Lao Zhu invited the ministers to a banquet. He first served some simple vegetables such as fried radish, stir-fried leeks, stir-fried green vegetables and a bowl of green onions and beans. So Lao Zhu asked for another dish, this time braised rabbit meat, braised dog meat, and a bowl of bird's nest soup. The ministers were delighted and started eating and drinking happily. After the banquet, Liu Bowen hurriedly asked Lao Zhu to resign, saying that his health was not good, and he wanted to go home to serve his mother to fulfill his filial piety; to raise his children to fulfill his human ethics; he also thought about the landscape of "picking chrysanthemums and traveling to the southeast, leisurely seeing Nanshan" Pastoral life.
When Liu Bowen retired and returned to his hometown, Xu Da came to see him off and said that the world was at peace and that His Majesty valued his ministers. Why did he not enjoy the glory and wealth in the capital but return to his hometown? Liu Bowen said that your majesty's crown prince has passed away, and now that the emperor's grandson is young and has no prestige as the heir, your majesty is worried that we old ministers will be unfavorable to the emperor and grandson if we disobey the new emperor and want to take action against us. If we don't miss power and go home to retire, then His Majesty will let us go; if we are unwilling to leave the center of power, then His Majesty will send us to the West.
Xu Da was shocked after hearing this and hurriedly asked Liu Bowen for advice: How do you know this? Liu Bowen explained that His Majesty's banquet with the ministers was a test. Everyone did not eat the first few vegetables, which showed that everyone could no longer endure hardship and was reluctant to give up wealth. Later, the braised rabbit meat was served first, and the braised rabbit meat represented Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and Yuan Ting; the braised dog meat was next, and the dog meat represented us veterans; and the last dish was bird's nest soup, which was for us veterans to learn from. Swallows return to their nests early to avoid being made into bird's nest soup.
After hearing this, Xu Da suddenly realized that His Majesty was telling me that "when the birds die, the good bow will be hidden; when the cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys will be cooked". I, the old minister, will be a dog now. If I don't retire soon If we return home and hold the power, we will be the ones who get cooked. So after Liu Bowen left, Xu Da began to pretend to be sick in bed. If he was not sick, he would follow Lao Zhu everywhere. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would tactfully express his intention to retire, or express his loyalty to Lao Zhu to the Ming Dynasty. It can be learned from the sun and the moon.
Other ministers are still domineering and lawless. I have the right to enjoy the world that I conquered. Soon Lao Zhu hosted a banquet for the officials again, euphemistically called a celebration banquet. This time Xu Da was not invited because he was ill in bed. Lao Zhu and other heroes had almost eaten and drank, so they ordered the four doors to be sealed and fired a volley of rockets. The heroes were either shot to death or burned to death.
Of course, the above are all rumors among the people that Zhu Yuanzhang tortured and killed heroes. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not kill many heroes, and these heroes were all lawless people, so they deserved to die. It's just that in the process of killing the heroes, there was a wide range of involvement, and many people who were not worthy of death were also killed. It can be said that the killing was excessive.