Empress Dowager Hu sends a number of generals against these rebels without much success, and while Xiao Baoyin is defeated by his own subordinates and forced to flee to Moqi, no other major rebels are defeated by Northern Wei generals.

Exacerbating the situation is the fact that Empress Dowager Hu does not like to hear about news of rebel successes, and therefore her attendants often make up good news, causing her to often refuse generals' requests for reinforcements.

Several times, Emperor Xiaoming publicly declares that he will personally lead armies against the rebels, but each time he fails to actually do so.

Meanwhile, Liang takes advantage of the internal troubles of Northern Wei by capturing a number of border cities, including the important city Shouyang (in modern Lu'an, Anhui).