Chapter 166 Liu Bowen Resigns

Chapter 166 Liu Bowen Resigns
It was impossible for Ye Xuan not to be moved by Yunfang's every word and action.

Thus, there is endless spring.

The next day.

After arranging the Beishan Imperial Farm to an appropriate size, he also gave some instructions to everyone in the official residence.

Ye Xuan bid farewell to Yun Fang reluctantly, and Qi Chen returned to Yingtian Prefecture where he had been away for a long time.

After returning to Yingtian Prefecture, Ye Xuan did not rush home, but went to the Zhenfu Division to hand over his duties first.

After all, he had been either in the palace or in the Beishan Imperial Farm for most of the month. His long absence from the Pacification Office might easily lead to gossip among his colleagues, and subordinates like Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan might easily become alienated from him.

After handing over the task, Wang Feihu, Song Zhenshan and their subordinates gathered around Ye Xuan, clamoring to hear about Ye Xuan's experiences over the past half month.

Ye Xuan hadn't seen these brothers for a long time, so he simply suggested taking everyone to the largest restaurant in Yingtian Prefecture for a meal.

When everyone heard that they could have the biggest share, they were naturally delighted and no one was unwilling.

Although Ye Xuan now holds the title of a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he does not have as many people under his command as other captains. Are they still the same group of people as when he was a centurion?

Firstly, Ye Xuan had just been promoted to the rank of Qian Hu, and he immediately entered the palace to serve, and Mao Xiang had no time to assign him staff;

Secondly, although Chu Yao had to become a captain of a thousand households out of necessity, he never changed his mind and wanted to slack off. More manpower meant more tasks to be undertaken.

How could Ye Xuan do something where the reward and effort are not commensurate?

So he was happy to have a leisurely life and never went to Mao Xiang to ask for help.

A group of more than a hundred people entered the famous "Yun Hotel" in Yingtian.

There were not many people in the restaurant at that time, but when they saw more than a hundred Jinyiwei, they were immediately scared out of their wits. They thought there were some traitors in the Yun Hotel, so they dropped their silver and ran away.

Everyone burst into laughter when watching this scene.

Before everyone sat down, the owner of Yun Hotel came to Ye Xuan tremblingly with his second son.

"This sir is innocent!" As soon as the shopkeeper opened his mouth, Ye Xuan was stunned. How come he got into a case when he just brought his men out for "team building"?
But after some questioning, it dawned on me that the shopkeeper saw so many Jinyiwei and thought that he had committed some crime and the Jinyiwei came to arrest him.

After finding out that Ye Xuan and the others were just here to eat, he felt as if he had escaped a disaster.

Although he felt somewhat resentful of these Jinyiwei for scaring him half to death for no reason, the shopkeeper never dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction in front of more than a hundred Jinyiwei with swords on their waists.

Ye Xuan, Wang Feihu, Song Zhenshan, and a few of his more important subordinates chose a seat by the window and sat down. "Brothers, please order whatever you like. Don't be polite to me!"

When these words were spoken, everyone was delighted.

As we all know, the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were terribly low.

Even the feared Jinyiwei were actually just a group of poor people whose lives were slightly better than those of ordinary people.

Normally, let alone going to Yun Hotel, even eating out is only occasionally.

So when Ye Xuan said this, everyone cheered immediately.

"Master Qianhu is so awesome!"

"Thank you, sir!" As soon as he sat down, Song Zhenshan, who was relatively old in the city, said, "Sir, your salary is not high, why spend so much money!"

After all, there were more than a hundred people. If there were only Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan, Song Zhenshan would not have said anything. But with more than a hundred people eating to their heart's content at the Yun Hotel, even the rich landlord could not stand it!
Song Zhenshan was really thinking about himself, so Ye Xuan didn't get angry like some people who were just pretending to be rich. Instead, he smiled and said, "Eat it with peace of mind. You don't have to save money for me."

Song Zhenshan did not try to persuade him further after hearing this, as he knew when to stop.

Gradually the food and drinks were served, and the atmosphere became more lively as everyone toasted each other.

While they were drunk, Wang Feihu suddenly leaned close to Ye Xuan's ear and said mysteriously, "Sir, do you know that during the time you were away from Yingtian, a big event happened in the court!"

"Oh, what a big deal."

Wang Feihu always spoke exaggeratedly, so Ye Xuan didn't pay much attention to what he said and just asked casually.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, everyone at the table looked very serious.

Only then did Ye Xuan become serious and listen attentively.

Wang Feihu whispered, "Master Liu Bowen has resigned!"

"And I heard that Lord Liu fell ill as soon as he returned to his hometown Qingtian. His Majesty even sent Prime Minister Hu to bring the imperial physician to Lord Liu's hometown Qingtian to treat him!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan immediately remembered that in history, Liu Bowen did retire and return to his hometown in the early years of Hongwu. Historical records show that he caught a cold on the way back home and became seriously ill.

Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard about this, he immediately sent the imperial physician to treat the disease.

But not only was the disease not cured, it became more serious and eventually he died.

There are many different opinions among later scholars about the cause of Liu Bowen's death. Some say that Liu Bowen died because of his old age and frailty, as well as other complications caused by traveling all the time.

After all, Liu Bowen was already 65 years old at that time. For the Ming Dynasty, where the average life expectancy was only 46 years old, 65 years old was considered a long life.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying that people aged 70 are rare in the world, so there is some basis for this.

But some people also suspected that it was because Hu Weiyong was jealous of Liu Bowen, so he tampered with the imperial physician's medicine and took the opportunity to poison Liu Bowen.

Others say that Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid of Liu Bowen, so he instructed Hu Weiyong to poison Liu Bowen to death.

The most complicated theory is that Hu Weiyong misunderstood Zhu Yuanzhang's intention and thought that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted Liu Bowen to die, so he poisoned Liu Bowen.

There are many different opinions and each has its own truth.

But Ye Xuan still believes more in the first and second points, that is, he died of complications caused by old age, which no medicine can cure.

Or maybe Hu Weiyong simply took the opportunity to poison Liu Bowen.

It was well known to all the civil and military officials in the court that Liu Bowen represented the interests of the Zhejiang East Group, while Hu Weiyong represented the noble class of the Huaixi Group. This led to irreconcilable conflicts between the two in their political views.

Daily quarrels and arguments are almost inevitable. Although everyone knows that this is just to gain benefits for the forces behind them, resentment is inevitable over time.

Moreover, the two men had completely opposite personalities. Hu Weiyong was overbearing and tyrannical and would not tolerate others telling him what to do, which led to him hating his arch-enemy Liu Bowen even more.

Under such circumstances, it is not impossible that Hu Weiyong took the opportunity to poison Liu Bowen.

(End of this chapter)