Feng Ba Feng Ba ( ) ( died 430 ) , courtesy name Wenqi ( 文起 ) , nickname Qizhifa ( 乞直伐 ) , formally Emperor Wencheng of ( Northern ) Yan ( ( 北 ) 燕文成帝 ) , was an emperor ( but using the title " Heavenly Prince " ( " Tian Wang " ) ) of the Chinese state Northern Yan . He became emperor after Gao Yun ( Emperor Huiyi ) , whom he supported in a 407 coup that overthrew Murong Xi of Later Yan , was assassinated in 409 . During his reign , Northern Yan largely maintained its territorial integrity but made no headway against the much stronger rival Northern Wei . He was said to have had more than 100 sons , but after his death in 430 , his brother and successor Feng Hong ( Emperor Zhaocheng ) had them all executed . Family background and early life . Feng Ba ' s grandfather Feng He ( 馮和 ) was ethnically Han Chinese and was said to have settled down in Shangdang Commandery ( 上黨 , roughly modern Changzhi , Shanxi ) in the aftermaths of the conquest of the northern half of Jin during the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin by Han Zhao . Feng Ba ' s father Feng An ( 馮安 ) later served the Western Yan emperor Murong Yong as a general . When Western Yan was destroyed by the Later Yan emperor Murong Chui in 394 , Feng An ' s household was forcibly moved to Helong ( 和龍 , also known as Longcheng ( 龍城 ) , in modern Jinzhou , Liaoning ) , where Feng Ba grew up , apparently under heavy Xianbei influence , for his nickname Qizhifa suggested Xianbei origin . He had three younger brothers , all of whom admired heroic behavior and largely ignored social restraints , but Feng Ba himself was considered to be careful and diligent , managing his household well . During Murong Bao ' s reign , he became a general . He came to respect Murong Bao ' s adoptive son Murong Yun the Duke of Zhaoyang , and they became great friends . Later , in 407 , during the reign of Murong Bao ' s cruel and capricious younger brother Murong Xi , both Feng Ba and his brother Feng Sufu ( 馮素弗 ) somehow offended Murong Xi , and they hid themselves in the countryside . They concluded that they would eventually be found and killed anyway , and therefore resolved to overthrow Murong Xi . They reentered Longcheng , then capital , in secret , and then , when Murong Xi left Longcheng to bury his wife Empress Fu Xunying , who died earlier that year , they rose within the city with the assistance of their cousin Feng Wani ( 馮萬泥 ) and the generals Sun Hu ( 孫護 ) and Zhang Xing ( 張興 ) . Because Feng Ba and Murong Yun were friends , he persuaded Murong Yun to serve as their leader , and they quickly captured the palace and closed the city gates . Murong Yun was then declared Heavenly Prince . Murong Xi returned to Longcheng and settled in outside , at Longteng Chateau , preparing an assault on the city . At this time , the imperial guard soldier Chu Tou ( 褚頭 ) fled to him and informed him that the imperial guards were ready to turn against Murong Yun as soon as Murong Xi attacked . However , for reasons unknown , Murong Xi panicked at this news and fled . His general Murong Ba ( 慕容拔 ) tried to maintain the assault against Longcheng and was initially successful , but as the troops began to realize that Murong Xi had fled , they collapsed , and Murong Ba was killed by Feng Ba ' s soldiers . Later that day , Murong Xi was found , wearing civilian clothes , in a forest , and he was captured and delivered to Murong Yun . Murong Yun personally read him his crimes , and then beheaded him and his sons . During Gao Yun ' s reign . Because Feng Ba was instrumental in his becoming emperor , Murong Yun , who soon after he became emperor changed his name back to the original Gao Yun , made Feng Ba his prime minister , and Feng Ba ' s brothers and cousin Feng Wani , as well as other members of the uprising , received high posts as well . Effectively , the government was in Feng Ba ' s hands . Because Gao Yun was insecure about how he felt he had little contributions to the people or to his own place on the throne , he employed many skillful guards to protect him . He further began to favor two jesters named Li Ban ( 離班 ) and Tao Ren ( 桃仁 ) , to have Li and Tao be in charge of security . He awarded them with great wealth , and their foods and clothes could match those of Gao Yun himself . Despite this , he was assassinated in winter 409 — an event that is mysterious in its cause and scope . Traditional histories , including the " Jin Shu " and the " Zizhi Tongjian " , record that Li and Tao , despite Gao Yun ' s favors to them , were still not satisfied , and they assassinated Gao Yun out of that dissatisfaction . Yet , this does not appear to be a true reason for the assassination . Gao Yun ' s wife Empress Li appears to have also died in the incident . Feng Ba , upon hearing of the assassination , readied his troops and waited for the situation to become clear , but two off his soldiers Zhang Tai ( 張泰 ) and Li Sang ( 李桑 ) advanced into the palace and beheaded Li and Tao . The officials all supported Feng Ba to take the throne , and so he did . ( No reference was made to Gao Yun ' s son Gao Pengcheng . ) ( Some historians consider Gao Yun as the first emperor of Northern Yan and consider Feng Ba its second emperor , while some consider Gao Yun as the last emperor of Later Yan and Feng Ba as Northern Yan ' s first emperor . ) Reign . Feng Ba made his brother Feng Sufu the Duke of Fanyang the prime minister , and other important posts went to Sun Hu , Zhang Xing , his brother Feng Hong the Duke of Ji , his cousin Feng Wani the Duke of Guangchuan , and another cousin ' s son Feng Ruchen ( 馮乳陳 ) the Duke of Shanggu . He honored his mother Lady Zhang as princess dowager , and he created his wife Lady Sun as princess and his son Feng Yong ( 馮永 ) as crown prince . Both Feng Ba and Feng Sufu were considered diligent , frugal , and intelligent , and during this period , Northern Yan was considered well - governed , being able to fend off the much stronger rival Northern Wei . In 410 , Feng Ba had to deal with a major internal disturbance . Feng Wani and Feng Ruchen both felt that they contributed much to Feng Ba ' s success , and therefore were resentful that they were not at Longcheng and in control of the imperial government but were required to serve as commanding generals at the cities of Feiru ( 肥如 , in modern Qinhuangdao , Hebei ) and Bailang ( 白狼 , in modern Zhaoyang , Liaoning ) . They therefore rose in rebellion together . Feng Ba sent Feng Hong and Zhang Xing to attack them , and after they were defeated by Feng Hong and Zhang , they surrendered , but Feng Hong executed them regardless . That year , Feng Ba buried Gao Yun and Gao Yun ' s wife Empress Li with imperial honors , but curiously used Gao Yun ' s name in the edict regarding burial , without observing naming taboo . In 411 , the khan of Rouran , Yujiulü Hulü offered a tribute of 3 , 000 horses to Feng Ba and requested to marry Feng Ba ' s daughter Princess Lelang . ( Princess Lelang was probably the daughter of Feng Ba ' s wife Princess Sun , as Feng Sufu suggested refusing the request and sending the daughter of one of Feng Ba ' s concubines instead . ) Feng Ba , believing that an alliance with Rouran would be beneficial to his state , gave Princess Lelang in marriage to Yujiulü Hulü . In 414 , Feng Ba sent his official Chu Kuang ( 褚匡 ) to his ancestral home of Changle ( 長樂 , in modern Hengshui , Hebei ) to find his clan members , and Chu Kuang returned with 5 , 000 households , headed by Feng Ba ' s cousins Feng Mai ( 馮買 ) and Feng Du ( 馮睹 ) . Feng Ba also found his brother Feng Pi ( 馮丕 ) in Goguryeo and welcomed him back , creating him the Duke of Changshan . Later that year , Yujiulü Hulü , who was about to in turn marry one of his daughters to Feng Ba , was overthrown by his nephew Yujiulü Buluzhen ( 郁久閭步鹿真 ) , and the coup leaders sent him and his daughter to Northern Yan . Feng Ba treated him as an honored guest and , as originally planned , took his daughter as a concubine . Yujiulü Hulü requested that Feng Ba send an army to escort him home , and Feng Ba , with some reluctance , sent his general Wan Ling ( 萬陵 ) to escort Yujiulü Hulü , but Wan killed Yujiulü Hulü on the way and returned . Instead , Feng Ba entered into an alliance with the new khan Yujiulü Datan , who had in turn overthrown Yujiulü Buluzhen . Later that year , Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei sent a messenger , Huniuyu Shimen ( 忽忸于什門 ) , to try to negotiate peace with Northern Yan , but when Huniuyu arrived at Helong , he refused to enter the Northern Yan palace , demanding that Feng Ba come out of his palace and accept Emperor Mingyuan ' s edict ( as a sign of submission ) . Feng Ba refused and dragged Huniuyu into the palace . Huniuyu refused to bow , and Feng Ba had his guards press Huniuyu ' s head down , and then imprisoned him . Later , on several occasions , Huniuyu insulted Feng Ba , but Feng Ba overruled suggestions to have him executed , stating that Huniuyu was just being faithful to his state . He later tried several times to have Huniuyu submit , but Huniuyu each time refused . Feng Ba , instead , entered into an alliance with the Xia emperor Helian Bobo . Around the new year 415 , Feng Sufu died . Contrary to the usual customs of mourning a subject at most three times , he mourned his brother seven times . Later in 415 , Sun Hu ' s brothers Sun Boren ( 孫伯仁 ) , Sun Chizhi ( 孫叱支 ) , and Sun Yiba ( 孫乙拔 ) , dissatisfied with the lack of promotions , complained . Feng Ba executed the three and promoted Sun Hu to try to pacify him , but Sun Hu became depressed , so Feng Ba poisoned him to death . Meanwhile , the general Wu Yinti ( 務銀提 ) was also unhappy that he was not promoted and planned to offer his defense post to Goguryeo , and Feng Ba executed him . In 416 , the Northern Yan general Kuruguan Bin ( 庫傉官斌 ) , who had earlier defected from Northern Yan to Northern Wei but then defected back to Northern Yan , was attacked by Northern Wei ' s Emperor Mingyuan , and Northern Wei forces killed not only Kuruguan Bin , but also two other Northern Yan generals , Kuruguan Chang ( 庫傉官昌 ) and Kuruguan Ti ( 庫傉官提 ) , probably relatives of Kuruguan Bin . In 418 , Northern Wei ' s Emperor Mingyuan made a surprise attack against Northern Yan , surrounding and sieging Helong . Feng Ba defended the city against Northern Wei attack and held it . Northern Wei forces seized some 10 , 000 households from Northern Yan and withdrew . During the next few years , Northern Wei concentrated its efforts against Liu Song and Xia , and there did not appear to be major confrontations again between Northern Wei and Northern Yan . In 426 , Feng Ba ' s crown prince Feng Yong died , and he created another son , Feng Yi ( 馮翼 ) , crown prince . In 430 , Feng Ba was seriously ill , and he issued an edict transferring his authorities to Feng Yi . However , Feng Ba ' s favorite concubine Consort Song wanted to have her son Feng Shouju ( 馮受居 ) inherit the throne , and therefore told Feng Yi that Feng Ba would soon recover and that he should not be so anxious to take over authority ; Feng Yi agreed and retreated to his palace . Consort Song then falsely issued orders in Feng Ba ' s name cutting off communications with the outside , and Feng Yi and Feng Ba ' s other sons , as well as imperial officials , were not allowed to see Feng Ba . Only one of her trusted officials , Hu Fu ( 胡福 ) , was able to enter the palace to be in charge of security . However , Hu was secretly resentful of Consort Song ' s ambitions , and he informed Feng Hong , who was prime minister in this point , of her intentions . Feng Hong immediately attacked the palace and seized control of it . Feng Ba , hearing up this , died in shock . Feng Hong then took the throne himself and , after defeating Feng Yi ' s troops , slaughtered all of Feng Ba ' s sons .