded Zhu Yuanzhang as an unparalleled friend, assisted him wholeheartedly, told him everything he knew, and made an indelible contribution to the establishment of the Zhu family's Ming Dynasty.
In the twenty-eighth year (1368) of the founding minister who was slandered and killed, Zhu Yuanzhang announced the establishment of the Ming Dynasty in the triumphant song of his decisive victory in the Northern Expedition to Dadu, overthrowing the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. He ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, changed the Yuan Dynasty to Hongwu, and established the capital. Nanjing. He worshiped Liu Ji as Yushi Zhongcheng, Taishi Ling and Prince Zanshan. Liu Ji used traditional Confucianism as the theoretical basis for governing the world and advocated the principle of tolerance and benevolence. Long before he took refuge with Zhu Yuanzhang, he had a complete set of theories and methods for governing the world, which were reflected in his book "Yu Ion". According to him, curing the world is like a doctor curing a disease. The key lies in the steps of checking pulse, examining syndrome, prescribing and using medicine. Doctors can know the patient's symptoms by taking the pulse, and prescribe prescriptions by identifying the symptoms. The most important thing is to use medicine; if the medicine is suitable for the symptoms, the disease can be cured. The same is true for governing the world. A country's code of conduct is the pulse of the country, social chaos is the symptom, morality and criminal law are the prescriptions, and management talents at all levels, that is, officials, big and small, are like medicinal materials for treating diseases. As long as the country's code of conduct and punishment are grasped, Virtue and talent can cure the world. He believes that the principle of governing the world should be to use both virtue and punishment and to govern by virtue first. That is to say, we must first oppose tyranny and endless exploitation. We must have a benevolent heart, know how to care and love the people, and move the world with kindness. At the same time, we must also There are strict laws and regulations, laws must be obeyed, and law enforcement is strict, making people fearful, so as to maintain the unshakable feudal order. The former is the foundation of the rule of virtue and the punishment of punishment. Only the rule of virtue can truly win the world. He also believed that the key to moral governance lies in the management of officials, that is, in the selection of talents. To govern the world, we should appoint officials at all levels who enforce the law impartially and have both ability and political integrity. He advocates selecting talents in an eclectic way, and employing talents based on their ability and ability. Based on this set of theories and methods, Liu Ji played a positive role in consolidating the regime of the new Ming Dynasty. Liu Ji believed that the biggest obstacle to implementing benevolent government at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China was the lack of discipline. In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, greed and lawlessness from above led to the destruction of all living beings and the rise of heroes. Zhu Yuanzhang experienced this lesson of the Yuan Dynasty most profoundly. Therefore, he asked Liu Ji, an upright and evil-minded man, to lead the supervision work. In order to govern the country according to law, Liu Ji and Prime Minister Li Shanchang compiled the "Daming Code" in a short period of time. Liu Ji regarded the promotion of discipline and the establishment of a legal system as a top priority, thus solving the serious problem of the army killing innocent people before the founding of the People's Republic of China. After Liu Ji became the censor Zhongcheng, he ordered his subordinates to boldly expose officials' violations of regulations and disciplines, corruption and perversion of the law. Li Bin, a close confidant of Prime Minister Li Shanchang and the governor of Zhongshu Province, was found guilty of corruption and indulgence by Liu Ji. Li Bin's crime was serious and he should be executed according to law. Li Shanchang approached Liu Ji many times to intercede and asked for leniency. Who was Li Shanchang? He was the secretary of the shogunate who was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang shortly after he launched his army. When Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself King of Wu, he was the left prime minister of the country. When he became emperor, he was appointed as the first left prime minister, ranking first in the court. It can be said that he is below one person and above tens of thousands of people. However, Liu Ji was ruthless and enforced the law impartially. He executed Li Bin, which caused shock in the government and the opposition. Even Zhu Yuanzhang praised his uprightness, saying that the whole dynasty was full of party members, and he was the only one who disobeyed, which was great. The purpose of reinforcing the rule of law was to implement benevolent government. Liu Ji cared about the suffering of the people who suffered from long-term war and turmoil. He used drought and rain as an excuse several times to ask Ming Taizu to deal with the backlog of cases in the world, release innocent people who were unjustly imprisoned, and compensate the dead soldiers. Orphans and lenient treatment of surrendered generals and soldiers were used to reflect the court's benevolent heart. Even after taking office, he did not forget to remind Ming Taizu that after the frost and snow, there must be spring. Now that the country's prestige has been established, it should implement benevolent government and rule the world with virtue. Liu Ji was especially knowledgeable in recommending talents and helping Ming Taizu select talents. Taizu of the Ming Dynasty once planned to dismiss Li Shanchang from his post as Prime Minister and asked Liu Ji for his opinion. Liu Ji has always attached great importance to the choice of prime minister, believing that the key to realizing official governance lies in the prime minister. "The most important thing in the country is to appoint the prime minister." Although Li Shanchang often secretly criticizes and excludes him, he believes that Li is Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestor and has high prestige. He is still a suitable candidate if he can play a role in coordinating the generals. Zhu Yuanzhang said strangely, Li Shanchang tried to harm you several times, but you still spoke for him. Liu Ji replied: Changing the phase is like changing the pillars of a building. They must be made of pillars. If a few small pieces of wood are tied together to serve as beams, even if they are replaced, they will fall down immediately. Soon, Li Shanchang resigned. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted Yang Xian to take over and discussed with Liu Ji. Liu Ji had a good personal relationship with Yang Xian, but he did not approve of it. He said to Zhu Yuanzhang: Yang Xian has the talent to be the prime minister, but he does not have the ability to be the prime minister. To be the prime minister, you must have a heart as clear as water, use etiquette and justice as the standard for doing things, and cannot be selfish. Yang Xian is not such a person. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Wang Guangyang how he was doing, but Liu Ji said he couldn't do it either. He was even more humble than Yang Xian.
Asked Hu Weiyong again, Liu Ji replied: Not even good. Being the prime minister is like driving a car. Hu Weiyong not only can't drive well, he may even destroy the shaft wood. When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that all three people he was considering were rejected by Liu Ji, he said that it looked like he had no choice but to invite you out. Liu Ji quickly said, no, no! I am a very evil person, and I am not qualified for complicated affairs. If I do, I will fail your expectations and trust. How can there be no talented people in the world? You can find it as long as you search carefully. . However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not carefully search for talents, but chose Yang, Wang, and Hu as prime ministers. As a result, as Liu Ji expected, problems occurred in all of them. Liu Ji selected the prime ministers for Zhu Yuanzhang. He did not regard those who hated himself as evil and those who liked himself as good. Instead, he was straightforward and impartial, which is a good story in history. Although Liu Ji was not given the post of prime minister, in the third year of Hongwu (1371), Zhu Yuanzhang still awarded him a bachelor's degree in Hongwenguan when he was discussing meritorious deeds. Positions and titles. Liu Ji was a far-sighted and resourceful man. He was deeply aware that his outspokenness and anger had offended many people for Su Gangji, including the Huaixi faction headed by Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong, and even Zhu Yuanzhang often spoke out. Therefore, he wanted to withdraw from the officialdom as soon as possible, retreat bravely, and return to his hometown to live a comfortable and leisurely life to avoid the unexpected disasters of the officialdom. Therefore, he wrote many times requesting to retire and return to his hometown. In the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), Liu Ji returned to his hometown in February. In the countryside, he refused to have any contact with the government. He only drank, played chess, read and recited poems every day, and never talked about his past achievements. But he still couldn't escape his bad luck after all. In the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Hu Weiyong became prime minister. He resented Liu Ji for not recommending him as prime minister, so he framed Liu Ji in front of the emperor, saying that he had occupied a royal place in his hometown as his tomb. Evil intentions. Zhu Yuanzhang was most afraid of someone usurping the throne, so he removed Liu Ji's salary and prepared to investigate and deal with it strictly. In order to avoid the disaster of beheading and annihilating his family, Liu Ji and his son Liu Lian hurried to the capital to apologize. Later, Liu Ji was afraid of being framed again, so he simply stayed in Nanjing. I don’t want to accumulate worries in Beijing and become ill. In March of the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), he fell seriously ill and was sent back to his hometown. He died in January. (One theory is that he was poisoned by Hu Weiyong, but there is no conclusive evidence.) He was sixty-five years old. Shortly after Liu Ji's death, Hu Weiyong's case was discovered. Ming Taizu recalled what Liu Ji had said before and couldn't help but regret it. Remembering that he was usually sincere and upright, generous and magnanimous, and a rare loyal minister, he issued an edict to order his descendants to inherit the title of Earl of Sincerity from generation to generation.