Sun Ru
Yang Xingmi, however, believed that Sun Ru would eventually attack him, and in fall 888, he considered heading south to attack Zhong Chuan the military governor of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi) to try to take over Zhong's territory. Yuan Xi, however, pointed out that Zhong had possessed Zhennan for years and was well-prepared for an attack; instead, he suggested that Yang attack Zhao Huang the governor of Xuanshe (who had been commissioned by Qin Yan when Qin left Xuanshe to head for Huainan). Yang agreed, and also persuaded Sun Duan and Zhang Xiong, an independent general who was then at Shangyuan (上元, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), to attack Zhao as well. With Zhao's main forces distracted by Sun's and Zhang's attacks, Yang was able to cross the Yangtze River easily and put Xuanshe's capital Xuan Prefecture () under siege. When Zhao's brother Zhao Qianzhi () the prefect of Chi Prefecture (池州, in modern Chizhou, Anhui) tried to come to aid Zhao Huang, Yang sent Tao Ya to face him, and Tao defeated him, forcing him to flee to Zhennan. By 889, With Xuan Prefecture running out of food, Zhao Huang's officer Zhou Jinsi () expelled him; he tried to flee to Yang Prefecture, but Tian Jun captured him. After Yang reported what occurred to Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong, Emperor Zhaozong commissioned Yang as the governor of Xuanshe. Meanwhile, Zhu Quanzhong, who was an old friend of Zhao Huang's, sent emissaries to request that Yang release Zhao to him. However, Yang, accepting Yuan's suggestion that doing so might leave Zhao as a threat, instead executed Zhao and gave Zhao's head to Zhu's emissaries. Meanwhile, he sent Tian to attack Chang Prefecture (常州, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu), then held by Du Leng (), a subordinate of Qian Liu; Tian surprised Du and captured him, taking Chang Prefecture. Yang also sent Ma Jingyan () to capture Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), and Ma did so. Subsequently, Emperor Zhaozong upgraded Xuanshe to a circuit with a military governor, renamed it Ningguo, and made Yang its military governor. Yang then also sent Li You () to capture Sū Prefecture (蘇州, in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu), but subsequently, Sun Ru attacked and took Su, killing Li You; Yang's officer An Renyi (), who was then at Run, then abandoned Run as well, allowing Sun to take Run. When Sun attacked Lu, Cai Chou (), whom Yang had left in defense of Lu, also surrendered it to Sun.