Former Qin Unifies the North Under Fu Jian

Murong Chui had been pushed out of Former Yan and had turned toward Former Qin.

Fu Jian was willing to receive him. Wang Meng saw the danger at once. Murong Chui might serve as a guest general today, but he was not the kind of man who would remain only a guest forever.

Fu Jian Receives Murong Chui

When Murong Chui arrived in Former Qin, Fu Jian was delighted.

He needed someone like this. If Former Qin wanted to destroy Former Yan, it needed to understand Yan from the inside. Murong Chui knew Former Yan's court, army, commanders, and old relationships. He was also a famous general. His value was obvious.

Wang Meng advised Fu Jian to remove him.

Wang Meng's judgment was cold but practical. Murong Chui had prestige, old followers, and the conditions for restoration. If Former Qin ever weakened, he could become its greatest hidden threat.

Fu Jian did not listen. He treated Murong Chui generously and wanted to show that Former Qin could welcome talented men.

Fu Jian's choice had logic. Former Yan's old officials and generals were watching. If Qin accepted Murong Chui and immediately killed him, who would dare surrender later? Fu Jian wanted to become the common ruler of the north. He needed to appear broad-minded.

This choice would echo later. His generosity could win hearts in the short term. But in an age of shifting states, accepting a man one could not fully control also left a seed for the future.

The disagreement between Wang Meng and Fu Jian was not just about Murong Chui. It showed two styles of rule. Wang Meng emphasized risk control. Fu Jian emphasized attracting allegiance. While Former Qin was strong, the two could coexist. Once conditions worsened, the risk would return.

Wang Meng Marches on Luoyang

Earlier, Former Yan had asked Former Qin for help against Huan Wen and promised to cede the Hulao area.

Once the crisis passed, Yan broke its promise.

Fu Jian now had a reason to attack. Wang Meng led troops east and first took Luoyang. Murong Chui's son Murong Ling was also on the Former Qin side, which made the situation even more delicate.

Wang Meng feared that Murong Chui and his son would eventually become hard to control. So he used the "golden knife" scheme to separate Murong Ling from his father. He forged a token and made Murong Ling believe his father wanted him to flee back to Former Yan.

Murong Ling returned to Yan, where he was suspected and eventually died.

The plan was ruthless. Wang Meng did not strike Murong Chui directly. He cut away a possible line of power between father and son. For Former Qin, this reduced danger. For Murong Chui, it planted a grievance that could never fully disappear.

Fu Jian did not punish Murong Chui over the affair. Murong Chui still received outward courtesy, but the crack inside him remained.

Former Qin had not yet destroyed Yan, and Murong Chui had already lost family. When Qin later faltered, this earlier wound would help explain why Murong Chui could break away so quickly.

Former Yan Is Dragged Down From Within

In 370, Wang Meng led the main campaign against Former Yan.

This was not a probing attack. Former Qin meant to end Yan in one great movement. Luoyang had opened the gate. Murong Chui was gone. Wang Meng knew the opportunity should not be delayed.

Former Yan placed Murong Ping in command. On paper, Yan still had large armies, territory, and resources. But Murong Ping was not Murong Ke. He was not Murong Chui.

He was greedy in camp. He even taxed firewood and water, causing deep resentment among the soldiers.

Wang Meng seized the opportunity. He burned Former Yan's supplies and forced Murong Ping into battle. Yan's morale was already loose. Its army suffered a crushing defeat.

This battle exposed Former Yan's illness. The court had pushed away the men who could fight. The commander it trusted was weak and corrupt. Soldiers had little will to die for such a court.

Ye was soon surrounded. Fu Jian personally came to the front. Former Yan could not hold. Murong Wei was captured. Murong Ping fled and was later seized by Goguryeo and sent back to Former Qin.

Former Yan fell quickly. It had resources, but the key joints had failed: Murong Ke was dead, Murong Chui had fled, Murong Ping commanded the army, and the young ruler could not decide.

Former Qin absorbed Hebei. Fu Jian was no longer only master of Guanzhong. He now stood close to northern supremacy.

Murong Wei, Former Yan's royal clan, and many old officials entered the Qin system. Fu Jian did not kill them all. He tried to absorb them into a larger empire. That made Former Qin's territory larger, but it also made the state more internally complex.

Eastern Jin Also Changes

While the north changed, Eastern Jin politics shifted too.

After Huan Wen's northern expedition failed, he still wanted to use political pressure to approach the throne. He spread accusations that Emperor Sima Yi had no heir, deposed him, and installed Sima Yu.

Sima Yu became Emperor Jianwen of Jin. He died not long after, and Eastern Jin again faced Huan Wen's pressure.

Huan Wen's aim was not hidden. He did not want to remain an ordinary powerful minister. He wanted the Sima imperial house to move step by step toward yielding power. Deposing an emperor was a test of the court's limits.

Xie An, Wang Tanzhi, and others responded by delay. They slowed procedures such as granting the nine bestowments, a formal step often associated with a minister approaching usurpation. Huan Wen died before reaching the final stage, and Eastern Jin escaped usurpation for the moment.

This southern story matters because Fu Jian's future southern campaign would depend on whether Eastern Jin could hold together. Xie An entered the center of power during these years. He did not become important only at one battle. He first stabilized the court under Huan Wen's pressure.

When Fei River came, Eastern Jin had someone able to sit still at the center.

Wang Meng's Final Warning

After Former Yan fell, Former Qin kept expanding.

Fu Jian absorbed Former Liang, took Liangzhou and Yizhou areas, and destroyed Dai. After the Tuoba leader Tuoba Shiyijian died, the young Tuoba Gui survived but had no power yet to change the situation.

By this point, Former Qin had almost unified the north.

The speed was remarkable. Guanzhong, Hebei, Hexi, Shu, and Dai northern territory, regions once held by many different powers, now came under Former Qin. Fu Jian's prestige reached its peak.

Yet before dying, Wang Meng warned Fu Jian not to hurry against Eastern Jin.

He reminded him that Former Qin was not a solid block. Xianbei, Qiang, Di, Han Chinese, and other groups all lived inside one empire. They obeyed on the surface, but their loyalties were not necessarily settled.

Wang Meng especially worried about Xianbei and Qiang power. Former Qin could press them down through victory, but it had not turned them into one stable political community.

How much Fu Jian truly absorbed is hard to say.

After Wang Meng died, Former Qin lost the man most able to restrain internal forces and judge danger. Northern unity was complete enough to tempt Fu Jian's eyes southward.

Former Qin remained powerful without Wang Meng. But it no longer had the minister who could say no at the very moment of imperial pride.

A northern empire that had nearly swallowed the whole north was about to test Eastern Jin's Yangtze defense.