After he was overthrown, he resided briefly at the domain of his ally Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei).
[3] It was said that Li Kuangwei was ambitious, and, because the Tang state was in disarray at the time, he strengthened his army with the intent of eventually trying to occupy more territory.
[1] In 890, another major warlord, Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), attacked Helian Duo the defender of Yun Prefecture (雲州, in modern Datong, Shanxi), capturing its eastern part.
They were concurred in by Li Keyong's rival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), as well as the chancellors Zhang Jun and Kong Wei.
They had initial successes, as Li Kuangwei captured Wei Prefecture, and Helian, along with Tufan and Xiajiasi tribesmen, attacked Zhelu Base (遮虜軍, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi), killing its defender Liu Huzi (劉胡子).
[4] In fall 891, Li Keyong attacked Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit and had initial successes.
Thereafter, Li Keyong and his ally Wang Chucun the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei); they withdrew after Li Kuangwei attacked Yun and Dai (代州, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi) Prefectures (which had fallen to Hedong control by that point, forcing Helian to flee to Lulong).
Because of this, Wang awarded Li Kuangwei's army with a large amount of money and silk.