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Also in summer 551, Hou Jing launched a major attack on Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yi, hoping for support from Western Wei, ordered his cousin Xiao Xun () the Marquess of Yifeng, the governor of Liang Province (梁州, modern southern Shaanxi), to abandon the provincial capital Nanzheng (南鄭, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi) and cede Nanzheng to Western Wei. Xiao Xun disagreed with the decision, believing that cession to be without reason, but received no response from Xiao Yi. Meanwhile, Western Wei's paramount general Yuwen Tai, along with his generals Daxi Wu () and Wang Xiong (), launched a two-prongued attack on Nanzheng. Xiao Xun sent his secretary Liu Fan () to seek aid from Xiao Ji, and Xiao Ji sent Yang Qianyun to assist Xiao Xun. Meanwhile, after hearing about the death of his older brother Emperor Jianwen at Hou's hands and Hou's subsequent seizure of the throne as the Emperor of Han, Xiao Ji, while rejecting his subordinate Liu Xiaosheng ()'s request to take the throne himself, began to produce wagons and clothing that were only appropriate for the emperor.