modern Lüliang, Shanxi). Han tried to take the initiative by making a surprise night attack on Li Cunxiao, but Li Cunxiao took precautions, and Han's attack was not successful. Thereafter, without battling, the Jingnan and Fengxiang forces suddenly disengaged and left the imperial camp. The imperial forces, demoralized, collapsed. The Hedong forces gave chase, catching Zhang at Jin Prefecture (晉州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi). Zhang tried to engage Hedong forces, but was again defeated. After this defeat, the Baoda and Dingnan forces also fled, leaving Zhang's own imperial forces, along with Han's Zhenguo forces and some Xuanwu forces sent by Zhu Quanzhong. Zhang defended Jin Prefecture, and Li Cunxiao put it under siege. After three days, Li Cunxiao decided that no benefit could come from capturing a chancellor and slaughtering imperial forces, and therefore lifted the siege to allow Zhang and Han to flee, and they did so. As they did, it was said that the imperial army, in effect, disintegrated. Li Keyong submitted harshly-worded petitions to Emperor Zhaozong, outwardly offering to submit himself to judicial proceedings, but clearly accusing Zhang of wrongly attacking him. Emperor Zhaozong tried to placate Li Keyong by demoting Zhang to be the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei), and Kong to be the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei, not the same circuit that initially joined the imperial cause against Li Keyong), and restoring Li Keyong's titles. When that failed to placate Li Keyong, Emperor Zhaozong further exiled both Zhang and Kong—in Zhang's case, to be the prefect of Lian Prefecture (連州, in modern Qingyuan, Shandong), and then to be the census officer at Xiu Prefecture (繡州, in modern Guigang, Guangxi). First retirement Zhang Jun set off to his place of exile, but just after he left Chang'an, when he got to Lantian (藍田, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), he fled from his escorts, to Han Jian's headquarters at Hua Prefecture (), and both he and Kong Wei wrote to Zhu Quanzhong to ask him to plead for them. Zhu thereafter submitted a petition to plead their case. Emperor Zhaozong decided thereafter to release them from their exile orders, and both Zhang and Kong thereafter resided at Hua Prefecture with Han. Return to imperial government In 895, after Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang, Wang Xingyu the military governor of Jingnan, and Han Jian,