 In 1267, Kublai Khan ordered Aju and the Song defector Liu Zheng to attack Xiangyang and Fencheng.General Lu Zende had levied corruption charges against Liu Zheng, the Luzhou prefect, causing Liu Zheng to defect to he Mongols in 1261

Aju and Liu Zheng arrived in 1268 and blockaded the city with a ring of forts.Liu Zheng had advised the cities be starved from Sichuan by building forts there.