In May of the second year of Jingkang of the Song Dynasty (1127), Zhao Gou proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtianfu, Nanjing (now south of Shangqiu, Henan). He was Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, and was known as the Southern Song Dynasty in history.
At this time, in the Song court, the main war faction headed by Li Gang, the right servant of Shangshu and the assistant minister of Zhongshu, and the main peace faction headed by Huang Qianshan, the assistant minister and assistant minister of Zhongshu, coexisted. Due to the reconstruction of the Song Dynasty, many wastes were waiting to be revitalized, and the threat of the Jin army still existed. In order to "make the enemy countries surrender in fear and ensure peace in all directions", Zhao Gou, with the main force of Li Gang, took some defensive measures to order Hebei, Shaanxi, and the capital. The 30th, 3rd, 3rd, counties, and towns recruited people to build city defenses; Ma Zhong, the commander of the four compartments of the divine guards, was appointed as the economic envoy of Hebei, responsible for recruiting and setting up militiamen; each county added archers and set up military officers to lead them; places along the Yellow River, There are 19 commander's offices along the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, 39 important counties, and 38 secondary counties. The commanders are also in charge of the capital, and the county guards are also in charge of the capital and the governor. The total military strength reaches 967,500 people, and there are 77 navy generals. He also ordered Shaanxi, Hebei, Jingdong, and Jingxi to recruit 100,000 troops, and sent people to guard Yingtian Mansion. He also ordered Jingdong and Jingxi to build large tanks. After Li Gang's recommendation, Zhao Gou appointed Zhang Suo, the former censor of the Northern Song Dynasty and "famous in Hebei", as the envoy of Hebei West Road, and Fu Liang was appointed as the deputy envoy of Hedong Economic System. After the painstaking efforts of the war-fighting bureaucrats, the Song Dynasty's military strength recovered and the situation improved slightly. The people in Hebei and Hedong had their hearts set on the Song court, and news of victory in the fight against the Jin Dynasty and the enemy's victory continued to arrive in Yingtian Mansion. The Jin soldiers who besieged the states and counties in Hebei and Hedong also withdrew their troops one after another. The spontaneously organized anti-Jin rebels recruited many people from the Yingfu Division and the Economic Development Division, so Zhao Gou summoned troops from Hebei and other five groups to come to Yingtian Mansion to defend the Song court.
Since the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty was captured by the Jin army, and Emperor Zhao Ji and Emperor Zhao Huan were captured by the Jin army in the north, the governor of Kaifeng has been vacant. Li Gang believed that to restore the old capital, the veteran general Zongze was the only one. With his strong recommendation, Zongze, then 69 years old, was appointed to the Kaifeng Mansion. When Zongze arrived in Kaifeng, the cavalry of the Jin Army was still stationed by the Yellow River, and the sound of golden drums could be heard day and night. However, the walls and gates of the capital city were completely destroyed, soldiers and civilians lived together inside and outside the city, thieves were running rampant, and people were terrified. Therefore, Zongze ordered that "thieves who are thieves are not serious and must obey military law" and dealt with several thieves. He also surrendered Wang Shan, a giant bandit from Hedong, and strong bandits traveling to western Beijing, Huainan, Hebei, Henan and other places. Yang Jin, Wang Zaixing and others stabilized social order. He actively built the city and strengthened city defense, and the situation in Kaifeng improved.
Although Zhao Gou reused Li Gang, Zongze and other war-fighting bureaucrats to actively organize armaments, expand the army, and build cities, he was afraid of the Jin army and wanted to stay away from Hebei. In May of the first year of Jianyan (1127), Zhao Gou issued an edict to Chengdu (now Sichuan), Jingzhao (now Xi'an, Shaanxi), Xiangyang (now Xiangfan, Hubei), Jingnan (now Jiangling, Hubei), Jiangning (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) ) and the two prefectures of Deng (ruling today's Deng County, Henan Province) and Yang (ruling today's Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province), stored grain and grass, and built castles in preparation for inspections. Zong Gang ignored Zhao Gou, believing that Kaifeng had been renovated and the situation had returned to the time of peace, and that the generals, farmers, merchants, and officials all hoped that Emperor Zong would return to the capital, so he asked Zhao Gou to return to the capital immediately to preside over the government. Zhao Gou was indifferent to this, and except for promoting Zongze to be a bachelor of Yankang Palace, a stay in the capital, and a prefect of Kaifeng, he still stayed in Yingtian Mansion in Nanjing.
At this time, the Jin Dynasty sent people to Kaifeng Mansion in the name of being envoys to the "Da Chu" Dynasty. Zongze immediately arrested the envoy and wrote to the court asking for punishment. Zhao Gou then issued an edict, requiring the Jin envoy to be placed in Guanyi. Zongze Shangshu resisted the edict, believing that the Jin people used the name of the envoy to gain a glimpse of the truth and "ordered to move to a separate residence and receive preferential treatment. The ministers were too stupid to dare to obey the edict to show that the country was weak." Zhao Gou also wrote a note in his own hand to Zongze, asking him to release the gold envoy to return home. Huang Qianshan used this to accuse Zongze of detaining the Jin envoy. Xu Jingheng, the minister Zuocheng, argued vigorously, believing that Zongze's achievements as Kaifeng Yin were outstanding and unmatched. The matter was settled.
The Jin Dynasty gathered a large number of troops between Zhending Prefecture (now Zhengding, Hebei Province), Huaizhou (governing today's Qinyang, Henan Province), and Weizhou (governing today's Jixian County, Henan Province), and secretly repaired ordnance and weapons. , preparing to invade the Song Dynasty again. The imperial court, generals and ministers were not concerned and did not arrange any defensive measures. Zongze was so worried that he personally crossed the Yellow River north and summoned the garrison generals from various states to discuss preparations for war and prepare to regain the lost land in Hebei. At the same time, envoys and commanders were sent around the capital to recruit the anti-Jin rebels. In order to strengthen and consolidate the defense of Kaifeng City, he built 24 strong fortresses outside the city according to the topography and topography. They were arranged in sequence along the Yellow River and connected as "Lianzhu Village", thus connecting the Zhongyi Village of Hedong and Hebei Shanshui Village. militia. This series of measures had a great impact. People from all walks of life in Shaanxi, Jingdong, and Jingxi expressed their willingness to listen to Zongze's command, and the anti-gold situation was extremely favorable.
Under such a situation, the peace-promoting bureaucrats still feared gold like a tiger. Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan persuaded Zhao Gou to flee to the south of the Yangtze River. Li Gang and others were extremely dissatisfied, and pointed out that Zhao Gou had "sent an edict to allow Liu to stay." In the Central Plains, the people are convinced, but the imperial edict has not yet been issued, and the great trust of the world has suddenly been lost?" At the insistence of Li Gang and other main war factions, Zhao Gou had to send Queen Mother Yu and others across the Yangtze River first, and said: "I will wait with you. He stayed alone in the Central Plains to train soldiers and gather troops. Although he is a capital city, he can defend it; although he is a gold thief, he can fight." Li Gang was also moved to serve as the minister's left servant and his servant, while Huang Qianshan became the minister's right servant and his minister. , the main war faction and the main peace faction were divided into left and right prime ministers. Under the constraints and sabotage of the Zhuhe faction, Li Gang and others' anti-golden measures were difficult to achieve. When Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan saw that their attempt to escape south was blocked by Li Gang and others, they deliberately slandered and sabotaged the anti-golden struggle.
Zhang Suo requested to set up an appeasement department in Yanshan Prefecture in Beijing (today's southwest of Beijing) during the Song Dynasty. When everything was ready, he would send troops to cross the Yellow River and head north. However, Huang Qianshan's henchman Zhang Yiqian, who stayed behind in Beijing, falsely accused the Hebei Advocate Division of disturbing the people, and even claimed that thieves had become increasingly rampant in Hebei since the establishment of the Advocate Division. Li Gang asked back: "Zhang Suo is still in the capital, and the Recruitment Commission has not yet been established. How can he know about the things that disturb the people? People in Hebei are displaced and gather together to commit robberies. Is it possible that thieves only started after the Recruitment Commission was established?" Huang Qianshan and his group still didn't know. Willing, he also ordered that Zongze "control" Fu Liang and immediately crossed the river to the north. Fu Liang believed that rushing to cross the river before he was ready might miss the big event. Li Gang pointedly pointed out to Zhao Gou that Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan's move was aimed at Li Gang's anti-gold proposition. However, Zhao Gou ordered the cancellation of Hedong on the grounds that Huang Qianshan and others said that "Fu Liang has few soldiers and cannot cross the river." Economic and Manufacturing Department. Li Gang knew that he was being squeezed out everywhere and that it was difficult to fight against the Jin Dynasty, so he submitted his resignation request many times. Zhao Gou then dismissed Li Gang, who had only been prime minister for 75 days, for "buying horses and recruiting troops". Chen Dong, a student of Taipei University, and Ouyang Che, a Jinshi, wrote that Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan could not be appointed, and Li Gang could not be dismissed from office, so he was killed.
After Li Gang was dismissed from office, Zhang Suo was also demoted, and Fu Liang resigned and returned home on the grounds of maternal illness. Soon, the Hebei Advocacy Department was also abolished, and all the anti-gold measures that Li Gang had formulated and implemented were abolished. While attacking and squeezing out the warring bureaucrats, Zhao Gou and Huang Qianshan were intensively preparing to escape south. Zhao Gou wrote an edict in his own hand, saying, "If you are not going to the capital, you should patrol the southeast." First, he decided to go to Nanyang (now part of Henan), and soon retreated to Huaidian. At the same time, he ordered the officials in Jingxiang, Guanshan, and Jianghuai regions to prepare for the "inspection", and sent Huiyou Pavilion to prepare Meng Zhonghou to welcome the ancestors of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The emperor's throne went to Yangzhou. Zhao Gou's intention to flee south was known to the world. Zongze wrote many times, imploring him to return to Kaifeng and not "tour" the southeast, but he never received Zhao Gou's attention. For this reason, Zongze countered the letter and shouted: "How can your Majesty abandon the foundation accumulated by the capital for two hundred years and abandon the enemy country?" He accused Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan of harming the country by urging them to go south. Zongze submitted letters again and again, and after passing through the three provinces and the Privy Council, they fell into the hands of Huang Qianshan and others. Every time they saw Zongze's memorial, they laughed at him for being crazy.
After the Jin army captured Kaifeng and retreated north, they have been renovating their ordnance and looking for opportunities to invade south again. Since the puppet emperor Zhang Bangchang was deposed and the puppet Chu regime died prematurely, the Jin Dynasty used this as an excuse to prepare to send troops to conquer the Southern Song Dynasty. The situation between the Song and Jin Dynasties became increasingly tense, and the main war faction once again advocated resistance to the Jin Dynasty. Wang Yan, the former Hebei ambassador to Sidu, led 7,000 soldiers to cross the Yellow River, go north to attack the Jin army, and regain Xinxiang County (now Henan) in one fell swoop. Most of the prefectures and counties in Hedong and Hebei that were not occupied by the Jin army were also actively preparing for war and were ready to meet the invading Jin army at any time. However, the Zhuhe faction headed by Zhao Gou, Huang Qianshan, and Wang Boyan stepped up their pace of fleeing south. In early September, Zhao Gou heard that the Jin soldiers had invaded Heyang, and he was already restless without confirmation. In order to completely remove the obstacles to escape south and eliminate all kinds of criticism, Zhao Gou actually issued an edict: "Anyone who dares to make false remarks and confuse the public will be punished and punished. Those who do not will be executed." At the end of October, Zhao Gou arrived in Yangzhou. . The Song Dynasty's southward flight caused the Jin army to send troops southward again. The Jin army sent troops south this time to attack the important prefectures and counties in Hedong and Hebei that were still under the control of the Song army, so as to consolidate its rule in the Lianghe area. Facing the Jin army's attack, people from all over the country and the Song army soldiers rose up to resist the Jin army's brutal plundering, especially the anti-Jin rebels. The rebels in Zezhou (governed today's Jincheng, Shanxi Province) and Luzhou (governed today's Changzhi, Shanxi Province) fought many times with the Jin Army and once attacked the Jin Army's camp. Almost captured Jin Zuo Deputy Marshal Wanyan Zonghan, with great momentum. After Wang Yan regained Xinxiang, he was besieged by tens of thousands of Jin troops. After his defeat, Wang Yan and his officers and soldiers broke through. Moved to the Taihang Mountains to the west of ***cheng County (now Huixian County, Henan Province) to fight against the Jin army. They tattooed the words "Serve the country wholeheartedly and vow to kill the golden thieves" on their faces to show their determination, and they were called the "Eight-Character Army". The loyal militia leaders Fu Xuan, Meng De, Liu Ze, Jiao Wentong and others led more than 100,000 rebels to defect to Wang Yan's tent. Wang Yan "renovated armor and organized troops", defeated the Jin army many times, and was once ready to go north to recover Taiyuan (now part of Shanxi). On Wuma Mountain (now Zanhuang, Hebei) in Qingyuan Prefecture, Hebei (now Zhao County, Hebei), there were anti-Jin rebels led by Song Wuyi doctor Zhao Bangjie and Ma Kuo, the former Baozhou Lulian visiting envoy. They supported the people who claimed to be the king of faith, Zhao Zhen. At the call, the team once grew to more than 100,000 people, and they went out to attack the Jin army.
The anti-Golden struggle between the official army and the rebel army in Hedong and Hebei areas posed a great threat to the Jin army invading southward, and objectively protected the newly established Southern Song Dynasty regime. But Zhao Gou, like his father Zhao Ji and his brother Zhao Huan, did not really fight against the Jin Dynasty. Zhao Gou issued an edict that "one person or one horse cannot cross the river." As a result, the anti-Jin rebels north of the Yellow River received no support and fought alone for a long time, suffering great losses. Wuma Mountain Village and other rebel strongholds fell into the hands of the Jin army one after another. Since being besieged by the Jin army in October of the first year of Jingkang (1126), the soldiers and civilians of Zhongshan Prefecture (now Dingxian County, Hebei Province), an important town in Hebei Province, under the leadership of the prefect Chen Tuo, tenaciously resisted the Jin army's attack. After Chen Tuo died in the line of duty, the soldiers and civilians in the city still refused to surrender. It was not until March of the second year of Jianyan (1128) that the city was finally occupied by the Jin army because the city had already run out of food, and most of the soldiers and civilians died of casualties and starvation. In May of the first year of Jianyan's reign, Maozhou (now east of Yongnian, Hebei Province) was besieged by the Jin army. The defender, Wang Lin, feared the enemy and surrendered. The soldiers and people in the city firmly opposed him and killed him. Han Yi was elected to lead the resistance against the Jin.
Later, the royal family Zhao Shimei escaped from the Jin army and gathered tens of thousands of volunteers in Cizhou (which governs present-day Ci County, Hebei Province). They attacked the Jin army besieging Mingzhou in the middle of the night and took advantage of the situation to enter the city, which greatly improved the defense of Chromezhou. strengthen. They surrounded the Jin army, captured its generals, and forced the Jin army to retreat. Soon the Jin army gathered forces to besiege Liuzhou again. The soldiers and civilians who defended the city fought bloody battles for more than 270 days, with 57 major and minor battles, causing great damage to the Jin army. However, due to the lack of food in the city, the soldiers and civilians were forced to break out of the encirclement and move to Daming Mansion (now northeast of Daming, Hebei Province), and Naozhou was occupied by the Jin army.
In order to allow Zhao Gou to return to the capital, Zongze, who was guarding Kaifeng, sent people to contact the anti-Jin rebels in Hebei and Hedong. They went south and gathered around Kaifeng City, with a total force of one million, forcing the Jin army not to dare to rush. attack. He wrote many times, begging Zhao Gou to come to Kaifeng, "Your Majesty has returned to the capital at this time, and everyone is in shock. Why should the enemy's country be worried?" He wrote more than 20 times, but they were all detained by Huang Qianshan and others. Zongze was worried and angry. He became ill and died in July. The day before his death, he chanted, "Death before leaving the army will make the hero burst into tears." He also asked his generals to continue to fight against the Jin Dynasty. The next day, Zongze still did not mention family matters. Before his death, he shouted "cross the river" three times and passed away. After Zongze's death, Zhao Gou sent Du Chong to stay in Beijing and change his post to Kaifeng Yin, while he stayed in Tokyo. When Du Chong took office, he changed Zongze's anti-golden measures. The anti-golden rebels originally recruited by Zongze were extremely dissatisfied with this and left one after another.
Zhao Gou's actions of fleeing south and passive surrender were once again despised by the Jin Dynasty, and the arrogance of the southern invasion of the Song Dynasty became increasingly arrogant. In July of the second year of Jianyan, Jin Ting once again sent troops to attack the retreating Song Dynasty. Song Ting once again fell into the predicament of a powerful enemy.