In 1360 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang hit Zhejiang. He heard that there were some hermits in the area, so he sent people to bring some treasures to visit these hermits and promised fame. Some hermits recognized Zhu Yuanzhang and came out, but one person refused Zhu Yuanzhang's invitation.
His name is Liu Ji , and his name is Bowen.
once retired
Liu Ji, whose courtesy name is Bowen. It only takes two words to summarize him: genius. How long has it been?
? It is said that he can never forget everything at a glance. He can remember the book in his heart by reading it once. Not only does he have a good memory, but his logical ability is also born with strong. When he was only in his early 10 years old, he could talk to his private school teachers about Confucian lecture notes, and most of his peers struggled to read.
When Liu Ji was 23 years old, he won the Jinshi in one fell swoop. In that palace examination, the Han Chinese was not valued. He often tried to slap in favor of malpractice. He was born in a civilian exam and was a Jinshi for the first time, which shows his genius. He is also one of the youngest Jinshi in Chinese history, and his shocking power is no less than that of a doctoral student in his early 20s today.
At that time, wars broke out frequently. In order to avoid the war, Liu Ji could only stay at home for three years. Three years later, his first appointment came: the county magistrate.
This is an eighth-rank sesame official , similar to the current deputy county magistrate, who helps the county magistrate handle official business. Liu Ji was a little disappointed when he saw that he had not received a central position. But no matter how sesame official is, he decided to do it seriously.
He has been well-read in poetry and books since childhood. Influenced by Confucianism, he is naturally diligent and hardworking and strictly enforces the law. He visited the countryside and asked about the people's ideas, and found that some gentry colluded with the government, had a clear hand and eyes, bullying men and women. At only twenty-six years old, Liu Ji, who was determined to be the world, could not rub the sand in his eyes, and he cleanly beat the gentry. After
, he has maintained this state and is therefore highly praised by the people. The gentry hated him to the core, but fortunately, Liu Ji's chief still trusted him very much, so he kept peace.
However, the beating of society will come sooner or later. After all, Liu Ji offended the person he shouldn't have offended: the Mongolians. The Mongols were the best in the Yuan Dynasty society, and Liu Ji offended the Mongolian nobles. So, he threw away his official hat cleanly. If he hadn't been famous by the people and appreciated by local officials, he would have been unable to even protect his life.
Liu Ji lost his job in his thirties. He was very dissatisfied with the Yuan Dynasty and retreated directly to Yamada.
Retired
After retiring, Liu Ji was not idle either. Instead, he traveled around the south of the Yangtze River and communicated with literati who were also unacceptable, and became a well-known scholar among the people. After this state lasted for eight years, in 1343 AD, the Yuan Dynasty court sent him another offer.
This appointment focuses on Liu Ji's identity as a great Confucian scholar. Please be the deputy director of the Ministry of Education of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, similar to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang generation, and the part-time chief examiner. This official has a fifth rank, and it is said that it is big or small. The key point is that the internal affairs of the Yuan Dynasty were in decline at that time. As a Mongolian emperor, he found that his compatriots were really not good at managing the government and messing up the country. So at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people began to be accepted as officials. As a senior chief of the local Ministry of Education, Liu Ji can explore talents under his jurisdiction and communicate with the court above, and there is a lot of room for improvement.
In addition, as the examiner, everyone on the list will regard him as their teacher. The so-called "peaches and students all over the world" refers to those who have served as examiners for many classes and students are all over the court. Although local examiners are not as good as capital examiners, it is still okay to form a small group to advance and retreat together.
However, in those days, how could Liu Ji, who was upright and upright, be successful? After only one year of work, Liu Ji, who was always taught a lesson by unspoken rules, resigned because of depression and quit. After resigning from office, Liu Ji lived another nine years of life as a seclusion scholar. During this period, he married and had children, interacted with scholars and poets, talked about poetry, rituals and music, and was said to have exchanged knowledge with Japanese people from afar.
In 1352 AD, Liu Ji, who had been forty-one years, was not forgotten by the Yuan Dynasty and received an offer.This third time he was to be the capital of the Marshal's Office of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, which was equivalent to a staff officer in the local military region, and his official position was higher than that of the previous Ministry of Education. This time, Liu Ji's main job is to suppress the rebellion.
At that time, the Yuan Dynasty had already been full of war and could not suppress it at all. The Fang brothers are the largest in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Yuan Dynasty issued a heavy reward, allowing the people to encircle and suppress the Fang brothers' team and discuss rewards according to the head. As a result, after the people actively signed up and volunteered to make meritorious contributions, local officials could not pay bounties because of layers of bribery, and they were all greedy. As a result, the people were very disappointed and the Fang brothers' status was more stable.
Although Liu Ji was a literati, his strategic vision was completely declining. He repeatedly advised the Fang brothers to surrender. The Yuan Dynasty was unwilling to waste too much energy, so it wanted to agree to recruit peace. Liu Ji saw that this was amazing. The Fang brothers were the main evil in the uprising, and were capricious, and attracting peace was like leading a wolf into the house. He quickly wrote a letter saying that the bandit leader could not be kept, otherwise there would be endless troubles.
As a result, the Fang brothers bribed court officials with the plundered wealth and agreed to the amnesty. So the court granted a high-ranking official to the Fang brothers, one or two levels higher than Liu Ji. Seeing that they could not get money to help the court, the uprisingers were granted high-ranking officials, the people began to envy the uprising army. The Yuan Dynasty's authority in these areas collapsed.
When the Fang brothers got the advantage, they kept putting their shoes on Liu Ji. Liu Ji was extremely angry and resigned from office and went home again.
Liu Ji lived in seclusion again, but the fire in his heart never went out.
In ancient times, Confucian scholars have always regarded the ultimate ideal of "supporting their unique knowledge as past sages and opening up peace for all ages". Liu Ji, who has become a great scholar, is naturally no exception. Therefore, even though he was disappointed with the Yuan Dynasty repeatedly, the fire still prompted him to become a capitalist again four years later, that is, a staff officer in the local military region.
This time, he worked for three years to help the Yuan Dynasty attack the rebel army. However, how could the Yuan Dynasty make him feel at ease? Because his superiors couldn't stand him, he deliberately did not record his military merits and did not give the rewards he deserved.
Liu Ji was completely disappointed with the Yuan Dynasty. He lost his idea of becoming an official and decided to become a folk scholar. So he resigned for the fourth time and returned home.
Finally met the wise master
A year later, Zhu Yuanzhang captured Nanjing City. He heard that there were hermits and great scholars among the people, so he sent people to recruit them.
Liu Ji was already fifty years old at this time. The flame in his heart seemed to have been extinguished, and he just wanted to study with peace of mind. However, in the face of Zhu Yuanzhang's recruitment, he seemed to be moved again.
The world will be divided for a long time, and the combination will be divided for a long time. This chaotic Yuan Dynasty will sooner or later be ended by one person. Could this person be Zhu Yuanzhang?
When he was in seclusion, Liu Ji was not idle, and he was also paying attention to the current situation. At this time, he comprehensively summarized the information and judged the situation, and concluded that Zhu Yuanzhang had the most hope.
The fire in his heart ignited again, and he decided to give it a try.
In 1360 AD, Liu Ji came out of the mountain and came to Nanjing City to meet Zhu Yuanzhang. He used his knowledge to explain the current situation to Zhu Yuanzhang and offered suggestions, which resonated with Zhu Yuanzhang. So he was appointed as a strategist and followed his left and right.
At that time, the southwest Chen Youliang army advanced northward and entered Anhui. His troops were strong and they won consecutive victories, and their morale was high. At this moment, there was only one person standing in front of Chen Youliang: Zhu Yuanzhang.
Faced with Chen Youliang's pressing step by step, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned his subordinates to discuss countermeasures. Some people are in harmony, and some are in retreat. In short, avoiding their sharpness is the mainstream view. Zhu Yuanzhang was a little dissatisfied with these remarks, so he remained silent.
Soon, he saw Liu Ji who was also silent.
Although he was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Ji, who had experienced the ups and downs of the officialdom, had long lost the momentum of his youth. He decided to observe whether this team is worthy of his contribution, so he did not make a move. At this time, he also saw Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes. He understood. After the meeting ended, Zhu Yuanzhang indeed asked him to go to the inner room and asked straight to the point: "What do you think?"
Liu Ji smiled slightly and said: "Chen Youliang is a tyrannical person and does not take the world seriously. Although you have a weak power, the generals are brave and the soldiers are united, and there are all kinds of battles.As the saying goes, a arrogant army will be defeated. As long as you show the enemy as weak, lure the enemy into deeper, and then set up an ambush, Chen Youliang will be defeated. "
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, which was exactly what he thought. His intuition never missed, and this time, he still believed in his intuition.
In the Battle of Poyang Lake, Liu Ji cleverly used strategies to lead Chen Youliang into the lonely army, and the ship ran aground at the tide. Zhu Yuanzhang led his army to defeat Chen Youliang. In the subsequent battles, Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the victory and finally eliminated the biggest enemy.
After this battle, Liu Ji also recognized Zhu Yuanzhang's team and repeatedly proposed exquisite strategies to Zhu Yuanzhang. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty , Liu Ji, like himself when he was young, rectified the court's principles, enforced the law strictly, and imparted virtuous politics. Unfortunately, he became a victim of political struggles. In his later years, he had to return to his hometown and finally lived in seclusion. He eventually died of illness in his hometown in 1375 AD at the age of 65.
Conclusion
Liu Ji left many legends, including leaving prophecy, being poisoned to death in his later years, or being more loyal to the Yuan Dynasty rather than the Ming Dynasty. These are all catching wind and shadows, and are more common in Baiguan Unofficial history cannot be believed.
Some people in later generations have compared him with Zhuge Liang , and Guan Zhong . They even divided the world into Zhuge Liang and unified the country Liu Bowen . This is also an over-reputation. Zhu Yuanzhang has a lot of virtuous ministers and generals, and he himself is a genius. Liu Ji is not irreplaceable in Zhu Yuanzhang's team.
In fact, compared with becoming a general and becoming a prime minister, his academic achievements are higher, and he is a famous scholar in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. He actually He was not so careful, but more importantly, he was good at protecting himself. He was a very pure scholar. He was a lifelong scholar who valued both official and seclusion, and he was often between being an official and living in seclusion. The reason was that he was too pure and too tough, and always offended people.
What is admirable is that he always kept his original aspirations and never fell into depravity. When he was an official, he enforced the law strictly and upright; when he was in seclusion, he wrote books and rigorously studying without delay. His life was "out of the mud without stain, and was not stained by the clear water without being charming."
