Then-reigning Emperor Xizong ordered the nearby circuits to launch troops to attack him, but was unable to effectuate much against him.
He subsequently headed south and pillaged Shen (申州) and Guang (光州) (both in modern Xinyang, Henan) Prefectures.
Later in the year, however, he offered to submit to the Tang imperial government, and Emperor Xizong made him the prefect of Su Prefecture (宿州, in modern Suzhou, Anhui).
In 882, he sent his brother Liu Hanyou (劉漢宥) and officer Xin Yue (辛約) with 20,000 and stationed them at Xiling (西陵, in modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang).
Later that year, Liu Hanhong made another attempt, sending his officer Wang Zhen (王鎮).
[7] As of spring 883, Liu Hanhong placed his troops at three bases, Huangling (黃嶺), Yanxia (嚴下), and Zhennü (貞女, all in modern Hangzhou).
Qian launched an attack from Fuchun (富春, in modern Hangzhou), capturing Huangling, as well as the defenders of Yanxia and Zhennü.
[7] In spring 884, the agrarian rebel Wang Zhen (王鎮, unclear whether the same Wang Zhen that Liu Hanhong had sent against Dong in 882) captured Huang Jie (黃碣) the prefect of Wu Prefecture (婺州, in modern Jinhua, Zhejiang), and surrendered to Qian.