for a while, I would always miss him." The chancellor Cen Wenben also stated, "When Mr. Ma analyzes matters, he took examples from both history and current events. He deletes what is not necessary, and then analyzes thoroughly. Nothing should be added and nothing should be taken away from what he writes. His words are well-written, and one will not get tired of them." In 641, Ma was given three different posts—assistant auditor, imperial advisor, and secretary to Emperor Taizong's son, Li Zhi (the Prince of Jin). After Li Zhi replaced his elder brother, Li Chengqian, as crown prince, Ma was made an advisor to the new crown prince as well as deputy head of the legislative bureau. In 644, when Emperor Taizong, at an imperial gathering, stated to his key officials their strengths and weaknesses, he spoke, with regard to Ma: Ma Zhou has quick reactions and is faithful and honest. When he evaluated others, he did so truthfully, and whatever task I give him, he usually performed it to my great satisfaction. Later that year, Ma was made the acting head of the legislative bureau—a position considered one for a chancellor. In 645, when Emperor Taizong attacked Goguryeo, he left Li Zhi in charge of logistics at Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei), assisted by Gao Shilian, Liu Ji, and Ma. Once Emperor Taizong returned from the Goguryeo campaign, he gave Ma the additional post as minister of civil service affairs. Ma was said to suffer from chronic diabetes, and when Emperor Taizong built the Cuiwei Palace (翠微宮, in the Qinling Mountains), he looked for a place near the palace to construct a summer mansion for Ma. He also had the imperial physicians attend to Ma and often supplied Ma with imperial meals. As Ma's illness grew worse, Emperor Taizong personally attended to Ma's medicinal needs, while sending Li Zhi to greet him. As Ma grew gravely ill, he asked his family to bring him the copies of the petitions he had submitted to Emperor Taizong, and he personally burned them, stating, "Guan Zhong and Yan Ying [(晏嬰)] [both great chancellors of the Spring and Autumn period] publicly showed their lords' faults to become famous for posterity. That is something I will not do." He died in 648 and was buried near the tomb of Emperor Taizong's wife, Empress Zhangsun, where Emperor Taizong himself would eventually be