Chapter 6: The End of Eternity 3. Reason
In the 25th year of Jianwu, Ma Yuan attacked the Wuling barbarians. When the army reached Xiajuan, there were two ways to the enemy camp. One was to go deep into the enemy camp from Hutou. Although the road was short, the road was in poor condition and dangerous along the way. The other was to go through Chongxian. Although the road was easy to walk, the battle line was very long. At that time, the deputy general Geng Shu suggested to go through Chongxian. Ma Yuan thought that the supply route was too long and the consumption of food and grass was too great, which was not conducive to the war, so he chose to go deep into the heart of the barbarians from Hutou.
As the saying goes, a general is not always subject to orders from the king when he is away from the battlefield, let alone when on the march. If there are disagreements, one naturally has to obey the commander-in-chief. Unexpectedly, the matter became deadlocked , and in the end both decisions were reported to the court and placed before Liu Xiu.
I am very disgusted by the practice of requiring Liu Xiu to do everything personally. Although Liu Xiu was a capable and good emperor, no matter how trivial the matter was, it had to be reported to the emperor. The emperor had to specify how to do everything and teach everyone step by step. This is really not much different from Liu Xiu leading the army himself.
If Liu Xiu was in good health, I wouldn't mind him no matter how much trouble he went through, but now his health is really slow. After two strokes, how could he have the energy and brainpower to do everything himself? These generals with rich combat experience are not only unable to share the worries and work, but also do not distinguish between big and small matters, and report to the court at every turn, disturbing the emperor. In my eyes, this is simply a manifestation of incompetence.
Liu Xiu finally approved the strategy of the commander Ma Yuan, and the army advanced from Hutou. Just when I thought the matter had been resolved, Geng Yan presented a letter to Liu Xiu at a court meeting one day. The content of the letter was written by Geng Shu to his brother. It roughly said that he had previously written a letter to offer advice to go through Chong County. Although the supply route was long, it could ensure the safety of the troops and horses. Now he was trapped in Hutou, unable to advance or retreat. Tens of thousands of soldiers endured the scorching heat and would soon be killed or wounded. The whole army was annihilated, which was a pity. Previously, in Linxiang, the barbarians suddenly gathered in front of the camp. Originally, they could have annihilated the enemy by attacking at night, but Ma Yuan was like a Western Region merchant doing small business. He had to stop at every place he went, so that he missed the opportunity and suffered setbacks. Now the heat stroke epidemic is spreading, just as he expected at the beginning, all because Ma Yuan did not listen to his advice.
To be honest, when Liu Xiu passed the letter to me, I felt very depressed for a moment. Forty thousand lives were trapped in the hot and scorching red and white land of Hutou, and they were in a dilemma. But we can't just listen to Geng Shu's one-sided words and blindly believe that Ma Yuan was wrong. In my personal consciousness, I always feel that these two people, one is the main general and the other is the deputy general. They may have contradictory opinions, but the quarrel has reached such a point that it really makes people feel that these two people's behavior is like a joke.
"I intend to send Liang Bosun to Wuling to question Ma Yuan about the whole matter and temporarily serve as the military supervisor!"
I agreed and also made a suggestion: "I think it's hard to draw an accurate conclusion if we dwell too much on who is right and who is wrong, whether it's Ma Yuan or Geng Shu. There is another deputy general on this expedition, so why not let Bo Sun also ask Ma Wu's opinion."
Liu Xiu acquiesced, so the next day Liang Song bid farewell to his wife and took a post carriage to Wuling.
A few days after Liang Song arrived at Wuling, he received news from Wuling that Ma Yuan was indeed as Geng Shu said, and the evidence was solid. The soldiers had long been dissatisfied with him, and the morale of the army was greatly frustrated. After that, more news came back one after another, saying that when Ma Yuan went to Jiaozhi in the south, he returned to the court with a cart of pearls and rhinoceros horns, and also attached the testimonies of Ma Wu and Hou Yu. Once this matter was exposed, the whole court was in an uproar, and officials in the court submitted memorials one after another, saying that this matter was indeed true, but at that time General Fu Bo was so famous and powerful that no one dared to speak out.
The repeated accusations finally made the good-tempered Liu Xiu furious, and he issued an edict to revoke Ma Yuan's seal of the Marquis of Xinxi. Not long after the edict was issued, Liang Song sent back news that Ma Yuan had died, implying that he had committed suicide out of fear of guilt and shame.
In the scorching heat of midsummer, Ma Yuan's body was transported back from Wuling. Ma Yuan's wife and children came to collect the body, but they did not dare to transport Ma Yuan's coffin back to the ancestral tomb for burial. They just bought a few acres of land in the west of the city and buried it hastily.
A famous general of that generation would end up like this. Not only was it difficult to find a place to live after his death, but he also lost his reputation. While sighing, I can't help but think that it was thanks to him that Wei Xiang was able to win over. Since he defected to the Han Dynasty, he has fought countless battles and made many military achievements. It was only because of his greed that he brought about the disaster today.
Thinking of our past friendship, I was interested in his affairs after his death. As the saying goes, when a person dies, it is like a light going out. Since he is dead, those sins have been atoned for and his family should not be implicated. I never thought that before I sent anyone to investigate, Ma Yuan's wife and children had already come to visit on their own.
For several days, Ma Yuan's wife and children knelt at the entrance of the palace to plead guilty. The entrance of the palace was the only way for all officials to wait in line for the court. It is said that Ma Yuan's nephew Ma Yan tied himself, Ma Yuan's wife Lin, Ma Yuan's four sons, and three unmarried daughters together with straw ropes and knelt under the palace gate of Suzaku Gate. In such a hot summer, ordinary people would feel stuffy and unbearable hiding indoors, so how could those women and children bear kneeling under the scorching sun?
Liu Xiu had no choice but to send Liang Song's memorial to them and inform them of Ma Yuan's crimes. He thought this would stop them from doing stupid things, but he didn't expect that they would write a petition to appeal after returning home at night. During the day, they would kneel at the palace gate in a mighty procession, and they did this repeatedly, submitting six petitions in succession.
I was extremely surprised by this. Such perseverance made me look at Ma Yuan's family with admiration, but also made me a little confused.
Liu Xiu still ignored the complaint, but unexpectedly, the former Yunyang County Magistrate Zhu Bo also knelt in the palace and wrote a letter to defend Ma Yuan. Zhu Bo's letter was handed to Liu Xiu. Although Liu Xiu did not say that Ma Yuan's crime was pardoned, he agreed to Ma Yuan's family's request and allowed him to be buried in the ancestral tomb.
After that, Liu Xiu could not sleep well at night, often waking up before dawn. Occasionally, when he closed his eyes and lay in bed, he could always hear his sighs. I became more and more suspicious, so I asked someone to copy down the entire text of Zhu Bo's memorial, asked Su He to read it through, and then explained it to me word by word.
The full text is more than 700 words, and every word is written with tears. This old man in his sixties knelt in the palace to ask for a book for his friend. His sincerity is no less than that of Li Zhen who risked his life to ask for Ouyang Xu's life.
Su He finished her explanation in a very low voice. I knew that my face did not look good, so the child did not dare to make a sound after reading. I could not bear to scare her, so I motioned for her to go out, and then called Shanan in.
"How did Ma Yuan die? Zhu Bo's memorial said that the army was suffering from a serious heatstroke epidemic at the time, and not only the soldiers were sick, but even Ma Yuan was not immune. If he really died of illness, how could he have committed suicide out of fear of punishment?"
Shanan listened to me quietly, lowered her head and thought for a long time, then said hesitantly: "In my opinion, this matter is over, there is no need to pursue it further. Since Your Majesty has determined his guilt, then he is naturally guilty."
I was stunned. This sounded so familiar! Back then, there were many suspicious points in the Ouyang Xu case, but I just turned a blind eye and got away with it.
But……
"It's different..." Thinking back to Liu Xiu's tossing and turning, unable to sleep, I sighed helplessly. Older people always look back on the past unconsciously. Some of the mistakes they made when they were young may not seem so bad at the time, but as they grow older, they often find it difficult to express their feelings. In the early years, in order to undermine the three officials, Liu Xiu's methods of dealing with Han Xin, Ouyang Xu and others were indeed a bit harsh. After that, Liu Xiu was often depressed. As a result, I asked Ma Yuan to persuade him and comfort him. I didn't expect that now the cause and effect will be cyclical, and such a thing will happen to Ma Yuan himself.
Three years ago, Nanyang was hit by a major earthquake, and Liu Xiu believed that it was his early implementation of land measurement and his harsh policies that angered the gods and brought about the disaster. It would be best if Ma Yuan got what he deserved, but if he was wrongly wronged, Liu Xiu would be sad for the rest of his life.
"My Queen!" Shanan couldn't understand my thoughts, so she kindly reminded me again, "That's your son-in-law!"
I was shocked and stunned.
This is truly a serious problem that cannot be avoided!
Zhu Bo's memorial had already revealed some suspicious points in the case. If we really dig deeper, we will inevitably find something unsightly. As for what will be found, it is still unknown, but one thing is foreseeable now - if Ma Yuan is not guilty, then Liang Song, who verified that Ma Yuan was guilty, will not be able to escape the blame.
I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to give up. I think this is the reason why Liu Xiu was tossing and turning. If Ma Yuan is innocent, then who is guilty? Is it Liang Song, Ma Wu, Hou Yu, the civil and military officials in the court, or the emperor?
