Hebei), could be persuaded to not support Liu Zhen and instead fight for the imperial cause, suggested that Emperor Wuzong issue them an edict that pointed out that the imperial government had been allowing Weibo and Chengde to be in de facto independence, but that Zhaoyi's situation was different, implicitly guaranteeing continued imperial noninterference if they acted against Zhaoyi. It was said that when He Hongjing and Wang Yuankui received the edict, they, in apprehension, agreed. Subsequently, Emperor Wuzong put Wang and He Hongjing in charge of capturing the three Zhaoyi prefectures east of the Taihang Mountains. Specifically, He Hongjing was ordered to attack Ming Prefecture (洺州, in modern Handan). However, He Hongjing, while accepting the imperial orders, was trying to intercede on Liu's behalf, and Liu himself was also begging the imperial government for forgiveness. Emperor Wuzong ignored Liu's and He Hongjing's pleas. Meanwhile, Wang was attacking Zhaoyi territory, but He Hongjing was not. Wang thus submitted secret reports accusing He Hongjing of duplicity. Emperor Wuzong initially took a conciliatory stand, issuing an edict to He Hongjing stating that he understood that He Hongjing was filially pious to his mother and did not want to venture far. However, subsequently, under Li Deyu's advice, Emperor Wuzong pressured He Hongjing by ordering the imperial general Wang Zai the military governor of Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan) to take the Zhongwu troops through Weibo territory to attack Zhaoyi's Ci Prefecture (磁州, in modern Handan as well). He Hongjing, hearing that Wang Zai would pass through his territory, feared that Wang Zai's presence would disrupt the loyalty of the Weibo soldiers toward him, quickly launched troops and attacked Ci Prefecture himself, capturing Feixiang (肥鄉, in modern Handan) and Ping'en (平恩, in modern Handan as well) Counties. After He Hongjing engaged Zhaoyi troops, Emperor Wuzong, believing that he had shown his faithfulness, diverted Wang Zai's troops to Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), which had been defeated several times by Zhaoyi troops, instead, and also bestowed the honorary title of acting Zuo Pushe () on He Hongjing. In 844, the Zhaoyi officer Wang Zhao (), fearing that Liu would punish him for his continued military failures, surrendered Min Prefecture to He Hongjing. The Zhaoyi officer An Yu (), hearing that Wang Zhao had surrendered to He Hongjing and that Pei Wen () and Cui Gu () had surrendered Xing