Chapter 53 2. The opening of Majiadian

When Empress Ma's miraculous achievement was accomplished, Ma Yan burst into tears again.The pony girl is like a bargaining chip in his hand. After several years of accumulation, the gambling money has snowballed.At the gambling table in Luoyang City, he became the biggest winner.But Ma Yan, who has won the money, only wants to do one thing, hoping that his uncle Ma Yuan's unjust case will be vindicated. In fact, this is not a problem, it will be resolved sooner or later.Later, Liu Zhuang held a meeting, organized relevant personnel to investigate, and prepared to draw portraits of the founding heroes on the Nangong Yuntai.The list came out, there were thirty-two names, but Ma Yuan's name was not among them.

This does not mean that Ma Yuan's contribution has been obliterated by Liu Zhuang.Regarding the unjust case of his father-in-law Ma Yuan, Liu Zhuang has already vindicated him.However, there is only one reason why Ma Yuan is not included in the list of heroes - to avoid suspicion. Regarding this matter, Liu Zhuang once asked Queen Ma with a smile, saying that I did not put your father's portrait in the Nangong Yuntai Pavilion in order to avoid suspicion. Do you have any opinions on this? The extremely clever Queen Ma quickly replied: You naturally have your own reasons for doing this, and I will always support you.

Is it really because of avoiding suspicion?No one dared to argue with Liu Zhuang on this issue.Even so, Ma Yan was quite satisfied.Maybe no one understands Liu Zhuang, but he does.In his view, Liu Zhuang did not give Ma Yuan a portrait to avoid suspicion. As long as we do a basic sorting out of the history of the Western Han Dynasty, we can get the basic answer.Since the founding of the country by Gaozu Liu Bang, the politics of the Han Dynasty has never been less than the participation of foreign relatives.For more than two hundred years in the Western Han Dynasty, it can be said that success is also a relative, and failure is also a relative.For members of Liu's clan, the word "foreign relative" is really very sensitive.

In the era of Lu Zhi, the Liu family regime in the Han Dynasty almost fell into the hands of Lu's relatives; in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, if it were not for his relatives Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who killed the enemy and made meritorious service, conquered the Xiongnu and stabilized the border counties of the Han Dynasty. The dream will always be just a dream.If there is no relative Huo Guang, the great achievements of Zhaoxuan's rule may be greatly reduced. It can be seen that foreign relatives are like a double-edged sword. If used well, it will benefit Liu's descendants; if used incorrectly, it will harm the country and the people.Undoubtedly, from the time of Emperor Wen Liu Heng to the era of Emperor Xuan Liu Bingji, the emperors of the Han Dynasty were all masters of sword dancing.They are good at picking out their relatives and using them freely, so basically they haven't made any major mistakes.

But from Han Yuan Emperor Liu Shi, Han Cheng Emperor Liu Ao, to Han Ai Emperor Liu Xin, the three mastered the swordsmanship of their relatives one by one.In the end, Wang Mang won the victory, took the Han Dynasty, and the jobs of the Liu family were also ruined by him. Speaking of this, some people may have seen that foreign relatives are the eternal pain in the heart of the royal family.So since Liu Xiu, the measures they have taken against foreign relatives have never been repulsive or reused.Liu Xiu loved Yin Lihua very much, but no one from Yin Lihua's family came out to be a high official.It's not that they don't want to be, it's just that Liu Xiu covers them all, making them unable to move.

When Liu Zhuang was in charge, he continued to implement Liu Xiu's policy, and still adopted the policy of neither rejecting nor promoting foreign relatives.Empress Ma's three older brothers, Ma Liao, Ma Fang, and Ma Guang, did not put them in high positions. They just arranged a small post so that they could have something to eat. Therefore, not giving Ma Yuan a portrait is to avoid suspicion. Liu Zhuang avoids suspicion, and Ma Yan also avoids suspicion.He succeeded in training Empress Ma, but he did not take credit for it. Instead, he stayed away from Luoyang politics and went to Beidi (now Jinji Town, southwest of Wuzhong City, Ningxia) to live in seclusion.When Ma Yuan was alive, Ma Yan often gathered a group of guests to discuss current affairs and politics.Not now, he put an end to talking about politics and cut off contact with the guests.

After Ma Yan disappeared inexplicably, Queen Ma was puzzled.After inquiring, it turned out that they had gone to hide elsewhere.She immediately issued an edict ordering Ma Yan to move back to Luoyang.Soon, Ma Yan returned to the city, and Liu Zhuang was very polite and summoned him.When the two chatted, it was very speculative.So Liu Zhuang immediately arranged a job for Ma Yan, asking him to compile books with Ban Gu. However, the relatives of the Ma family live in such a modest way, when will they have the money to renovate the store and reopen it? Don't worry, business is also about opportunities.When the opportunity comes, Majiadian will not be able to open and make a fortune.

Is it true?Let him reveal the answer, his name is Liu Da.His answer was that it was all true. At the beginning, Liu Zhuang killed Liang Song and Dou Mu in order to control his relatives.The once bullish Liang Family Group and Dou Family Group closed their doors and went out of business.However, Liu Da now wants to say that the Majiadian has been closed for a longer time, and it is time for them to reopen. Liu Da decided to support the Majiabang.The reason why he did this was only for two words - to repay the favor. Liu Da is a filial son, knowing how to repay his kindness is his advantage.You know, without Queen Ma, Liu Da would not be where he is today.He was born of the Jia family and ranked fifth in the list of Liu Zhuang's sons.If you want to line up to be the emperor, you will never have to think about it in this life.

However, when Liu Zhuang gave him to Queen Ma to feed him, a miracle happened.He, Jia's child, was like a piece of wood that was forged into a great work of art in the hands of Empress Ma. Liu Da knew the hard work of Empress Ma.For many years, Empress Ma has maintained a diligent and thrifty style of life from a maid, to a nobleman, to a queen, and to the current empress dowager.She has no desires or desires, and even the clothes on her body have never wasted a piece of cloth.And Liu Da wants to repay her for her upbringing, but he can't repay her. He can only start by reusing Ma's relatives.

The first thing Liu Da wanted to do to repay Ma's family was to rectify his grandfather's name. Before Liu Zhuang collapsed, he only gave the Ma family a preferential policy, that is, he could ask the Ma family to build an ancestral hall for Ma.Now, Liu Da felt that it was not enough, so he sent General Zhonglang to follow up with Ma Yuan, and he was given the posthumous title of Marquis Zhongcheng. Then, Liu Da called the three uncles to him and said that you have worked hard.I have been with my father for many years, and my official positions have been lingering. Now I will promote you respectively.Worship Huben Lieutenant General Lang Ma Liao as Weiwei, Huangmen Lang Ma Fang as Zhonglang General, and Ma Guang as Yueqi School Captain.

Majiadian finally officially opened.When Majiadian opened, its popularity exploded.Luoyang is very big, but the only foreign relatives who can monopolize the political business in Luoyang City are the Ma family.Ever since, everyone in Luoyang City who had a sense of politics came to visit Ma's house with gifts. The Ma family's business is booming, and they are very proud, but some people are very anxious. This person is Sikong Fifth Lun.We know that he was the one who wrote to Liu Da at the beginning, opposing sending troops to rescue Geng Gong and others. Fifth Lun told Liu Da that the two emperors from Liu Xiu to Liu Zhuang had restrained their relatives very much, and Luoyang was fine.Today he suddenly relapsed and made the Ma family rich overnight. This is not a good sign.In order to protect Empress Ma and the Ma family, you'd better restrain them. After listening to this, Liu Da laughed and ignored him. Two years later, Liu Da met Queen Ma and made an almost crazy request.He told Queen Ma, I want to make those three uncles marquises, and now I want to hear your opinion.Empress Ma's opinion was serious, and she vetoed it on the spot, firmly vetoed it. Liu Da was very depressed.He thought about it, I can't talk about her, let others talk about it.That year, there happened to be a severe drought, and Liu Da asked someone to ask what was going on.The group of people who were brought in for questioning connected with Liu Da, and immediately found a reason that was not a reason. They said that the severe drought caused disasters, and it was clear that Empress Ma did not agree to confer titles on her relatives, which caused the serious consequences.Now if we want to resolve natural disasters, we must follow the old rules of the Western Han Dynasty and grant marquis titles to our relatives. When Liu Da heard this, he smiled.I've seen flatterers, but I've never seen someone who was photographed so well.Of course, this can't just be said at the meeting, it must be documented, written into a report, reported to Queen Ma, and asked for approval. Soon, the report was typed.However, Empress Ma sneered when she saw it, and returned the report without saying a word. There are so many women in the harem, you can fool anyone you want, but if you want to fool the Queen Mother, it is too presumptuous.Not to mention the rich experience of Empress Ma, she has read "Spring and Autumn", memorized it, and studied Dong Zhongshu's theory of interaction between heaven and man.The sky is going to be severely drought, it is because God is upset, what does it have to do with your emperor not sealing his relatives?This is obviously flattering and nonsense. However, people's flattery has been written into documents, and the Queen Mother can't return the report.So, she issued an imperial edict, severely criticizing the above flattering report. Queen Mother Ma has read a lot of books, and she is also eloquent in writing articles. It can be summed up as follows: First of all, those officials who suggested that I give my relatives a marquis were all flattering.What they did was just to get something in return.But has anyone ever thought about what happened when Liu Ao, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, granted five marquises for a day?Because of doing too much, it caused natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the world was in chaos. Secondly, since Guangwu Zhongxing Dahan, there has been no provision for conferring relatives.Back then, the Empress Dowager Yin's relatives were all very capable, but the Empress Dowager Yin insisted on suppressing them.As the empress dowager, I must set a good example and not break the old rules casually. In the end, although the relatives of the Ma family were not enshrined as marquises, they were all extremely rich.Not to mention the Ma family, the servants of the Ma family are basically white-collar workers.If the relatives are not satisfied, and His Majesty indulges them blindly, is it because he wants to repeat the same mistakes as the relatives in the Western Han Dynasty? The above three points basically represent the views of Queen Mother Ma.But it must be explained what is the white-collar class. The so-called white-collar refers to the fact that the sleeves and collars of the servants of the Ma family were all white.This is a status symbol. People who wear such clothes mean that they don't have to participate in physical labor. In today's terms, it is sitting in an office, blowing on the air conditioner, typing, typing documents, reading newspapers, and drinking tea.Who doesn't yearn for such a white-collar life. Liu Dan looked at the imperial edict of Queen Mother Ma and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.Alas, what he said was in the same tune as Sikong Fifth Lun.What to do, the resistance is so great, does it just stop?