Liu Ji, a minister in the early Ming Dynasty, the word Bowen, a native of Qingtian, Zhejiang, and a Jinshi at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. He once served as the deputy governor of Gao'an County, Jiangxi, the deputy promotion of Confucianism in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the governor of the prefecture.

In the War of Unification, Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, relied on a group of brave and warlike generals to fight for cities and land, and absorbed some strategists to help him give advice, among these strategists, Liu Bowen was the most famous one.

Liu Bowen was dissatisfied with the political corruption of the Yuan Dynasty and often wrote articles satirizing current affairs, and was later dismissed and returned to his hometown of Qingtian. When Zhu Yuanzhang's army hit eastern Zhejiang, he invited Liu Bowen out to be his adviser, and in the war to defeat Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, Liu Bowen came up with a lot of strategies, and Ming Taizu compared him to Zhang Liang in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty.

Under the persuasion of Li Shanchang and Xu Da, Zhu Yuanzhang established himself as the king of Wu, with Li Shanchang as the left minister, Xu Da as the right minister, and Liu Bowen as the Taishi Ling. Liu Bowen was proficient in astronomy and geography, and after serving as Taishi Ling, he revised the calendar on the basis of the Yuan Dynasty's "Calendar of Hours" and formulated the "Great Unification Calendar", which was promulgated in the first year of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign as emperor and became the calendar of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the regime established by Zhu Yuanzhang had undergone a qualitative change, and Zhu Yuanzhang had changed from a representative of the peasant class to a representative of the feudal landlord class. When Zhu Yuanzhang was confused by the dream and planned to kill a group of prisoners to crack the dream, Liu Bowen used the dream to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang to stop the execution and not to kill innocents indiscriminately, saying that this dream was the image of winning the people.

After the Ming Dynasty occupied Shandong and Henan, Zhu Yuanzhang went from Yingtian to Bianliang, met with the generals of the Northern Expedition, studied the battle situation and deployed the steps to capture the capital of Yuan, and let Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang stay in Nanjing. Liu Bowen's official position at this time was Yushi Zhongcheng, the prefect of Yushitai, and he led the supervision of Yushi picket the illegal and prohibited behaviors of officials at all levels.

Liu Bowen believed that at the end of the Song and Yuan dynasties, due to the lack of strict discipline and discipline, the world was lost, so he demanded that all imperial historians should seriously investigate and deal with prohibited acts, no matter how powerful the rights of the prohibited people and how high their official positions were. If the eunuchs and ministers of the imperial court broke the law, he always reported to the crown prince first and then brought him to justice, and people were afraid that he would enforce the law strictly, and they did not dare to easily violate the ban.

At this time, Li Shanchang's confidant and Li Bin, the governor of Zhongshu Province, committed a capital crime, and Li Shanchang came forward to intercede for him, but Liu Bowen was selfless and ignored Li Shanchang's intercession. Due to the importance of the matter, Liu Bowen made a written report to Zhu Yuanzhang, and immediately killed Li Bin after approval.

After killing Li Bin, Li Shanchang deliberately retaliated, and after Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Nanjing from Kaifeng, Li Shanchang tried his best to slander Liu Bowen. This year's drought said that Liu Bowen killed Li Bin under the rain prayer altar, which was a great disrespect to God, so that he attracted the wrath of the heavens and prayed for rain. Some other people who were dissatisfied with Liu Bowen also fell into the trap and said bad things about Liu Bowen.

When Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bowen, he said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "So many soldiers died in the war, their wives and families were either buried or widowed, and there was no compensation or care, and tens of thousands of people were gloomy and angry, and their resentment was soaring, which was the first; after the death of a large number of craftsmen, the skeletons were exposed to the wilderness and no one was buried, which was the second; the people who surrendered by the officials of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were all incorporated into the military households, and let their families serve in the army for generations and live in fixed prisons, and the anger of resentment was the third. With these three articles, people complain and are angry, so that it does not rain, and I hope that Your Majesty will deal with it well. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang accepted Liu Bowen's statement and took some emergency measures. But more than ten days have passed, and it still doesn't rain, Zhu Yuanzhang is very angry, in this case, Liu Bowen feels very embarrassed, it just so happened that his wife died at this time, and Liu Bowen went home under the pretext of losing his wife.

At this time, Xu Da captured the Yuan capital, and Zhu Yuanzhang planned to concentrate his forces to eliminate the commander of the Yuan army, Kuangkuo Timur. Liu Bowen made two suggestions to Zhu Yuanzhang before leaving: "Although Fengyang is His Majesty's hometown, the geographical conditions here are not good, and it is not suitable to build a capital here. ”

Soon after Liu Bowen left, Zhu Yuanzhang deeply felt Liu Bowen's infinite loyalty to him, and personally ordered Liu Bowen's meritorious service to be commended and Liu Bowen recalled to Nanjing.

Zhu Yuanzhang also hated Li Shanchang's domineering, and intended to remove him from the power of prime minister, and once asked Liu Bowen for his opinion on the choice of prime minister. Liu Bowen said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Li Shanchang is a father who has made great contributions to the founding of the country, and he can reconcile the generals. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He has tried to murder you several times, why do you still say good things for him? I think it is better for you to be the prime minister." ”

Liu Bowen knew that he would not be able to stand under the condition that Li Shanchang and other Huaixi groups were in power, so he thanked him again and again and said that it was necessary to use large wood to replace the beams and columns, and if a bunch of fine wood was tied up to replace it, it would be crushed immediately. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Yang Xian, Wang Guangyang, Hu Weiyong and others how they were?

Yang Xian is a good friend of Liu Bowen, but Liu Bowen said that although Yang Xian has talent, he does not have enough equipment, and he must not be rash when he becomes prime minister; he said that Wang Guangyang is shallow and fearful that he is more powerful than Yang Xian; and that Hu Weiyong is like a horse that is driving, and he is afraid that he will fall down halfway.

After counting, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "The material of the minister does not surpass that of Mr. ”

However, Liu Bowen repeatedly revealed that he had shortcomings, saying that he was jealous and hateful, his temper was too impatient, and he lacked patience for complicated things, and he was afraid that he would fail the emperor's high expectations.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Bowen taught a private school in Xishan, but in these chaotic years, who still had the heart to study, the school had to close. Liu Bowen is a scholar, although he has no power to tie the chicken, but he has a lot of knowledge, in addition to teaching, he is also proficient in the Book of Changes, pharmacology, and often goes to the mountains to pick herbs.

One day, Liu Bowen wandered around a temple and saw many people going to the temple to make vows, begging for peace in the world and good health. Liu Bowen's eyes lit up, he clapped his palms, and there was it, he asked someone to carve a Taishang Laojun, placed it in the center of the hall, and then posted a notice: Taishang Laojun, reward fairy water, cure all diseases, and ensure safety.

At first, some people came to worship the Bodhisattva and ask the gods with the attitude of trying it out. After asking the doctor for medicine, after drinking Liu Bowen's fairy water, it is a coincidence and a strange thing to say, these people's bodies have really improved. So everyone spread ten, ten spread hundreds, Liu Bowen's reputation rose, and there was an endless stream of people who came to Liu Bowen's house to worship the gods and ask for fairy water.

In fact, what kind of fairy water is this, it is a different herbal soup boiled by Liu Bowen according to different diseases. When pilgrims worship immortals, Liu Bowen always asks about the symptoms of illness, and then gives soup to the symptoms, and his body will naturally improve.

There was a young man who worshipped Liu Bowen as his teacher, and Liu Bowen taught him medical knowledge. Liu Bowen was busy at home for a while, so he entrusted the matter to his apprentice, and he wore a Taoist robe and traveled around the world with a dust whisk in his hand.

Once, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty ran a royal horse, this royal horse is a sweat and blood horse, traveling thousands of miles in a day, traveling eight hundred at night, is the treasure in the heart of the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Everyone knows that the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty were all Mongols, good at riding horses and hunting. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Long Yan, was furious and ordered the royal horse to be retrieved within three days, otherwise the guards would have to bring their heads to meet them.

How dare the guards slack off and look around, but this is just looking for a needle in a haystack. It was already the third day, the emperor's deadline, and the guards were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. The guards came to a mountain outside the city to search, and at this time, Liu Bowen was wearing a Taoist robe and holding a dust, and he happened to meet the guards.

When the guards saw Liu Bowen, they stopped him. Liu Bowen asked, "What's the matter with the official family?"

The head of the guard said, "Do you see a horse? ”

Liu Bowen happened to encounter such a horse when he was passing by the mountains just now, and he tied the horse to a tree. But he said, "I have not seen the horse, but I can tell you the math and see where the horse is."

Liu Bowen pinched his fingers, his eyes were slightly closed, and there were words in his mouth. After a while, he brushed the dust: "There is." He told the guards that the horse was in the back hill, tied to a tree, where it was neighing.

The guards immediately rushed to the back mountain, and sure enough, the sweaty BMW was tied to a tree, and the horse was roaring in the sky. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was overjoyed when the imperial horse was found, and he asked the guards how they had found it, and the guards told the emperor one by one. The emperor sighed: "There is such a genius in the world?"

This emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was really unlucky, he had just recovered the imperial horse, and he had lost the imperial seal, which was the lifeblood of the emperor.

The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty asked his subordinates to look around, but the palace was turned upside down by them, and they did not see the shadow of the imperial seal. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty remembered the matter of the imperial horse, so he sent someone to find Liu Bowen and asked him to find the whereabouts of the imperial seal.

When Liu Bowen came to the capital, he made a secret visit without any clues; he pondered and meditated without a clue; he made calculations without any inspiration. One night, Liu Bowen was drowsy, and suddenly a voice called him: "Berwyn, Berwyn." ”

In his sleep, Liu Bowen saw a lion calling him, isn't this the big stone lion in front of the palace? This big stone lion has been practicing Taoism for hundreds of years, and has cultivated to perfection, and now it is entrusting Liu Bowen with a dream. The lion spirit told Liu Bowen that the imperial seal was stolen by the rat spirit, and that there was a large stone slab two feet deep under the third step of the main hall, and the imperial seal was hidden under the stone slab, but it took twelve laborers to dig it out.

Liu Bowen rushed to see the Yuan Emperor early the next morning, and the emperor sent twelve laborers to start digging under the third step of the main hall. After digging a foot and two deep, I saw a large stone slab, lifted the big stone slab, and the imperial seal was indeed below.

The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty wanted to make Liu Bowen an official, but Liu Bowen refused to accept it, saying that it was much more free to travel around the world. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty gave him a lot of gold and silver treasures, and Liu Bowen only took some silver to entangle the world.

Liu Bowen came out of the palace, it was late, and he found a hotel to rest. In the middle of the night, there was a rat spirit dreaming for him, this rat spirit was the one who stole the imperial seal, because the lion spirit revealed its secret, it held a grudge, this time he came to take revenge on the lion spirit.

The rat spirit told Liu Bowen that there were three night pearls in the mouth of the stone lion in front of the palace, and as long as Liu Bowen patted the lion's head three times, the night pearl would roll out. If Liu Bowen eats them, he will know five hundred years in advance and five hundred years later, because this night pearl is where the lion spirit has been cultivated for hundreds of years.

At dawn the next day, Liu Bowen rushed to the palace, and the guards guarding the door recognized Liu Bowen, thinking that the emperor was looking for him again, so he politely let him in.

Liu Bowen came to the lion, raised his hand and patted the lion's head three times, and if there were really three night pearls rolling out, Liu Bowen swallowed them into his stomach. Since then, Liu Bowen really knew five hundred years before and five hundred years later, and that lion was just a dumbfounded stone lion, and the Taoism that had been cultivated for hundreds of years was all gone at once.

Later, Liu Bowen assisted Zhu Yuanzhang with his ingenuity and wisdom to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and establish the Ming Dynasty.