Emperor Gong of Song - Early Accession To The Throne

Early Accession To The Throne

In 1274, the tenth and final year of his Xianchun Era (咸淳), Emperor Duzong died. His four year old son Zhao Xian was enthroned as Emperor Gong of Song with the assistance of the powerful chancellor Jia Sidao. The following year Gong became regent under the aegis of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Xie (謝太皇太后) and his mother Empress Dowager Quan (全太后), although real control of the army and the state remained in the hands of Jia Sidao.

At the time Gong became emperor, the army of the Mongol Empire had already taken control of the northern and south western areas of China, crossed the Yangtze River acquiring key strategic locations on the way including control of Xiangyang City (part of modern Xiangfan, Hubei), and were heading towards the Song capital at Lin'an (modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). Grand Empress Dowager Xie pursued a dual solution to the pending destruction of her dynasty, on the one hand ordering the people to rally behind their emperor and save the country and on the other suing for peace with the advancing Mongols. The Mongol army meanwhile swept onwards, capturing territory as they went and taking control of various prefectures along the middle stretches of the Yangtze River.

In early 1275 CE, Jia Sidao led an army of 30,000 Song troops and engaged the Mongols at Wuhu City in Anhui. The Song army suffered defeat and not long afterward, bowing to public pressure, the empress dowager ordered Jia Sidao's execution. However, the move came too late and destruction of the Song Dynasty loomed closer.

By the middle of 1275 the Mongol army had control of most of Jiandong (江東), the southern part of modern day Jiangsu Province. On the 18th of January 1276 CE the leader of the Mongol forces, General Bayan arrived outside Lin'an with his army. The Song court dispatched statesman Lu Xiufu (陸秀夫) to negotiate, but the envoy was left with no option other than to surrender to the Mongols. Later the same year, Grand Empress Dowager Xie carried the five year old emperor out of Lin'an and into the Mongol camp where she too surrendered. The remnants of the Southern Song court and army who were still able to fight withdrew southwards to Fujian and Guangdong.

In 1279 CE after the Battle of Yamen, Liu Xiufu took the new emperor – the barely nine year old son of former Emperor Duzong, Emperor Huaizong – to Mount Ya (崖山) (modern day Yamen, Guangdong) from which they both leapt into the sea. The suicide of the last emperor brought about the final destruction of the Song Dynasty and opened the way for the new Yuan Dynasty.