In Chinese history, there are very few emperors who can treat the founding heroes kindly, of which Liu Xiu and Zhao Kuangyin are the most outstanding representatives, and the heroes who followed them to fight the world basically received a good death. But more emperors killed the founding heroes, such as Liu Bang, and almost killed the king with different surnames. Among such emperors, the most ruthless was Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang's life was very bitter, his parents died at an early age, in order to make a living, he gave cattle to the landlord's family, and also worked as a monk and begged for food. Later, he joined Guo Zixing's army as a soldier, slowly accumulated his own strength, and then defeated Chen Youyu and Zhang Shicheng, and finally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established Daming. In this process, a large number of civilian and military generals, such as Liu Bowen, Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Li Wenzhong, played a very important role. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was rewarded for his meritorious deeds, and 6 people, including Xu Da, Li Shanchang and Li Wenzhong, were made dukes; 28 people, including Tang He, Hua Yun and Fu Youde, were made marquises.
Shortly thereafter, Zhu Yuanzhang built a meritorious building in Gulougang, Nanjing, ostensibly to commend the contributions made by these heroes to the country, but in fact he was not at ease with these people, fearing that they would rebel with their own self-esteem, so he was ready to get rid of them all in the Qinggong Building. These heroes were very grateful to see that the emperor was so affectionate and righteous, but Liu Bowen saw the crisis, and he asked Zhu Yuanzhang to resign on the grounds of old age and frailty, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not succeed in retaining him, so he granted his request to return to his hometown.
Liu Bowen had a deep friendship with Xu Da, and before leaving, he came to Xu Mansion to bid farewell to Xu Da. Xu Da was very puzzled by Liu Bowen's choice, and said: "We have worked hard to help the emperor create this family business, and now it is the time to enjoy happiness, why did you leave?" Liu Bowen said: "If you don't leave at this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to go again." The emperor is a person who can only share hardships and hardships and cannot share wealth, and you must be careful in the future. Xu Da knew that Liu Bowen could pinch and calculate, and he must have his reason for saying this, and he panicked when he thought that Liu Bowen's words would become a fact. He said, "Sir, you asked me to be more careful, how should I be careful?" ”
Liu Bowen held out the thumb and index finger of his right hand and said, "Eight words--be loyal to the country, follow long live." Shortly after Liu Bowen left, Xu Da suddenly received a holy order, asking him to go to the newly built Qinggong Building the next day to have a drink with the emperor. Xu Da's heart moved, and he asked the people who had preached the Holy Will, who had been invited by the Emperor. The eunuch who delivered the message told him that a seat was full of merit and no one else. The next day, all the meritorious people went up to the Qinggong Building, and Zhu Yuanzhang let everyone drink freely and did not have to stick to the courtesy of the monarch. As soon as everyone heard the emperor say this, they immediately relaxed, and many people began to drink freely.
Xu Da usually drank a lot of alcohol, but today he did not dare to drink more, and kept watching Zhu Yuanzhang's every move. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly covered his stomach and said, "Ah, my enteritis is committed, I want to go back to the palace to take medicine quickly, you continue to drink." After saying that, he turned around and went downstairs. Xu Da saw the situation and hurried out. When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that it was Xu Da, he asked, "Why did the chancellor leave the table?" Xu Da said, "Come and protect the driver." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "There is no need, please return to the prime minister." ”
Xu Da saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was so desperate, and sorrow came from it, and he hugged Zhu Yuanzhang's leg and cried. Zhu Yuanzhang was a little panicked, worried that Xu Da's cries would attract the attention of everyone upstairs, and if that was the case, it would be bad. Thinking of this, he said to Xu Da, "The prime minister will come with me." They had just taken a few hundred steps, when suddenly, there was a loud "rumbling" sound, and the heroes of the building tiles flew bricks, and the flames soared into the sky, and the heroes of the building were all buried in the sea of fire. Xu Da relied on the eight words sent by Liu Bowen before leaving to escape.