After Xu established political power, he put forward the slogan of "eliminating the rich and helping the poor", which was supported by poor farmers. The Red Scarf Army has grown rapidly to several hundred thousand people. With Huanggang as the central base area, Xu sent two armies to advance to Jiangxi and Hunan. The Red Scarf Army has strict discipline and does not commit adultery or kill. Every time it conquered a place, it only registered the people who joined the army in the household registration, leaving no trouble. The result won the hearts of the people. The team quickly expanded to a million people, galloping across the Yangtze River and controlling vast areas such as Hubei, Hunan, Jiangnan, Zhejiang and Fujian. At that time, there was a folk song saying: "There was a fire in the city, and the government was hiding everywhere; There is no one in the city, and the Red Army is sitting in the house. "

In the 13th year of Yuan Dynasty (1353), the rulers of Yuan Dynasty mobilized troops from several provinces to surround the Red Scarf Army base area. Peng Yingyu, an important leader of Tianwan regime, died in battle, and the county town crossing the water was also breached. More than 400 "Liantai Province" soldiers died heroically. Xu led his troops to retreat to Nuobu tableland in Huangmei county and lakeside in Biyang county, and at the same time, he also reorganized the army. In the spring of the third year, the Red Scarf Army launched a massive counterattack, retaking Jiangxi and Hunan, and taking control of the Sichuan Basin and parts of Shaanxi. And re-established the capital in Hanyang County, and changed the name of Taiping. Later, Xu sent people to build Tianyuan Temple and Ziyun Terrace in Duoyun Mountain, Luotian's hometown, and also set up an "invincible monument" at the highest place of the mountain to show their achievements.

In September of 17th year (1357), while the Red Scarf Army was growing rapidly and its morale was high, Ni Wenjun of Xu Department had ulterior motives and attempted to assassinate Xu Shouhui and usurp the throne. After his plot was exposed, he fled from Hanyang to Huangzhou and was killed by Chen Youliang. Chen Yinsheng was appointed as Pingzhang's political affairs and annexed Ni Jiubu.

In the 19th year of Zheng Zheng (1359), Xu Shouhui moved its capital to Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) and changed its name to Tianding. At this time, Chen Youliang was in charge of military and political power and was insatiable. He claimed to be Hanwang, set up official residence, and secretly killed Xu's confidants one by one. In the twentieth year of Zheng Zheng (1360), Chen Youliang ambushed a quarry near Taiping (now Dangtu, Anhui) and killed Xu on the grounds of observing the battlefield. Chen Zi proclaimed himself emperor, with the title of Han, and changed his title to "righteousness", which was soon defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although it was only a short period of ten years before and after Xu Shouhui established Tianwan regime, it played an inestimable role in Zhu Yuanzhang's overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty, the establishment of the Great Ming Dynasty and the promotion of official history.