釋氏稽古略 3.341

3.341

Ma Yin, King of Chu, courtesy name Batu, was a native of Yanling in Xuzhou. In the middle of the Qianning era under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, he was appointed Military Commissioner of the Wu'an Army stationed at Tanzhou, coming to hold all the lands of Hunan. In the second year of the Kaiping era of Liang, while residing in Hunan, he allowed the people to pick tea themselves and sell it to northern merchants, collecting the levies to support the military. In the seventh month, Yin memorialized requesting to establish Trade Agencies in Bian, Jing, Xiang, Tang, Ying, and Fu Prefectures to transport tea north and south of the Yellow River and sell it in exchange for silk fabrics, floss silk, and warhorses. An imperial decree granted this. Hunan became wealthy and abundant because of this. Liang enfeoffed him as King of Chu.