Throughout history, every emperor who fights the world will stand next to a courtier who is like a god. For example, Jiang Ziya on the side of King Wu of Zhou, Zhang Liang on the side of Liu Bang, etc., their lives were dedicated to the monarchs they assisted, bowed to exhaustion, and died. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang also had such a courtier who was like a god, and his name was Liu Ji(劉基), the character Bowen. He lost Zhu Yuanzhang's trust after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and before he died, he sent a basket of fish to Zhu Yuanzhang. Unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang did not understand it, so there was the Battle of Jing in the future.
Liu Bowen was talented and intelligent from an early age, but he was still very studious, and he was admitted to Xiucai at the age of 12, and his fathers and elders called him a "prodigy". During the Yuan dynasty, Liu Bowen passed the jinshi examination and embarked on his career. Because the Yuan government was very dark at that time, coupled with years of war, although Liu Bowen, who was upright, won the praise of the people, he was also resented by the local squires. Within a few years of taking office, Liu Bowen resigned from his official position and lived a life of seclusion with his friends.
In the twentieth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was in Yingtian, heard that Liu Bowen was compared to the talent of "Zhuge Liang" by the people of the time, so he hired him to Yingtian with courtesy and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility. From then on, Liu Bowen devoted himself to assisting Zhu Yuanzhang in fighting the world until Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed emperor, and the Ming Dynasty was officially established. Subsequently, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded several meritorious men who fought together in the world, and Liu Bowen was no exception, and he was awarded the position of Imperial Historian and Taishi Ling. Liu Bowen knew Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicious personality very well, and he understood that after he helped Zhu Yuanzhang to win the world, he should retire after success, otherwise, he would be suspected of being a master of merit and shock, and bring disasters to himself and his family. Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang began to look for stubble to kill the heroes, he proposed to return to his hometown, and Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed.
Later, because of the slander of the chancellor Hu Weiyong, Liu Bowen had to continue to return to the court, and at this time Zhu Yuanzhang was already very cold to Liu Bowen. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Liu Bowen was infected with wind and cold, and Zhu Yuanzhang sent Hu Weiyong to visit with the imperial doctor. After drinking the medicine sent by Hu Weiyong, Liu Bowen's condition worsened. Liu Bowen reported the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang, but only received a comforting word from the emperor that he was "relieved and sick", which made Liu Bowen very cold. At the same time, he also understood his situation and asked to return to his hometown again.
After returning to his hometown, Liu Bowen knew that time was short, so he asked his son to explain the aftermath. He asked his son to present to the emperor a book of heaven and a basket of fish after his death. Soon after, Liu Bowen died. Zhu Yuanzhang also fell into contemplation after seeing the fish sent by Liu Bowen. Due to the busy political affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly forgot about this matter. Seventeen years later, the crown prince Zhu Biao died, and Zhu Yuanzhang was grieving, which made him understand Liu Bowen's intentions.
Originally, Liu Bowen compared Zhu Yuanzhang's sons to the fish in the basket, and the prince could not be divided, and could only be kept in captivity, so that the world could be peaceful. Unfortunately, the princes who were divided into various places had already become more and more fledgling, and Zhu Yuanzhang drove out the founding generals, which led to the fact that there was no suitable candidate in the hands of Zhu Yunjiao after succeeding to the throne. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Emperor Jianwen slashed the domain, and Zhu Di, the King of Yan, raised an army to attack the capital and seize the throne. If Zhu Yuanzhang had understood Liu Bowen's intentions and made preparations earlier, perhaps there would have been no later Battle of Jingnan.