Former Yan Murong Wei: A tragic emperor who plotted to restore the country after the fall of the country, and was eventually killed in defeat
Text/Lao Zhang is on the road
In November of the eleventh year (370) of the former Yan Emperor Jianxi, Former Qin destroyed Former Yan. Murong Wei became the last emperor of Former Yan, and from then on, restoring the kingdom became his dream, just like Jin Yong's Murong Fu.
01
Murong Wei (350–384), also known as Former Yan Emperor You (r. 360–370), courtesy name Jingmao, was the third son of Former Yan Jingzhao Emperor Murong Juan, and his mother was Empress Kezuhun of the Kezuhun clan.
Murong Wei was first enfeoffed as king of Zhongshan, and in 356 (the twelfth year of Yonghe), the crown prince Murong Ye died, and Murong Huan made murong Wei crown prince at the age of 7 the following year. In the fourth year of Guangshou (360), Murong Huan died, and Murong Wei succeeded to the throne with the era name Jianxi. This year Murong Wei was just 10 years old.
After Murong Wei ascended the throne, he made Murong Ke the Dazai and made him the regent of the imperial government. From 360, when Murong Ke assisted the government, to his death in 367, Former Yan was relatively stable in politics.
In the second year of Former Yan Jianxi (361), former Yan Hanoi Taishou Lü defended the rebellion as a fuse, and Former Yan and eastern Jin launched a continuous war in the Central Plains.
In July of the fifth year of Former Yan Jianxi, Murong Ke personally led an army to attack Luoyang, and the defenders of Luoyang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty fled in defeat. The following year, Former Yan conquered Luoyang.
Former Yan gained control of the Central Plains from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
02
Former Yan's victory was inseparable from Murong Ke, the uncle of the little emperor Murong Wei.
Murong Ke (321–367), courtesy name Xuangong, was the fourth son of The Former Yan Emperor Murong Huan and the younger brother of Murong Jue, the Former Yan Jingzhao Emperor, and was later hailed as one of the Ten Famous Generals of the Sixteen Kingdoms.
Murong Ke, because of his cautious and generous personality, controlled the army from the age of fifteen, and repeatedly defeated the strong with weakness, thus consolidating Murong Ke's position as the overlord of Liaodong.
After the death of Zhao Shihu, the Central Plains were in chaos, and Murong Shi entered Guanzhou and occupied Hebei. After the Later Zhao general Ran Min established himself, Murong Ke fought with him several times, and finally led him to the plains and captured him with a "chain of horses".
After the death of the Jingzhao Emperor Murong Wei, the young emperor Murong Wei took the throne, and Murong Ke appointed Dazai as the ruler, and he built the largest territory of Former Yan on the basis of "rule by virtue". Until his death, he was still making proper arrangements for the future of the country, and was known as the "legacy of the ancients".
In 366, Murong Ke became seriously ill, and worried that the young emperor Murong Wei had no real power in his hands, and Murong Jue was suspicious, he recommended Murong Chui the Prince of Wu to Murong Wei,the brother of Murong Wei, who was in charge of Former Yan and the prince of Le'an, but Murong Zang did not listen to Murong Ke's words.
In 367, Murong Wei personally visited Murong Ke's mansion to inquire about the aftermath, and Murong Ke again recommended Murong Chui to Murong Wei, saying, "I heard that Fu said that anyone who recommends a scholar can be a man of the board, let alone a state of Yi! King Wu was both a man of letters and martial arts, second only to Guan and Xiao, and if His Majesty entrusted him with administrative affairs, the country would be able to gain a moment of stability. Otherwise, I'm afraid that Erkou will definitely have a voyeuristic plan. ”
Before Murong Ke's death, he wanted to recommend Murong Chui the Prince of Wu to replace him as Sima Dai, but eventually another auxiliary chancellor, Murong Jue, replaced Murong Ke with Murong Wei's brother Murong Chong.
03
Murong Chong was a famous beautiful man in history, xiao yong and good at war, but he was only ten years old at this time. Murong Jue then became regent and co-ran the imperial government with Empress Dowager Kezuhun.
Murong Ke had already laid out a good situation for the destruction of Former Qin, captured The Pass and garrisoned the defense.
At this time, Fu Yu, who was guarding the city of Shaanxi in Former Qin, sent people to surrender to the Yan state because of internal contradictions, and the gates of the Guanzhong region were wide opened.
The Monarchs of the State of Yan also thought that this was a great opportunity, taking advantage of the split of Former Qin, they should quickly send troops to echo Fu Yu and attack Former Qin to unify the world.
Murong Jue only wanted to enjoy himself comfortably in Yecheng, but he rejected everyone's proposal, saying: "The state of Qin is a big country, and although there are dangers now, it is not easy to be destroyed. Although His Majesty is wise, can he be compared to the previous emperor, let alone the previous emperor, can he be compared with Murong Ke of Dazai? Everyone can keep the country, and pacifying the Qin state is not something that those of us can do. ”
Fu Yu had thought that as soon as he surrendered, the State of Yan would inevitably send troops to help, who knew that he did not wait for the Yan army, but waited for the Qin army to surround him. While scolding a group of villains in Yanguo, Fu Li had no choice but to continue to write letters to Yanguo for help.
Murong De and others repeatedly wrote to plead for troops, but Murong Comment simply ignored them. Murong Chui could only sigh at Nobunaga, he knew that Former Qin Zhijian and Wang Meng were outstanding figures, and if they did not take the opportunity to eliminate them, the State of Yan would certainly regret it in the future, but his own people were light-hearted, and the power was in Murong Jue's hands.
Without the response of the Yan army, Fu Yu finally broke the city and was captured, and the Yan state also missed a great opportunity in vain.
In 369 (the fourth year of Taihe), Huanwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty launched the Northern Expedition and attacked Former Yan, triggering the famous Battle of Fangtou.
Huan Wen, the Grand Sima of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, led 50,000 troops to ride out of the army to cut yan, Huan Wen was a famous general in Chinese history, and left a history with a bold saying that "men cannot flow for hundreds of lifetimes, but also should be left behind for ten thousand years".
In fact, as early as the time of Murong Juan's death, the Eastern Jin court was ready to prepare for the Northern Expedition, and Huan Wen said at that time: "Murong Juan is dead, and there is another Murong Ke!" Now that Murong Ke was also dead, Huan Wen thought the time was ripe. What he didn't know was that Former Qin was also discussing cutting Yan, and as a result, Jian Jian said, "Although Murong Ke is dead, there is still a Murong Chui!" "One vote veto.
In 369, Huan Wen began the third and final Northern Expedition of his life. Huan Wen was so strong that he first conquered Hulu and captured Murong Zhong; then, Murong Li, the governor of Former Yan, and the Eastern Jin army fought at Huangxu, where they were defeated, Murong Li escaped alone, and Taishou led the entire county to surrender; subsequently, the Eastern Jin army defeated the Former Yan general Fu Yan; Murong Wei sent Murong Zang to lead an army to resist, and was defeated, at this time Huan Wen's army had reached Fangtou, which was only a few tens of miles away from The city.
Emperor Murong Wei panicked and consulted with Murong Jue, who was the prince of Fu, who gave two ideas, one was to quickly send someone to Qianqian qin for support, and promised to cede the land west of Hu Prison as a condition for sending troops; the other was to prepare to move the capital, in case Huan Wen came over, he quickly rolled up the covers and returned to western Liaoning.
Although Murong Wei was reluctant, he was repeatedly defeated in battle, and he had to prepare to accept this suggestion.
Murong Chui really couldn't bear to look at it, and repeatedly pleaded with Murong Wei: "Please allow me to lead troops to attack them, if I really can't win, it's not too late to leave." ”
Although Murong Wei was really unwilling to trust Murong Chui, he was even more unwilling to surrender his ancestors' inheritance, and in this situation, he could only let Murong Chui send troops to try, so he appointed Murong Chui as the governor of the capital and led 50,000 steps to ride against Huan Wen.
Murong Chui had never lost a battle in his life, and Huan Wen had never been defeated in his life, and the two undefeated generals finally met on the battlefield.
As soon as Murong Chui came out of the horse, he won successive battles, captured Duan Si, the guide of the Eastern Jin Army, and killed Li Shu of the Eastern Jin Army in World War II, and the morale of the Eastern Jin Army was immediately low. At the same time, Murong Chui had already sent his younger brother Murong De to lead 10,000 cavalry around the stone gate behind Huan Wen to cut off the Eastern Jin army's waterway grain route, and Yuzhou's assassin Li Yi cut off the Eastern Jin army's land grain route.
Huan Wen sent Yuan Zhen to retake Shimen, but as a result, he was greedy and brave, fell into the ambush circle of the Yan army, and was defeated. Huan Wen had just received the report of the fiasco at Shimen, and received the news that Former Qin had sent 20,000 reinforcements, and the grain and grass were also cut off, so in desperation, he had to order the withdrawal of the army, and the Eastern Jin army burned the battleships, discarded the heavy armor, and began to retreat south by land.
He did not yet know that the real catastrophe had occurred in the retreat.
At that time, the generals planned to pursue immediately, but Murong Chui's Eastern Jin army was on strict alert when it first retreated, and after the elite army was broken, it was planned to pursue it later, and the Eastern Jin Army accelerated its march when the pursuing troops did not arrive, and the soldiers were exhausted before attacking. Murong Chui therefore led 8,000 cavalry to follow the Eastern Jin army, and found that Huan Wen had indeed accelerated after not seeing the pursuing troops.
A few days later, Murong Chui ordered an attack, and the cavalry accelerated, catching up with the Eastern Jin army at Xiangyi, and cooperating with Murong De's ambush troops who ambushed Xiangyi to attack Huan Wen.
Although history is accustomed to calling this battle the "Battle of Fangtou", what actually happened in Fangtou was only a confrontation, and the real place where the big war took place was in Xiangyi.
Under the attack of Murong Chui and the two brothers, the Eastern Jin army collapsed, killing more than 30,000 people. Former Qin's reinforcements Gou Chi and Deng Qiang's second generals saw that the opportunity to fight the falling water dogs had arrived, and they rushed to join the battle, kicking hard behind the ass of the defeated Eastern Jin army, huan Wen was defeated again, and lost nearly 10,000 troops.
04
This war between Former Yan and the Eastern Jin Dynasty had a far-reaching impact.
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huan Wen was defeated by Fangtou, and his position began to turn. The Eastern Jin Dynasty was unable to carry out the Northern Expedition for several decades.
On the former Yan side, the Former Yan emperor Murong Wei and Murong Jue, the empress dowager, did not exert themselves to govern after the Battle of Fangtou, but instead were self-righteous and did not practice government affairs, and domestic politics became increasingly corrupt.
On the Former Qin side, by helping Yan to attack the Jin Dynasty, it stabilized the situation in the north, realized Wang Meng's idea of Jin and Yan being wounded and Qin gaining benefits, and laid a good foundation for the later yan and even the unification of the north.
Murong Chui the Prince of Wu made a great contribution to the battle against Huan Wen, but he was suspected by Murong Jue, who was assisting the government. Murong Chui was forced to be helpless, and went west to Former Qin with his wives Duan Shi, Murong Ling, Murong Bao, Murong Nong, Murong Kai, Lan Jian, and Gao Bi. When the Former Qin Emperor Jian jian learned of Murong Chui's coming, he was very happy and personally greeted him, making Murong Chui the champion general and making him a guest of honor.
Jian Jian had long wanted to destroy Former Yan and had always been jealous of Murong Chui, but now that his greatest enemy had surrendered, Jian Jian began to attack Former Yan's plan.
Former Qin's conquest of Former Yan did not have the upper hand at first, but due to the greed of Murong in power, the military was scattered, and as a result, Former Yan's 150,000 main forces were annihilated by the Former Qin army led by Wang Meng, and Jian Jian took advantage of the situation to lead 100,000 troops to surround Former Yan's capital Yicheng.
In November 370, Murong Wei escaped from Yecheng and tried to return to Longcheng, the base of Liaodong, but was captured by The Former Qin army halfway through, and Former Yan perished.
05
Murong Wei became a former Qin courtier after the fall of the state and was given the title of Marquis of Xinxing Commandery.
At the Battle of Shuishui in the Eastern Qin Dynasty, Murong Wei accompanied the army with the general Pingnan and the governor of Beibu. After Former Qin's defeat at the Battle of Shuishui, Murong Wei retreated north with The Former Qin army and escorted Lady Zhang of Qiangjian back to Chang'an.
After the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin's control over the various ethnic groups in the territory weakened. In 384 (the ninth year of Taiyuan), Murong Chui established Later Yan in Hebei. Soon, Murong Wei's younger brother Murong Hong (慕容漓) also established Western Yan in Guanzhong.
After Murong Hong established Western Yan, he asked Murong Jian to return Murong Wei in exchange for peace between Yan and Qin, but Jian Jian refused. Murong Wei summoned Murong Wei into the palace to rebuke him, and Murong Wei prostrated himself to Chen Xie, who ordered him to write letters to murong chui, Murong Hong, and Murong Chong.
Murong Wei secretly sent an emissary to Murong Hong and said, "I am a person in a cage, and I will certainly not be able to go back; moreover, I am a sinner in the Yan Chamber, and there is no need to worry about me." You will establish a great cause, with King Wu (Murong Chui) as the Xiang kingdom, King Zhongshan (Murong Chong) as the Dazai and The Great Sima as the Leader, you can be a great general, a leader of the Situ, and undertake the worship, and after receiving the news of my death, you will call yourself emperor. ”
In 384, Murong Wei conspired with Murong Su to join forces with thousands of Xianbei people in Chang'an to respond to the Western Yan Murong Hong's army that attacked Chang'an, and he also planned to kill Murong Jian in his home on the pretext of his son's new marriage.
Due to heavy rain, Jian Jian did not attend the wedding of Murong Wei's son, and the matter was revealed, and Murong Jian summoned Murong Wei and Murong Su and killed them, and even more so, the Xianbei people in the city were almost killed by Murong Jian.
Murong Wei was 35 years old at the time of his death. Later, when Murong De established Southern Yan, murong Wei was made Emperor You.
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