Song. In early 934, his chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, not wanting Shi Jingtang, who was then the military governor of Hedong, to become entrenched there, issued orders transferring Li Conghou's older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu from Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Fan Yanguang from Chengde to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei). This, however, drew a reaction from Li Congke, who believed that these moves were intended to target him. He decided to rebel, and he issued a declaration denouncing Zhu and Feng. He sent emissaries to the nearby circuits, hoping that their governors would join him in rebellion. When his emissaries Hao Xu () and Zhu Ting'ai () to Chang'an, hoping to convince Wang to join him. Wang, however, believed that Li Congke's rebellion was without cause, and therefore arrested Hao and Zhu and reported this to the imperial government. The imperial government subsequently put Wang in command of the army against Li Congke, and gave Wang the honorary chancellor designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (). However, it was said that while Wang was a faithful and honorable man, he was not capable at commanding a large army, and many of the imperial army soldiers, having previously served under Li Congke (as Li Congke and Shi were two of Li Siyuan's main generals), were secretly supportive of him, hoping to benefit from the campaign. Wang quickly arrived at Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege, and it appeared that the city, which did not have strong defensive bulwarks, would fall quickly. However, a tearful declaration by Li Congke from the city walls caused the imperial army soldiers to become sympathetic to him. When one of the generals under Wang, Zhang Qianzhao () the military governor of Shannan West, subsequently angered the soldiers by forcing them, under the threat of swords, to scale Fengxiang's wall, the soldiers turned against Zhang, and the officer Yang Siquan () took the opportunity to defect to Li Congke, causing the imperial army to collapse. Wang and the other generals fled. When Wang and his deputy commander Yao Yanchou () reached Chang'an, the deputy defender of Chang'an, Liu Suiyong (), refused to receive them, forcing them flee further east to Tong Pass. (Liu subsequently surrendered