Ma Yin
[11] At one point, when Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang) stationed an army at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian, Henan) to defend against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, Ma Yin served in the Zhongwu army stationed at Cai, under the officers Sun Ru and Liu Jianfeng.
[13] (Yang subsequently took Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuanzhou, Anhui and became its military governor.
)[13][14] In spring 891, Sun launched the initial phase of an ambitious plan to first destroy Yang Xingmi and then Zhu.
The messenger persuaded Jiang and Deng Jichong that Liu's arrival was foretold by the stars and that their army would be unable to resist his.
Liu then had his soldiers put on the uniforms that Jiang's and Deng Jichong's army wore, and then quickly advanced to Wu'an's capital Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan).
[16] When Ma Yin took over command of Wu'an, he was apprehensive of the strengths of both Yang Xingmi (who was firmly in control of Huainan by that point) and Cheng Rui the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), and he considered giving them gold and silk to appease them.
His strategist Gao Yu pointed out that Cheng was not as strong as he looked, while Yang was a sworn enemy who could never be appeased through gifts.
By the end of 899, Li Qiong had captured and executed Chen Yanqian, and when he attacked Lian, Lu committed suicide, allowing Ma to control all seven of Wu'an's prefectures.
[10] When Liu Shizheng (劉士政) the military governor of Jingjiang Circuit (靜江, headquartered in modern Guilin, Guangxi) heard that Ma had pacified all of Wu'an, he became apprehensive, and he sent his deputy Chen Kefan (陳可璠) to defend Quanyi Heights (全義嶺, in modern Guilin) against a possible Ma attack.
As part of the edicts that Li Yan promulgated, Ma was given the honorary chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事).
[20] Meanwhile, an ally of Zhu's, Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei), had been under attack by Yang for several years and was in a desperate situation.
[2] Later in 907, when Lei again made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Jiangling and entered into an alliance with Hongnong, Emperor Taizu stripped him of his titles and ordered Gao and Ma to attack him.
Gao sent his general Ni Kefu (倪可福), while Ma sent Qin, to put Wuzhen's capital Lang Prefecture (朗州) under siege.
Lei fled to Hongnong territory, allowing Ma to take over Lang and Li (澧州, in modern Changde) Prefectures.
[2] Meanwhile, Gao Yu pointed out to Ma that one way to enrich his state was to sell tea to territory directly under Later Liang control.
After the Wu generals Chai Zaiyong (柴再用) and Mi Zhicheng (米志誠) attacked, however, Liu and Xu abandoned Yuan Prefecture and returned to Chu territory.
[24] In 918, Liu Xin put Qian Prefecture (虔州, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi), which was then ruled by the warlord Tan Quanbo, whose territory was wedged between Wu, Chu, and the territories of the Later Liang vassals Liu Yan and Wang Shenzhi the Prince of Min, under siege.
When the Wuyue and Min forces heard that the Chu army had been repelled, they withdrew, leaving Tan without external aid.
Li Jian captured Fù's prefect Bao Tang (鮑唐), and the Chu forces, hearing of Liu Xin's advances, withdrew from Jingnan.
Zhu Zhen, not wanting to be captured, committed suicide before the city fell to Later Tang forces, ending Later Liang.
Hearing of Former Shu's destruction, Ma, in fear, submitted a report to Emperor Zhuangzong, stating:[28] I have started managing a mansion at the foot of Mount Heng to be my place of retirement.
[28] However, despite the apparent Later Tang strength that the destruction of Former Shu showed, Emperor Zhuangzong's rule was actually becoming destabilized due to the soldiers' discontent toward his failure to implement his prior promises of rewards to them for their achievements in destroying Later Liang and Former Shu, and the discontent was further exacerbated by the subsequent executions of Guo and another major general, Li Jilin the Prince of Xiping by Emperor Zhuangzong and his wife Empress Liu.
Thereafter, Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother Li Siyuan rebelled at Daming (大名, in modern Handan, Hebei).
Meanwhile, with Gao Jixing taking an increasingly confrontational attitude with the Later Tang court, including seizure of a major shipment of Former Shu wealth that Li Jiji (prior to Emperor Zhuangzong's death and his own suicide) sent toward Luoyang, as well as the seizure of three prefectures that formerly belonged to Former Shu, Emperor Mingzong sent the general Liu Xun (劉訓) to attack Jingnan.
Meanwhile, Gao defended Jiangling and refused to engage Liu, who soon became bogged down in his attack due to rains and illnesses afflicting his army.
[3] Meanwhile, also in 928, Ma sent a fleet to attack Feng Prefecture (封州, in modern Zhaoqing, Guangdong), which belonged to Liu Yan — who, by that point, had declared himself emperor of a new state of Southern Han.
[3] Later in 928, Wu launched a major attack on Yue Prefecture, commanded by Miao Lin (苗璘) and Wang Yanzhang (王彥章).
When sending them off at a feast, Xu, who had by this point had become concerned that Ma's sons were fighting over succession rights, made what was later viewed as a prophetic statement:[3] While Chu is small, its senior officials and generals are still present.
For you to consider attacking us, you have to wait until the ponies [(i.e., Ma's sons, with Xu employing a double entendre given that "Ma" meant "horse")] are fighting over the stable.Meanwhile, Gao, after breaking with Emperor Mingzong, submitted to Wu, and the Wu emperor Yang Pu (Yang Longyan's brother and successor) created Gao the Prince of Qin.
He left instructions that his sons were to pass the throne to their younger brothers, and further ordered that anyone who spoke against this succession principle be put to death.
