to send a force to escort him to safety. Murong De initially considered abdicating and welcoming Murong Bao back, but after contrary advice by Zhang Hua (張華) and Muyu Hu (慕輿護), he changed his mind and was prepared to seize Murong Bao and put him to death, but by the time that a detachment commanded by Muyu arrived at Murong Bao's hiding spot, Murong Bao had discovered what happened and fled back north. Murong De kept Zhao, but after Zhao cursed him for having been an usurper, he executed Zhao. In 399, the general Fu Guang (苻廣), brother of the Former Qin emperor Fu Deng, had heard prophecies that Former Qin would soon be reestablished, and therefore declared a rebellion, claiming the title of Prince of Qin. Murong De personally attacked Fu Guang and killed him, but as he did so, his nephew Murong He (慕容和) the Prince of Luyang, left to guard Huatai, was assassinated by his general Li Bian (李辯), who then offered the city to Northern Wei. Northern Wei's viceroy Suhe Ba (素和跋) quickly entered Huatai and defeated returning armies commanded by Murong De and his cousin Murong Zhen (慕容鎮) the Prince of Guiyang, and the other cities of the Huatai region then surrendered to Northern Wei as well. Murong De considered putting Huatai under siege, but at the advice of his general Han Fan (韓範), who argued that sieging Huatai would be difficult, he took his troops and advanced east instead, against the Jin governor of Qing Province (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), Pilü Hun (辟閭渾). In fall 399, he captured the capital of Qing Province, Guanggu (廣固, in modern Qingzhou, Shandong), killing Pilü, and making Guanggu his new capital. From this point on, Murong De carried out few military campaigns, appearing to be content with controlling his small but stable empire. In 400, Murong De claimed the title of emperor, and he changed his name from Murong De to Murong Beide (慕容備德) to allow his people easier obedience of naming taboo rules—and presumably, this meant that the people would only be in violation of the taboo on his name if they used "Beide" together, not "Bei" or "De" individually, as both were common characters. He created Princess Duan empress. Murong De, once he settled in at Guanggu, sent out multiple missions to try to find the fate of his mother Consort Gongsun and his