While Jin'an was still under siege, Emperor Taizong declared Shi the emperor of a new state of Later Jin. Still, Emperor Taizong was ambivalent on how much further support to give to Shi at this point, with a Later Tang relief army, commanded by Zhao Dejun, approaching. Zhao, however, was himself not devoted to Li Congke's cause, and stopped short of Jin'an. He secretly negotiated with Emperor Taizong, offering that, if Emperor Taizong would support "him" as the emperor of China, he would allow Shi to retain Hedong. Emperor Taizong was enticed, believing that Zhao's army would be difficult to defeat, but was persuaded by Sang (who argued that Zhao could be defeated and that Emperor Taizong, having already committed to Shi, should not support Zhao) to reject Zhao's proposal.