The Mongol-Yuan army invaded the south, Lin'an fell, and Emperor Deyou issued an edict of surrender ordering the realm to submit.
Li Tingzhi defended Huainan and repelled the enemy several times. He burned the edict and said, "I received an imperial order to defend the city. I've never heard of any imperial edict ordering surrender."
Thus, he held Yangzhou to the death. When food and provisions ran out, the soldiers killed their own sons and ate them.
The following year, the remnants of the Song forces—Lu Xiufu, Wen Tianxiang, Zhang Shijie, and others—refused to accept the edict. They fled to sea with two of Emperor Duzong's sons. Li Tingzhi was ordered to receive them. Following the order, he appointed his subordinate Zhu Huan to defend Yangzhou, then personally led seven thousand men east to the sea, reaching Taizhou.
However, Zhu Huan opened Yangzhou's gates and surrendered to the Yuan. He also drove Li Tingzhi's soldiers, wives, and children to the foot of Taizhou's walls. Taizhou's deputy commanders Sun Gui and Hu Weixiao opened the gates and surrendered. Driven into desperate straits, Li Tingzhi threw himself into the water. He survived and was captured, but refused to surrender and was executed.
After that, the entire territory of Song had been incorporated into the Great Yuan's realm. Wen Tianxiang and the others jointly enthroned Prince Yi in Fuzhou, changed the era name to Jingyan, established a small court, and continued fleeing south.
The Yuan army relentlessly pursued the Young Emperor. The emperor was young and frail, and during the escape, he died of fright in a fierce gale at Jing'ao.
Some people lost heart and wanted to leave.
But Lu Xiufu said, "If one king dies, there is still another. In ancient times, there were those who achieved a revival with only