Liu Sheng
In 948, Liu Sheng commissioned the official Zhong Yunzhang (鍾允章) on a diplomatic mission to Southern Han's northern neighbor Chu, seeking a marital alliance with Chu's prince Ma Xiguang. (Liu Yan's wife—likely not Liu Sheng's mother—was a sister of Ma Xiguang's.) Ma Xiguang refused, angering Liu Sheng, and Liu Sheng, after Zhong advised him that the Chu state was embroiled in fraternal struggles for power among Ma Xiguang's brothers, decided to attack Chu. Later in the year, he sent the general Wu Huai'en (吳懷恩) to attack Chu. Wu defeated the Chu general Xu Zhixin (徐知新), and seized He (賀州, in modern Hezhou, Guangxi) and Zhao (昭州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi) Prefectures for Southern Han.