Zhu Yuanzhang's life can be summed up in one sentence: "Get a bad hand, but play a bunch of royal bombs!"

He was born into poverty, became a monk to make a living, and became a soldier to survive.This is kind of person who became a generation of emperors.

A good emperor is always surrounded by a good helper. Yi Liu Bowen is Zhu Yuanzhang's capable minister.

Not only did Liu Bowen help Zhu Yuanzhang take throne after establishment of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang could not do without Liu Bowen's assistant.

As they say, it is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to defend it. Moreover, we know that Zhu Yuanzhang comes from bottom, he has no experience in governing country.

After that, Liu Bowen became number one councilor of Ming Dynasty. He formulated comprehensive policy of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, established military health law, suppressed discipline, introduced a security system, and strengthened and strengthened centralization.

It can be said that in early years, it was Liu Bowen who ruled world for Zhu Yuanzhang and consolidated his world. But even such a worthy minister could not escape Zhu Yuanzhang's persecution.

However, clever Liu Bowen came up with a coup when faced with a cruel and suspicious monarch.

He skillfully wrote poem and escaped repeated temptations and murderous intentions of Zhu Yuanzhang. Is power of just one poem really that great?

Strengthen imperial power in last years of his life

In early years, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't actually have any intention of killing Liu Bowen. On one hand, Liu Bowen still had value and he unified world for Zhu Yuanzhang, on other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang did it. do not install prince so that he does not worry.

However, in last years of his life, Zhu Yuanzhang thought a lot, wanted to strengthen imperial power and prevent fruits of victory from being captured by others.

Prince Zhu Yunqi was only a teenager at time, his mind was very simple, he had no schemes or methods, how could he change all old foxes in future when he inherited throne? Therefore, in order to pave way for Zhu Yunqi, Zhu Yuanzhang had to kill heroes.

After that, Zhu Yuanzhang massacred hundreds of honored officials, many of whom were punished by nine clans, causing more and more bloody deeds. They were almost massacred, only three or two people remained.

Between Zhu and Liu have a suspicion

Later, although Liu Bowen was always loyal, Zhu Yuanzhang was provoked by others, and he became increasingly suspicious of Liu Bowen.

First of all, "Li Bin case" at beginning of Ming Dynasty. In this incident, Liu Bowen insulted Minister Li Shanchang. Therefore, the people impeached Liu Bowen, saying that Liu Bowen relied on imperial power to intimidate others.

Secondly, Liu Bowen failed to predict "natural disasters and human affairs" for first time. Zhu Yuanzhang himself is also a very superstitious person. Therefore, in early days of founding of country, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bowen to calculate several disasters, and Liu Bowen is also very accurate.

It is precisely because Liu Bowen very accurately calculated several disasters in early days of founding of Ming Dynasty that Zhu Yuanzhang once again believed in Liu Bowen's prophecy.

Unexpectedly One day, Liu Bowen's prediction did not come true, and at that time, those who impeached Liu Bowen again stood up and slandered Liu Bowen for no reason.

After all sorts of incidents, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't tell if what these people were saying was true or not.The rift between him and Liu Bowen continued to grow.

As an advisor and civil servant, Liu Bowen was not put in first place when Zhu Yuanzhang beheaded many heroes, and after many generals were beheaded, Liu Bowen also knew that he was in danger.

Birth Escape

There was a very kind and generous Empress Ma at that time. She could not bear killing of these heroic officials.

Once, Empress Ma gave Liu Bowen 2 dates and 1 pear. Zhu Yuanzhang may not have understood meaning, but Liu Bowen immediately understood what Empress Ma meant and asked his family to pack their luggage for night. .

Although family didn't know why they had to pack their luggage for night, they followed Liu Bowen's instructions.

Liu Bowen also played at night to talk about his old age and return to his hometown, saying that he was too old to give advice and could no longer serve emperor.

Although emperor was suspicious, it was clear that Liu Bowen was very old and returned home. There was no reason not to let Liu Bowen go, so he agreed to return home.

After returning to his hometown for a while, Liu Bowen still felt uneasy. Liu Bowen knew that emperor would not let him go so easily.

Therefore, Liu Bowen claimed that he was unwell when he was sick. After that, Zhu Yuanzhang sent an imperial doctor specifically to treat Liu Bowen.

It so happened that Liu Bowen was really ill at that time, and imperial doctor told truth to Zhu Yuanzhang. Liu Bowen also knew that he should die at this time, so he released news of his sudden death.

Soon, news of Liu Bowen's sudden death reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.

But Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Liu Bowen couldn't die so easily. He is afraid of Liu Bowen, so he openly builds boardwalks and secretly crosses Chencang.

He decided to personally go to Liu Bowen's house to find out.

Liu Bowen also knew that emperor would not easily trust him, so he came up with a poem that could save his life.

And what is this poem? Can it really turn heart of a king?

Liu Bowen knew that Zhu Yuanzhang still missed past, so he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a monk, would definitely think about past when he passed this ruined temple, so he wrote a poem in a broken temple on wall of temple.

The world is huge, why pack your bags?

Over centuries, how many generations of heroes conquered right path and helped erring to perish!

This poem is easy to understand. After reading this poem, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that Liu Bowen was not dead, but he understood deep meaning of Liu Bowen. Just yelled "This is it, this is it!"

Like Liu Bowen said in his poem, world is so big, why would you want to deal with me, an old man who is fifty years old and wants to hide?

Since ancient times, how many heroes have there been, but they were all defeated by the principle of lack of justice and help?

Liu Bowen used phrase in "Mencius" that "right is better than wrong" to let Zhu Yuanzhang know that he might not have to kill this old minister, and it also gave Zhu Yuanzhang a balance, so he spared Liu Bowen's life.

Often whether to kill them all depends on difference in one thought, Zhu Yuanzhang does not ignore truth that right is better than wrong.

But in this temple with his memories, Zhu Yuanzhang may also have remembered hardships in early days of their accomplishments.

Zhu Yuanzhang also knows that nostalgia can also preserve his accomplishments.If he is truly doomed to extinction, it will also create hidden dangers for his reign in future.

In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang released not only Liu Bowen, but also Liu's children.

As they say, he who wins hearts of people wins world. At any time, the human heart matters most. As it says in Xunzi Ai Gong: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.