How did you, a prisoner on death row, become an important weapon of the country? Yecheng Gao Weiming

Ok?

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was about to continue eating the pancake, immediately frowned when he heard this.

Is it Liu Ji, the Earl of Chengyi, who wants to see you?

Why would this person come to see us so early in the morning?

"No, no... Tell him I don't want to see him today!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and asked the eunuch to go and deliver the message so as not to disturb his good mood.

"This……"

The eunuch was stunned. He didn't expect that the emperor was so disgusted with Marquis Chengyi. He sighed and stood up to leave.

"and many more!"

Unexpectedly, Queen Ma, who had been squatting to feed her, stood up.

She first handed her grandson Zhu Xiongying to the wet nurse and the palace maid, then frowned and said to the eunuch, "Wait a moment." Then she looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty, Marquis Chengyi wants to see you, why don't you meet him?"

Zhu Yuanzhang still wanted to eat the rice cake. He became even more annoyed after hearing this. He simply threw the rice cake on the table and complained bitterly.

"What are you meeting?"

"Girl, you don't know!"

"This Liu Ji was quite gentle, respectful, frugal and modest in his early years, but as he got older, he became more and more troublesome!"

"On the first day of the Lunar New Year last month, wasn't there a morning court to congratulate the people on the beginning of the Yimao year?"

"All the civil and military officials of Yingtian Prefecture have come and lined up to congratulate us on the New Year."

"Do you know what Liu Ji did?"

Queen Ma was stunned: "What's the matter?"

"Hey! This old man made up a crooked poem on the spot. On the surface, he was congratulating us on the New Year, but secretly he was spitting. I still remember it clearly, sister. I'll read it to you!"

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then spoke slowly.

"The chirping birds on the branches herald the early spring, and the waves of the Imperial Canal are as green as dragon scales..."

"..."

"..., it is not the smoke and clouds that embrace the new green..."

"All my followers are talented, and I am ashamed of myself for being incompetent in my old age!"

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang became furious and pointed outside the hall and shouted.

"Sister, listen to what he said! Isn't he saying in front of all the civil and military officials that our Zhu family is ashamed of him?"

This……

Queen Ma, who was standing by, felt her heart tremble when she heard this.

On the surface, this poem is also a very literary poem of congratulations.

But the last two sentences.

My ministers are all talented, like Yang and Ma. How can I feel ashamed for being incompetent at an old age?

The whole court is full of young talents, and I am the only old man standing here in shame?

It is not difficult to see that the resentment in these two lines of poetry is so sour and smelly.

It's like a New Year's party in the village, everyone is laughing and saying auspicious words, but there is an old man who congratulates everyone on the surface, but secretly says in a sarcastic tone that he is old and not liked by everyone, so he should not be here and should die soon and be reborn.

But it's okay for the old man in the village to say so.

Don’t you, Liu Ji, know this in front of the great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?

What on earth do you want to achieve by saying all this?

While Queen Ma frowned, she knew some of the reasons in her heart.

Who is Liu Ji?

It is the famous Liu Bowen.

People always say that there was Zhuge Liang before and Liu Bowen after, and there is also the reputation of Zhuge Liang dividing the world into three parts and Liu Bowen unifying the country.

This man was the chief military advisor of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and one of the founders of the victory of the Ming Dynasty.

Logically speaking, due to his hard work and great contributions, he should have enjoyed the fruits of victory and been admired by everyone after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

But actually?

The Ming Dynasty had just unified the country, and after the disputes ended in the third year of Hongwu, it began to reward its officials.

People like Xu Da, Li Shanchang, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong were all granted the title of Duke, which was inherited from generation to generation.

People like Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Zhou Dexing, Geng Bingwen were granted the title of marquis, and the title was still hereditary.

A total of thirty-six founding heroes were conferred titles, including six dukes, twenty-eight marquises, and two earls.

However, Liu Ji was awarded a mere earldom, that is, the Earl of Chengyi, without any hereditary treatment.

In other words, after his death, his descendants no longer had official positions, but they could still succeed through their own efforts.

What does this mean?

This shows that Zhu Yuanzhang did not like Liu Bowen very much since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

There are many reasons for this, and it is quite complicated to trace them.

But fundamentally, Liu Bowen did not achieve enough results. He had not been a member of the Zhu Group for long, and was only good at divination and predicting the weather, but he had not made any real contributions.

If he was as good at politics and military affairs as Li Shanchang, Chang Yuchun and others, would Liu Bowen accept the title of Earl?

But despite this, the reward in the third year of Hongwu was like a loud slap in the face, making Liu Bowen lose all face.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered him to take charge of the Taishi Bureau and at the same time serve as the Chief Censor, and he slapped Liu Bowen in the face again and again.

What does the Taishi Bureau do?

To put it simply, it is the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, the place where calendars are formulated and celestial phenomena are predicted.

Although such a person has been needed in every dynasty, it has always been a minor position.

Although the Chief Censor had some real power, he was only a third-rank official and was under the supervision of the Grand Censor.

It can be said that Liu Bowen, a great hero who founded the country, completely lost face.

Later, when Liu Bowen was choosing a cemetery in his hometown, someone reported that he had chosen a tomb with imperial feng shui, which made Zhu Yuanzhang extremely unhappy.

You are just a small earl, why would you choose imperial feng shui?

Therefore, Liu Bowen's status in the Hongwu period gradually declined, and he almost became hated by everyone.

In the fourth year of Hongwu, which was the second year after he rewarded his ministers, he found an excuse to send Liu Bowen back to his hometown.

Two years ago, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Liu Ji had chosen the royal tomb without authorization, he became furious and summoned him back, ordering him to stay in Kyoto.

only……

Queen Ma finally sighed.

"They say that old people get confused! Your Majesty, the Earl of Chengyi is sixty-five years old after all. Seeing all the new talents in the court, he naturally feels emotional."

"Besides, you asked him to help you many times back then. Now that your great cause has been accomplished, you turn your back on him. Isn't that a bit ungrateful?"

"Sister, let's..."

Zhu Yuanzhang became a little anxious after hearing this.

Am I fucking ungrateful?

This old Deng only has some skills in divination and calculation, and he is also a famous figure of the time, so we invited him to take charge of the overall situation and help to attract more celebrities and scholars to join our Ming Dynasty.

It's a bit like spending a fortune on horse bones.

But actually?

Although Liu Bowen did not like benefits, he liked reputation very much.

Every word and action of his shows that he is the modern Zhuge Liang, who had to be visited three times before he could be invited.

But am I, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Liu Bei of that time?

Naturally not.

When Liu Bei was at his wit's end, he went to Zhuge Liang. Later, Zhuge Liang helped Liu Bei divide the world into three parts and establish the Shu Han kingdom.

But what about you, Liu Bowen?

It cannot be said that you have not accomplished anything, but it can only be said that the establishment of the Ming Dynasty has little to do with you.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even be awarded the title of marquis.

But that's it.

There are many rumors among the common people that Liu Bowen is our most important military advisor. Without Liu Bowen, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be able to conquer the world and would still be a village beggar.

This is fucking weird, what on earth do I rely on you for?

Therefore, the higher Liu Bowen's reputation among the people, the more disgusted Zhu Yuanzhang became.

And if you think carefully.

Why does Liu Bowen have such a high reputation among the people?

Did you order people to deliberately spread rumors to build up momentum for yourself?

This forced Zhu Yuanzhang, who was becoming increasingly suspicious, to be on guard.

Especially since the other party used his power to suppress him, he hated Liu Ji almost to the extreme.

In addition, this person had long been at odds with Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong, and there were always disputes.

Due to many factors, Zhu Yuanzhang really didn't want to see him.

"Hey! Girl..."

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw his wife's expression, he also understood that he had to meet this man today.

"Then let's meet him? Let's see what he wants to do with us so early in the morning."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked tentatively.

Queen Ma smiled happily.

"Nonsense! Yunqi, why don't you invite Lord Chengyi to see you!"

When the eunuch named Yunqi heard it, he immediately agreed and ran out in a hurry.

Not long after, Marquis Chengyi Liu Ji staggered in, supported by others.