Zhu Yuanzhang: "I take the world and am about to study!" " "Four Misters" in East Zhejiang Province

However, among the intellectuals who defected to the group, besides Li Shanchang and others who are also from Huaiyou area, there is also the literati circle in eastern Zhejiang or the "four gentlemen" in eastern Zhejiang, especially the emergence of the four gentlemen in eastern Zhejiang gives more legends. > > Liu Ji, born in Qingtian, Chuzhou, was extremely clever since childhood, never forgets anything about reading, and has a good habit of diligent study, so he became a famous "child prodigy" in the local area at an early age. At the age of 14, Liu Jizhong was a scholar, and at the age of 16, he was a juren. At the age of 17, he went to Shimen Academy to study hard the books on classics and history. It is said that his art of war also benefited from the guidance of the man of God and the book of art given by the stone house at this time. Of course, nowadays, it seems that such a statement is purely nonsense. However, it is true that Liu Ji is studious, and it is precisely because he is particularly studious, talented and intelligent that he was admitted to Yuan Shundi Zhishun Jinshi for four years at a young age. > > For Liu Ji, a traditional Confucian, who has established the highest realm of life struggle with the rule of the family and the world since he was a child, all these undoubtedly made him full of beautiful reverie about reality, and also made him work tirelessly to achieve the ideal goal in real life in his early life. According to the practice of the past dynasties, the new Jinshi should be awarded leadership positions at or above the county level, but the Yuan Dynasty, when Beowulf was in power, was extremely discriminatory and despised Confucian scholars. Liu Jizhong ate idle meals at home for three years, and was awarded Gao 'an County Cheng, a county-level official with less than seven grades. > > Those in power in the Yuan Dynasty not only looked down on scholars, but also crowded out and suppressed scholars in officialdom. What they valued was not only Mongolian aristocrats and semu people, but also those petty officials who were proficient in literature and ink. These people often came from drivers, secretaries and slaves around leading cadres in the Yuan Dynasty, and they had no moral integrity. Therefore, Liu Ji's admission as an official was tantamount to gold falling into a bunker and not being buried. Besides, Liu Ji can't display his talents in Gao 'an, and he often does his favorite "major" in his spare time, especially keen on the study of geography, astronomy and mathematics. At that time, there was a sage Deng Xiangfu who was proficient in astronomy and mathematics. When Liu Ji heard about it, he went to the door for advice, worshipped Deng as a teacher, and learned a lot of astronomical skills. But soon, because he offended the local strongmen and powerful people, Liu Ji could not stand on his feet and had to resign and go home. > > Not long after Liu Ji resigned, someone in Jiangxi province heard about it and thought that such talents should be used, so he hired Liu Ji to work as a clerk in the province. The county government is black, but the provincial government is actually darker. Liu Ji didn't like it when he went. He didn't stay long and resigned and went home. > > Liu Ji resigned twice because he didn't like the darkness of officialdom. Of course, there is not a clean official in officialdom. Some people were very moved after hearing about Liu Ji's story, and recommended him to the relevant departments to be the deputy director of Confucianism in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which may be equivalent to the deputy director of the provincial education department and the vice president of the examination institute. But it didn't take long for Liu Ji to resign and go home because he didn't like the darkness of officialdom. > > In the eighth year of Yuan Shundi Zhizheng (1348), Fang Guozhen launched an anti-Yuan uprising at sea. In the Yuan Dynasty, Zuo Chengduo, a province in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, only went to have it, but was captured by Fang Guozhen. When officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were at a loss, Liu Ji was recommended to serve as the commander of the Marshal's Office in eastern Zhejiang, assisting Shi Mo Yisun, the deputy envoy of Xuanwei in eastern Zhejiang, to be stationed in Taizhou, specializing in dealing with the anti-Yuan uprising in eastern Zhejiang. At that time, Liu Ji suggested that we should seize the time to build walls and fortifications in Qingyuan and other cities in order to deal with the attack of Fang Guozhen army. However, the rulers in the Yuan Dynasty, headed by Zuo Cheng Tieli Timur, did not advocate using force to attack Fang. Liu Ji was very disapproving of this. He argued and persuaded: The Fang brothers are the first troublemakers in the world, and not killing them is not enough to punish people in the world. I don't know how this word spread later. Fang Guozhen was very scared when he heard it. He took a lot of gold, silver and silk to Liu Ji's place, trying to keep him silent, but he was rejected. When Liu Ji failed to be bribed, Fang Guozhen gave full play to his businessman's cleverness and flexibility, and reassigned his men to bribe officials of the central court. Soon after, the emperor issued an imperial edict, appealing to the Fang Guozhen brothers and granting each one a certain official position; Liu Ji, who tried his best to suppress the anti-Yuan uprising, was charged with "hurting the court's benevolence and being good at Wei Fu" and sent to Shaoxing for detention. > > I am loyal to the imperial court and always think about serving my country. I didn't expect to fall into this field! Liu Ji should wake up! No, the traditional foolish loyalty bound him and influenced his words and deeds. Soon the rebellion of Wu Chengqi, a "Shankou", took place in eastern Zhejiang, and the corrupt and incompetent Yuan Dynasty was at a loss. In desperation, Liu Ji was not only freed from the shackles, but also promoted his experience in the Privy Council, and was stationed in the state with Yi Sun, who was involved in politics. Later, the Yuan Dynasty made Li Guofeng Governor Jiangnan, and when he arrived in Zhejiang, he heard about Liu Ji's talent and his "achievements" in quelling several anti-Yuan uprisings, so he wrote to the court and asked the Yuan court to reuse such useful talents. However, the corrupt yuan court rulers did not take it seriously and only awarded it to Liu Ji, the judge of the general manager's office of Chuzhou Road. This time, Liu Jike was so angry that he made such a great contribution. He actually got such a broken official, regardless of the military. He was angry when he thought about it. Finally, in a fit of pique, he went back to his hometown in Qingtian. > > When Liu Ji returned to his hometown in Qingtian, it was Zhu Yuanzhang who came to Wuzhou in eastern Zhejiang. Although I have heard about the story of "Mr. Four in East Zhejiang" for a long time, it is all hearsay after all. He really wants to get the support and help from these cultural celebrities for his career. Therefore, when capturing Wuzhou, he paid special attention to his image of "emphasizing literature", started county schools, and hired Confucian scholars, but in the end, he only got Song Lian, one of the "Four Misters", and the other three, especially Liu Ji, who is said to know astronomy and geography, were still in the occupied area of the Yuan Army. So before his return, he gave a special account to Hu Dahai, commander-in-chief of Wuzhou front line, asking him to pay great attention to the whereabouts of Liu Ji, Zhang Yi, Ye Chen and Hu Shen. By the end of the 19th century, when Chuzhou was captured, Hu Dahai got a letter of recommendation from Liu Ji and others, and sent someone to report it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed, and immediately sent Fan Guan as a special envoy, bringing gifts to Chuzhou from Yingtian. At the same time, Sun Yan, who had accepted Zhu Yuanzhang's special entrustment with Hu Dahai, had started to take action. First, he sent people to Qingtian for three transgressions, and then he personally went to visit Liu Jigu. > > Sun Yanben was a celebrity in the south of the Yangtze River. When Zhu Yuanzhang broke into Jiqingcheng, he came out to meet with Yang Xian and other Jiangnan Confucian scholars, so he was highly valued by Zhu Yuanzhang. In addition, he was very knowledgeable and had a high emotional intelligence, so he quickly stood firm in Zhu Yuanzhang Group. But Sun Yan's innate hardware is not good, and his height is only six feet. In ancient times, six feet may be equivalent to about one meter five or six in modern times, and the skin is very dark, ugly and even ugly. But these are not the main problems. The crux of the problem is that he is lame. If such people were born in Wu Dalang and neighbors, I'm afraid Pan Jinlian, the beautiful lady of the Wu family, wouldn't complain that flowers were inserted in cow dung. According to the eyes of ordinary people, this Sun Yan is unfortunate enough, and he has caught up with all the bad things. But people don't feel inferior at all, but take the initiative to "attack" to meet the world-famous "great god" and do their best for the new master Zhu Yuanzhang. > > It is said that Sun Yanxian first sent his men to Liu Ji's hometown. Once, twice and three times, it was useless to say it once, twice and three times. Liu Ji just refused to go out. However, I also felt that Sun Yan was enthusiastic enough and felt a little guilty, so I asked Sun Yan's messenger to bring a sword, which was an heirloom of their Liu family. The meaning was obvious: I would rather give you the heirloom than be an official. Sun Yan is very clever. When he saw the Liu family heirloom, he quickly sealed it and wrote a song "Sword Song", which roughly means: "I know what you mean. You mean to say that you even gave away your Liu family heirloom, but you just don't want to go out of the mountain and just want to live a rural life safely. However, I think:' the sword should be given to the son of heaven, and those who are unlucky can't be private!' ”> > Sun Yan's persistent and wise poems and his reply finally moved Liu Ji. It is said that when Sun Yan personally came to Wuyang Village in Qingtian, Liu Ji took the initiative to go out to meet him and hosted a banquet at home. Besides, Sun Yan, although a disabled person, is very confident and full of wisdom. When drinking and chatting with Liu Ji, he deliberately talked all over the world, making people feel that newcomers know others. In fact, Liu Ji knows the subtext of Zhu Yuanzhang's sending Sun Yan and others as lobbyists: Look, maybe in your opinion, such an unremarkable cripple has such a high level. I tell you: Zhu Yuanzhang is surrounded by people with lofty ideals who are working for me. Don't be too arrogant. Now I send Sun Yan as a lobbyist, and you are unmoved. Isn't this too arrogant? > > Liu Ji's concerns are not unreasonable. He is a courtier of the Yuan Dynasty, and he should be loyal to the Yuan Dynasty or even killed. Now these have failed to be done, but he will betray him. This is like a woman married. Although her husband is useless or even bad, he is not dead, and she is going to remarry. What is this called? Don't say disloyalty, it's dishonour! That is ridiculed and abused by everyone in the world! Besides, the world is in chaos now. If you pick a few rotten guns and occupy a mountain, you will be king. How many will last? Now, the Zhu Mouren who has sent people to Qingtian's hometown repeatedly to advise him to come out of the mountain has heard that he is not bad and ambitious. He is a virtuous corporal, and he has set up a county school in Wuzhou, hired a group of Confucian scholars, and even gathered a group of world talents in Yingtian. It seems that he is really a character. Is it possible for me to realize my desire to rule the country and level the world with him? Just as Liu Ji's thought changed, Fan Guan, a special envoy sent from Yingtian, also came to Qingtian, conveying Zhu Yuanzhang's respect and urging for Mr. Liu, and at the same time, he also took a letter of persuasion from Tao An and Li Shanchang. Mother Liu came out to comfort her son when she saw him, saying, "You are worried that you will not know what to do at home after you get married. In fact, there is no need to do this. Now the world is in chaos. If it weren't for the help of * *, it would be difficult for this family to survive even if you stayed at home all the time! " At this point, Liu Ji was finally persuaded. After making some family arrangements, he went on the road with Zhu Yuanzhang's envoys. > > Liu Ji went to Yingtian Nanjing with his friends: Longquan Zhangyi, Lishui Yechen, Jinhua Song Lian, etc. Song Lian spent his early life teaching and studying, while Zhang Yi, Ye Chen and Hu Shen had similar experiences with Liu Ji. Among them, Zhang Yi and Hu Shen were fellow villagers and classmates, and they worshipped the philosopher Wang Yi. In the twelfth year of Zhengzheng, the fire of the Red Scarf Army Uprising on the Western Front burned to the eastern part of Zhejiang, and Zhang Yi, Hu Shen, Ye Chen and Liu Ji all organized their own armed forces to defend themselves. Later, under the authority of Shimo Yisun, they joined forces to suppress the anti-Yuan uprising. In the eighteenth year of Zhu Yuanzhang's personal expedition to Wuzhou, Liu Ji just resigned and lived in seclusion at home. Zhang Yi handed over his volunteer team to his son Zhang Cundao and lived in Kuangshan himself. The only ones left were Ye Chen and Hu Shen who continued to serve as marshals under Shimo Yisun to protect Chuzhou. What they didn't expect was that the Great Yuan Empire, which they tried their best to be loyal to, was so fragile. Before the battle of Chuzhou officially started, the Yuan Army showed signs of instability, and Hu Shen, who was quite sensible, quickly defected to Zhu Yuanzhang's general Hu Dahai. Hu Dahai sent him to Yingtian, where he received a grand courtesy from Zhu Yuanzhang, was awarded the post of Zuosi Yuanwailang, and was ordered to return to the prefecture, recruit staff and contact friends. In this way, Liu Ji, Zhang Yi and Ye Chen, who were originally somewhat wary of Zhu Yuanzhang and somewhat hostile to the "Four Misters" in eastern Zhejiang, changed their previous attitudes and came to Yingtian with Song Lian who had previously defected.