In 927, Emperor Mingzong bestowed the greater title of King of Chu () on Ma. After accepting the title, Ma took on greater royal trappings, including referring to his residence as palace and establishing the various offices for his officials like an imperial regime, only changing the official titles somewhat to show deference to the Later Tang emperor. He made Yao Yanzhang and Xu his chancellors. He assumed all responsibilities for commissioning officials within his reign, except that he would submit reports after commissioning the military governors of Wuping (武平, i.e., formerly Wuzhen) and Jingjiang.