terrible drought-driven famine took over the heart of the Tang realm. As described by the imperial scholar Lu Xi, who would become chancellor in late 874: Lu urged that Emperor Xizong waive all taxation on the prefectures affected by the famine and immediately start disaster relief efforts. Emperor Xizong issued an edict agreeing with Lu's suggestions, but it was said that no actual disaster relief was actually carried out. Meanwhile, the southwestern regions of the empire, largely unaffected by the famine, was instead embroiled in the wars with Dali. As the famine continued, the people who were displaced by the famine began to lose hope in the imperial government, and they gathered in roving bands, pillaging for food. By 874–875, a large group had gathered under the leadership of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao. Within a few months, Wang and Huang had gathered tens of thousands of men in their army. Meanwhile, the army officer Wang Ying also rebelled and led his band of rebels to pillage the southeast coast. There were numerous smaller bands of rebels roving around the realm. The imperial administration tried to deal with the Wang/Huang rebellion by initially having the military governors (Jiedushi) of the five most-affected circuits—Huainan (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Zhongwu (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan), Xuanwu (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), Yicheng (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan), and Tianping (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) mobilize their local troops to either destroy the rebels or encourage them to surrender. This strategy was ineffective, and at the suggestion of Song Wei () the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong), Emperor Xizong put Song in command of a special task force concentrating on eliminating the rebels. Song had some early successes, but soon showed himself to be unable to follow up on his successes, as he was unable to contain Wang's roving army. In late 876, the chancellor Wang Duo tried to end Wang Xianzhi's rebellion by promising to make him an army officer—an offer that Wang Xianzhi was initially entice by—but after Huang opposed the proposal, the war continued, with Wang Xianzhi and Huang dividing their armies into two separate bands. However, Wang Xianzhi again made a peace overture in 877, sending his deputy Shang Junzhang () to meet the eunuch general Yang Fuguang to negotiate a surrender. However, Song, who opposed a