Murong Ren
慕容仁
Duke of Liaodong (遼東公)
Reign334–336
General Who Conquers The Caitiffs (征虜將軍)
In office
319 (319)–334 (334)
MonarchEmperor Yuan of Jin/Emperor Ming of Jin/Emperor Cheng of Jin
General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍) (self-appointed)
In office
333 (333)–336 (336)
MonarchEmperor Cheng of Jin
Inspector of Pingzhou (平州刺史)
In office
334 (334)–336 (336)
MonarchEmperor Cheng of Jin
Personal details
BornUnknown
Chaoyang, Liaoning
Died336
RelationsMurong Huang (brother)
Murong Zhao (brother)
Murong Han (half-brother)
Parents
Childhood nameQiannian (千年)

Murong Ren (died 336), childhood name Qiannian, was the brother of the Prince of Former Yan, Murong Huang during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was Murong Hui's second son through Hui's wife, Lady Duan (段夫人). In 333, following the succession of Murong Huang to their father's title, Murong Ren conspired with his younger brother Murong Zhao (慕容昭) to rebel against Huang. Although their plot was discovered, Ren was able to secure Liaodong from Huang and challenge his claim as the Duke of Liaodong. The civil war between Huang and Ren lasted for four years before Ren was defeated by Huang's daring surprise attack through the frozen Bohai Sea in 336.

Career under Murong Hui

Murong Ren was the second of three sons born to Murong Hui and Lady Duan. The eldest of the three was Murong Huang and the youngest was Murong Zhao.[1] In 319, after Hui forced the Jin's Inspector of Pingzhou, Cui Bi (崔毖), to flee to Goguryeo, he had Murong Ren appointed General Who Conquers The Caitiffs and stationed him in Liaodong. During his time in Liaodong, Murong Ren allowed the local officials to keep their posts the same as before, which won him support in the region.

Near the end of the year, Goguryeo invaded Liaodong a number of times. Murong Ren and his eldest brother through his father's concubine, Murong Han, campaigned against Goguryeo and later obtained King Micheon's proposals for peace and an alliance. After accepting his proposals, the two of them returned. However, Goguryeo invaded Liaodong again at the end of 320, but Murong Ren managed to badly rout them. Since then, Goguryeo no longer intruded into Murong Ren's domain.[2] The following year in 321, Murong Ren was transferred to Pingguo (平郭, in modern Yingkou, Liaoning) while Murong Han took his place in Liaodong.

In 325, Shi Le, the ruler of Later Zhao, persuaded the chieftain of the Yuwen tribe, Yuwen Qidegui with ranks and titles to attack Murong Hui, who had refused to accept Shi Le's peace offer. Murong Huang was ordered to lead the army against the Yuwen with Ren commanding his left wing. While Qidegui fought Huang, Qidegui sent his nephew, Yuwen Xibaxiong (宇文悉拔雄) to attack Ren. Ren defeated and beheaded Xibaxiong before joining up with Huang to overwhelm Qidegui. Qidegui abandoned his army and fled, so Huang and Ren sent their light cavalry to pursue them, only turning back once they have chased him a great distance. Meanwhile, the brothers occupied many of the Yuwen-controlled cities and took their treasures and livestock. The inhabitants of the cities also gave their surrender to Murong Hui and moved into his territory.[3]

Civil war with Murong Huang

Murong Hui died in 333, so Murong Huang succeeded to his titles. Huang's status as his father's heir had been established as far back as 321, but he still held jealousy towards his three brothers, Murong Ren, Murong Zhao and Murong Han, who were all equally favoured by their father as Huang was. Murong Ren and Murong Han were both distinguished generals under Murong Hui and had popular backing from the gentry, while Murong Zhao was known for his skills and talents. The three were well aware of Huang's feelings about them. Shortly after Huang's ascension, Han felt insecure of his position and fled to the Duan tribe with his sons.[1]

Seizing Liaodong

Murong Ren left his post in Pingguo to attend his father's funeral at Jicheng (棘城, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning). There, he expressed his worries to Murong Zhao about Murong Huang's excessively strict laws and how the two had not shown enough courtesy to him on multiple occasions. Zhao told him that as sons of their father and his chief wife, Murong Hui's territory should be divided between the three of them. Zhao then told Ren that he should return to Pingguo and raise his troops against Huang while Zhao stay behind and observe Huang's situation from within. Ren agreed with his plan, and after returning to Pingguo, he led his troops west in rebellion.[4]

Meanwhile, however, someone leaked Ren and Zhao's plans to Huang. Huang did not fully believe it at first, so he sent envoys to Ren to determine if this was true. Ren had arrived at the Huang River when the envoys reached him, and upon learning that his plot had been uncovered, he beheaded the envoys before returning to Pingguo. After forcing Murong Zhao to commit suicide, Murong Huang sent 5,000 troops under Tong Shou (佟壽) and Huang's half-brothers, Murong You (慕容幼), Murong Zhi (慕容稚), Murong Jūn and Murong Hàn (慕容汗; not to be confused with Murong Han) to campaign against Ren. He also sent his Army Libationer, Feng Yi to stabilize Liaodong.

Murong Ren fought his half-brothers and Tong Shou north of Wencheng (汶城), where he won a great victory. You, Zhi and Jūn were captured while Tong Shou, being a former subordinate of Ren, surrendered to him. The generals, Wang Bing (王冰) and Sun Ji (孫機), joined forces with Ren and handed him over Xiangping (襄平, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning) while others such as Feng Chou (封抽), Yi Yi (乙逸), Han Jiao (韓矯) and Gao Xu (高詡) abandoned their cities and fled to Huang. Murong Hàn managed to escape and retreat with Feng Yi, who was unable to enter the region. The victory at Wencheng placed Liaodong under Ren's control, dividing Huang's territory into two.[5]

Rule over Liaodong

Almost immediately, Ren received the backing of the Murong's rival Xianbei clans, including the Yuwen and Duan tribes. Ren would coordinate attacks with the tribes against Huang throughout the rest of the war. In early 334, Ren appointed Zhai Kai (翟楷) and Pang Jian (龐鑒) as his own Colonel of Eastern Yi Tribes and Chancellor of Liaodong. Later on, he declared himself Inspector of Pingzhou and Duke of Liaodong.[6] Meanwhile, Duan Liao, the chief of the Duan tribe, began his moves against Murong Huang. Duan Liao sent his brother Duan Lan to attack Liucheng (柳城; southwest of present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning), but he could not capture the city. He later defeated reinforcements led by Murong Hàn and Feng Yi at Niuwei Valley (牛尾谷; north of Liucheng) but was unable to follow up on it as objections from Murong Han, now a general of the Duans, forced him to retreat.

In August, Murong Ren detained Jin envoys at Mashi Crossing (馬石津, southwest of Dalian, Liaoning) who were on their way to grant Murong Huang his late father's titles. In December, Huang's forces reached Xiangping. A man named Wang Ji (王岌) secretly offered Huang to surrender the city, so Huang occupied the city with ease while Zhai Kai and Pang Jian fled on their horses. Jujiu (居就), Xinchang (新昌) and other counties also surrendered to Huang, and Huang had the major families in Liaodong divided and relocated to his capital in Jicheng. Ren attacked Xinchang a few months later but was driven away by Wang Yu (王寓), who proceeded to relocate the people of Xinchang to Xiangping.

Near the end of 335, Murong Ren decided to release the envoys he had apprehended to allow them to return south. However, they instead decided to go to Jicheng first, granting Huang his titles. Meanwhile, envoys from the Duan and Yuwen tribes were at Pingguo and sleeping outside the walls of the city. Huang ordered his general Zhang Ying (張英) to ambush them. Zhang killed ten people from the Yuwen while capturing the Duan envoys and bringing them back to Huang.[7]

Defeat and death

Murong Huang launched his final campaign against Murong Ren in February 336. Throughout the civil war, the Bohai Sea was said to have frozen over at least three times, and that February proved to be the third time this occurred. Huang took the daring decision to carry out a surprise attack on Ren by crossing the frozen sea. With Murong Ping and others under his wing, Murong Huang led his army to cross roughly 150 kilometres (93.21 miles) over the Bohai and successfully reached Lilinkou (歷林口, west of the lower reaches of the Liaohe River). There, they abandoned their baggages and made a quick march towards Pingguo.[8]

As Huang approached Pingguo, Ren's scout quickly notified him of the threat. Ren had been irked by his failure to stop Zhang Ying the previous year, so this time, he wished to rush out in hopes of actually destroying his enemies. He mistakenly believed that the threat was merely a small force carrying out a raid, unaware that Huang had come with a large force. Bringing out his whole army, Ren marched northwest of his city to mount his defence. Once Huang's army began to advance, however, Murong Jūn brought his soldiers to defect to Huang's side, which immediately demoralized Ren's troops and stopped them in their tracks. Because of this, Huang easily dispatched Ren's soldiers and dealt him a decisive defeat.

Murong Ren tried to flee from the scene, but his personal riders betrayed him and turned him over to Huang. The riders, however, were ordered by Huang to be executed for treachery, while Ren was forced to commit suicide in similar fashion to Murong Zhao. A number of Ren's partisans were executed while the rest fled east to seek refuge with Goguryeo, some dying to Huang's pursuers in the process. The others were forgiven and allowed to serve in Huang's administration.[9] Ren's defeat allowed Huang to reunify his territory, although he still had to deal with the constant attacks from the Duan and Yuwen for the next few years, both of which he ultimately subjugated.

References

  1. 1 2 (初，皝庶兄建威翰驍武有雄才，素為皝所忌，母弟征虜仁、廣武昭並有寵於廆，皝亦不平之。及廆卒，並懼不自容。至此，翰出奔段遼。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
  2. ↑ (高句麗寇遼東，慕容仁與戰，大破之，自是不犯仁境。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 91
  3. ↑ (後趙王勒加宇文乞得歸官爵，使之擊慕容廆。廆遣世子皝、索頭、段國共擊之，以遼東相裴嶷爲右翼，慕容仁爲左翼。乞得歸據澆水以拒皝，遣兄子悉拔雄拒仁。仁擊悉拔雄，斬之；乘勝與皝攻乞得歸，大破之。乞得歸棄軍走，皝、仁進入其國城，使輕兵追乞得歸，過其國三百餘里而還，盡獲其國重器，畜產以百萬計，民之降附者數萬。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 93
  4. ↑ (仁自平郭來奔喪，謂昭曰：「吾等素驕，多無禮於嗣君，嗣君剛嚴，無罪猶可畏，況有罪乎！」昭曰：「吾輩皆體正嫡，於國有分。兄素得士心，我在內未為所疑，伺其間隙，除之不難。兄趣舉兵以來，我為內應，事成之日，與我遼東。男子舉事，不克則死，不能效建威偷生異域地。」仁曰：「善！」遂還平郭。閏月，仁舉兵而西。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 95
  5. ↑ (皝殺昭，遣使按檢仁之虛實，遇仁於險瀆。仁知事發，殺皝使，東歸平郭。皝遣其弟建武幼、司馬佟壽等討之。仁盡眾距戰，幼等大敗，皆沒於仁。襄平令王冰、將軍孫機以遼東叛於皝，東夷校尉封抽、護軍乙逸、遼東相韓矯、玄菟太守高詡等棄城奔還。仁於是盡有遼左之地，自稱車騎將軍、平州刺史、遼東公。宇文歸、段遼及鮮卑諸部並為之援。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
  6. ↑ (慕容仁自稱平州刺史、遼東公。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 95
  7. ↑ (段氏、宇文氏各遣使詣慕容仁，館於平郭城外。皝帳下督張英將百餘騎間道潛行掩擊之，斬宇文氏使十餘人，生擒段氏使以歸。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 95
  8. ↑ (咸康初，遣封弈襲宇文別部涉奕於，大獲而還。涉奕于率騎追戰于渾水，又敗之。皝將乘海討仁，群下咸諫，以海道危陰，宜從陸路。皝曰：「舊海水無淩，自仁反已來，凍合者三矣。昔漢光武因滹沱之冰以濟大業，天其或者欲吾乘此而無之乎！吾計決矣，有沮謀者斬！」) Book of Jin, Volume 109
  9. ↑ (壬午，皝帥其弟軍師將軍評等自昌黎東，踐冰而進，凡三百餘里。至歷林口，捨輜重，輕兵趣平郭。去城七里，候騎以告仁，仁狼狽出戰。張英之俘二使也，仁恨不窮追；及皝至，仁以為皝復遣偏師輕出寇抄，不知皝自來，謂左右曰：「今茲當不使其匹馬得返矣！」乙未，仁悉眾陳於城之西北。慕容軍帥所部降於皝，仁眾沮動；皝從而縱擊，大破之。仁走，其帳下皆叛，遂擒之。皝先為斬其帳下之叛者，然後賜仁死。丁衡、游毅、孫機等，皆仁所信用也，皝執而斬之；王冰自殺。慕容幼、慕容稚、佟壽、郭充、翟楷、龐鑒皆東走，幼中道而還；皝兵追及楷、鑒，斬之；壽、充奔高麗。自餘吏民為仁所詿誤者，皝皆赦之。封高詡為汝陽侯。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 95
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