Li Baozhen
Tian gathered only some 1,000 soldiers and fled back to Wei Prefecture in the dark. It was said that Ma and Li Baozhen did not get along with each other, and they did not coordinate, making it impossible for them to immediately trail Tian. When Tian arrived at Wei Prefecture, the officer he left in Wei Prefecture's defense, Li Changchun (), refused to let him in, hoping that imperial forces would arrive to allow him to submit. However, imperial forces did not appear, and Li Changchun was forced to open the gates in the morning. Tian entered, executed Li Changchun, and put up a defense. Weibo was then in a desperate shape — as within Wei Prefecture there were only several thousand soldiers, and the family members of the dead were all mourning, so the city was filled with wailing and tears. Tian, in fear and depression, decided to publicly plead his case in order to earn back the people's loyalty. He personally rode a horse and held a knife outside his headquarters and gathered the people. In tears, he stated: