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Chapter 170: Ming Dynasty Advisors

[Zhuge Liang divided the country into three parts, Liu Bowen unified the country. How powerful was Liu Bowen? Historical Ming Dynasty Liu Bowen]

Zhuge Liang divided the country into three parts and unified the country. In this part, he was a famous minister who could be compared with Zhuge Liang and Zhang Liang, assisting Zhu Yuanzhang in defeating the heroes and unifying the country.

He was resourceful and knew everything about astronomy, geography, yin and yang, and the five elements. So why was Liu Bowen, such a talented man, not promoted until he was 50 years old? What happened to Liu Bowen's death? In this video, let us walk into Liu Bowen's life in chronological order.

In fact, Liu Bowen's real name should be Liu Ji. He was born in Qingtian, Zhejiang in 1311. He was known as a child prodigy since he was a child. He was well versed in the Spring and Autumn Annals at the age of 14 and passed the imperial examination at the age of 22.

In addition to being proficient in classics and history, Liu Bowen was also very interested in astronomy, geography, military tactics, and mathematics. He was well versed in all the schools of thought, and the poet praised Liu Bowen's talent as comparable to that of Zhuge Liang.

However, Liu Bowen was born at the wrong time. It was the end of the Yuan Dynasty when the country was in chaos. The court was busy with war and suffering, and it was not able to take care of the imperial examination. Although Liu Bowen passed the imperial examination, he was recalled by the court after three years of idleness at home and was given a minor official position of the eighth rank, the magistrate of Gao'an County, Jiangxi Province.

Liu Bowen was an upright person. When he saw that landlords and evil gentry colluded with government officials to oppress the people, he was very dissatisfied. He was determined to redress the grievances of the people and sympathize with the people's feelings. However, he was ostracized by his colleagues. He was very disappointed and simply resigned and returned home.

Later, Liu Bowen was summoned to serve as an official in the court several times. However, the corruption of the Yuan Dynasty's politics and the darkness of the officialdom meant that although Liu Bowen had great talent, he was always unsuccessful.

Fang Guozhen and his brother started a rebellion in eastern Zhejiang, and the Yuan court was too busy to care about the imperial examination. Although Liu Bowen passed the imperial examination, he was recalled by the court after three years of idleness at home and was given a minor official position of the eighth rank, the magistrate of Gao'an County, Jiangxi Province.

Liu Bowen was an upright person. When he saw that landlords and evil gentry colluded with government officials to oppress the people, he was very dissatisfied. He was determined to redress the grievances of the people and sympathize with the people's feelings. However, he was ostracized by his colleagues. He was very disappointed and simply resigned and returned home.

Later, Liu Bowen was summoned to serve as an official in the court several times. However, the corruption of the Yuan Dynasty's politics and the darkness of the officialdom meant that although Liu Bowen had great talent, he was always unsuccessful.

Fang Guozhen and his brothers started an uprising in eastern Zhejiang, and the Yuan court once again recruited Liu Bowen as the chief official of the Marshal's Office. At that time, Fang Guozhen, Shi Mo Yisun and others started an uprising against the Yuan Dynasty, and the Yuan army was exhausted from dealing with it. After several battles, they did not gain an advantage, so they had no choice but to recruit Fang Guozhen again.

Liu Bowen strongly opposed it, believing that Fang Guozhen was the leader of the rebellion in Jiangnan, and that he was erratic, untrustworthy, and untrustworthy. However, Fang Guozhen sent people to the capital to make efforts, and eventually the Yuan court recruited Fang Guozhen again.

This time, Liu Bowen finally saw through the corruption and incompetence of the Yuan Dynasty, and he resigned from his post and broke off all ties with the dynasty.

In 1360, Zhu Yuanzhang conquered Jinhua and summoned Liu Bowen to Nanjing. Liu Bowen presented Zhu Yuanzhang with "Eighteen Strategies for Current Affairs", which delighted Zhu Yuanzhang. He immediately made Liu Bowen a guest of honor and specially built Lixian Hall for him to live in.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang already had his own entrepreneurial team. Only Li Shanchang, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun were included. They were all from Huaixi, while Liu Bowen was from eastern Zhejiang.

In ancient times, when people valued friendship among fellow townsmen, Liu Bowen, an outsider, was not welcome in Zhu Yuanzhang's army. In particular, Zhu Yuanzhang's chief steward Li Shanchang was narrow-minded and resented Liu Bowen, a man of great talent. This doomed Liu Bowen to a tragic fate in the future.

In response to the chaos in the country, Liu Bowen suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang attack Chen Youliang first, and then deal with Zhang Shicheng. When Chen Youliang launched a large-scale attack on Yingtian, Liu Bowen came up with a clever plan to help Zhu Yuanzhang defeat the enemy with a small force. Not only did he defeat Chen Youliang, but he also allowed Xu Da to push back to Chen Youliang's capital Jiangzhou, and the entire Jiangxi province surrendered. Zhu Yuanzhang praised Liu Bowen as "my Zifang".

Liu Bowen was trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang. He was handsome and strong, and could read the sky and predict the weather. Zhu Yuanzhang would consult him on any matters. Zhu Yuanzhang adopted his strategies to wipe out the heroes and conquer the Central Plains.

In 1367, Liu Bowen completed the "Wushen Datong Calendar" based on the legislation of the Yuan Dynasty. This was the standard legislation of the Ming Dynasty. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen was appointed as the Chief Censor and Grand Historian, and was later granted the title of Earl of Chengyi.

At the same time, his conflicts with Li Shanchang and other Huaixi nobles became more intense. Once, Liu Bowen found a man named Li Bin who was a relative of Li Shanchang. Li Shanchang asked him to be lenient, but Liu Bowen still reported it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Shanchang hated him even more.

At that time, Li Shanchang was about to resign as prime minister, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bowen who would be suitable. Liu Bowen thought that Yang Xian, Wang Guangyang, Guo Ying and others were not suitable, so he wanted him to be prime minister.

Liu Bowen quickly declined the offer on the grounds of poor health. Zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything, but he began to feel dissatisfied with Liu Bowen. It happened to be a severe drought, so Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bowen what to do?

Liu Bowen, who was always very wise, gave Zhu Yuanzhang an idea. After Zhu Yuanzhang did it, he found that it still didn't rain, so he got angry with him and sent him back to his hometown to keep the job in check.

Before leaving, he suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang not to build the capital in Fengyang and that the Yuan Dynasty should not be underestimated. Later, both of his suggestions came true. Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Liu Bowen was still useful, so he called him back to Nanjing.

After Li Shanchang retired, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang to the Secretariat. The two slandered Liu Bowen in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, so Zhu Yuanzhang again ordered Liu Bowen to return home.

This time, Liu Bowen studied in his hometown for three years, studying in the mountains all day, keeping a low profile, hoping to reassure the emperor. However, despite all his calculations, he still did not expect Hu Weiyong to fabricate a crime out of thin air, saying that a piece of land with royal aura was seized by Liu Bowen, which meant that he was plotting something illegal.

In line with the principle of believing it is better to believe it than not to believe it, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to confiscate Liu Bowen's salary. When Liu Bowen learned about it, he hurried to Beijing to apologize.

In 1375, Liu Bowen fell ill, and Zhu Yuanzhang sent Hu Weiyong to deliver medicine. However, Liu Bowen's condition became worse after taking the medicine. Soon after, Zhu Yuanzhang sent someone to escort Liu Bowen back home, but he died of illness after returning home at the age of 65.

Five years later, Hu Weiyong was executed by Zhu Yuanzhang for plotting to murder Liu Bowen and many other crimes. In 5, the Ming Dynasty posthumously awarded Liu Bowen the title of Grand Master and the posthumous title of Wencheng.

——"But the problem is that Zhu Yuanzhang's first counselor is Li Shanchang, and Liu Bowen has basically no presence."

——"Liu Bowen's development environment was much better than Zhuge Liang's."

——"In the official history, the only person who truly helped Zhu Yuanzhang establish his empire was Li Shanchang. Liu Bowen really doesn't even make the list."

——"Chunchun has been deified. Prime Minister Zhuge is the one with real talent and knowledge."

[He was the black-robed prime minister of Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, who single-handedly provoked chaos throughout the country. Yao Guangxiao, History of the Ming Dynasty]

He was the black-robed prime minister of Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, who stirred up chaos in the world with his own strength. When he was a young monk, he worshipped a Taoist priest as his teacher, and was proficient in yin and yang magic and military tactics. He created the Yongle Emperor and majored in the "Yongle Encyclopedia", but later generations regarded him as the source of chaos.

In this video, let us walk into the life of Black-robed Prime Minister Yao Guangxiao in chronological order.

Yao Guangxiao was from Changzhou, Suzhou, and his family had been practicing medicine for generations. In 1348, Yao Guangxiao, who was only 14 years old, decided to become a monk, and his Buddhist name was Daoyan. At that time, the Yuan Dynasty was in turmoil, the Red Turban Rebellion quickly swept across the Central Plains, and various places in the south of the Yangtze River also established their own regimes.

Yao Guangxiao's hometown Suzhou was the base camp of Wu Wang Zhang Shicheng. Yao Guangxiao did not stay in the temple, but worshipped Taoist priests as his teachers and devoted himself to studying the art of yin and yang. When he was traveling in Songshan, someone was very surprised by his appearance and predicted that he would become a great man in the future.

Liu Bingzhong was Kublai Khan's aide, helping him achieve his great cause. However, where is the person Daoyan could assist?

First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang was Yao Guangxiao's mentor, because Zhu Yuanzhang and his entrepreneurial team were from Huaixi, while Yao Guangxiao was from Suzhou, in the territory of Zhu Yuanzhang's arch-enemy Zhang Shicheng.

In ancient times, when fellow townsmen were very important, it was difficult for Yao Guangxiao to join the entrepreneurial team of the early Ming Dynasty. This is why he met his mentor when he was nearly 50 years old despite his great talent. And this mentor was none other than Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Prince of Yan, Zhu Di.

In 1375, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered monks who were proficient in Confucianism to take the examination at the Ministry of Rites. Yao Guangxiao was summoned to the capital as a monk who was proficient in Confucianism, but he was not granted the title of monk official, only the monk's robe. After Empress Ma died, the kings went to the capital to mourn, and Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his sons to select a monk to pray for Empress Ma.

Zong Le recommended Daoyan to Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan. Zhu Di, who was full of thoughts, was shocked when he saw Daoyan. Daoyan said, "I want to give the king a white hat." Zhu Di understood what he meant as soon as he heard it. Adding a white hat to the word "king" is the word "huang".

Zhu Di, who was 22 years old at the time, opened the door to a new world. From that moment on, the ambition for the throne began to take root in Zhu Di's heart, and set off a huge wave more than ten years later. Daoyan was the initiator.

Zhu Di brought Daoyan back to Beiping, where he presided over the Qingshou Temple and would consult him on any matters. Sometimes when Zhu Di went out to fight, he would ask Daoyan to assist the crown prince Zhu Gaochi who stayed behind.

In 1398, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang passed away and Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne. The new emperor started three things after taking office. The first one was to attack the vassal kings. In just a few months, the King of Zhou and the King of Dai were successively questioned, and the King of Xiang was forced to burn himself to death. Daoyan instigated the King of Yan Zhu Di to rebel. However, Zhu Di was hesitant. After all, Emperor Jianwen was the heir appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and a rash rebellion would be unpopular.

Daoyan, however, advised Zhu Di not to sit and wait for death, saying that the destiny was in the hands of the Prince of Yan. So Zhu Di began to secretly recruit soldiers and build weapons day and night.

In the summer of the following year, Ni Liang, a centurion of the Prince of Yan's residence, secretly reported to the court that the Prince of Yan was plotting a rebellion. Emperor Jianwen ordered Zhang Bing, the governor of Beiping, and Xie Gui, the commander-in-chief, to arrest the officials of the Prince of Yan's residence.

After receiving the news, Zhu Di lured Zhang Bing and Xie Gui to the palace and killed them, and then summoned the soldiers in the palace to start a rebellion. Just as Zhu Di was making an impassioned speech and announcing to the soldiers how he was forced to start a rebellion, it suddenly rained heavily, and the tiles on the roof of the palace were blown to the ground, making the scene a little awkward.

Daoyan thought of a way to change the yellow tiles of the Yanwang Mansion to the ones used by the emperor. The long-prepared Jingnan Campaign finally began. Daoyan was 65 years old at this time, and his life's goal was to assist the wise ruler and become a person like Liu Bingzhong.

However, although the Prince of Yan was the most powerful among the princes, he was still not as powerful as Emperor Jianwen, who controlled the entire country. After learning that Li Jinglong was heading north with an army of 50, Zhu Di handed over the base camp in Beiping to the prince, and led his troops to borrow troops from the Prince of Ning, while Daoyan stayed behind to assist the prince in defending the city.

Facts have proved that Daoyan is not only good at conspiracy, but also has a set of skills in actual combat. He commanded his soldiers to guard Peking. He not only repelled the attack of the Southern Army but also took the initiative to attack. In the middle of the night, he used ropes to hang soldiers out of the city to harass Li Jinglong's camp, which made the Southern Army very annoyed.

After the Prince of Yan returned with his borrowed troops, Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Di joined forces from inside and outside to defeat the Southern Army. The Prince of Yan pursued the victory and fought all the way to the city of Jinan, but he was still unable to break the city.

Just as Zhu Di was about to use cannons to force open the city gate, someone from Beiping sent a letter to Zhu Di, saying that the soldiers were exhausted and it was better to return home. Zhu Di then gave up Jinan and retreated to Beiping for rest.

Soon, the Prince of Yan went south again, but suffered the worst defeat of his life in Dongchang. The Yan army suffered heavy losses, the general Zhang Yu was killed in the battle, and Zhu Di was beaten to a death. After this disastrous defeat, Yao Guangxiao urged the Prince of Yan to send troops again, but although the Prince of Yan won some victories, he was unable to cross Shandong and march into Jiangnan.

The only cities they occupied were Beiping, Baoding and Yongping, but Emperor Jianwen was not having a good time either. After three years of civil war, both sides were exhausted, so Emperor Jianwen had no choice but to send the defenders of the capital to the battlefield.

However, this news was soon passed on to Zhu Di by the eunuchs. Zhu Di went straight to Nanjing. He did not want to be greedy for the cities along the way. As long as Nanjing was captured, other places could be conquered by issuing an order.

This extreme one-for-one tactic seemed extremely risky, but it was not completely silent. In the Battle of Lingbi, Zhu Di defeated the Southern Army and captured many of its generals. The court was no longer able to fight.

In June 1402, the Yan army approached Nanjing. Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao, and Zhu Tan, Prince of Gu, opened the Jinchuan Gate to welcome the Prince of Yan into the city. Emperor Jianwen disappeared in a sea of ​​fire.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he rewarded Yao Guangxiao according to his merits and appointed him as Zuo Shanshi of the Buddhist Monk Records Department. Soon after, he was promoted to Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince and allowed him to return to secular life, giving him the name Guangxiao. Although Yao Guangxiao did not personally go to the battlefield, he helped Zhu Di seize the world from a small corner by giving him advice and strategies, and was known as the Prime Minister in Black.

Yao Guangxiao stayed in the Buddhist temple even after he became famous. Zhu Di asked him to return to secular life, but he refused. The gold and silver treasures that were rewarded to him were also distributed to his fellow villagers and relatives. However, his relatives did not buy it. When Yao Guangxiao returned to his hometown, his sister refused to see him and lamented, "Monk, don't return to your hometown with wealth and honor."

But this did not make Yao Guangxiao regret it. His whole life was to assist the wise ruler in making a career. Even if he was successful, he still had a significant influence in the Yongle Dynasty.

Zhu Di would consult him on any major issues. In addition, Yao Guangxiao, as a monk, participated in the compilation of "The Veritable Records of Ming Taizu" and "The Yongle Encyclopedia", which was unprecedented in the Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Di was on the northern expedition, Yao Guangxiao assisted the prince to stay in Nanjing and taught the crown prince Zhu Zhanji to read.

In 1418, Yao Guangxiao died of illness in Qingshou Temple in Beijing at the age of 84. He was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Rong.