Chapter 62: Parting Ways

In August 396 AD, Tuoba Jue, the lord of the Northern Wei Dynasty, heard that Murong Chui, the founding emperor of Later Yan, had died of illness and was succeeded by his son Murong Bao.

In September of the same year, Tuoba conquered Jinyang. In the following month, he led a large army out of Jingcheng Pass in the west and approached Zhongshan, the capital of the Later Yan Kingdom. Along the way, the defenders of Houyan County surrendered one after another, and most of the land of Houyan was lost.

At the end of the same year, Tuoba Jue personally led an army to besiege Zhongshan (now Dingzhou, Hebei), Murong Bao led the garrison of the whole city to resist desperately.

In February 397 AD, there was another civil strife in Zhongshan, the capital of the Later Yan Kingdom, and the minister Mu Yuhao saw that Murong Bao had no talent to govern the country, so he plotted to depose Murong Bao and set up his younger brother Murong Lin as the emperor, but was informed, Murong Bao killed Mu Yuhao and dozens of his accomplices, Murong Lin learned of this, he was terrified, and fled to Jicheng for refuge alone. However, most of the soldiers defending the city were Murong Lin's subordinates back then, and Murong Bao was afraid of rebellion, and saw that Tuoba Jue conquered Xindu and led the troops to commit Zhongshan again, so he abandoned the city and led his cronies to return to his hometown Longcheng (now Chaoyang, Liaoning) overnight.

At this time, the dragons of Zhongshan had no leader, and Tuoba Jue had to report that Murong Bao had abandoned the city late at night, and he wanted to lead the troops into the city early the next morning, but the Zhongshan defenders were afraid that Tuoba Jue would burn and loot after entering the city, so they supported Murong Shen as the emperor overnight, and Murong Shen immediately led the army to defend it. Tuoba Jue led his troops into the city the next day and was blocked, so he ordered a large army to attack the city, but the defenders of the city were afraid that they would enter the city to burn and loot, so they resisted bravely, and Tuoba Jue did not resist for several days.

In May of the same year, Tuoba Jue's army was running out of food, and when he heard that the Xianbei tribes in the northern grassland were rebellious, he led his troops to retreat again. Murong Lin learned of this, secretly returned to Zhongshan, united with the soldiers to kill Murong Shen, and established himself as the emperor.

At the end of 397 A.D., Tuoba put down the domestic rebellion, led the troops to attack Zhongshan again, after a year of war in Zhongshan City, the people's livelihood withered, and there was no food, Murong Lin had to give up Zhongshan, surrender to the emperor, fled south to Yecheng, and defected to his uncle Murong De, who guarded Yecheng.

Murong De defeated the Northern Wei army a year ago with a counter-strategy, and successfully defended Yecheng, but he saw that the Northern Wei soldiers were strong and strong, and he knew that the future was bleak. Taking advantage of the fact that his army had not arrived, the emperor should lead the army to cross to the south, occupy the slipway (now the east of Huaxian County, Henan), recruit troops and horses, and wait for the opportunity to move again, which is the best policy. Even if Tuoba Jue is stationed in Yecheng, his country is unstable, and he will not stay for long, and he will inevitably migrate people to return to the north. ”

Murong De thought to himself: You and other juniors, I don't know the depths, Tuoba Jue is a hero in the world, and the soldiers are flourishing, called this king Tuzhi, it is like talking about soldiers on paper, but what he said about the southern crossing is practical, and the southern Qing and Yan two states, the county guards all think of the kindness of our dynasty, and I can embrace this place and stand on my own. After pondering for a while, he said unhurriedly: "What the virtuous nephew said is reasonable, and this king has this intention!" ”

Murong De immediately ordered the soldiers and people of Yecheng to pack their bags and prepare to set off for the south.

At the beginning of 398 AD, Tuoba Jue led the Northern Wei army to attack Yecheng. Murong De led more than 40,000 people from the south of Yecheng to slide down, was about to cross the river, but encountered a strong wind, the previous preparation of the boat sank, at this time, Tuoba led the pursuers about to arrive, Murong De led the people were terrified, people panicked. Murong De pondered for a long time, and then wanted to retreat to Liyang. But that night, the temperature plummeted, the river surface of the ice floes froze together, sealing the river, Murong De did not dare to delay, quickly ordered the army to cross the river on ice, the next morning, the Northern Wei cavalry chased to the river, but the ice had melted and cracked, and the pursuers had to look at the river and sigh. Murong De saw the Northern Wei pursuers stopping on the shore from afar, he was very depressed, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart: It is really heaven that helps this king to achieve great things!

Soon, Murong De led the soldiers to the slipway, and when he saw that the land of Houyan had been completely lost, and the emperor Murong Bao favored Longcheng and survived, he invited Murong Bao to go south to restore his ancestral industry and test his reality. At the same time, he called himself the king of Yan, and was known as Nanyan in history.

In the same year, the Houyan Emperor Murong Bao, who fled to Longcheng, learned that the emperor's uncle Murong De invited him to go south, he didn't know Murong De's thoughts, and he was overjoyed, so he wanted to go north and south with Murong De to restore the Jiangshan Sheji, and his clan minister Murong Sheng knew that at this time, the strength of the Later Yan State was weak, the Northern Wei Dynasty was strong, and various forces in the court and China were intertwined, fearing that things would happen, and he was repeatedly dissuaded, but Murong Bao insisted on going his own way, leading the troops to go out to the second company, and the soldiers were afraid of the conquest and launched a rebellion, and Murong Bao had to lead the cronies to flee back to Longcheng.

Murong Bao just returned to Longcheng, his subordinate general Lan Han also wanted to see the opportunity to seize power, and once again launched a rebellion to support the crown prince Murong Ce to supervise the country, Murong Bao hurriedly led his cronies and ministers to flee to Jicheng, Lan Han saw that he failed to kill Murong Bao, so he sent someone to lure him back to Longcheng to preside over the state affairs, at this time the minister Murong Sheng once again advised Murong Bao and said: "Now I don't know Lan Han's intentions, don't return rashly, once he has two hearts, otherwise he will regret it." ”

Murong Bao listened to his suggestion, and was afraid that Lan Han would lead the troops to chase, so he left Jicheng and continued to flee south, and when he reached Liyang, he knew that Murong De had proclaimed himself the King of Yan and did not dare to continue to go south, so he turned around and returned to Jicheng, and ordered Murong Sheng and others to go to Hebei to recruit soldiers and make friends with the big clans, in order to make a comeback.

In August 398, Murong Sheng learned that Emperor Murong Bao had been killed, so he led the soldiers and horses he raised to attack Longcheng, killed Lan Khan and his people, and quelled the civil strife, and everyone elected Murong Sheng to inherit the throne of Houyan.

At this time, after the creation of Murong Chui, Yan had only retained a corner of western Liaoning, and the Southern Yan built by Murong De was also struggling in the strong country, and after the Northern Wei Dynasty occupied the Central Plains, Tuoba Jue rested with the people to prepare for the further complete elimination of Hou Yan. Just when Hou Yan was divided into two under the blow of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Liang also faced the fate of being dismembered after ruling Liangzhou.

If you know what happened to Houliang, what is his national fortune, and look at the next chapter.