The most perfect empress in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty is not the famous Yin Lihua, but the Empress Ma of Mingde, the younger daughter of the Fubo general Ma Yuan. It is no exaggeration to say that even in the entire history of ancient China, Empress Matilda is qualified to be among the best.
Empress Ma entered the palace at the age of twelve, died in her forties, and her reputation was overflowing behind her, and no one could single out half a word for her. In the palace full of conflicts of interest, it can be said to be a miracle.
When the empress was proposed, empress dowager Yin Lihua said: "Ma Guiren Deguan harem, that is, its people also." In a word, it unquestionably pushed Ma Shi to the throne of the Empress.
The struggle for favors among harem women is not only natural, but also the inevitable demand for interests, but Empress Ma takes the initiative to share grace with other concubines. She often sighed that the emperor's heirs were not enough, so she constantly recommended concubines to Emperor Hanming, and the more times whoever received the emperor's invitation, the more generously Ma Shi treated whom.
It should be known that Empress Ma herself did not have children in her life, and only adopted Liu Zhao, the son of Jia Guiren. Liu Qi was the later Emperor Zhang of Han, and Empress Ma regarded him as her own and devoted herself to raising him, and the mother and son never had any suspicion in their lives. After Liu Zhao ascended the throne, he treated Empress Ma far better than his birth mother, and state affairs have always respected Empress Ma's decisions.
Empress Ma was frugal and widowed all her life, and she did not have fun. Once, when the relatives of the Emperor went to the palace to ask for her peace, they saw the Queen wearing a chic coat from a distance, thinking that it was some kind of special material silk yarn. When they got closer, the crowd couldn't help but laugh, and it turned out to be sparsely woven fabric.
Empress Ma opposed extravagance and waste throughout her life, and among the relatives of the emperor and the state, who dared to decorate the carriage with gold and silver, they were directly drawn from the list of relatives and driven back to their hometown. Whoever maintains a modest and simple style, the Empress Ma will spare no effort to commend and reward. She even planted mulberry breeding in the Maolong Garden, set up weaving rooms, and made the harem women self-sufficient, and she herself often participated in labor.
Among the imperial relatives, the most unfortunate group was the Ma clan, and empress Ma was extremely strict with them, to the extent of deliberate suppression. After Emperor Zhang of Han ascended the throne, according to the custom, he wanted to crown Empress Ma's three brothers Ma Liao, Ma Fang, and Ma Guang as marquises, but she refused twice.
In ancient times, virtuous women like Empress Ma were not uncommon at all, and these performances alone were certainly not enough to be perfect. In fact, Empress Ma was a female politician with both moral integrity and ability.
When Emperor Han Ming was alive, whenever he encountered a major matter that was difficult to resolve in the middle of the dynasty, he always had to consult Empress Ma, and Empress Ma was able to help Emperor Han Mingdi analyze it very thoroughly every time. What is even more rare is that in the face of disagreements, Empress Ma will not flatter Emperor Hanming, but use techniques to persuade Emperor Hanming.
The biggest problem in Emperor Hanming's life was harshness, and the use of the law was too harsh. Empress Ma took out the compassion of the woman and advised Emperor Hanming many times. Once, Emperor Han Ming was said to have been sleepless all night, and finally realized that his style became more and more lenient since then.
After the death of Emperor Ming of Han, Empress Ma personally wrote the "Records of the Living Of Emperor Xianzong" and undertook the auxiliary work for Emperor Zhangdi of Han. She can even act as a teacher in her spare time, teaching the little princes the scriptures.
All we can say is that human talent is sometimes gifted. Empress Ma not only has the insight into affairs, but also the ability to solve problems, and she is also very outstanding in her communication skills. For example, Emperor Ming of Han would sometimes indulge in pleasure, and Empress Ma did not put on a straight face to advise, but euphemistically admonished on the grounds that "the wind and evil dew and fog hurt the body".
I am afraid that the harem during the Ming Dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the most peaceful "family" in history, which benefited from the credit of Empress Ma.
The horse queen's abilities were evident when she was nine years old. After Ma Yuan's unjust death, the Ma family's court was cold, the house leaked and on a rainy day, Ma Yuan's most intelligent young son Ma Keqing died prematurely. Madame Ma could not bear the blow and was insane.
When she was still a child, Empress Ma actually took on the responsibility of a mother, dispatched child servants, accepted the affairs of the family inside and outside the home, listened to reports, and made decisions, just like a little adult.
Therefore, the horse queen has a reason to accept the worship of posterity.
However, reading the "Chronicle of Empress Mingdema", in addition to reverence, there is always an inexplicable, inexplicable deficiency. There is no perfection in the world, and behind all perfection, there must be a place for people to sigh and sigh. Is there a flaw behind the perfection of the horse queen?
Yes! First of all, her personal feelings with Emperor Ming of Han mixed with moisture, and Empress Ma was suspected of excessive self-restraint.
Ma's appointment as empress occurred in the third year of Yongping, and it is reasonable to say that the emperor should have been crowned empress in the second year after he took the throne, so why did Emperor Hanming delay for three years?
There is a small detail that reveals the clues: when the empress was proposed, The Han Ming Emperor did not express his position, and it was Yin Lihua who took a fancy to Ma Shi. In fact, the most favored woman of the Han Ming Emperor was not Ma Shi, but a yin nobleman.
This Yin Nobleman's life is unknown, and he should be a member of Yin Lihua's clan. The Yin nobles bore Emperor Hanming a son, Liu Chang, because he was favored, and his son was noble to his mother, and Liu Chang was sealed in the rich Liang kingdom, and the rental income was several times that of other princes.
Since the Yin nobles are favored and are the mother's family of the Yin Empress, why not make the Yin nobles empresses?
Emperor Hanming had difficulties, and Yin Lihua had even more difficulties, because the children of the Yin clan did not fight and suffered too much blame.
The Eastern Han Dynasty regime was a model for the magnate clan and the imperial power to rule the world together, and who would be the empress and who would be the prince was related to the next round of interest appeals of the magnate clan. Therefore, in the case of Yin Lihua occupying the first empress, the second empress is still surnamed Yin, which is bound to trigger a rebound from the giant group.
Scum appeared one after another in the Yin family, and the impact was very bad. In the second year of Yongping, Yin Lihua's nephew Yin Feng brazenly killed his wife, Liu Shou, the princess of Liyi.
This incident made Yin Lihua very passive, and also made Emperor Hanming furious. Under pressure, Emperor Ming of Han ordered Yin Feng to be executed and ordered Yin Feng's father, Yin Yi and his wife, to commit suicide. If the son commits a crime, how can he not need his father and mother to eat the pot and burn? Yin is Yin Lihua's brother! The problem lies in Yin, this guy has always been arrogant, making Liu Xiu have a headache at the beginning, and only his father has his son.
The Yin family themselves handed over the handle to the hands of the rich group, and the Yin nobles were favored again, and the Han Ming Emperor also had to weigh it!
Yin Guiren is out, and there are still three candidates to consider, one is Jia Shi, the birth mother of Emperor Han Zhang, and the other is Yan Guiren, the two sisters of Shang Shu Yan Zhang. Why didn't Emperor Hanming choose them?
These three people have the same meaning to the Han Ming Emperor, they are all the daughters of the magnate group, and choosing them is equivalent to giving the next emperor the conditions for creating the monopoly of foreign relatives. Therefore, in the case of the Yin clan out, the Han Ming Emperor must choose the least powerful family as a foreign relative.
Mars meets exactly that condition! After Ma Yuan's death, the Ma clan was bullied and almost kicked out of the ranks of the giants. Ma Yan, Ma's cousin, was forced to cancel Ma's marriage contract with Dou and send the three Ma sisters into the palace together, playing a big gamble of fate. Unexpectedly, the situation in the government a few years later actually sent good news to Ma Shi.
Therefore, Ma Shi was made empress, the so-called Han Ming Emperor favor, is by no means the main reason, the empress is a political product, politics is the first factor that The Han Ming Emperor should consider.
We can also see this from Emperor Hanming's attitude towards Ma Yuan. When selecting the list of heroes of Yuntai, Liu Cang, the king of Dongping, once asked Emperor Hanming in surprise: Why is Ma Yuan not among them?
According to Ma Yuan's merits, it is not a question of whether he should be on the list, but a question of whether he can fight for the top three, and Ma Yuan is now the abbot of the Han Ming Emperor.
Emperor Hanming laughed at this and did not explain. In fact, Liu Cang did not understand the mind of Emperor Hanming, as long as he saw another fact, he should suddenly realize: even if Ma Shi was made empress, Ma Yuan's grievances have not been rehabilitated! It was not until a year before the death of Emperor Hanming that he ordered the construction of an ancestral hall for Ma Yuan's tomb, which was regarded as an untrite rehabilitation for Ma Yuan.
This fact actually shows that Emperor HanMing intended to suppress the Hou clan, and he needed a weak Hou Clan. More cruelly, Ma shi is his pawn in balancing the game.
There is a story in the history books that once The Han Ming Emperor gathered all the talents in the garden to rejoice, and everyone said that the empress should be invited to come. Emperor Hanming smiled: she didn't like to play, and it was not fun to come. From then on, whenever there was entertainment, the queen of horses was not invited.
It can be seen from this that Empress Ma is only another need of Emperor HanMing, a tool that comes and goes when summoned, and like this kind of human pleasure, Emperor Hanmingdi believes that it should not belong to Empress Ma.
It is a bit cruel to say this, is it false in the history books to say that Emperor Hanming favored Empress Ma?
I think the history books use inappropriate words, or talk about emotions out of human nature. The accurate statement should be that Most of The Han Ming Emperor and Empress Ma are political couples, lacking the love of humanity, and the feelings of the Han Ming Emperor for The Ma Empress are more "respect" and add a little "trust".
How does Empress Ma see this? Apparently, because of her father's plight, she became extremely precocious and prematurely understood the nature of political interests. Therefore, she has tried her life to restrain her desires and bind herself firmly to the moral standard.
For example, she took the initiative to recommend concubines for Emperor Ming of Han. We cannot doubt Ma's mind, but we cannot believe that a person can completely obliterate human nature, and there can be no self-repression of Empress Ma.
For example, isn't she eager to wash her father's justice? Why didn't Empress Ma make this request all her life? Because she knows that this is not simply a private matter of the Ma family, but behind it are political interests, so she must be restrained!
What is surprising is that this self-restraint of Empress Ma has actually broken away from "grievances" and become her personal "Tao". When she refused to give the three brothers the title of marquis twice, she said this sentence: "The husband is filial to the journey, and the peace is the best." ”
This means that the best filial piety for relatives is to let them "settle down." When we said these words, we seemed to be able to see that the heart of the horse queen's scab trembled slightly.
Glory is like smoke clouds, power is like floating dust, think of when General Ma was alive, how beautiful the Ma clan was, in the blink of an eye, even a cemetery could not be sought, all this is not due to the imperial power? Therefore, the power in hand is equivalent to pinching a bomb, in order not to let future generations, and then experience the pain of life and death, or fear to stay away.
Empress Ma was like this, self-restraint throughout her life, always refusing to allow the Ma clan to approach power. This is not a self-aggrandizement of personal virtue, but a need for security from the heart.
Unfortunately, few people in the world can reach the realm of Empress Ma, and after her, the Eastern Han Dynasty power field staged a scene, a tragedy that was much more tragic than Ma Yuan's year.
In the sixth year of the founding of the people, Empress Ma of Mingde was seriously ill, and in the face of the helpless Tai Doctor, Emperor Zhang of Han ordered a blessing ceremony to be held for her. Ma Shi smiled indifferently: Wu Zhu is not credible, life and death are determined by the destiny of heaven, don't hurt the wealth in vain.
A few months later, a generation of sages died of illness, although she did not even leave her name, but her brilliance shone for a thousand years!