Song–Jin contest over the Bianjing region

Timeline

1. 1132–1135Bianjing · HenanIn the fourth month of Shaoxing 2, Liu Yu of the puppet Qi moved his capital to Bianjing, ruling most of the Central Plains—from Shandong in the east to Longzhong in the west and the Huai River in the south. In 1135 Bianjing remained the Qi capital; Liu Yu imitated Song institutions with the Three Departments and Six Ministries and used the Fuchang era name. Though the Southern Song nominally honored Emperors Huizon and Qinzong, it submitted to the puppet Qi without attacking, leaving the people of the Central Plains under a puppet regime.
2. 1135Shangjin, Jin · HeilongjiangIn Shaoxing 5, Emperor Taizong of Jin (Wanyan Sheng) died, the young Emperor Xizong of Jin succeeded, and the power struggle among Jurchen nobles intensified. Zonghan, Liu Yu's patron, was sidelined by Xizong, and the Jin court grew weary of dispatching troops to rescue the puppet Qi. In 1135 a truce prevailed between puppet Qi and the Southern Song; Jin forces no longer actively participated in Qi's southern campaigns, and the military standoff around Bianjing eased.
3. 1135From Lin'an Prefecture toward Bianjing · ZhejiangIn the fourth month of Shaoxing 5, Emperor Huizong died at Wuguo City, and Emperor Gaozong sent envoys seeking peace. Yue Fei's forces had recovered the six commanderies of Xiangyang the previous year, threatening Bianjing's flank. The Southern Song plotted to replace the puppet Qi as a vassal of Jin, planting the seeds for Jin's abolition of Qi (1137) and the Tianjuan Peace (1138), which returned Henan and Shaanxi. Though no siege of Bianjing occurred in 1135, the three-way contest over the former capital was already deeply underway.