As the saying goes: "Zhuge Liang divides the world into three parts, and Liu Bowen dominates the country; Zhuge Liang, the military advisor of the former dynasty, and Liu Bowen, the military advisor of the later dynasty." This refers to Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, two famous counselors in ancient my country.
Compared with Zhuge Liang, Liu Bowen may be less well-known and have less legendary deeds, but he helped Zhu Yuanzhang complete the great cause of unification. From this point of view, it can be said that he has achieved higher achievements than Zhuge Liang. What is commendable is that Liu Bowen, who was extraordinarily intelligent and resourceful, knew very well the principle of great merit that shakes the master. Shortly after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he resigned and retired to live in seclusion in his hometown.
However, even though Liu Bowen voluntarily gave up his fame and fortune, only drank and played chess all day long, and never mentioned his achievements back then, he still could not avoid the fate of being victimized. In March of the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), Liu Bowen died at home due to a cold infection at the age of sixty-five. In fact, what really caused his death was probably the medicine that Hu Weiyong asked the imperial doctor to prescribe when he visited the doctor. So, why did Hu Weiyong insist on killing Liu Bowen when he had clearly resigned and retired?
First of all, we can see the record of this matter in the "History of the Ming Dynasty". The book says: "The imperial censor, Liu Ji, also tried to comment on his shortcomings. After a long period of illness, the emperor sent Wei Yong to see a doctor. , so he was poisoned. "If you die, you will gain nothing." In other words, Liu Bowen once pointed out Hu Weiyong's shortcomings when he was the censor, and this was also reflected in another place in the book.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to establish a new prime minister, so he asked Liu Bowen if he could reuse Hu Weiyong. To this, the latter replied: "I am afraid of the chaos of the emperor." This sentence means, The prime minister is like a horse driving a chariot, and if Hu Weiyong were to assume this role, he might cause the carriage to capsize.
After explaining the matter, Liu Bowen returned to his hometown to live leisurely. A few years later, Zhu Yuanzhang heard that he was infected with cold, so he sent Hu Weiyong to visit him with his imperial doctor. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hu Weiyong was able to secretly poison Liu Bowen and hasten his death. As for Hu Weiyong's mental state after Liu Bowen's death, history books describe it as "benefiting and unscrupulous". In other words, although Hu Weiyong had become arrogant and domineering when Liu Bowen was alive, he was still uneasy. On the one hand, he was worried that Liu Bowen would continue to point out his faults to Zhu Yuanzhang and even expose his actions; on the other hand, he was worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would When he made a mistake, he decisively recalled Liu Bowen to replace him.
Judging from the excerpts from the history books mentioned above, there are probably two reasons why Hu Weiyong refused to give up and wanted to kill Liu Bowen: first, Liu Bowen had criticized him, which may have caused him to hold a grudge and want revenge; second, Even though Liu Bowen retired to the mountains and forests, he still had a high status in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, so if he was not eliminated, his status would never be consolidated.
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior after Liu Bowen fell ill is also very suspicious - he knew clearly that Hu Weiyong and Liu Bowen had a bad relationship, but he still sent him to visit and proactively provided him with Opportunity to strike.
It is true that Hu Weiyong was the prime minister at the time, and allowing him to go could show the court's attention and concern for Liu Bowen, but this has to remind people of Zhu Yuanzhang's ruthless purge of the founding heroes, and it is inevitable for people to doubt Liu Bowen's actions. Death was what Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Hu Weiyong to do.
It is said that after taking the medicine provided by Hu Weiyong, Liu Bowen "had something in his belly like a fist stone". For this reason, he also wrote to Zhu Yuanzhang to express his strangeness after taking the medicine, but the latter But he didn't take it seriously and just let him recover well. Zhu Yuanzhang's perfunctory attitude was in sharp contrast to his previous respect for Liu Bowen, which made people feel a little abnormal.
However, judging from Liu Bowen’s actions before his death, he asked his son Liu Lian to present the Astronomical Book to Zhu Yuanzhang, and said that he originally wanted to write a memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, but gave up because Hu Weiyong was still in power. He still had respect and loyalty to Zhu Yuanzhang, which seemed to indicate that his death had little to do with Zhu Yuanzhang.
Another point worth noting is that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to punish Li Shanchang because of his mistakes, but Liu Bowen dissuaded him on the grounds that he was hardworking and accomplished and could mediate the relationship between generals. In response to this, Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise: "Is it because I want to harm you, but you are my place?"
It can be seen that Li Shanchang has tried to harm Liu Bowen many times, and the relationship between them can be called bad. We know that Hu Weiyong became prime minister relying on Li Shanchang's promotion and recommendation. The two of them had a very obvious relationship of mutual interests. This was also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang killed Li Shanchang after Hu Weiyong's fall.