Zhou Ji
Meanwhile, although Huang Chao had withdrawn from the Chang'an region and fled east, he still had a powerful army. Threatened by Huang, three Tang military governors south of the Yellow River—Zhou Ji the military governor of Zhongwu, Shi Pu the military governor of Ganhua Circuit (感化, headquartered in modern Xuzhou), and Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan)—jointly sought aid from Li Keyong. Li Keyong thus took 50,000 soldiers and advanced south to cross the Yellow River, but had to take a roundabout route through Hezhong when Zhuge Shuang the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) refused to grant him passage. He eventually rendezvoused with the armies of Zhongwu, Ganhua, Xuanwu, and Taining (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong) Circuits and headed toward Chen Prefecture (陳州, in modern Zhoukou, Henan), whose prefect Zhao Chou had been under siege by Huang for some 300 days. In summer 884, Li Keyong defeated Shang and then Huang Chao's brother Huang Siye (黃思鄴), and Huang Chao abandoned his siege on Chen.