Murong Fuyun - During Emperor Yang of Sui's Reign

During Emperor Yang of Sui's Reign

Emperor Wen died in 604 and was succeeded by his son Yang Guang (as Emperor Yang), and initially, the relationship between Tuyuhun and Sui remained peaceful, with Murong Fuyun sending emissaries to submit tributes to Emperor Yang in 607, along with emissaries from Gaochang and the khan of Eastern Tujue himself, the Qimin Khan Ashina Ran'gan. However, later that year, the Sui official Pei Ju returned from a tour of the Xiyu states, and knowing that Emperor Yang was looking for targets to conquer, suggested to him that Xiyu states had a lot of treasures and that Tuyuhun was easy to conquer. Emperor Yang started considering attacking Tuyuhun, as a result. At one point, when Murong Fuyun sent Murong Shun as an emissary to Sui, Emperor Yang detained him.

In 608, Pei persuaded the Tiele tribes to attack Tuyuhun, and Tiele forces defeated Tuyuhun forces. Murong Fuyun took his people east, entering Sui's Xiping Commandery (西平, roughly modern Xining, Qinghai) to ask for refuge and aid against the Tiele. Emperor Yang sent his cousin Yang Xiong (楊雄) the Prince of Ande and Yuwen Shu the Duke of Xu to escort Murong Fuyun. As Yuwen's forces approached, however, Murong Fuyun became apprehensive of the strength of his forces and decided to flee. Yuwen attacked him, and was said to have killed 3,000 Tuyuhun soldiers, and captured some 200 Tuyuhun nobles and 4,000 households. Murong Fuyun fled southwest into the mountains. Sui took over former Tuyuhun lands and divided it into four commanderies, settling minor criminals in those lands.

By 609, however, Murong Fuyun appeared to have exited the mountains and taken the land back, and Emperor Yang, this time commanding the army himself, again attacked Tuyuhun. Emperor Yang's forces, while suffering some minor setbacks, were again able to send Murong Fuyun fleeing, reaffirming Sui's control over the Tuyuhun lands. With Murong Shun in his hands, he created Murong Shun as khan and had him, assisted by Ni Luozhou (尼洛周) the Prince of Dabao, trying to head toward the Tuyuhun people to take over control. On the way, however, Ni was assassinated, and Murong Shun retreated back to Sui. In 613, Pei again persuaded the tribes submitting to Western Tujue's Heshana Khan to attack Tuyuhun.

Little is known about Tuyuhun's status under Murong Fuyun the next several years, but at the time, Sui itself was collapsing, engulfed in agrarian rebellions throughout its territory.