The "Records of the Eastern Dynasty" written by the Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Bi recorded such an event: Liu Bowen, the sincere uncle Liu Ji, had predicted that Zhu Di, the King of Yan, would launch the Battle of Jingnan, and also gave Zhu Yuanzhang an idea, so that old Zhu Tou reserved a back road for his grandson, and according to the records of this book, The Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao was indeed a monk.
However, when we read history, we do not look at stories, and the first problem in studying historical materials is to clarify the age and resume of the characters. At this time, we will have a question: Is Liu Bowen so magical? If Liu Bowen really predicted that Zhu Di, the King of Yan, would rebel and launch the Battle of Jingnan, and also figure out that the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao could only save his life if he fled, and gave Zhu Yuanzhang this idea, would he be killed on the spot--pushing out the Noon Gate and being beheaded?
Gossip aside, let's look at this story.
It is said that at that time (some Mingren's notes on this point are very bad, I do not say what year it was), Zhu Yuanzhang, the grandfather of the Ming Dynasty, asked Liu Bowen: "If my eldest grandson Zhu Yunjiao became emperor, how many years would he be able to reign?" Liu Bowen replied, "The Emperor's grandson has extraordinary bones, but he is not something that ordinary human wealth can restrain!" Zhu Yuanzhang heard the sound of the strings, so he repeatedly asked questions, and Liu Bowen shook his head unpredictably and did not answer.
Seeing that Old Master Zhu was about to be anxious, Liu Bowen did not dare to sell GuanZi: "The Emperor's grandson will eventually become a monk, and he will certainly be able to cultivate into a positive result, but if he succeeds to the throne as a king, I am afraid that in four or five years he will use his sword and soldiers!" Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded: "Since this is the case, then I might as well let him go out of the family now and pass the throne directly to Zhu Di, the King of Yan!" Liu Bowen still shook his head: "Spring and Autumn ancient system, no easy trees, no concubines as wives." Passing the throne to the four princes is not in line with reason, and I am afraid that it will cause the people of the world to laugh in shame. Moreover, the Emperor's grandson had several years of imperial orders, fate was destined, disobeying the order is unknown, at that time, the emperor's grandson encountered any obstacles, but he could not get over! ”
Zhu Yuanzhang scratched his head urgently: "Then what do you say you should do?" Liu Bowen secretly instructed: "You make a box, which contains a degree, a monk's robe, and a razor, so that he can open it at an emergency, and he should be able to survive this disaster." Finally, Liu Bowen asserted: "Whoever wins the world, the king of Biyan." The King of Yan is both male, and the northern land often has a royal qi. Zhu Yuanzhang acted according to the plan, Zhu Yunjiao escaped from the day, zhu Di settled the account after the autumn and cleaned up Liu Ji's family: "The King of Yan ascended the throne and cut off The Earl of Liu Chengyi." ”
Was Liu Bowen really so clever that he had predicted that Zhu Di, the King of Yan, would launch the Battle of Jing? Let's take a look at the records of the canonical history.
According to the records of the "History of Ming", "Ming Shilu" and "Tianhuang Yumu", let's straighten out the resumes of Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, Zhu Yunjiao, and Liu Bowen, the prince of Yiwen.
Let's first look at Zhu Biao, the former Prince of Yiwen and later posthumously honored as Emperor Xiaokang of Xingzong, the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang, born in the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1355). Zhu Yuanzhang gradually transferred power to Zhu Biao from the beginning of the Hongwu Decade (ordering the government affairs of the present and the punishment of Prince Qi, and then playing the news). In August of the 24th year of Hongwu, Zhu Biao was ordered to patrol Shaanxi (in fact, it was to investigate the site for the new imperial capital), and in April of the following year, Zhu Biaoxue, who had returned from the expedition, died in the capital.
Next, look at the former King of Yan and the later Yongle Emperor: the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, was born in the twentieth year of yuan to zheng (1360), Hongwu was awarded the title of King of Yan, Hongwu thirteen years, to Yan land (on the state, the domain) ... In May of the thirty-first leap year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang died... In the autumn and July of the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Di rose up and "signed himself as an official subordinate, calling his teacher 'Jing Nan'".
Emperor Jianwen, zhu Yunjiao, was born in the tenth year of Ming Hongwu (1377), the second son of Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, and he also had an older brother named Zhu Xiongying. Zhu Xiongying was born in the seventh year of Hongwu and died in the fifteenth year of Hongwu. In September of the 25th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunjiao was made the emperor's grandson.
Finally, let's look at the sincerity of Bo Liu Ji Liu Bowen, whether this gong is a clever plan or not, let's see if he has seen Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunjiao. In March of the eighth year of Hongwu, Liu Bowen completely retired and returned to his hometown, and died of illness a month later (the emperor made a wenzhi and sent an envoy to protect him. Arrived at home, sick, died in January, at the age of sixty-five. ）
Some readers may not understand it, let's repeat and compare the birth and death time of these people, taking the year of Liu Ji's death from illness as the standard: In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), crown prince Zhu Biao was in good health, still in the internship stage, and did not formally intervene in the government. The twenty-year-old crown prince Zhu Biao already had an eldest son, Zhu Xiongying, who had just turned one year old, and this son died seven years later. Zhu Di was only fifteen years old at the time, still studying in the capital and not in the domain. As for the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, I'm sorry, he has not yet been born.
Seeing here, everyone must have understood, even according to the calculation of Liu Ji Liu Bowen's illness in the year of his death, the prince is very young and tough, Zhu Yunzhang has not yet been born, Liu Bowen is no matter how clever and calculated, it is not calculated that there will be an imperial grandson named Zhu Yunzhang in the future, let alone predict that Zhu Biao will die early, if he really predicted and told Zhu Yuanzhang, then his fate is only one - he was ordered by the old Zhu Head to push out the noon gate and beheaded: Don't you curse my baby eldest son Zhu Biao to die early? This is what I'm looking for to die for...