A general of Sima Teng, Yan Cui (閻粹), advised him to round these people up and sell them into slavery so that they could raise funds to sustain their military.
Though he told the prince his intention of bringing reinforcements against Wang Jun and Sima Teng, in reality, the Five Divisions had been planning to rebel, and once Liu Yuan arrived at Lishi, he was acclaimed as the Grand Chanyu.
Sima Teng sent his general, Nie Xuan (聶玄) to attack Liu Yuan, but he was badly defeated at Daling (大陵; northeast of present-day Wenshui County, Shanxi).
Another Han general, Qiao Xi (喬晞) invaded Xihe and captured Jiexiu county, where he killed the local administator Jia Hun (賈渾).
Liu Yuan then attacked Sima Teng's base in Jinyang, prompting the prince to once again call for reinforcements from Tuoba Yituo.
Before departing, Tuoba Yituo and Sima Teng made a pact of alliance at Fendong (汾東; in present-day Quwo County, Shanxi).
On 18 May 307, during the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Teng was appointed Prince of Xincai, and was made Chief Controller of Si and Ji Provinces.
A month after his transfer, a Chinese shepherd, Ji Sang, led a rebel army into Hebei proclaiming his intention to avenge the late Sima Ying, who had been a beloved figure in the region.
With the former slave, Shi Le as his second-in-command, they headed straight towards Ye, defeating the Administrator of Wei Commandery, Feng Song (馮嵩) along the way.
As Ji Sang was close by, Teng was only willing to spare a few sheng of rice and a few chi of silk to his generals and soldiers, so he was unable to employ them properly.
[15] As it was the height of summer, the corpses in the city decayed so badly, that when the Jin general, Gou Xi arrived at Ye, the remains of Sima Teng and his sons could not be identified.