After Murong Sheng became emperor, he honored his aunt and concubine, so why didn't he respect his birth mother?

After Murong Sheng became emperor, he honored his aunt and concubine, so why didn't he respect his birth mother?

Murong Xianbei had an important figure named Murong Sheng, without whom Later Yan would have changed his surname. Because, his father-in-law Lan Khan killed murong Bao, the Emperor of Later Yan, and then Lan Khan himself took the throne. In desperation, Murong Bao's son Murong Sheng had to pretend to defect to his father-in-law. Soon, Murong Sheng saw the opportunity to kill his father-in-law, and Later Yan was able to recover. In this political struggle of deceit and death, Murong Sheng became the final winner.

In October 398, at the repeated "requests" of his subjects, Murong Sheng finally assumed the status of emperor and was known as Emperor Zhaowu. On this day, Murong Sheng had been waiting for a long time. Subsequently, Murong Sheng posthumously honored his long-dead uncle Murong Ling (Murong Quan of Jin Shu) as Emperor Xianzhuang, his aunt Ding Shi as Empress Xianzhuang, and his concubine (Empress Murong Bao) as empress dowager. Then, why did Murong Sheng not respect his birth mother?

Successive emperors have honored their parents and grandparents, so why is Murong Sheng unique? Doesn't he have a mother? Obviously not, no one jumped out of the cracks in the stone. In the Book of Jin, the Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Zizhi Tongjian, there is no record of who Murong Sheng's birth mother was, and even in the historical materials, her shadow cannot be seen. Even if the birth mother was a low-status palace girl, or had passed away, Murong Sheng, who had become emperor, should always express something.

This is a suspicious case. In order to solve this problem, it was necessary to move the Later Yan founding emperor Murong Chui out.

Murong Chui was a former Yan emperor and had nine sons, of whom the eldest son Murong Ling and the fourth son Murong Bao were all born to his wife Duan Shi. Murong Ling (慕容令) was "less Shen Min, more strategic, and brave and resolute", and was also the eldest son of Murong Chui, who was most loved and valued by Murong Chui. After the fall of Former Yan, Murong Chui's father and son returned to Former Qin. In 370, Former Qin's chancellor Wang Meng felt that Murong Chui and Murong Ling were not idle people, so he used the "Golden Sword Scheme" to kill Murong Ling, and Murong Chui was spared.

Murong Ling was married at the time of his death, and his wife Ding shi had not yet had children. Murong Ling's death gave Murong Chui a bitter hatred for Former Qin. After the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin collapsed, and Murong Chui took the opportunity to break away, set up his own portal, revived Great Yan, established the Later Yan regime, posthumously made Murong Ling the Prince of Xianzhuang, and made his fourth son Murong Bao the crown prince. Murong Bao had four sons, murong sheng (慕容盛) the eldest son, Shu Chu (庶出), the second son Murong Hui (慕容会), Shu Chu (庶出), the third son Murong Ce (慕容策), and the fourth son Murong Yuan (慕容元), shu (庶出). Among the four brothers, Murong Sheng was the eldest, and "less Shen Min, more strategist", had the strongest ability.

It is said that in the war-torn years, Murong Sheng was most likely to become the next successor. However, Murong Chui did not like him as a eldest grandson, but instead liked his second grandson Murong Hui, "and murong Bao's Northern Expedition, Murong Chui made Murong Hui act as the regent of the palace, and the general record and courtesy of the crown prince" had already made Murong Huinei the emperor's grandson. When Murong Chui was dying, he repeatedly instructed the crown prince Murong Bao to make Murong Hui an heir.

Murong Hui was versatile and very strategic, but compared with his eldest brother Murong Sheng, there were still many gaps. The two were both out of the same place, so why was it so difficult for Murong Sheng to enter Murong Chui's eyes?

It is generally believed that there are two possibilities. First, Murong Sheng may have been succeeded to his uncle's name and was not eligible to participate in the succession to the throne; second, Murong Sheng's identity was unspeakable, and Murong Chui did not want to see him.

Regarding the first possibility, the "Biography of Murong Sheng of the Book of Jin" is straightforward and points out that "Sheng Zi Dao Yun, Bao Zhi Shu's eldest son also", bluntly stating that Murong Sheng was Murong Bao's son and had no inheritance relationship with his uncle Murong Ling. Some people believe that Murong Sheng was "brave and resolute, and had the wind and fierceness of his uncle Quan (Ling)", perhaps Murong Ling's son. Murong Ling died in 370 AD, and Murong Sheng was born in 373 AD, the time is not right, there is no such possibility. In this way, there is only the second possibility, Murong Sheng's identity is problematic, and it is a big problem that is secretive.

Judging from the historical data, Murong Sheng's relationship with his aunt Ding Shi was very close, and this intimate relationship was like that of mother and son, and Murong Sheng's wife Lan Shi also had a very good relationship with Ding Shi. Some people suspected that Ding Shi was Murong Sheng's biological mother. After the death of her husband, the Ding clan was widowed, could it be that the younger uncle Murong Bao took possession of the widow? This is very possible. According to the "Biography of Murong Bao in the Book of Jin", Murong Bao "has few light fruits, no ambitions, and good people are good to himself", and the matter of adultery with his sister-in-law can be completely done. If Murong Sheng was really a product of Murong Bao and his sister-in-law, then all the problems could be explained.

In the historical data, there are clues in this regard. There is a sentence in the "Biography of Murong Sheng of the Book of Jin" that is worth playing, "Seven Soldiers Shangshu Ding Xin Year Fifteen, Sheng Zhi's brother-in-law also". The brother-in-law, that is, the son of the uncle, is surnamed Ding, and has the same surname as Ding. So, what was the relationship between Ding Xin and Murong Sheng's aunt? There is a sentence in the "Biography of Murong Xi in the Book of Jin" that Murong Sheng's aunt "Ding Shi ... Conspired with his brother Qibing Shangshuxin to abolish Xi", indicating that Ding Shi was Ding Xin's aunt. This made it very clear that Murong Sheng's birth mother was his aunt Ding Shi. Sima Guang, when compiling the Zizhi Tongjian, understood the spirit and bluntly said that Murong Sheng "honored Empress Dowager Ding", and this "concubine" obviously referred to her birth mother.

Ding Shi is a woman who can't stand loneliness. After the death of her husband Murong Ling, she had an affair with her younger uncle Murong Bao and gave birth to Murong Sheng. In order to cover up the scandal of his uncle's adultery, Murong Bao falsely claimed to be Murong Sheng, who was an ordinary palace girl. For such an unchaste daughter, even if his son Murong Sheng was excellent, Murong Chui and Murong Bao would not be favored. Later, The Ding clan messed with another uncle, Murong Xi, "At the beginning, Xi Yan was in the Ding clan."

Therefore, Murong Sheng's title of empress dowager was not disrespectful to his birth mother, but he really could not respect him. Because his birth mother was his aunt.

(End of full article)