Meanwhile, Deng Wan (鄧琬), the chief of staff for Emperor Qianfei's brother Liu Zixun the Prince of Jin'an and governor of Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi and Fujian), refused to accept Emperor Ming's offer to promote Liu Zixun, and instead started an uprising in Liu Zixun's name, declaring Liu Zixun emperor in spring 466. Soon, nearly the entire empire pledged loyalty to Liu Zixun, and Emperor Ming was left with control of only the several commanderies around Jiankang. However, Liu Zixun's forces proceeded slowly toward Jiankang, and Emperor Ming used the opportunity to gather his troops in preparation of a war. Shen Youzhi was one of the generals. After his commanding general Yin Xiaozu (殷孝祖) was killed in battle, initially his officers wanted Shen Youzhi to take over command of the army, but judging that another general, Jiang Faxing (江法興), would be unwilling to submit to him, Shen humbled himself and offered the command to Jiang, preserving unity of the forces. Shen Youzhi subsequently was particularly successful against Liu Zixun's general Liu Hu (劉胡), and his successes, combined with the successes of Zhang Xingshi (張興世), caused Liu Zixun's forces to collapse. In fall 466, Shen Youzhi arrived at Liu Zixun's headquarters at Xunyang (尋陽, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), and he executed Liu Zixun and delivered the head to Jiankang. For his successes, Emperor Ming created him the Duke of Zhenyang.