[9] In 881, after Huang headed northwest and captured the imperial capital Chang'an, forcing then-reigning Emperor Xizong (Emperor Xuānzong's grandson) to flee to Chengdu, Gao Pian the military governor (Jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) gathered troops in the nearby regions and claimed that he was going to launch troops to recapture Chang'an.

However, Qian discerned that Gao had no real intentions to attack Huang, and he advised Dong to claim that he needed to return to Hang Prefecture to defend it.

Dong executed Liu, and moved his headquarters to Yue, claiming the title of acting governor, while making Qian the prefect of Hang Prefecture.

[14] In response, Qian sent three of the "Eight Corps" commanders, Du Leng (杜稜), Ruan Jie (阮結), and Cheng Ji (成及) to attack Xue.

After a victory over Xue's officer Li Junwang (李君暀), however, for reasons unclear, Du attacked and captured Chang Prefecture, and Ding fled to Huainan.

[16] (The New Book of Tang indicated that Qian killed Zhou,[17] but Sima Guang, the lead author of the Zizhi Tongjian, found the account not credible and did not adopt it.

)[19] Meanwhile, to placate Qian, then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong (Emperor Xizong's brother and successor) created Qian the Baron of Wuxing,[3] and in 892 gave him the title of the defender of a new Wusheng Circuit (武勝) with its headquarters at Hang Prefecture, as well as governor (觀察使, Guanchashi) of the Su-Hang region[20] and created him the Marquess of Pengcheng.

[3] In 893, Emperor Zhaozong officially made him the military governor of Zhenhai—now with its headquarters at Hang, as Run and Chang prefectures fell into Yang's control in 892.

In 894, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed on Qian the honorary chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事).

[20] In spring 895, he declared himself the emperor of a new state of "Luoping of the Great Yue" (大越羅平國), after killing every staff member who dared to speak against it.

Qian, disagreeing with Dong's decision to claim imperial title, wrote back: "Rather than closing up your gates to try to be the Son of Heaven, so that your entire clan and the people will all fall into fire, why not open your door to be Jiedushi, so that you will have honor and wealth the rest of your life?

)[3] Yang thus tried to relieve Qian's pressure on Dong by sending his officer Tai Meng (臺濛) to attack Su Prefecture.

Qian captured Hu (湖州, in modern Huzhou, Zhejiang from Yang's vassal Li Yanhui (李彥徽) in 897 and recaptured Su from Huainan's officer Qin Pei (秦裴) in 898, while Tian Jun's subordinate Kang Ru (康儒) captured Wu Prefecture (婺州, in modern Jinhua, Zhejiang) from Qian's nominal vassal Wang Tan (王檀) in 899.

Yang, believing the rumor, sent his officer Li Shenfu to attack Hang Prefecture, to try to seize it in a power vacuum.

When Tian initially failed to withdraw, Yang sent the message, "If you do not return, I will send someone else to take over Xuan Prefecture [(宣州, Ningguo's capital)]."

Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), who had by this point seized control of Emperor Zhaozong and forced him to move the capital to Luoyang, however, was an ally of Qian's, and so at Zhu's request, Qian was created the Prince of Wu (a title that Yang also carried).

Apprehensive that Wang Maozhang would cut off his escape path, Tao withdrew, allowing Qian to retake Mu and Qu Prefectures.

Most local governors in the Tang empire recognized the new Later Liang emperor as their emperor, with the exceptions of Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), who carried the title of Prince of Jin; Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), who carried the title of Prince of Qi; Yang Wo, who carried the title of Prince of Hongnong (each of whom claimed continued loyalty to the defunct Tang dynasty but are generally viewed as independent states from this point on); and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), who carried the title of Prince of Shu (and who soon thereafter declared his own state of Former Shu as its emperor).

Also around this time, Qian built a major seawall at the mouth of the Qiantang River and enlarged the Hang Prefecture city perimeter.

Also in 913, Wu made two attempts to attack and capture Yijin, commanded by Li Tao (李濤) in one operation and Hua Qian (花虔) and Wo Xin (渦信) in the other.

[31] In 916, Qian Liu sent the official Pi Guangye to submit tributes to Zhu Youzhen, taking the lengthy route (as was required by geopolitical situations) through the domain of Wang Shenzhi the Prince of Min, the independent warlord Tan Quanbo (譚全播, whose headquarters was at Qian Prefecture (虔州, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi), and Chu.

The operation was initially highly successful, with Qian Chuanguan crushing the Wu fleet under the command of Peng Yanzhang (彭彥章) on the Yangtze River at the Battle of Langshan Jiang (狼山, in modern Nantong, Jiangsu).

However, he also took no action when Zhu Youzhen ordered him to attack Liu Yan, who controlled the modern Guangdong and Guangxi region and who had recently declared himself the emperor of a new state of Southern Han.

He requested that Emperor Zhuangzong grant him a golden seal, a certificate of his creation written on jade, the privilege of not being referred to by name, and the continued use of the title of king.

[38] By 929, Qian had offended Emperor Mingzong's army chief of staff (Shumishi) An Chonghui by being arrogant in his style in his letters to An.

[4][38] In 931, after Emperor Mingzong removed An from his position as army chief of staff, he restored all of Qian's titles and blamed the situation on An.

Despite his prior designation of Qian Chuanguan as heir, he, in order to test the subordinates' loyalty, stated, "I will surely not recover from this illness.

He developed the coastal kingdom's agriculture, built seawalls, expanded Hangzhou, dredged rivers and lakes, and encouraged sea transport and trade.

He built an embankment against the famous "bore" in the Qiantang River near Hangzhou, which was his capital; and on one occasion, when the works were threatened, he is said to have driven back the waters by the discharge of a flight of arrows.

[9] Qian Liu is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.