He was born after a famous general and an official family.

His ancestor Zhao Hao was the chief general of Zhao during the Warring States Period, because he had defeated the Qin ** team, and his credit was great, and he was given the title "Ma Fujun" by King Zhao Huiwen, and since then, his descendants have taken "Ma" as their surname.

I'm sorry, Zhao Hao's son Zhao Kuo has read military books since he was a child, and when he talks about the art of war, he is like a river, but when he goes to the battlefield to fight, he is ridiculed as "talking on paper".

Since the former Han Dynasty, the old Ma family was named a marquis, but in Ma Yuan's great-grandfather's generation, someone rebelled and was questioned, and the family road fell down, and when Ma Yuan was 12 years old, his parents died.

However, Ma Yuan's three elder brothers, Ma Guo, Ma Yu, and Ma Yuan, are very talented and lucky, and they became officials at the provincial and ministerial level during Wang Mang's period.

(Aiding the third brother, Yu, Yuan, and talented, Wang Mang was 2,000 stones.) ）

Although young and lonely, Ma Yuan has high aspirations. He studied "Qi Poems" under Manchang, a native of Yingchuan, and was able to integrate and understand without sticking to chapters and sentences.

Before he finished his studies, he resigned to his eldest brother, the then Henan Taishou Ma Condition, saying that he wanted to go to the frontier to cultivate fields and graze, but in fact, he also wanted to participate in social practice activities as soon as possible.

(Taste "Qi Poems", meaning that you can't keep the rules and sentences, but the situation, and you want to go to the border county to herd.) ）

What needs to be explained here is that, according to the above records of historical materials, some historians said that Ma Yuan's academic performance was not good, his mind was not on studying, and he asked to drop out of school because he couldn't study; The second is that he sees that his family is in the middle of the road, and wants to go to reclaim the land and graze to supplement the family.

This is all very debatable.

We believe that on the first question, Ma Yuan's study is very successful, and his "non-observance of rules and sentences" is just like Liu Xiu's "Receiving the "Book of Shang", which is slightly the same as the general righteousness", not just learning a half-understanding, on the contrary, both of them are good at grasping the spiritual essence of the text, but do not stick to the conventional conclusions, and closely integrate them with reality. We have seen and will see from their brothers and sons that although they have never studied part-time after joining the work, their deep understanding of Chinese culture is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

On the second question, he doesn't need to drop out of school to support his family. His three elder brothers are all senior cadres, and they have always raised and cared for him like parents, regardless of objective or subjective factors, the family does not need or can let him earn money to support his family as soon as possible.

Therefore, the only explanation is that Ma Yuan really wants to participate in social activities as soon as possible and realize his life ideals as soon as possible, because this is a new and troubled era, and the outside world is too exciting!

Therefore, when he resigned, the eldest brother Ma Guo understood him very well and said cordially:

"I know you have great talents, and you should be a late bloomer. A good craftsman won't show a heavy object that hasn't been formed yet, so just do what you want to do. ”

(You Dacai, that night.) Good work does not show simplicity, and follows what is good. ）

However, unfortunately, before Ma Yuan could drop out of school and leave home, the eldest brother Ma Guo passed away due to illness. So, he gave up traveling far away and mourned in the tomb of his eldest brother for 1 year, treating his widow and sister-in-law like his own mother.

It can be seen that although Ma Yuan, who was young and ambitious, did not plan to test the scriptures and find chapters and sentences in front of the yellow scroll lonely lamp, his personal words and deeds were deeply influenced by Confucianism, and he was meticulous in his obedience to etiquette and rules.

Later, he stepped into the official career and became the secretary of the political and legal committee of the provincial municipality (county governor post). However, we don't know if he was disappointed with Wang Mang's regime, or if he was not satisfied with the job, or for some other reason, he was not very enthusiastic about his work.

On one occasion, he was ordered to escort a prisoner who had committed a felony. But Ma Yuan sympathized with him very much, so he simply let him go privately, and he simply fled to the area of Beidi County (northwest of today's Qingyang, Gansu).

It can be seen that Ma Yuan, as a local state civil servant, is very chivalrous, generous, and has a relatively individual.

Soon, the imperial court granted amnesty, Ma Yuan was free, and animal husbandry was started in the local area. This was one of his initial aspirations in the past, and he did it with ease.

Soon, there were more and more families willing to work for him, reaching hundreds, and everyone joined him one after another, wanting to make a fortune together.

Ma Yuan led everyone to nomadic herding and migrated to today's Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi, and their economic strength also grew rapidly: there were thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep, and tens of thousands of grains.

Living a well-off life is no longer a problem for Ma Yuan.

He has been so successful in running a business, but the historical records do not record his management methods, but what is conclusively recorded is that he often did the ideological and political work of these business households. He used to say:

"The eldest husband is determined to be poor and strong, and old to be strong."

This idiom we are familiar with today is the mantra of Ma Yuan.

After getting rich, Ma Yuan did not pretend to be a big money. He often said with emotion:

"The most important thing to do is to be able to help the poor, otherwise, isn't it a miser?!"

So, he distributed all the belongings in his name to his brothers and friends, and he wore simple sheep's fur pants and lived a hard life.

(It is scattered in the old Bankundi, dressed in sheep's fur pants.) ）

It can be seen that Ma Yuan, who is a successful private entrepreneur, takes money very lightly and does not care about personal gains and losses.

In this way, in the turbid and troubled times, a person with lofty ambitions, ability, and not greedy for money is very worth looking forward to.

When Xin Mang was in turmoil, Wang Mang's cousin, General Wei Wang Lin recruited heroes from all over the world, and Ma Yuan and his fellow townsman Yuan Shi entered Wang Lin's sight and were recommended by Wang Lin. Ma Yuan was appointed as the new Cheng Dayin (i.e., Hanzhong Taishou).

However, Ma Yuan's official fortune did not go well, and Wang Mang soon perished, so he had to take refuge in Liangzhou (now Gansu).

But gold always shines. Not long after, when Kui Huan proclaimed himself the general of Xizhou, he was very short of manpower, so he invited Ma Yuan and appointed him as his Suide general.

Lao Kui attached great importance to Ma Yuan, let him participate in major military and political secrets, and help him make suggestions.

Now, Lao Kui wants to send people to focus on Gongsun Shu and Liu Xiu, who have publicly proclaimed the emperor, and feels that it is most appropriate for Ma Yuan to go.

However, for such an investigation, Lao Kui and Ma Yuan's inner thoughts are different.

Lao Kui's thoughts were a little complicated, he held the purpose of independent development and waiting for the opportunity to be called a brother, and wanted to see how to find Liu Xiu's weaknesses and defeat him; Gongsun Shu's ability and strength are poor, let's see how to use him as his helper, I really want to clean him up and have a chance in the future.

Ma Yuan is above board in his heart, he wants to find a strategic partner for Xizhou and, of course, for himself through further observation of the situation and face-to-face investigation of Gongsun Shu and Liu Xiu.

Let's go!

In the summer of 25 A.D., Ma Yuan first crossed the mountains and mountains to Chengdu to visit Gongsun Shu.

He did this, firstly, Gongsun Shu said that the emperor was 2 months earlier than Liu Xiu, let's take a look there, and secondly, he and Gongsun Shu were fellow villagers in Maoling, and they were good friends in the past, so they had something to say.

Ma Yuan felt that he had a good relationship with Gongsun Shu in the past, and this time they met, they must have shook hands and talked happily, and the wine was used as a song, and the two brothers had a good talk.

For this old friend who came from afar, Gongsun Shu extended a warm welcome in his own way.

This welcome is very long-winded.

First of all, he arranged a very luxurious lineup of guards, accompanied by many officials, and prepared a scene for the Son of Heaven to meet the guests, so that Ma Yuan could meet him.

Then, he had an official conversation with Ma Yuan, exchanged pleasantries, and arranged for Ma Yuan to go to the hotel to rest.

Then, he ordered to go down and have Ma Yuan make a low-level cadre's official uniform and put it on.

Later, he gathered hundreds of civil and military officials in the temple and held a banquet to entertain Ma Yuan.

During the banquet, Gongsun Shu welcomed the arrival of Ma Yuan, and said that the empire was founded, and it was the time to employ people, and he planned to give Lao Ma a marquis, hoping that Lao Ma could serve the cause of the empire.

Ma Yuan did not say anything on the spot.

Back at the hotel, Ma Yuan's entourage was very happy, thinking that Gongsun Shu was interesting enough, not only did he receive him well, but also had rich political courtesy, and everyone wanted to stay and develop.

However, Ma Yuan was very unimpressed.

He believes that Gongsun Shu's pomp and circumstance is not a warm welcome and grand reception to himself, but a kind of show-off and a kind of bluff.

He said to everyone:

"Now the world is divided, and it is not yet decided. Gongsun Shu can't be like Zhou Gong Tubu to hold the hair to receive the country's scholars, recruit talents, and work together for a great cause, but bluff and pretend, how can he retain the world's talents? ! ”

(How long has this son been in the world!) ）

So, Ma Yuan decisively led his entourage to bid farewell to Gongsun Shu and go back to return to Kui Huan.

He truthfully recounted what he saw and heard during his trip to Chengdu, and clearly expressed his attitude to Lao Kui:

"Gongsun Shu is just a frog at the bottom of the well, arrogant and pretentious, and it is difficult to become a big weapon. We might as well concentrate on marrying Liu Xiu in the east. ”

Lao Kui knew it in his heart.

It should be said that Lao Kui still believes in Ma Yuan's words.

Soon, Gongsun Shu repeatedly attached equal importance to grace and power, and wanted to promote and reuse him, but he was unmoved, which is also one of the main reasons.

After that, Lao Kui began a political honeymoon with Liu Xiu.

In the winter of 28 A.D., Ma Yuan came to Luoyang with a handwritten letter from Kui Huan to visit Liu Xiu.

At this time, Liu Xiu was faced with many local separatist forces that needed to be settled, and even Nanyang, the imperial township, was not peaceful, so he attached great importance to visitors from Xizhou.

However, the importance is attached, and Liu Xiu did not put on a show at all when receiving Ma Yuan.

On this day, in the Xuande Hall in Luoyang, Ma Yuan reported his name and intention, that is, he was guided in by a eunuch (Zhonghuangmen).

Ma Yuan was surprised that not only was there no obvious tight lineup of guards, many accompanying officials, but even Liu Xiu himself was not pretentious: Liu Xiu sat there, dressed completely casually, and even his headscarf was loosely drooping.

However, Liu Xiu's attitude is very sincere.

As soon as he saw Ma Yuan coming in, Liu Xiu said hello and said with a smile:

"It's a shame that you went back and forth between the two emperors, and I only saw you today!"

(Qing traveled between the two emperors, and now he sees Qing, which makes people ashamed.) ）

Of course, Liu Xiu has something to say.

Talking and laughing before meeting can undoubtedly make people relax, especially in the war years, and when it is time to meet the living; The "Second Emperor" refers to Gongsun Shu and Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu is obviously also a little dissatisfied with Ma Yuan's defection to Lao Kui first, and then to Chengdu, and only now to come to Luoyang; As for the shame, it is completely Liu Xiu's sarcasm in his humility.

Ma Yuan is not an idle person, and when he heard this, he hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him, and then said without humility or arrogance:

"In this day and age, it is not only the monarch who chooses his courtiers, but also the courtiers who choose the monarch. Chen and Gongsun Shu are fellow villagers in the same county, and they were good friends when they were young. Last time, when the minister went to him in Chengdu, he was closely guarded and heavily guarded, and then he saw the minister. Now, the minister has come from afar, how can His Majesty be sure that the minister is not an assassin or a traitor, so he is unguarded and casually receives the minister? ”

Liu Xiu laughed again and said:

"You're not an assassin, you're a lobbyist."

Liu Xiu is so relaxed and natural, and casual and humorous, she quickly made the atmosphere very cordial and easy-going.

Next, the two pointed out in a cordial and friendly atmosphere.

Ma Yuan said:

"The world is capricious and turbulent, and there are countless people who deceive the world and steal their reputation. Today, when the minister saw His Majesty, he found that His Majesty was magnificent and magnanimous, just like the ancestor back then, and knew that there was a real emperor in the world at present! ”

The two talked very speculatively.

Liu Xiu admired Ma Yuan's insight and temperament very much, felt that he was different, and simply kept him by his side.

Liu Xiu was originally eager for talent, so he often took horse aid on business trips.

Soon, Liu Xiu took Ma Yuan to the south, from Liqiu to the East China Sea, and he always let Ma Yuan accompany him. After returning, Liu Xiu immediately appointed Ma Yuan as an advisor to the imperial court.

(The emperor is very strong.) Aid was transferred from Nanxing Liqiu to the East China Sea. And also, thought to wait for the edict. ）

However, Ma Yuan is very faithful, and he thinks that he was originally assigned by Kui Huan to Luoyang on a business trip, so he has to give Kui Huan an explanation.

So, he proposed to Liu Xiu that he should go back to Xizhou to resume his life.

Liu Xiu felt that what Ma Yuan said was very reasonable.

In the autumn of 29 A.D., in order to show that he attached great importance to Xizhou, Kui Huan, and Ma Yuan, Liu Xiu sent Dr. Taizhong to accompany Ma Yuan back to Xizhou.

At this time, Lai Shu also had a task, carrying with him a handwritten letter written by Liu Xiu to Kui Huan, as well as the appointment documents and ribbons for Kui Huan.

(So that the Taizhong doctor came to the festival to send aid to the west and returned to Longyou, because the seal book was in the hustle.) ）

We haven't read the specific content of this letter, and we don't know what position Liu Xiu intends to give Lao Kui, we only know that Liu Xiu sincerely asked Lao Kui to make a substantial return as soon as possible, and the position given to Lao Kui must not be too low.

Kui Huan has always been humble in his treatment of talents, and he has always been supportive.

Now seeing Ma Yuan return from afar, Lao Kui was very happy, and he ate, lived and lived with him for many days, and inquired with him in many ways to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation of Liu Xiu and the Luoyang regime.

It can be said that how chaotic the world is now, how complicated Lao Kui's scheming is.

Ma Yuan was neither humble nor arrogant in front of Liu Xiu, but here Lao Kui showed his admiration for Liu Xiu.

In fact, after more than half a year of field investigation and personal experience by Liu Xiu's side, Ma Yuan has made up his mind and made up his mind to follow Liu Xiu and make contributions under Liu Xiu.

Now, he does not hide his views and thoughts from his current leadership.

He truthfully reported to Lao Kui what he had seen and felt in the past six months, and when he talked about Liu Xiu himself, he described it like this:

"This time I went to the imperial court, the emperor received me 14 times, and when I started chatting, it was often from morning to night, all night. The emperor's talent, sage, bravery, and strategy are beyond the reach of ordinary people. Moreover, the emperor is frank and honest, not pretentious, open-minded, taking into account the overall situation, and not being informal, these are similar to Gaozu. In addition, the emperor also had extremely high theoretical attainments, proficient in scriptures, and well-read, whether it was the ability to deal with government affairs, or the eloquence of writing, his predecessors could not compare. ”

Although Lao Kui is very humble on the surface, he wants to go it alone in his heart, and he is also very conceited and stubborn in his bones.

Liu Xiu is so good, where do I put it?!

He couldn't help but ask:

"So, how do you say he compares to Han Gaozu?"

Lao Kui wanted to offset Ma Yuan's praise for Liu Xiu: Do you say that Liu Xiu can still be stronger than Han Gaozu? If so, it would be disrespectful to denigrate the former sages; If not, Liu Xiu is like that!

Ma Yuan, as a loyal fan of Liu Xiu, answered 12 points cleverly:

"It's not comparable. Gaozu is indispensable in doing things. Now the emperor likes to rule officials, is good at employing people, behaves in moderation and law, and is not good at drinking. ”

Here, Ma Yuan not only said that Han Gaozu was still superior to Han Gaozu in general, but also specifically pointed out several places where Liu Xiu was superior to Han Gaozu.

Lao Kui was very unhappy when he heard this, and said angrily:

"According to what you say, isn't Liu Xiu better than Liu Bang again?"

However, although he was a little sour in his heart to praise Liu Xiu for Ma Yuan, Lao Kui still believed Ma Yuan's words.

He had long known Liu Xiu's strength and prestige, and he completely believed in Ma Yuan's vision and insight, but he was just not convinced.

Liu Xiu, a terrible person who cannot be ignored!

Lai Xi originally returned to Luoyang after delivering the appointment documents and horse aid to Lao Kui, and then returned to Xizhou.

He still said those words, and strongly persuaded Kui Huan to hurry up and take substantial measures to return to Liu Xiu and go to Luoyang to become an official.

At this time, Liu Xiu had already subdued Red Eyebrows, beheaded Deng Feng, cut off Zhang Feng, and obtained Peng Chong's head, and had just broken Dong Xian and Pang Meng, recruited Zhang Bu, and was looking for someone to fight in all directions, looking aggressive.

Lao Kui thought to himself, Liu Xiu is so good and so vigorous, if he fights with him now, it will be tantamount to looking for a draw, so it is better to formally submit to him first and then make a plan.

However, he also thinks that when he goes to Luoyang, the leg that he steps out of is the water that is splashed out, and if he really gets into Liu Xiu's hands, it will be impossible to slip off again.

So, he thought of a compromise solution: he made it clear that he was a vassal to Liu Xiu, sent his eldest son Kui Sui to Luoyang to serve the emperor, and he would not go to Luoyang for the time being.

He did this, of course, to win Liu Xiu's trust, and secondly, he was afraid that Liu Xiu would find a reason to do it to himself.

As for not going to Luoyang for the time being, the reason he told Lai Shi was that he did not have any merit, and he did not pursue high-ranking officials, so he would take care of the Xizhou area first, and when this side stabilized, he would retire.

(If there is no merit, the Quartet must be pacified and retreated.) ）

Of course, this reason is purely fooling, but he insists on not going, and he can't kidnap him.

Lai Shehe and Kui returned to Luoyang, Ma Yuan asked to go with him, and he also brought his family and guests on the road.

Since then, Ma Yuan has followed Liu Xiu, and he has been loyal all his life and has no regrets.

(The family members will be returned to Luoyang with the aid cause.) ）

This work has achieved certain results, and Liu Xiu fully affirmed it: he was immediately promoted to Zhonglang General, appointed Kui Xianhu Cavalry Captain, and named the Marquis of Qiang.

However, when Ma Yuan arrived in Luoyang, Liu Xiuyi did not arrange a position for him for several months.

(Stayed for a few months without any other position.) ）

Regarding Liu Xiu's failure to use horse aid in time this time, it has caused a lot of speculation in history.

Some historians say that Liu Xiu is very impatient with Ma Yuan going back and forth between several talents; Some say that Liu Xiu had doubts about Ma Yuan's return to Shun, and deliberately ignored him and wanted to dry him; Some are puzzled by Liu Xiu's approach - "Emperor Guangwu does not use aid, I don't know what it means?" ”

Through extensive study of the canonical history and repeated comparisons and screenings, I believe that the above statements are very debatable.

Although Liu Xiu was dissatisfied with Ma Yuan's rotation between Kui Huan, Gongsun Shu and himself, he said it when they first met, and he didn't take it to heart anymore, otherwise he would not have appointed him as an advisor to the imperial court. As for Ma Yuan's several trips back and forth between Luoyang and Xizhou later, it was completely in accordance with Liu Xiu's assignment and close cooperation with Lai She, doing the work of encircling the hustle and bustle.

(A number of envoys and envoys came and went, persuaded them to enter the court, and promised to be heavy.) ）

It is also wrong to say that Liu Xiu deliberately wanted to dry the horse aid.

Ma Yuan has played an important and irreplaceable role in the work of enveloping the hustle and bustle, Liu Xiu is not unaware, and furthermore, Liu Xiu is also very appreciative of Ma Yuan's loyalty, ability and insight, and intends to focus on cultivating and using him.

Then, our only and reasonable explanation is that Liu Xiu stood at the height of the overall situation and considered the use of Ma Yuan, the key training object, and the arrangement of the superiors who were the key target and also Ma Yuan. Since Lao Kui is still waiting, the use of horse aid may as well be calmly discussed.

In Liu Xiu's philosophy of employing people, we should have a high degree of trust and let go of the key training objects, and we should fully respect and not delegate power to the key training objects. And if the relationship between the two is originally superior-subordinate, the situation is delicate, and it is necessary to be very cautious and cautious.

Not long ago, Peng Pet, the key target of encirclement, saw that the position of Wu Han, the key training target, surpassed himself, and his former subordinates became his own leader, and he was always hopeless to be promoted, so he simply reversed.

This case is very instructive!

Soon, Liu Xiu and Ma Yuan will use practical actions to prove our above analysis.