Murong Nong () (died 398), formally Prince Huanlie of Liaoxi (遼西桓烈王), was a general and imperial prince of China's Xianbei-led Later Yan dynasty. He was a son of the founding emperor Murong Chui (Emperor Wucheng) and a brother of Murong Bao (Emperor Huimin). Throughout most of the state's history, he was admired by the people and officials alike for his military and governance abilities, but his inexplicable failures in 398 helped to lead to the downfall of himself, his brother Murong Bao, and the Later Yan dynasty.
Before Later Yan's founding
The first reference to Murong Nong in history was in 369, when Murong Chui, then a Former Yan prince, fled to Former Qin after he came after suspicion of the emperor Murong Wei's mother Empress Dowager Kezuhun and the regent Murong Ping; Murong Nong was one of his sons who fled with him. He was mentioned as having told his father in 377 that, in light of the capable prime minister Wang Meng's death, the Former Qin emperor Fu Jiān's reign appeared to be deteriorating and that Murong Chui should consider reestablishing Yan (which had fallen to Former Qin in 370). Murong Chui laughed off his suggestion at this point but kept it in mind.
Murong Nong would renew his suggestion in 383 after Former Qin had failed in its attempt to conquer Jin and been severely weakened in the defeat at the Battle of Fei River. Murong Chui agreed this time, and after receiving Fu Jiān's permission to go on a mission to try to pacify the northeastern empire, instead plotted rebellion. As part of the plan, as Murong Chui rose south of the Yellow River near Luoyang, Murong Nong and his cousin Murong Kai (慕容楷) started a rebellion of their own north of the Yellow River in spring 384. He quickly defeated the highly regarded Former Qin general Shi Yue, and became a major menace for Former Qin troops, and he was known both for his military strategies and strict discipline.
During Murong Chui's reign
In spring 384, Murong Chui declared the establishment of Later Yan, and Murong Nong continued to contribute greatly to the campaigns that he would wage the next year against Former Qin remnants and other generals who had maintained semi-independence in light of Former Qin's collapse. Around the new year 386, Murong Nong stamped out all remaining Former Qin resistance in the You (幽州, modern Beijing, Tianjin, and northern Hebei) and Ping (平州, modern Liaoning) Provinces, including the rebel Yu Yan (餘巖), and further recovered some commanderies that Goguryeo had seized. Murong Chui made him effective viceroy of You and Ping Provinces, in charge of the old Former Yan capital Longcheng (龍城, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning), and he remained in that post for several years, apparently greatly favored by the people of the region. In 386, Murong Chui created him the Prince of Liaoxi.
In 389, believing that there were no longer matters for him to attend to in the You/Ping region, Murong Nong submitted a report to Murong Chui requesting a recall to the capital Zhongshan (中山, in modern Baoding, Hebei), stating, in part:
I initially advanced my forces here to suppress rebels, and I was ordered to keep these provinces safe. My soldiers have rested for several years, and there are still many bandits in Qing (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), Xu (徐州, modern northern Jiangsu and Anhui), Jing (荊州, modern Hubei), and Yong (雍州, modern central and northern Shaanxi) Provinces. I hope that soon someone will succeed me here, so that I may return and expend all my effort for the empire -- so that I do not have unspent strength while I am alive and regrets when I die.
(At that time, Qing, Xu, and Jing Provinces were under Jin rule, while Yong Province was under Later Qin, so Murong Nong was showing his ambition in conquering or at least defeating Jin and Later Qin.)
Murong Chui, upon receiving the report, summoned Murong Nong to the capital, and had his brother Murong Long the Prince of Gaoyang succeed him at Longcheng. For the next several years, Murong Nong participated in a number of his father's campaigns and was particularly effective in the campaign that destroyed the independent state of Wei and its emperor Zhai Zhao in 392. He also played a major role in Later Yan's destruction of Western Yan in 394, allowing Later Yan to seize modern Shanxi. In 394, Murong Nong attacked Jin's Qing Province, then under the governance of former Later Yan vassal Bilü Hun (辟閭渾) and had some success against Bilü, but around the new year 395, for reasons unknown, Murong Chui ordered him to return to Zhongshan and abandon the campaign.