Sun Ru
It is not known when Yao Yanzhang was born, but it is known that he was from Ru'nan (汝南, in modern Zhumadian, Henan). The progress of his initial military career was not clear — but, presumably, like Ma Yin, he was initially conscripted into the army of the late Tang Dynasty warlord Qin Zongquan, who controlled his home region, and then, after Qin declared himself emperor of a new state, was sent south on an expedition commanded by Qin's general Sun Ru; after Sun was defeated and killed by Yang Xingmi, Yao, presumably as was in the case with Ma, followed Liu Jianfeng, who headed southwest, eventually taking over Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan), where Liu became its military governor.