Liu Bei also ordered Wu Ban and Chen Shi to lead the Shu navy to station at Yiling in between the east and west banks of the Yangtze. In the meantime, he also sent Ma Liang as an envoy to meet the tribes in Wuling Commandery and bribe their chiefs with wealth and official titles to win their support. As the tribes in Wuling grew restless upon the Shu army's approach, Sun Quan sent Bu Zhi to guard Yiyang and deal with any unrest.