Ma Yuan was a famous strategist in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty and made great contributions to the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later, he led his troops to quell the unrest in the border and had a great influence on the south. In 4 1 year, he was named General Fu Bo by Liu Xiu.

Three years later, Ma Yuan won the battle in the southwest and returned to Luoyang, the capital. Relatives and friends are very happy to congratulate and mourn him. One of them, Meng Yi, who is usually famous for his tricks, also said a few words of praise to Ma Yuan.

Unexpectedly, Ma Yuan said to him with a frown, "I hope you can say something to teach me. Why does Teacher Wang go with the flow and praise me blindly? "

Meng Yi was embarrassed and didn't know how to deal with it at the moment. Seeing that he was silent, Ma Yuan continued: "Lu Bu, the general of Fu Bo during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, opened seven counties, but only got several hundred fiefs.

My contribution is much smaller than that of General Lu, but I was also made a general, with a fief of up to 3,000. There are too many rewards, how can we persist for a long time? Why don't you teach me about it, sir? "

Seeing that he still didn't speak, Ma Yuan continued: "Now, Xiongnu and Wu Huan are still harassing in the north. I intend to challenge the imperial court and propose to be a pioneer and an ambitious person.

A man should die on the battlefield in the frontier wilderness, not in a coffin. He should only come back and be buried in a horse skin. How could he lie in bed and die next to the child? "

Hearing this, Meng Yi was deeply moved by Ma Yuan's heroic spirit of serving the country and couldn't help saying sincerely: "The general is really a gentleman!" Ma Yuan didn't talk empty words. He only stayed in Luoyang for more than a month, and the Huns and Wu Huan attacked again. He volunteered to fight in the north.

In the twenty-fourth year of Jianwu, Wuling minority leaders led the troops to revolt, and Guangwudi sent troops to conquer. As a result, the whole army was wiped out, and a man was urgently needed to lead the army. Guangwudi thought Ma Yuan was too old to go to war.

When Ma Yuan saw no news, he went directly to see Emperor Guangwu and said, I can still go into battle in disguise. Please let me go with my troops. After that, he performed riding to Emperor Guangwu on the spot.

Seeing that he was hale and hearty, Emperor Guangwu agreed to his request. So, 62-year-old Ma Yuan led a barbarian expedition to Wuling and Wuxi.

In March of the 25th year of Jianwu (49 years), Ma Yuan was sealed in Hutou Mountain (now Hutou Mountain in Yuanling County, Hunan Province). The water was urgent, the ship was difficult to sail back, the weather was scorching, the foot soldiers died of the epidemic, and the reinforcements also died in the army. He should have sworn to be buried by Marco.

2. An old horse knows the way

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qi Huangong of Qi and Guan Zhong, the prime minister, crusaded against the solitary bamboo country and were deceived into the desert by the enemy. Look at the night again, but I see a vast expanse of flat sand, dark fog, cold and mournful groups of crying ghosts, and hate Taiwan.

Guan Zhong said: "I have heard for a long time that there is a dry sea in the north, which is extremely powerful. This is the place, so I can't move forward. " Urgent education orders to withdraw troops and bring fire, which will be extinguished when it meets the wind and will not burn when it blows.

The accompanying sergeants played golden drums, one to protect Yin, and the other to make the teams gather together. Seeing the danger in the valley, Guan Zhong urged him to find a way out, but he ran here and there, and there was no way out.

Guan Zhong said, "I know the old horse knows the way. Most of them are from Mobei. You can pick some old horses and see where they go. " Duke Huan did as he told him, took some old horses, led them first, and made a detour out of Taniguchi.

3. a blessing in disguise

Once upon a time, there was an old man who lived in the border area adjacent to the Hu people. Passers-by all addressed him as "Sai Weng". Sai Weng is philosophical by nature and treats people differently.

One day, for some unknown reason, Sai Weng's horse got lost while eating grass and never came back. When the neighbors learned the news, they all expressed regret.

However, Sai Weng doesn't care. Instead, he comforted everyone: "Losing horses is certainly a bad thing, but who knows if it will bring good results?"

Sure enough, a few months later, the lost old horse ran back from the Great Wall and brought back a good horse rode by the Hu people. So the neighbors got together to congratulate Sai Weng and praised his foresight when he lost his horse.

At this time, however, Sai Weng was worried and said, "Alas, who knows if this incident will bring me disaster?" Sai Weng's family has added a good horse that the Hu people ride, and his son is very happy, so he rides it every day and enjoys it.

Finally, one day, my son got carried away, fell off the galloping horse, injured his leg and was disabled for life. After hearing the news, the kind neighbors rushed over to express their condolences.

But Sai Weng is still an old saying: "Who knows if it will bring good results?" Another year passed, and the Hu people invaded the Central Plains on a large scale. The situation in the frontier suddenly became tense, and all the able-bodied men were recruited as soldiers.

Nine times out of ten, they all died on the battlefield. Because Sai Weng's son was lame and exempted from military service, his father and son were able to escape the disaster in Where Are You Going?

4. Call a deer a horse

When he was in Qin Ershi, Zhao Gao and II traveled in a deer. I asked him, "Why did the Prime Minister drive a deer?" Zhao Gao said, "This is a horse!"

The second said, "The Prime Minister made a mistake and treated the deer as a horse." Zhao Gao said, "This is indeed a horse! If (Your Majesty) thinks that what I said is wrong, I hope (Your Majesty allows me) to ask the ministers. "

Ministers say it's half deer and half horse. In this case, the king of Qin could no longer insist on his own opinion, so he had to listen to Zhao Gao.

5. Bole Xiangma

According to legend, the immortal who manages horses in the sky is called Bole. In the world, people call a person who is good at distinguishing the advantages and disadvantages of horses Bole. The first person is Bole, whose real name is Sun Yang, and he was born in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Because of his excellent research on horses, people forgot his original name and simply called him Bole. On one occasion, Bole was entrusted by the King of Chu to buy a good horse that could walk thousands of miles every day.

Bole explained to the king of Chu that swift horses are rare and hard to find. You need to visit everywhere, but please rest assured that the king of Chu will try his best to get things done and find the horse.

Bole has traveled to several countries, even Zhao Yan, which is famous for its famous horses, has searched carefully, and it has been difficult to find a good horse. One day, Bole came back from Qi. On the way, he saw a horse pulling a salt cart and struggling on a steep slope.

This horse is tired and it is difficult to take every step. Bole has always been very close to horses and can't help walking up to him. When the horse saw Bole approaching, it suddenly raised its head, widened its eyes and screamed loudly, as if to tell Bole something.

Bole immediately judged from his voice that this was a rare good horse. Bole said to the driver, "This horse gallops on the battlefield, and no other horse can match it, but it is not as good as an ordinary horse when it is used to pull a cart." You'd better sell it to me. "

The driver thinks Bole is a big fool. He thought the horse was ordinary, and he had no strength to pull the cart. He ate too much and was thin, so he agreed without hesitation. Bole took a swift horse and went straight to Chu.

Bole led the horse to the Chu Palace, patted the horse on the neck and said, "I found a good master for you." Like a swift horse, he understood the meaning of Bole, raised his front hoof and giggled, making his neck long, hissing and loud, like a stone pot of a big clock, reaching the sky.

The king of Chu heard the neighing of horses and walked out of the palace. Bole pointed to the horse and said, "Your Majesty, I brought you a swift horse. Please watch carefully. " The king of Chu saw that the horse led by Bole was so thin that he thought Bole had cheated him.

He was a little unhappy and said, "I believe you can see the horse before I let you buy it." But what kind of horse did you buy? This horse is difficult to walk. Can it go to war? "

Bole said: "this is indeed a swift horse, but it looks very thin after being dragged for a long time and not carefully fed." As long as it is carefully fed, it will definitely restore physical strength within half a month. " The king of Chu was a little skeptical and ordered the groom to try his best to feed the horse.

Sure enough, the horse became thin and strong. The king of Chu whipped his horse, only to feel that the wind was blowing around his ears and the time for breathing had already run out of a hundred miles away. Later, a swift horse galloped the battlefield for the king of Chu and made great contributions. The king of Chu has more respect for Bole.