the examination bureau of the government (門下省, Menxia Sheng). In 632, he officially made Ma a governmental auditor. He awarded Chang silk for having discovered Ma. Service under Emperor Taizong In 632, Ma Zhou submitted a petition to Emperor Taizong that was later included in its entirety in the Old Book of Tang for its importance, which made several suggestions to Emperor Taizong: That Emperor Taizong expand Da'an Palace (), the residence of Emperor Gaozu (who was then Taishang Huang (retired emperor)), to show filial piety. That Emperor Taizong should not spend much time away from Chang'an in the summer, because he would then be unable to attend to Emperor Gaozu. That Emperor Taizong's plans to create a feudal system of governance, where the contributors to his reign would be given inheritable prefectural posts to be passed to their descendants, were inadvisable, because there would be no guarantees in future generations that the descendants of capable men would also be capable. That Emperor Taizong should personally offer sacrifices to the imperial ancestors. That Emperor Taizong should be careful not to bestow honors on people not due them. Emperor Taizong was impressed by Ma's suggestions and promoted him. In 637, Ma submitted another petition considered important enough to be included in its entirety in the Old Book of Tang. He noted that at the time, even though Emperor Taizong had reigned for over a decade, the empire was still, overall, a fraction of the strength of the Sui dynasty at its prime, in terms of population and wealth. He pointed out that the population was therefore ill-equipped to deal with the construction projects that Emperor Taizong was then carrying out for his own palaces and for mansions for his sons and daughters. He advocated frugality, and further pointed out that Emperor Taizong's favors for his sons were creating competition between them, which was not good for the long term, either for his sons or for their descendants. Emperor Taizong praised Ma for his suggestions. Also based on Ma's suggestions, the institution of Chang'an city criers (who would call out at both dawn and dusk) and replaced with drums, greatly reducing the amount of labor necessary. In 638, Ma was made a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). Ma was praised for his alertness and logical thinking, and Emperor Taizong once stated, "If I did not see Ma Zhou