 At some time during the winter of 186, the rebel leader Bian Zhang died of illness and Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou were killed in internecine feuds.Seeing an advantage to be gained from this situation, Geng Bi (), the newly installed Inspector of Liang Province, attempted to re-establish Han-Chinese power in the region without major military assistance from other parts of the country.Fu Xie tried to dissuade Geng Bi from this enterprise, arguing that the people were not used to Geng Bi as their governor and the army did not have time to build morale, but Geng Bi went ahead with his plan anyway.