met each other. It mentions that Zhou Yu heard of Sun Ce's reputation and wanted to meet him, so he travelled from Shu County to Shouchun to visit Sun Ce. The two of them developed such a close friendship that Sun Ce heeded Zhou Yu's advice to bring along his family and relocate from Shouchun to Shu County. Conquering Jiangdong Zhou Yu later travelled to Danyang Commandery (丹楊郡; around present-day Xuancheng, Anhui) to join his uncle Zhou Shang (), who was serving as the Administrator () of Danyang. Around 194, Sun Ce (孙策), then acting under orders from the warlord Yuan Shu, led troops into Yang Province to aid his relatives Wu Jing and Sun Ben against the encroachments of the warlord Liu Yao. While Sun Ce was preparing to cross the Yangtze River at Liyang (歷陽; present-day He County, Anhui) for an attack on Liu Yao, he sent a messenger to inform Zhou Yu about his plans. Zhou Yu led troops to assist Sun Ce, who gratefully told Zhou Yu: "With your aid, I can attain greatness!" Zhou Yu then joined Sun Ce in his conquests of Hengjiang (橫江; southeast of present-day He County, Anhui, on the northern shore of the Yangtze) and Dangli (當利; east of present-day He County, Anhui). They crossed the Yangtze River, conquered Moling (秣陵; in present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) and defeated Liu Yao's forces under Ze Rong and Xue Li (). They also conquered Hushu (湖孰; southeast of present-day Jiangning, Jiangsu), Jiangcheng (江乘; north of present-day Jurong, Jiangsu), and Qu'e (曲阿; present-day Danyang, Jiangsu). Liu Yao fled in the wake of his defeat and the strength of Sun Ce's forces increased to tens of thousands. Later service under Sun Ce Sun Ce told Zhou Yu: "I now have sufficient military power to conquer Wu and pacify the Shanyue. You can return to Danyang and station there." Zhou Yu then made his way back to Danyang. Around 196, Yuan Shu had sent his cousin Yuan Yin () to replace Zhou Shang as the Administrator of Danyang, so Zhou Shang and Zhou Yu went to Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui) to meet Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu wanted to recruit Zhou Yu to serve under him, but Zhou Yu foresaw Yuan Shu's downfall so he pretended to ask for the appointment of Chief () of Juchao (居巢; present-day Juchao District, Chaohu, Anhui) while secretly planning to leave