Kao shi kie, governor of Yu chau in Hu kwang, planned an attack on Wu chang fu. He manned several thousand large boats and seized the straits of King kiang. Alihaiya, the Wu chang commandant, advanced with a fleet against Kao shi kie, who, fearing the risk of a battle, raised anchor and retired to the great Tong ting lake, where he made his boats ready for action. Alihaiya formed his fleet into several squadrons, which put the Chinese to flight with great promptness. They seized Kao shi kie’s boat, took him prisoner and then cut his head off. The head was fixed on a lance point and shown beneath the walls of Yu chau, which surrendered when summoned.
Alihaiya now attacked Kiang ling. The governor of this city, Kao ta, was among the best officers in China. Dissatisfied with the court which had put other men above him irregularly, he surrendered his city. After some days he wrote to commandants within his jurisdiction advising surrender, and soon fifteen of them yielded. Alihaiya left all who surrendered in command of [[349]]their cities. Alihaiya was a favorite of Kubilai, who now sent this general a letter of thanks for his action, and gave Kao ta that same office which the Sung government had refused him.
Southern Su chuan was still unconquered, but now Wang liang chin, the Mongol governor, defeated Tsan wan chiu, the Sung general commanding, and besieged him in Kia ting, his capital. Tsan wan chiu surrendered, giving also an account of every place in his province. He was retained then in office. Still Su chuan did not submit altogether till 1278. The great question now for the government was to be rid of Kia se tao, who had grown odious to all men, and in 1274 the regent deprived him of office. This did not sate public hatred, however. Ten accusations were leveled against this vile minister, but the regent whom he had created could not make up her mind to destroy the man, so she confiscated his property, and assigned Fu kien to him as a place of life exile. An official whose father the minister had banished was given the task of conducting the condemned man. This official made it his pleasure to torment the fallen minister as he traveled, and finished by killing him near the end of the journey. For this act he was put to death straightway.
At chu resolved now to attack Chang shi kie, who had a vast fleet of boats on the river. In front of his own fleet he arranged his largest boats and placed upon them one thousand crossbowmen who discharged blazing arrows to fire the opposing flotilla. He followed closely behind to sustain them.
The Mongol fleet bore down with all force on the Chinese. The thousand bowmen sent burning arrows in every direction, and soon the great river was covered with blazing barges and boats. To avoid being burned or taken captive by Mongols many Chinese hurled themselves into the river and perished. Chang she kie fled, leaving more than seven hundred boats in the hands of the Mongols.
Bayan saw the Grand Elan at Shang tu, and convinced him that harm alone could result from stopping operations in China for even a short time. Bayan was sent back to his office and the plan of campaign was fixed promptly. Bayan was to march straightway (1275), and take the Sung capital. His assistants were to operate on the right and the left in the Hoai nan and Kiang si provinces. His own army was divided into three parts and its [[350]]action repeated in some sense the movements of the combined Mongol forces. The part of this army in which Bayan, the great chief, was present marched through Chang chan; Liu wen hoan led its vanguard.
The Sung court sent corps after corps to succor the city. Bayan crushed all that he met in the field, and then summoned Chang chau to surrender. When both threats and promises proved useless he destroyed the suburbs, and raising a rampart to the height of the walls, he then captured the city. Of the four chiefs who commanded three fell, while the fourth fled and saved himself. The inhabitants were put to the sword without pity. Bayan’s generals, Argan and Tong wen ping, carried everything before them; people were fleeing to Lin ngan in thousands; there was panic in all parts, and terror in the capital. Chin y chong the first minister forced to the ranks every male above fifteen years of age. The Empress sent an envoy to Bayan to explain that the evil done had been done by Kia se tao, whom she had punished, that the sovereign was still in tender years, and that all would be remedied.
Bayan answered that Kia se tao had not murdered Lien hi hien, and bade her remember that when the Sung dynasty won its dominion, the last of the Cheu line, from which the Sungs had snatched Empire, was also an infant. “Think it not strange if your infant is treated as you treated that one.”
Bayan advanced farther. The same envoy appeared from Chin y chong and the Empress to declare that the young Emperor would agree to call himself the nephew of Kubilai, and pay tribute. This too was rejected. Now the Empress sent to say that the Emperor would own himself a subject of Kubilai, and pay yearly tribute. This offer was made without the knowledge of Chin y chong, who wished the court to remove to southern regions and fight to the end there with valor. The Empress would not hear of this project. Bayan was approaching the capital irresistibly; nothing could stop him. The Sung princes advised now to send Ki wang and Sin wang, the Emperor’s half-brothers, to more remote regions, and preserve in this manner the dynasty. The Empress consented and, changing the title of Ki wang to Y wang, and Sin wang to Kwang wang, sent them both to Fu kien, but to different places in the province. [[351]]
Bayan was met near Lin ngan by the two other parts of his army. In sign that she submitted the Empress now sent him the grand seal of Empire, which he transmitted to Kubilai immediately. Next he summoned Chin y chong to discuss terms of settlement, but this minister, who was opposed to the Empress, hurried off southward. Chang shi kie retired also with his troops to Ting hai, and when Bayan sent an officer of distinction to invite him to surrender Chang shi kie cut the man’s tongue out, and hacked him to pieces. The Empress now made Wen tien siang her first minister, gave him U kien as a colleague, and sent the two men to Bayan on a mission.