Reign
Fu Pi took measures to try to consolidate his current position—now largely only over modern Shanxi, although there were still many pockets of territory loyal to Former Qin in modern Shaanxi and Gansu, and there were also still pockets of resistance even in the middle of Later Yan territory. His prime minister Wang Yong (王永) (Wang Meng's son) issued a declaration inviting all those who were still loyal to be prepared to rendezvous at Linjin (臨晉, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) in winter 386. Many local generals answered the call, although the rendezvous would never actually happen.
In fall 386, the Western Yan ruler Murong Yong, whose people had abandoned the Guanzhong region to head east, trying to return to their home land, requested Fu Pi to grant permission to let them through. Fu Pi refused and tried to intercept them, but suffered a major defeat, in which Wang Yong and the major general Juqu Jushizi (沮渠俱石子) were killed, and most of Fu Pi's officials and his wife Empress Yang were captured. The only general under Fu Pi who still had a strong army remaining was his cousin Fu Zuan (苻纂) the Prince of Donghai, who remained at Jinyang, but Fu Pi was suspicious of Fu Zuan's intentions and therefore did not dare to return to Jinyang, but instead headed south, wanting to make a surprise attack on Luoyang, then held by Jin. The Jin general Feng Gai (馮該) intercepted him and killed him in battle. His sons Fu Ning (苻寧) the crown prince and Fu Shou (苻壽) the Prince of Changle were captured by Jin forces but pardoned and given to their uncle Fu Hong (苻宏) -- Fu Jiān's crown prince, who had surrendered to Jin earlier. His sons Fu Yi (苻懿) the Prince of Bohai and Fu Chang (苻昶) the Prince of Jibei were escorted by an official to his distant nephew Fu Deng the Prince of Nan'an, who initially proposed making Fu Yi the emperor, but after his subordinates recommended that he take the throne himself, did so.
Read more about this topic: Fu Pi
Famous quotes containing the word reign:
“I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed. The order which we find in nature, and which is only an effect of art, would at once vanish. Everything would break up in chaos. There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity; even life would give way, and the impotent void would reign everywhere.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
“I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute;
From the center all round to the sea
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude! where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)