Chapter 54 3. Star-making movement

As we all know, the beginning of everything is difficult.It must be even more difficult for Liu Jin to break the rules set by his ancestors and fathers, and when he meets a model worker in the harem like the Queen Mother, it will be even more difficult to confer the title of Marquis to his relatives. It doesn't matter, Queen Mother is patient, he has perseverance, so let's grind it.So, Liu Jin went to the empress dowager himself, and complained, "Why do you keep stopping me from granting the titles to my uncles? You know, since the Western Han Dynasty, it is as normal for uncles to be titled princes as if princes were titled kings." .Now my three uncles, Ma Liao is old, Ma Fang and Ma Guang are seriously ill, if they don't succeed in becoming a marquis in their lifetime, wouldn't I be regretted through the ages?"

Liu Da lamented, and then said: "Queen Mother, don't delay, let me pick an auspicious day to handle this matter." Empress Ma looked at Liu Da with a heavy expression and said nothing.After a long time, the old man sighed and said slowly: "Son, do you think I'm just trying to make a good name for myself by showing off, and let you bear the criticism from the outside world?"If you think so, you are wrong.In fact, I stopped you from granting marquis to your uncles because of the Ma family and the country. To put it simply, the advantage of being a Marquis is that you want more fiefs.But aren't your uncles rich enough?Anyone with eyes in Luoyang City will know that they are extremely rich.Since they have too much money and no place to spend it, why should they blindly be named marquises?

I know you are very filial.You did this to make me feel at ease, that I didn't raise you for so many years in vain.The problem is, the more you do this, the more disturbed I am.You don't know that when the drought comes and the price of food soars, I can't eat well, and I can't sleep well.Besides, you haven't been filial piety for three years, and you actually want to break the rules of the late emperor. If you really do this, what will the people of the world think? Finally, Empress Matthew said earnestly: "Son, I don't want to interfere in politics to make you ugly. It's just that you have not been on the throne for a long time, and you have not experienced enough experience, and your wings are still young. If one day the weather is smooth and the border is fine, then I will give it up and let you go. The power is back to you. Then I will wait to have a grandson, and I will not stop you if you want to be a prince."

After Liu Da listened, his head drooped.He finally figured it out, it's not that Empress Dowager Ma didn't want him to be a marquis for his uncles, it's just that the time hasn't come yet.In that case, just wait. The hard work paid off, and not long after, Liu Da waited for a great opportunity. This great opportunity is the rebellion of Xiqiang.The news spread to Luoyang, and then someone wrote a letter saying that he was willing to lead an army to the Bianxi Qiang rebels.The person who submitted the letter was none other than Geng Gong, who had made a name for himself in the Western Regions, and was then Captain Changshui.

We all know that this kid Liu Da has one advantage in his work, that is, when it comes to sending troops to fight, he doesn't see a rabbit or a eagle.This was the case when sending troops to the Western Regions in the past, and it is even more so when dealing with the Western Qiang. After reading Geng Gong's memorial, Liu Da urgently called him into the palace to ask about Fanglue. The two said something behind closed doors, no one knows.Anyway, after the chat, Liu Da felt that there was a good chance of winning the Xiqiang matter, and agreed to send troops. Some people may guess that Geng Gong came up with the idea, and Geng Gong has experienced many battles. The task of rehabilitating Xiqiang should be entrusted to him, right?

Unfortunately, the main general is not Geng Gong. Geng Gong only served as the deputy general, and the main general was left to one person, a very important relative.His name is Ma Fang. Before, Empress Ma used another grand excuse to prevent Liu Da from making Ma Fang and others marquises, and this excuse was martial arts.Those who do not have martial arts cannot be named marquises.This is what Gaozu Liu Bang said when he established the country. We know that Liu Bang's rule has become a nonsense as early as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.The thing is, Empress Ma doesn't think that's bullshit.In this case, then send an uncle out to make meritorious service.So, Liu Da thought of Ma Fang, the school captain of Chengmen.

Before this, Ma Fang had never led his troops to fight against foreign enemies.But it doesn't matter, everyone has a first time.As long as you hit the trick for the first time, you can talk about anything.Back then, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave up his blood and money to create brilliant military stars such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.Today, he will also burn a lot of money to make Ma Fang a success. In August of 77 AD, Liu Da worshiped Ma Fang as the acting general of chariots and cavalry. Together with his deputy Geng Gong, he led five regiments of the Northern Army, a total of 30,000 people, and prepared to conquer the Western Qiang.

Thirty thousand people is really a big deal.You know, Ban Chao and his party were trapped in the Western Regions, and they sent out 1,800 soldiers in total.However, just as the army was about to move out, a strange person jumped out and said something strange. This person is Sikong Fifth Lun. Wherever troops are used, there is the voice of opposition from Sikong Fifth Lun.This time, Fifth Lun did not oppose the use of troops against Xiqiang, but opposed Liu Da's employment.This person, of course, is Ma Fang. Why Fifth Lun said Liu Da in this way, you can understand by reading his memorial.What he meant was roughly as follows: I think it's okay for His Majesty to grant marquis titles to the relatives of the Ma family so that they can live a happy life as rich people.But if you mention them as officials now, it really shouldn't be.

If you think about it, you will know that it is easy for people to step on landmines in officialdom.If a relative of the Ma family violated the national law, how would you deal with it?I see how difficult it is for you to deal with it.If they are not punished and the laws of the country are ignored, how will they be accountable to the world?If they are cured, it will hurt the heart of Queen Mother Ma.So, you'd better think carefully about it. Liu Da looked at it and smiled again.The old way, ignore him. Fifth Lun, you old fritters, trying to fool me into taking away the horse defense.In fact, you already knew that if Liu Da could decide on the matter of being a Marquis, it would have been done long ago.The reason why it can't be done until now is not because the queen mother can't pass this test.If you use your bad trick, the matter of conferring the Ma family's relatives as marquis may have to be delayed, and it may be delayed until the end of time.

You are fine, and I am not stupid. Not much to say, just wait and see the good show.Facts have proved once again that Liu Da is worthy of being an excellent hunter.After he cast out his horse to guard against the eagle, he caught many rabbits soon after.Ma Fang became famous in the first battle on the front line, killing thousands of enemies and taking more than 10,000 prisoners. After catching so many rabbits, not to mention promotion, even the title of marquis is enough.So Liu Da, who accepted it as soon as he saw it, immediately issued an edict, calling Ma Fang the class teacher.Geng Gong stayed behind in Xiqiang, cleaned up the battlefield, and was responsible for wiping out the remaining rebels.

How about Geng Gong, even if the Xiqiang people have never seen him, they have always heard about how he risked his life in the Western Regions.To risk one's life with such a life-threatening person is simply courting death, so let's surrender.Sure enough, after Geng Gong beheaded more than a thousand people, the remnants of the Xiqiang rebels were frightened, and tens of thousands rushed to beg for mercy. I can finally call it a day.Soon, Liu Da also called Geng Gong's class teacher. However, when the high-spirited Geng Gong returned to Luoyang City, what awaited him was not heaven, but hell.Liu Da did not award him the best general award, but detained him, handed over the soldier talisman, and drove him home directly. God, what the hell is going on here? Politics has always been a game and a dream.Geng Gong didn't know that when he and Liu Da closed the door and proudly talked about the strategy of destroying the Qiang, Liu Da already regarded him as a pawn in his heart.And the reason why he was taken down was because he blocked another important chess piece.That chess piece is the relative Ma Fang. We all know that whether it is in the officialdom or the entertainment industry, if you want to make someone the brightest star in the sky, you must remove other stars.This is the rule, otherwise the sky is full of stars, how can they show their brilliance? In Liu Da's view, Ma Fang is his chess game, and he is also a highly praised star.If he wanted to make Ma Fang look brighter and brighter in the night sky of the Han Dynasty, he had to destroy the shining star Geng Gong first. The so-called bystanders are clear, while the authorities are confused.When we see things clearly, Geng Gong is falling into the trap of others step by step.His tragic situation today is mainly because he took an important wrong step before. The situation is like this, before Geng Gong set off to conquer the Western Qiang, he wrote a letter to Liu Da.He said that Dou Rong, the Marquis of Anfeng, once served as the governor of Liangzhou, and he won the hearts of Qiang and Hu, and never had any major troubles.As a child of the Dou family, Dou Gu once followed Dou Rong, and also led an army to conquer the Northern Huns, making great military exploits.Therefore, if you want Qiang Hu to live and work in peace, it is best to send Dou Gu to be the governor of Liangzhou.As for General Ma Fang, let him be stationed in Hanyang County. Geng Gong's memorial almost knocked Liu Jin down.The Hanyang group is under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou, and Ma Fang is Dou Gu's subordinate. What is this? It is obviously inconsistent with his star-making movement guidelines.In this case, there is only one way, throw away the pawn to protect the handsome, get rid of Geng Gong, and stop playing with him. Now I can finally see why Liu Da summoned the horse defense squad first and threw Geng Gong in the Qiang land.He just wanted to tell Ma Fang in advance that there was a rock trying to block his way, and he had to move it away with all his strength.How to move, this task is handed over to Ma Fang, as the emperor, he can only cooperate on the sidelines. But Geng Gong is a star, a very big star.There was Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty, Ban Chao in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Ban Chao surpassed Zhang Qian; there was Su Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, Geng Gong in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Geng Gongniu surpassed Su Wu.Ban Chao and Geng Gong were both dazzling stars in the sky of the Eastern Han Dynasty.It is not so difficult to take him down. wrong.If you want to add a crime, there is nothing to worry about.In Ma Fang's view, as long as the emperor is willing to cooperate with him, there will be no technical problems in removing Geng Gong.Sure enough, Ma Fang's cavalry came up and told Geng Gong that he didn't worry about the military at the front line, and his discipline was lax. After the report was typed up, Liu Da approved it without even reading it.In this way, Geng Gong was dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown.Unexpectedly, Geng Gong died at home shortly after he was driven out of Luoyang City. The first hero, unexpectedly ended up like this.I don't want it to be true, but it's all true. In fact, the big star Geng Gong didn't fail to see that Liu Da wanted to support Ma Fang.Instead, he sees clearly.However, he must block the opponent's way before Ma Fang becomes a big star in the Han Dynasty.He was not afraid that Ma Fang would rob him of his fame, but that one day, the other party would rob him of his job. The reason why Geng Gong had this idea was because of a fait accompli - the Geng family and the Dou family were old partners, and they were both enemies of the Ma family. Think about it a little harder, and that's how it happened.In the beginning, who made Fubo General Ma Yuan bear the unjust case and let him die without a place to bury him?One is Liang Song, one is Dou Gu, and the other is Geng Shu.Geng Shu was Ma Yuan's lieutenant when Ma Yuan went to war, but the two of them disagreed.After Ma Yuan was trapped, Geng Shu made a report, sued Ma Yuan, and stabbed him first.Then, Liang Song and Dou Gu heard the wind and moved, they stepped up one after another and stomped wildly, criticizing Ma Yuan and making him shameful. Geng Shu is the younger brother of Geng Yan, the founding hero, and the uncle of Geng Gong.You said, when Geng Shu stabbed Ma Yuan from the back, should Geng Gong be blamed?Besides, Geng Gong is going to join forces with Dou Gu, and is going to stand on Ma Fang's head, can Ma Fang sit still and wait for his death? The star was created, and Liu Da felt more at ease.Now, with martial arts and horse defense, Xiqiang has been dealt with, and the Western Regions have been crushed to death by Banchao, unable to move, and the border is considered to be fine.It basically meets the conditions set out by the Queen Mother at the beginning. Shouldn't it be time to give Uncle Ma a Marquis now? Liu Da thought about it suddenly, no, I almost missed it, and there was one more condition that was not met. This condition is - good weather and good harvest.The heavens help others, one year later, the whole country of the Han Dynasty had a bumper harvest, and there was nothing wrong with it.Liu Dan believes that now is the time for Queen Mother Ma to fulfill her promise. This time, Liu Da did not ask the Queen Mother for instructions, and directly issued an imperial edict to confer the title of Marquis of Shunyang on Ma Liao; Feng Xuhou. After finishing all this, Liu Da sent someone to report to Queen Mother Ma.After reading the report, Queen Mother Ma was in a gloomy mood, with melancholy eyes, and said: "I have lived a long time, but in the end I failed to keep the bottom line and let Your Majesty break the rule of not entrusting foreign relatives as marquises. I have regrets when I die. " Queen Ma's words quickly reached the ears of Ma Fang and the others. When they heard this, they were all frightened.Then, they wrote a letter together, asking Liu Da to be conferred the title of Marquis of Guannei.Marquis of Guannei, in name only, without fiefdom. However, Liu Da didn't listen, so he accepted it. This year was May 2, AD 79.Ma Fang and the other three brothers, the Marquis, all have the status of "Special Advancement".Tejin, ranked below the Sangong and above the princes. At this point, the contest between Liu Da and Queen Mother Ma was completely over, and the former won.One month later, on June 30, Empress Dowager Ma died. She was given the posthumous title of "Mingde" and was known as Empress Mingde in the world.