In 60 AD, Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, decreed that the portraits of twenty-eight founding heroes of the Eastern Han Dynasty should be enshrined in the Nangong Yuntai, that is, the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai. One day, Liu Cang, the king of Dongping, followed Emperor Ming of Han to Yuntai. After reading the portrait, Liu Cang was very puzzled and asked the imperial brother, "Why is there no portrait of General Ma Yuan of Fubo?" Emperor Hanming laughed and did not answer. In fact, like Liu Cang, we all have this question, why is the famous general Ma Yuan not selected as the twenty-eighth general of Yuntai?
First, the Southern Expedition to the Northern War
Ma Yuan, a native of Fufeng Maoling, was reluctant to study in his early years, worked as a county governor, and also went to the north to farm and graze, "to the point where there are thousands of cattle, horses and sheep, and tens of thousands of grains." But Ma Yuan did not want to be just a rich man, because he had great ambitions. During Wang Mang's reign, Ma Yuan served as the new Chengda Yin, and later defected to the warlord Kui Huan, who had divided Longxi. Kui Huan attached great importance to Ma Yuan, "taking aid as a general of Suide and making decisions and making plans". Later, as an emissary, Ma Yuan met liu xiu, the Guangwu Emperor, and urged Kui Huan to surrender.
However, Kui Huan was very ambitious, and eventually chose to go to war with Liu Xiu, while Ma Yuan was attached to Emperor Guangwu. Ma Yuan was very familiar with Kui Huan's situation, and he "piled rice into mountains" to help Emperor Guangwu smoothly pacify Longxi. After that, Ma Yuan first defended Longxi and fought against the Qiang, then was ordered to march south to pacify the Lingnan region, and then attacked Wuhuan in the north. Although Ma Yuan's military achievements were outstanding, most of his military achievements were made after the unification of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and in a strict sense, he was not considered a founding hero.
2. Unjustly passed away
In 48 AD, the Wuwei general Liu Shang conquered Wuxi Man in Wuling, and the entire army was destroyed. After hearing the news, sixty-two-year-old Ma Yuan took the initiative to ask Miao to fight. Therefore, Liu Xiu appointed Ma Yuan as a marshal and led 40,000 troops on the expedition. Although Ma Yuan achieved many victories on the front line, after that, the war fell into a confrontation stage, and the Han army "died of many soldiers and soldiers, and the aid was also sick". In this case, Ma Yuan was framed, and Liu Xiu sent Liang Song to rebuke Ma Yuan.
Liang Song had a feud with Ma Yuan, who had died of illness when he arrived at the front, but he still did not spare Ma Yuan, fabricating many false accusations to slander Ma Yuan. The Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu was furious and ordered Ma Yuan to be stripped of his title. Ma Yuan's family was terrified, and they didn't know where they had offended the emperor. Although later, emperor Guangwu allowed Ma Yuan to be buried, the Ma family had already declined, and "the family was insulted by the magnates" by the loss of power.
Third, the suspicion of the pepper room
Ma Yuan's younger daughter had originally been engaged to the Dou family, but among the ministers who framed Ma Yuan, included Dou Gu, the yellow door attendant. Therefore, Ma Yuan's nephew Ma Yan was very angry, and he made a statement to Ma Yuan's wife, broke off the marriage contract with the Dou family, and sent the girls of the Ma family to the palace. Eventually, Ma Yuan's thirteen-year-old daughter entered the palace of The Crown Prince Liu Zhuang. Ma's "flattery of yin, the same column, the etiquette is repaired, and the upper and lower are safe", which is deeply loved by the taizi.
In 57 AD, the crown prince Liu Zhuang ascended the throne, that is, the Han Ming Emperor, and Ma Shi was made a nobleman. Three years later, Empress Dowager Yin Lihua considered it to be "the harem of Ma Guiren's Deguan", so she was made empress by the Han Ming Emperor. Empress Ma was a generation of sages in Chinese history, she was very humble, low-key, and did not want her family to be in the limelight. Emperor Ming of Han also understood Empress Ma's thoughts, plus he was also unwilling to let the forces of foreign relatives rise, so Ma Yuan was not selected as the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, just as the so-called "pepper room is the reason, alone can not help".
References: 1. Book of the Later Han Dynasty; 2. Zizhi Tongjian