In 1895, he served with the Han Chinese general Tang Yanhe and the Muslim general Dong Fuxiang, assisting them in crushing another Muslim revolt, the Dungan revolt (1895–1896).
But Ma realized that he could not hold against the Qing armies forever, and in early 1873 he sent his son, who was soon to become known as Ma Anliang, to Zuo's headquarters in Anding to negotiate switching sides.
In 1915, Ma Anliang and Yang Zengxin arrested and attempted to executed Ma Wanfu, when Ma Qi rescued him as he was being shipped to execution and brought him to Xining.
The Khafiya Sufi General Ma Anliang, especially hated the Yihewani leader Ma Wanfu, so much that when the Han general Yang Zengxin captured Ma Wanfu, Ma Anliang arranged to have him shipped to Gansu so he could execute him.