[Lightscreen]
[Perhaps because of such past history, Zhu Yuanzhang invited Liu Bowen directly into his staff to assist with strategy but did not initially grant him an official post.
According to the historical records, the first formal position Liu Bowen held was Director of the Bureau of Astronomy in 1367. By that time, it had already been seven years since he entered Zhu Yuanzhang's service.
As for why Liu Bowen's later image drifted so far from reality, Zhu Yuanzhang himself must bear some responsibility.
After all, the famous imperial formula "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims" began with Zhu Yuanzhang. Likewise, the renaming of the capital to Yingtian Prefecture and his constant emphasis during rituals and discussions with ministers that he had become emperor because he was "responding to Heaven" were all signs of the old Zhu's superstition.
Superstition practiced long enough can eventually consume the believer himself. In the end, this gave Hu Weiyong an opening.
After Liu Ji retired due to age, he noticed that the region of Tanyang was plagued by repeated rebellions. He wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang suggesting the establishment of a patrol office there to pacify the area.
Hu Weiyong at first pretended to be angry.
"How can a memorial bypass the Central Secretariat and be sent directly to His Majesty? What if His Majesty becomes exhausted reviewing such matters?"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not care much about this complaint, Hu Weiyong changed his strategy and began to stir up rumors about "pufferfish winds."
Before long, stories began circulating that Tanyang possessed royal qi.
Thus Liu Ji, whose health was already poor, was summoned back to the capital. Not long after returning, he died of illness.
Hu Weiyong certainly bears some responsibility for Liu Ji's death, yet the exact extent remains unclear. At present there are three widely circulated explanations.
Hu Weiyong poisoned him.
Zhu Yuanzhang secretly ordered Hu Weiyong to poison him.
Liu Ji simply died of natural illness.
The second theory is probably groundless.
Leaving aside the question of trust, there are two reasons. First, the Zhejiang faction did not hold much influence at the time. Second, as mentioned earlier, Zhu Yuanzhang was happily inspecting the planned capital at Fengyang that year. When Liu Ji died, Zhu Yuanzhang had not even returned yet.
As for whether Hu Weiyong truly administered poison, there is still no definitive conclusion.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang himself, one of the principal figures involved, repeatedly insisted that Hu Weiyong poisoned Liu Ji. He told Liu Ji's descendants more than once, "Your father was poisoned by Hu Weiyong," and so forth.
Let us provisionally accept that claim as true.
Yet from the perspective of us modern people, perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang should instead examine the competence of his imperial physicians.
Take the death of Xu Da for example. It was far more likely that the imperial physicians were simply incompetent.
Yet in the Chenghua era someone wrote a piece of unofficial history claiming:
"The Emperor suddenly bestowed food. The Duke of Wei wept before the envoy and ate it. Secretly he ordered the physicians to flee. Not long after, he died."
Over time this evolved into the rumor that Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately killed Xu Da by forcing him to eat roast goose.
Looking back again at Liu Bowen's case, modern people often admire Zhu Yuanzhang's rise from a beggar with a broken bowl to the emperor as an inspiring story.
But Zhu Yuanzhang himself lived in an age that believed deeply in the Mandate of Heaven. For him, the throne likely carried far more anxiety than confidence.
Thus the Confucian scholars under his command had little choice but to sing praises of Heaven's mandate on his behalf.
In the end this inevitably distorted Liu Ji's image.
Many scholars under Zhu Yuanzhang had similar experiences. Liu Ji was not unique.
As for why Liu Ji's reputation eventually overshadowed Li Shanchang and Wang Guangyang among the civil officials of the founding generation, the reason had little to do with fortune telling.
It was simply because Liu Ji's death during the Hongwu reign could genuinely be considered a peaceful end.
Li Shanchang and Wang Guangyang neither died of illness nor old age. Both were later executed by Zhu Yuanzhang after being accused of crimes.
Under such circumstances, how would their descendants dare to embellish family legends the way the Liu family could?]
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Li Wenzhong had never been particularly fond of Liu Bowen.
In his memory, after his uncle invited the man back, Liu Bowen spent a long time constantly at Zhu Yuanzhang's side. Yet in ordinary moments he rarely spoke.
Later he learned that Liu Bowen had once served the Yuan and had even written florid essays praising the Yuan emperor and his ministers.
Since his uncle had gone to such lengths to bring him back, perhaps the man truly possessed ability. Still, Li Wenzhong had little interaction with him.
The only moment he remembered clearly was after the capture of the Yuan capital. During the celebratory banquet, he had deliberately watched Liu Bowen's expression.
Even that had merely been idle curiosity.
Thus when he now heard how famous Liu Bowen had become in later generations, Li Wenzhong felt somewhat surprised.
Bored, he tugged at the sleeve of the man beside him.
"Grand Censor, is this man truly so formidable? Did he really possess the talent to unify the realm?"
Li Shanchang might have heard the question as a sincere inquiry.
But to his ears it sounded rather unpleasant.
If this was what counted as the talent to unify the realm, then what had Li Shanchang himself been doing since the days in Chuzhou, running about tirelessly for Zhu Yuanzhang?
So in the end, the only response Li Wenzhong received was the back of Li Shanchang's head.
For a moment Li Wenzhong was completely confused.
He turned instead to whisper to the man beside him.
"I was just saying the Grand Censor isn't really jea—"
Before the word "jealous" could leave his mouth, Xu Da swiftly struck his shoulder lightly, cutting him off.
At that moment Li Wenzhong suddenly felt the atmosphere in the hall grow more serious.
The reason was obvious.
The voice from the future was criticizing the emperor for superstition.
Though Li Wenzhong did not fully understand the meaning, it clearly was not praise.
For he heard his uncle grinding his teeth as he argued back.
Zhu Yuanzhang spoke angrily.
"I swept the land and restored the realm of China. How could that not be called following Heaven's will?"
"Heaven decreed that the Yuan should perish. I acted in accordance with Heaven to revive China. Could that possibly be wrong?"
Before Li Wenzhong could hear the argument unfold further, the emperor's voice grew even sharper.
"How could I ever order Hu Weiyong, that treacherous official, to poison an old minister?"
"What ruler would behave in such a manner?"
"Liu Ji died because of Hu Weiyong. What do they mean by 'let us assume it is true'? It is beyond doubt!"
Fortunately the empress stood beside him.
Otherwise Li Wenzhong feared the court might soon witness a full display of the Huai River dialect's most colorful curses.
Only after some persuasion did the emperor finally calm down.
Li Wenzhong turned his head.
To his surprise, the three men beside him had all changed expression.
The imperial physician Dai Sigong still showed a trace of fatigue on his face.
Yet he respectfully cupped his hands toward the voice from the future and spoke calmly.
"Regarding the matter of the Imperial Medical Bureau, I have already followed His Majesty's orders to examine the physicians' skills through written tests."
"Patients will also be invited to allow the physicians to conduct renewed examinations."
"Those who attempt to pass themselves off with false skill will be dismissed. Quack doctors must not be allowed to harm lives through misdiagnosis."
Xu Da, for his part, looked more amused than offended.
To speak frankly, Li Wenzhong himself also found the story mentioned by the light screen rather absurd.
The defense of Beiping had always been under Xu Da's command. Moreover, Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang had risen together from the lowest ranks. Their relationship was even closer than that between relatives.
How could the emperor possibly harbor such resentment toward him?
Just as expected, Xu Da's words were largely meant as reassurance.
"Brother, you must not let such wild tales trouble you."
"Idle men invent stories and comment on politics. Their understanding is shallow and worthy only of a laugh."
Compared with them, however, the expression on Li Shanchang's face was far more complicated.
He said nothing.
Yet for some reason Li Wenzhong suddenly recalled an old story from the Three Kingdoms.
It was not surprising. His uncle had always loved the history of the Han.
He remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had more than once compared his ministers to famous figures of the Han era.
Zhang Liang and Xiao He had been mentioned several times.
Wang Guangyang and Liu Bowen had even once been compared by Xu Da to Zhuge Liang.
So then what about the Grand Censor standing before them now?
For some reason a name suddenly appeared in Li Wenzhong's mind.
Sima Yi?