Wang Meng (Former Qin)

Under his governance, the Former Qin expanded from encompassing only most of Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, and extreme western Shanxi and Henan, to covering nearly all of then-Chinese territory north of the Huai River and the southwest.

Wang Meng is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.

He later became a hermit at Huayin Mountain, in the territory of Former Qin, ruled by the Fu clan of Di ethnicity, after Later Zhao's collapse.

Wang, as unkempt as he was, was using his hand to slap at fleas and ticks during the conversation, but impressed Huan with his knowledge and tactics.

His cousin Fu Jiān (note different tone) the Prince of Donghai feared that he would be the next target, and secretly plotted with a number of people.

Wang was named the mayor of Chang'an in 359, and quickly arrested and executed the founding emperor Fu Jiàn's brother-in-law Qiang De (強德), who had previously robbed the people of possessions and children unpunished.

Wang Meng, as prime minister, organized the Former Qin government into a model of efficiency and honesty—sometimes to the degree of ruthlessness.

In 366, for example, Fu Jiān sent him, Yang An, and Yao Chang to make a successful raid against Jin's Jing Province (荊州, modern central and southern Hubei).

In 367, Wang also led an army against the warlords Lian Qi (斂岐) and Li Yan (李儼), who occupied modern eastern Gansu and who had vacillated between Former Qin and Former Liang.

At that time, however, Wang avoided a direct confrontation with Former Liang's ruler Zhang Tianxi, as he negotiated a compromise in dividing Li's territory and followers.

Meanwhile, Murong Ping made the worst display of his corruption at this time—keeping guards at forests and streams, disallowing commoners and even his own soldiers from cutting firewood or fishing unless they paid a usage fee in either money or silk.

Murong Wei abandoned Yecheng and tried to flee to the old capital Helong (和龍, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning), but was captured on the way.

On his deathbed, he warned Fu Jiān against campaigns to conquer Eastern Jin, and stated that he believed that the Xianbei (the people of Former Yan's nobility) and the Qiang would create trouble in the future and should be watched against.

However, Fu Jiãn failed to take in this last advice, and launched a major offensive against Eastern Jin in the autumn of 383, but was badly defeated at the Battle of Fei River in winter that year, severely weakening Former Qin and eventually led to its collapse in 394.