of his command as the commander of the forces against Jin, and replaced him with He Gui, who had been able to suppress a mutiny at Qing Prefecture (慶州, in modern Qingyang, Gansu) in 916. Later that year, at Zhao's suggestion, Zhu prepared a grand ceremony to sacrifice to heaven and earth at Luoyang, and departed Daliang to do so, despite the contrary advice of Jing. After he left Daliang, however, Jin forces attacked and captured the border fort of Yangliu (楊劉, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong), south of the Yellow River. When the news of Yangliu's fall arrived at Luoyang, it greatly shocked the imperial officials who were attending to Zhu at that point, and there were rumors that Jin had further captured Daliang. Zhu, in panic, and to quell such rumors, cancelled the ceremony and returned to Daliang. After this incident, Jing submitted a petition, discussing his concerns about the northern war with Jin, and offered to command the army himself; Zhu, with Zhao and the four Zhangs disagreeing, declined Jing's offer. In 918, Li Cunxu gathered all the elite Jin troops that he could garner, and decided to launch one massive attack on Later Liang. Shortly after new year 919, he crossed the Yellow River and headed toward Daliang. He Gui intercepted him at Huliu Slope (胡柳陂, in modern Heze, Shandong). The battle was an initial major rout by the Later Liang forces over Jin forces, but a subsequent Jin counterattack led to massive Later Liang losses as well, making the battle essentially a draw, with both Later Liang and Jin suffering casualties of two-thirds of their army. For quite some time thereafter, neither side dared to attack the other. (Indeed, the Later Liang army was said to have collapsed so completely such that it took over a month for it to reorganize itself.) Late reign In 920, Zhu Youqian, after his having his son Zhu Lingde () taking over Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) was initially met with anger by Zhu Zhen, rebelled against Later Liang and again submitted to Jin. Zhu Zhen sent Liu Xun to attack Zhu Youqian, but Liu was defeated by the Jin generals Li Cunshen (Li Cunxu's adoptive brother) and Li Sizhao (Li Cunxu's adoptive cousin), allowing Zhu Youqian to retain Huguo and remain in the Jin fold. (Subsequently, Zhu Zhen, suspecting Liu of having intentionally not defeating Zhu