Later Yan Emperor Murong Bao

Early life

Murong Bao (慕容宝), courtesy name Daoyou (字道佑), courtesy name Kugou (小字庫勾), was born in Xindu in the fourth year (355) of Yuan Xi, and was the fourth son of Murong Chui, Emperor Chengwu of Later Yan, and his mother empress Dowager Duan of The Chengzhao Dynasty(先段後). When Murong Bao was young, he was untrustworthy, lacked ambition and conduct, and preferred to be greeted by others. In 369, Murong Bao fled from Former Yan to Former Qin with his father Murong Chui and others, and during the reign of the former Qin lord Jian Jian, he served as the crown prince to wash horses and order wannian. Jian Jian launched the Battles of Huaishui and Shuishui and appointed Murong Bao as the general of Lingjiang.

In the first year of Later Yan (384), Murong Chui established Later Yan and later made Murong Bao crown prince. Murong Bao's stepmother, Empress Dowager Duan Yuan (i.e., Empress Chengzhao's cousin later), said to Murong Chui: "The crown prince was graceful and indecisive, and was a benevolent monarch in the Taiping Dynasty, but not a heroic master of the Ji dynasty in times of crisis. Murong Nong, the King of Western Liaoning, and Murong Long, the Prince of Gaoyang, were his sons Zhongxian Ming, and one of them should be chosen to be crown prince. Murong Lin, the King of Zhao, was treacherous and often had the psychology of insulting the crown prince, and once His Majesty died, there would definitely be disasters. This is a family affair of His Majesty and should be considered in depth. Murong Chui did not accept it. When Murong Bao and Murong Lin heard these words, they hated her very much. Later, when Duan Yuanfei said this again, Murong Chui said, "Do you want me to be the Duke of Jin?" Duan Yuanfei cried and withdrew.

After Murong Bao was made crown prince, he honed his character, advocated Confucianism, was good at talking, was good at writing articles, and lowered his status to curry favor with Murong Chui's close courtiers in order to gain a good reputation, Murong Chui's courtiers unanimously praised him, and Murong Chui also thought that he could inherit the family business and considered him virtuous.

Succeed to the throne and kill the mother

In the eleventh year of Jianxing (396), Murong Chui died, and in the same year Murong Bao succeeded to the throne, pardoning criminals in the territory and changing his name to Yuan Yongkang. He appointed Tai Wei as Taishi and Zuo Guanglu, duan chong as Taibao, and the rest of them were given different official positions. In accordance with Murong Chui's last will, he checked the household registration, dismissed the military camp, and assigned them to the counties and counties, determined the original origin of the warrior clan, and clarified their official duties, while the laws were severe and the government decrees were harsh, and the people of the imperial court were different, and nine out of ten people wanted to oppose him.

As soon as Murong Bao succeeded to the throne, he sent the Wei general Murong Lin (慕容麟) the Prince of Zhao to force his stepmother Empress Duan Yuanfei to say that you often said in front of the former emperor (Murong Chui) that the lord (Murong Bao) could not keep the throne, and threatened that if Duan Yuanfei did not die, Murong Bao would kill the Duan family. Duan Yuanfei angrily scolded Murong Bao for forcing his stepmother to kill, and certainly could not protect sheji, and then committed suicide.

Another prince

At first, Murong Chui was often worried about this matter because Murong Bao had not established an heir. Murong Bao's son Murong Of Qinghe (清河公) was multi-talented and talented, and Murong Chui valued him very much. When Murong Bao sent troops to the Northern Expedition, he sent Murong Hui to take charge of the affairs of the Eastern Palace on his behalf, and the general record of the government and treatment were the same as those of the crown prince, so it could be seen that the intention had been determined. Murong Chui went to attack Northern Wei, because Longcheng was the old capital and the seat of the Zongmiao Temple, and sent Murong Hui to guard Youzhou, entrusting him with the task of defending the northeast, and carefully selecting subordinate officials to assist him to enhance his prestige. On his deathbed, Murong Chui left a will and order that Murong Hui be made crown prince. Murong Bao, on the other hand, favored his younger son Murong Ce the Duke of Puyang, and murong Hui's intention to make him crown prince was not murong hui. Murong Bao's eldest son Murong Sheng the Duke of Changle, believing that he and Murong Hui were born of the same father and were older than Murong Hui, were ashamed that Murong Hui preceded him, so he strongly praised Murong Ce for being suitable as crown prince, while slandering Murong Hui. Murong Bao was very happy to learn of this, so he asked Murong Lin the Prince of Zhao and Murong Long the Prince of Gaoyang for their opinions, and Murong Lin and others all flattered Murong Bao's wishes and approved of Murong Ce's appointment as crown prince. Murong Bao then made a plan with Murong Lin and others, and Murong Ce's biological mother was made empress, Murong Ce was made crown prince, and Murong Sheng and Murong Hui were promoted to king.

Northern Wei came to attack

In the same year (396), Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei personally led an army of 100,000 to cut down Yan. The Wei army first attacked and annexed the prefecture, and the hussar general Murong Nong led an army to meet the battle, lost the battle, returned to Jinyang, and the defender Sima Muyusong closed the city gates and refused to let him enter the city. Murong Nong led thousands of men to flee back to Zhongshan, reached Luchuan, and was caught up by Northern Wei's pursuing army, except for Murong Nong, who fled back, and the rest of the army was completely destroyed. Murong Bao summoned his ministers at the East Hall for consultation. Yin Zhimo of Zhongshan said: "The Northern Wei army is strong, fighting for thousands of miles, taking advantage of the victory, doubling their courage, if they fight in the plains, their momentum is stronger, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist them, and they should choose a dangerous place to resist them." Zhongshu Ling said: "Most of the Wei army is cavalry, the army moves quickly and fiercely, but the grain and grass carried by the cavalry cannot exceed ten days, and all counties and counties should be ordered to organize a thousand houses into one fort, dig deep trenches, build high barriers, clear the countryside to treat them, so that the Wei army will have no grain and grass after coming, there will be no food supply, and no more than sixty days will naturally retreat." Shang Shu Fengyi said: "Now the Northern Wei army has a crowd of 100,000 people, and it is a fierce enemy of the world." Even if the common people want to gather, they cannot protect themselves, in fact, this is gathering grain and grass to gather weapons to fund a powerful enemy, and moreover, to shake the hearts of the people and show their weakness to the enemy. Relying on dangerous barriers to resist the enemy is the best strategy. Murong Lin said: "The Wei army is now riding on the victory, morale is very high, their forwards are unstoppable, they should prepare defensive equipment, wait for the Wei army to be tired, and then attack them." So he built walls to accumulate grain and grass, and prepared to face the enemy for a long time.

Throw away your armor

The Wei army attacked Zhongshan without success, and then occupied Boling and Lukou, and the guards fled in the wind, and all the counties surrendered to the Wei army. Murong Bao heard of the turmoil within Northern Wei, so he led all his troops out of the city to fight the enemy, with 120,000 infantry and 37,000 cavalry, stationed in Quyang and Baizhuang. Wei Jun arrived at Xinliang. Murong Bao was afraid of the sharp morale of the Wei army, so he sent the northern general Murong Long to use the night to sneak up on the Wei army and returned in defeat. The Wei army lined up in two parallel vehicles, the two armies held each other, Murong Bao's generals were very afraid, and the whole army lost its sharpness. Murong Nong and Murong Lin persuaded Murong Bao to return to Zhongshan, so Murong Bao led his army to retreat, and the Wei army took the opportunity to pursue them, while Murong Bao, Murong Nong, and others abandoned their large troops and only led 20,000 people to flee. It was a time of heavy wind and snow, and the people who froze to death were pressed against each other on the road. Murong Bao, fearing being pursued by the Wei army, ordered his generals to throw away their robes and weapons, and did not bring back even a single weapon.

Murdered

When the Wei army attacked Zhongshan, it was stationed at Fanglin Garden. That night, Shangshu Mu Yuhao plotted to kill Murong Bao and make Murong Lin emperor. Mu Yuhao's wife's brother Su Ni told Murong Bao about the incident. Murong Bao sent Murong Long to arrest Mu Youhao, who and dozens of people who conspired with him cut open the city gates and fled to Northern Wei. Murong Lin was very upset in his heart, and used his troops to intimidate the Left Guard general Murong Jing, the king of Northern Territories, in an attempt to have Murong Jing lead the Janissaries to kill Murong Bao, but Murong Jing rejected him with legitimate reasons, and Murong Lin killed Murong Jing in anger and fled to Ding Zero.

Internal and external troubles

Originally, when Murong Bao heard of the Invasion of Northern Wei troops, he sent Murong Hui to lead the troops of Youzhou and Hezhou to Zhongshan. Murong Lin had already defected, and Murong Bao, fearful, seized Murong Hui's military power first and prepared to send troops to meet Murong Hui. Murong Lin's attendant Duan Pingzi fled back from Ding Zero and reported Murong Lin's situation to Murong Bao, saying that Murong Lin had recruited soldiers and horses at Ding Zero, and that his army was strong, and that he was plotting to attack Murong Hui's army and occupy Longcheng to the east. Murong Bao, along with the crown prince Murong Ce, Murong Nong, Murong Long, and others led more than 10,000 horses to meet Murong at Ji. Murong Xiang, the Duke of Kaifeng, was appointed to guard Zhongshan. Murong Hui recruited all the sages, reorganized the army, and 20,000 infantry and cavalry marched in formation to meet Murong Bao on the southern outskirts of Ji. Murong Bao gave Murong Hui a portion of Murong Hui's forces to Murong Nong and Murong Long, and sent The Duke of Xihe to lead 3,000 men and horses to assist in the defense of Zhongshan.

Murong Hui became crown prince because of Murong Ce, and he had a resentful expression. Murong Bao told Murong Nong and Murong Long about this, and both of them said, "Murong Bao was a young man who was in charge of one side's affairs alone and developed a habit of pride. We will rebuke him with etiquette. The soldiers of Youzhou and Pingzhou were all grateful to Murong Hui's Weide and did not want to leave him, so they all asked Murong Bao: "The King of Qinghe was born with divine martial qualities, and his strategy of adapting to changes exceeded that of ordinary people, and we swore to live and die with him, and we were grateful for the favor of the prince, and our courage was doubled." Please your majesty and the crown prince and the princes to live in the palace of Ji, and send the king of Qinghe to lead us to attack the Wei army to relieve the siege of the capital, and then take Your Majesty back to the capital. Murong Bao's close associates were jealous of Murong Hui's bravery, and said bad things about Murong Hui in front of Murong Bao, and did not allow Murong Hui to lead troops on the expedition, and Murong Hui's generals were resentful. Murong Bao's close advisers persuaded Murong Bao to kill Murong Hui, and when murong Bao heard the news, he told Murong Hui: "Murong Bao's close advisers plotted like this in secret, and the lord would obey their plots. The only thing you rely on is your parents, the father has already got rid of your ideas; the only thing you rely on is the army, the army has not let you control, there is no way to advance or retreat, I am afraid that there is no reason for self-preservation, why not kill the second king, abolish the prince, the king himself as the prince, the commander of the general, so as to support the country. Murong Hui disagreed.

Murong Bao said to Murong Nong and Murong Long, "Observing that Murong Rong will have a rebellion, this is inevitable, and we should kill him as soon as possible." Otherwise, I am afraid that it will lead to great disaster. Murong Nong said: "Bandits are harmful, the country is uncertain, and there are constant disputes in the Central Plains, Murong Hui will be able to guard the old capital and appease the people to make the territory safe, and when there are difficulties in the capital, he will lead his troops to travel thousands of miles, and the starry night will come to come, and the prestige will be far and wide, and he can shock Rong Di." He showed no signs of rebellion and should be put intolerance for the time being. Now that the country is in imminent danger, if you kill inside, it will inevitably damage your prestige. Murong Bao said, "Murong Bao's plot to rebel has already been formed, and you have a benevolent heart and do not want to get rid of him, I am afraid that if he attacks, he will first kill your uncles and then kill me." After things fail, it is time to think about what I said today. ”

Murong Nong and others insisted on exhorting, so they stopped their plans to remove Murong Hui. Murong Would be even more frightened when he heard of this and fled to the Huangyu Valley, the capital of Guangdu. Murong Hui sent Qiu Nigui and others to lead strong soldiers of more than twenty men to attack Murong Nong and Murong Long respectively, and Murong Long was killed that night, and Murong Nong was seriously injured. Soon, Murong Hui submitted to Murong Bao, and Murong Bao, who had the intention of getting rid of Murong Hui, deliberately seduced and appeased him, and secretly sent The Left Guard Mu Yuteng to kill Murong Hui, but failed to harm him. Murong Hui fled to his forces again, so he led his army to attack Murong Bao. Murong Bao led hundreds of men and horses to flee to Longcheng, where Murong Bao would lead an army to pursue him and send emissaries to tell Murong Bao to kill his traitors and to make him crown prince, but Murong Bao would not allow it. Murong Hui led his troops to surround Longcheng, and Gao Yun, the attendant of the Imperial Guard, used the night to lead a death squad of more than a hundred people to sneak into Murong Hui and defeat him, and his men all scattered and fled, Murong Hui fled to Zhongshan alone, and even rushed through the encirclement into the city, as a result, he was killed by Murong Hui.

Murong Shu established himself as emperor, set up hundreds of officials, and changed his era name. He indulged in alcohol and lived a life of extravagance and absurdity, killing without limits, killing more than five hundred people below the prince, shaking the country and abroad, and no one dared to disobey him. There was a famine in Zhongshan City, and dozens of people were starved to death by the princes and ministers. Murong Lin led Ding Zero's army into Zhongshan City, beheaded Murong Shu and more than 300 of his relatives and henchmen, and he also proclaimed himself emperor. Food was even more scarce in Zhongshan City, and famine was even worse. Murong Lin led his men to leave Zhongshan City to occupy Xinshi and fight the Northern Wei army at Yitai, where Murong Lin's army was defeated. The Wei army entered Zhongshan City, and Murong Lin fled to Yecheng.

Killed

In the third year of Yongkang (398), Murong De sent his attendant Li Yan to persuade Murong Bao to march south, and Murong Bao was very happy. Murong Sheng earnestly advised him that the generals of our army were very tired, and that the Wei army had only recently pacified the Central Plains, and that our army should recuperate, observe their changes, and wait for the opportunity in the future. Murong Bao was ready to follow Li Yan's advice. Fujun Mu Yuteng said: "Now that the army has gathered, we should take advantage of the opportunity that has just been calmed down to complete the work of making progress." People can order him to obey, but it is difficult to plan with them the grand plan of entrepreneurship, and only the holy one decides alone, and should not go around asking for advice, so as to discourage the military aircraft. Murong Bao said, "My plan has already been decided, and if there is any dissuasion, I will kill him!" Murong Bao sent troops from Longcheng and appointed Mu Youteng as the Grand Sima of the former army, Murong Nong led the Chinese army, Murong Bao led the rear army, and the infantry and cavalry totaled 30,000 people, temporarily stationed in the Yi Company. Because the soldiers were afraid of fighting, they killed Sikong and Murong Zhou, the king of Lelang, and forced Murong Chong, the king of Gaoyang, to be emperor. Murong Bao fled alone to Murong Nong and led his troops to fight Duan Suo. The soldiers were afraid of conquest and rebellion, and they threw away their weapons and fled. Mu Yuteng's men also collapsed, so Murong Bao and Murong Nong urged their horses to flee and return to Longcheng. Murong Bao's subordinate Lan Khan secretly colluded with Duan Sukuo, and Duan Sukui led an army to attack Longcheng, and Murong Nong was deceived by Lan Khan and secretly went out of the city to Duan Sukuo's camp, where he was killed by Duan Suokuo. The soldiers all fled, and Murong Bao, Murong Sheng, Mu Youteng, and others fled south. Lan Khan supported Murong Ce as crown prince to succeed to the throne, sent emissaries to greet Murong Bao, and arrived at Jicheng. Murong Bao wanted to continue north to return to Longcheng, Murong Sheng and others all thought that Lan Khan's loyalty was not yet true or false, and you returned alone, if Lan Khan really had two hearts, then it would be too late to regret it. Murong Bao heeded their advice and headed south from Jicheng. Arriving at Liyang, he heard that Murong De had claimed to be emperor, felt frightened, and retreated. So he sent Mu Youteng to Julu to recruit the scattered soldiers, Murong Sheng to Jizhou to befriend Haojie, duan Yi and Duan Wen to Neihuang to recruit the old department, and everyone responded, willing to meet and gather at the agreed time. It happened that Lan Khan sent the left general Su Chao to greet Murong Bao, and Murong Bao believed that Lan Khan was Murong Chui's brother-in-law, and Murong Sheng was Lan Khan's son-in-law, and must have no second thoughts about his loyalty, so he returned to Longcheng. Lan Khan led Murong Bao to a hostel outside the city and killed him at the age of forty-four. After Murong Sheng succeeded to the throne, he gave Murong Bao the title of Emperor Huizong (惠愍帝) and the temple title Ofehu Liezong (一作烈祖).