Ruins of the New City

　　Located in Xincheng Village, Lishi Town, seven kilometers south of Shayang, bordering the Han River to the north, and were built during the Southern Song Dynasty. In the late Southern Song period, Kublai Khan led the Yuan army in a major offensive against the Southern Song. In October 1274, the Yuan troops advanced southward along the Han River and laid siege to Xincheng Fort. The defending Southern Song commander, Bian Juyi, who was also the garrison commander, led his soldiers in a bloody four-day battle. Ultimately, outnumbered and overwhelmed, the fortress fell. Bian Juyi, his wife, and children died, and all 3,000 defending soldiers perished. At the site, there is now a broken stele inscribed with a seven-character quatrain written by Kong Kexue, the head of the Jiangling Prefecture School during the late Ming and early Qing periods, when he visited and paid tribute to Xincheng: “Iron-willed and resolute, they died without yielding; / The lone city stood high by the autumn Han. / Three thousand fought bravely, all loyal and true, / Unlike Xiangyang, they never served the foe.” Some local farming households still preserve numerous cultural relics from the Song Dynasty, such as city wall bricks and stone piers.