Murong de - Reign

Reign

After Murong Lin offered imperial title to Murong De, however, he immediately plotted another rebellion. Murong De executed him.

Soon, Murong De had to consider whether to kill another nephew. Murong Bao had, unaware that Murong De had effectively declared independence, started a campaign against Northern Wei, but his tired soldiers mutinied, initially forcing him back to Longcheng, and then further capturing Longcheng and forcing him to flee south. He arrived near Huatai, still unaware of Murong De's assumption of Prince of Yan title, and sent out the eunuch Zhao Si (趙思) as a messenger to Murong De, asking Murong De to send a force to escort him to safety. Murong De initially considered abdicating and welcoming Murong Bao back, but after contrary advice by Zhang Hua (張華) and Muyu Hu (慕輿護), he changed his mind and was prepared to seize Murong Bao and put him to death, but by the time that a detachment commanded by Muyu arrived at Murong Bao's hiding spot, Murong Bao had discovered what happened and fled back north. Murong De kept Zhao, but after Zhao cursed him for having been an usurper, he executed Zhao.

In 399, the general Fu Guang (苻廣), brother of the Former Qin emperor Fu Deng, had heard prophecies that Former Qin would soon be reestablished, and therefore declared a rebellion, claiming the title of Prince of Qin. Murong De personally attacked Fu Guang and killed him, but as he did so, his nephew Murong He (慕容和) the Prince of Luyang, left to guard Huatai, was assassinated by his general Li Bian (李辯), who then offered the city to Northern Wei. Northern Wei's viceroy Suhe Ba (素和跋) quickly entered Huatai and defeated returning armies commanded by Murong De and his cousin Murong Zhen (慕容鎮) the Prince of Guiyang, and the other cities of the Huatai region then surrendered to Northern Wei as well. Murong De considered putting Huatai under siege, but at the advice of his general Han Fan (韓範), who argued that sieging Huatai would be difficult, he took his troops and advanced east instead, against the Jin governor of Qing Province (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), Pilü Hun (辟閭渾). In fall 399, he captured the capital of Qing Province, Guanggu (廣固, in modern Qingzhou, Shandong), killing Pilü, and making Guanggu his new capital. From this point on, Murong De carried out few military campaigns, appearing to be content with controlling his small but stable empire.

In 400, Murong De claimed the title of emperor, and he changed his name from Murong De to Murong Beide (慕容備德) to allow his people easier obedience of naming taboo rules—and presumably, this meant that the people would only be in violation of the taboo on his name if they used "Beide" together, not "Bei" or "De" individually, as both were common characters. He created Princess Duan empress.

Murong De, once he settled in at Guanggu, sent out multiple missions to try to find the fate of his mother Consort Gongsun and his brother Murong Na. In 401, he sent his official Du Hong (杜弘), compensating Du by making his father Du Xiong (杜雄) a county magistrate, but after Du Hong arrived in Zhangye, before finding out more, he was killed by bandits. In 403, however, after his former subordinate Zhao Rong (趙融) arrived from Later Qin territory, Zhao told him that Consort Gongsun and Murong Na were both deceased, and Murong De mourned them so greatly that he became ill—and from that point on, his health became precarious.

Also in 403, at Murong De's permission, the official Han Zhuo (Han Fan's brother, name not in Unicode) carried out a reform of a policy that Murong De had previously established—that if people in his state had been forcibly relocated, they would be exempt from property taxes, which however led to fraudulent claims of forcible relocation—leading to restoration of proper taxation.

In 402, in the aftermaths of Huan Xuan's takeover of the Jin regency by force, several generals who unsuccessfully opposed Huan—Liu Gui (劉軌), Sima Xiuzhi (司馬休之), Gao Yazhi (高雅之), and Liu Jingxuan (劉敬宣) -- fled to Southern Yan. In 403, Gao submitted a proposal to Murong De to attack Huan, hoping to either conquer Jin or at least seize the Jin territory north of the Yangtze River. Han Fan agreed with the proposal, feeling that Huan was not a good general and could be easily defeated. Murong De was hesitant—citing that he had long wanted to recover territory from Northern Wei and never considered advancing south—and then, with a number of other generals agreeing with him, did not carry out Gao's plan. Apparently disappointed, in 404, Gao and Liu Jingxuan plotted to assassinate Murong De and replace him with Sima Xiuzhi, but the plot was leaked after they told Liu Gui, who disagreed with the plot. Liu Gui and Gao were arrested and executed, and Liu Jingxuan and Sima Xiuzhi fled back to Jin (where Huan had since been defeated by Liu Yu).

In summer 405, Murong Na's only surviving son Murong Chao (born posthumously after Murong Na's death), who was then in the Later Qin capital Chang'an, fled to Southern Yan, proving his identity by presenting Murong De with the golden knife that he had left his mother Consort Gongsun. Murong De was both happy and mournful, and he created Murong Chao the Prince of Beihai—the same title that Murong Na carried during Former Yan. Since Murong De was without any surviving sons, he intended to make Murong Chao his heir, and therefore selected capable men to be Murong Chao's assistants. Murong Chao impressed most Southern Yan officials, and most considered him the rightful heir. Several month later, during the fall, Murong De fell ill, and he created Murong Chao crown prince. He died soon thereafter, and Murong Chao succeeded him. Murong De's burial was done in an odd way, probably at his own instruction; after he died, more than 10 caskets were carried out of the various gates of Guanggu and buried in secret spots, with only one of them containing the real body of Murong De. After the official mourning period, an empty casket was buried with imperial honors.