In the same year that the Northern Song Dynasty fell, Zhao Gou, the younger brother of Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty, became emperor in Yingtian Mansion (now Shangqiu, Henan). In 1128, the Jin army continued to move south, and Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou fled to the sea. Later, the Jin army was defeated and retreated north. In 1132, Song Gaozong settled in Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang). In 1138, Lin'an was officially established as the capital. From then on, he lived in a corner of Lin'an, bordering the Jin Kingdom on the north by the Huaihe River and the Qinling Mountains. From the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty to its destruction by the Yuan Dynasty, there were 9 emperors, 153 years.
The Jin army went south to burn, kill and loot, and the people took up arms to resist, and a group of outstanding generals who resisted the Jin emerged. The "Eight-Character Army" led by Wang Yan in the Yellow River Basin severely damaged the Jin Army many times in the Taihang Mountains. The veteran Zongze stayed in Kaifeng and actively supported the struggle of the northern rebels. The generals of the Anti-Japanese War faction in the Southern Song Dynasty resolutely resisted the Jin army. Han Shizhong held the Jin army at Huangtiandang for 48 days. Yue Fei defeated Jin general Wushu's main cavalry in Yancheng and took advantage of the victory to regain a lot of lost ground. Other Song armies also achieved many results. Just as the anti-Jin struggle was developing smoothly, Song Gaozong and Qin Hui were afraid that the anti-Jin forces would grow stronger and threaten their rule, so they asked for peace from the Jin Dynasty. The Song and Jin Dynasties signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement." Afterwards, Song Gaozong and Qin Hui conspired to kill Yue Fei on trumped-up charges, creating one of the greatest injustices in history.
Most of the emperors and bureaucrats of the Southern Song Dynasty starting from Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty were satisfied with the peace of half of the country, indulged in pleasure, and had no intention of regaining the lost territory. Therefore, the two Northern Expeditions launched by the main war ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty ended in failure. In 1234 AD, after the Mongols destroyed the Jin Dynasty, they targeted the Southern Song Dynasty. The corrupt Southern Song Dynasty could not resist the attack of the powerful Mongolian army, and finally perished in 1276 AD. The Mongols established the Yuan Empire and unified the country.