generals still loyal to the gengshi emperor were eventually able to evict zhang from the capital, but by that time the situation was desperate. zhang and his allies surrendered to chimei and, working with them, attacked chang'an, which fell quickly, and the emperor fled, only followed by several loyal followers, including liu zhi (劉祉) the prince of dingtao and liu gong (劉恭) the marquess of shi—who, incidentally, was liu penzi's older brother. they were eventually taken in by one of the gengshi emperor's generals, yan ben (嚴本), who, however, was in actuality holding them as bargaining chips. when liu xiu heard about the fall of chang'an, he created the emperor prince of huaiyang, in absentia, and decreed that anyone who harmed the prince of huaiyang would be severely punished and that anyone who protected and delivered him to eastern han would be rewarded. (this appears to be basically political propaganda on liu xiu's part.) when news of chang'an's fall arrived in luoyang, luoyang surrendered to liu xiu, who entered the city and made it his capital.