Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 210: How can the vast heaven treat the people with such kindness?
Shortly after Cao Pi and others arrived in Jinling, Zhu Zhi also returned with Jia Xu. As for the woodcutter... he had already gone back to chop wood with little sense of presence, and did not specifically meet Bai Tu.
When he first met this famous "poisonous scholar" from the Three Kingdoms period, Bai Tu did not show too much enthusiasm - so as not to irritate Jia Xu's sensitive mind.
After listening carefully to Zhu Zhi's report, Bai Tu gave him a commendation and asked Zhu Zhi to go back and rest first. When he was alone with Jia Xu, Bai Tu asked him to introduce himself first.
Jia Xu understood that this was not only an "introduction", but also an opportunity to defend himself...
However... even though he knew this, Jia Xu showed no emotion when he was telling the story. He looked like an old man who usually didn't have much energy.
If Zhu Zhi had not seen how skillful he was when riding a horse, he might have really thought that he was suffering from the climate there.
There was no deliberate sensationalism, Jia Xu simply narrated his situation in a straightforward manner.
Jia Xu was born in Wuwei County, Liangzhou, and the situation here... has always been complicated.
During the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, although the Central Plains civilization repeatedly controlled the Hetao area, the level of agricultural reclamation was always low, resulting in this area being somewhat distant from the Central Plains civilization. Instead, most of the time, nomadic peoples roamed the area. It was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties that the level of agricultural reclamation was substantially improved, and this situation began to change.
Even before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when the Central Plains and other areas were relatively stable, the Qiang people, the Xiongnu people, the Xianbei people... would cause chaos here from time to time.
Among the three, the Qiang people have the closest relationship with the Han Dynasty. In theory, most of the Qiang people in the Hetao region can also be regarded as the people of the Han Dynasty, but this is only limited to "theory".
In terms of blood relationship, the Qiang people in Hetao are not a northern nomadic people, but are closer to the Qiang people on the plateau west of Sichuan and Shu. This is also a region that was integrated into the Chinese civilization relatively late - even the Anxi Protectorate was built in the Tang Dynasty, but it was still unable to do anything to Tubo.
The Qiang people in Hetao were, in theory, also subjects of the Han Dynasty, but... they were even more wild than the Shanyue people in Jiangdong, not to mention the Xiongnu people who had migrated inland from Hetao and the Xianbei people who were eyeing them covetously in the north.
In contrast, although the Qiang people had many rebellions, most of the rebellions that became successful were "clinging to the upper hand". Although the Han people called them all "Qiang", they actually had no nationality. Even the Qiang people on the plateau were not considered a whole before the establishment of Tubo. They mostly attacked whoever they could benefit from.
A hundred years ago, the Huns migrated inland and were divided into north and south again. The northern Huns rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and the Qiang people joined them... They were later conquered by Dou Xian.
In the following decades, the Qiang people suppressed rebellions and then suppressed them again, but this established the reputation of Duan Ying, the killing god of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Thirty years ago, the Xianbei invaded the border and the Qiang people joined them. They were later pacified by Zhang Huan. Dong Zhuo was Zhang Huan's military secretary at that time. Later, Dong Zhuo, who "loved chivalry when he was young and often traveled among the Qiang people", recruited many Qiang people for his services when he was in charge of Liangzhou. There were a large number of Qiang auxiliary troops in the Western Liang Iron Cavalry. He and Ding Yuan of Bingzhou were stationed in the west and east of the Hetao respectively, using different methods to protect the territory and the people.
At this time, the Qiang people were more of a collective name for the countless nomadic peoples living here than a nation.
In their logic, some tribes believed that the Han people were strong, so it was normal for them to follow the Han people in suppressing and attacking other Qiang people. On the contrary, they had no empathy for each other...
Just like ten years ago, there was even a group of Qiang people who rebelled and elected Han official Han Sui as their nominal leader. Now Han Sui, who relies on the Qiang people as his base, is still considered a relatively powerful prince in Liangzhou.
The Central Plains became riven with wars only after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but Liang Province has never been peaceful...
Jia Xu grew up in this kind of environment, and as if he was born under the spell of a jinx, he lost his parents, brothers... and even his former wife and children. He was even captured by the Qiang and Hu people when he was a teenager and made a slave for several years.
Pain, madness, numbness...
The special growth experience did not make Jia Xu a killer, nor did it arouse his bandit nature, but it created his code of conduct centered on "survival" - even if the world is like this, I, Jia Xu, also want to survive!
He doesn't want to be an ordinary person whose life and death are not in his own hands, but he also doesn't want to be a dangerous big shot, so he tries hard to stay at the level of a minor official.
Until... under Wang Yun's intimidation policy, Jia Xu had an outburst.
When narrating these things, Jia Xu also spoke in a straightforward manner, as if he was "disdainful" of using his experience to impress Bai Tu.
After listening to this, Bai Tu’s first thought was... thankful!
Fortunately, the Qiang and Hu people never thought of using Jia Xu's wisdom. Even when he was captured and made a slave, they only used his physical strength.
Fortunately, Jia Xu got the chance to escape in time, otherwise... if Jia Xu really reached the point where he would die if he didn't show up , in order to escape the fate of being exhausted to death, Jia Xu would most likely recommend himself to the Qiang and Hu leaders first to actively demonstrate his value.
Jia Xu, who uses the "desire to survive" as his bottom line, coupled with the Qiang and Hu people who act without taboos, Liangzhou is likely to take a completely different historical path!
From this perspective, Jia Xu's upper limit is also very high - as long as his life is not in danger, he will not do anything immoral for the sake of profit.
In fact, to be fair, this person is nobler than 99% of the people, and is the opposite of most "gentlemen". As Mencius said in "Gaozi Shang", this person can withstand coercion and "would rather die than accept it", but will be tempted by "beautiful palaces", "services from wives and concubines", and "the poor people I know". Jia Xu... is the opposite of this.
When his life is not threatened, Jia Xu can be like Yan Hui, who only eats from a wooden bowl and drinks from a gourd. But once his life is in danger, he will not hesitate to be like Dao Zhi or Dao Zhi's minion.
After Jia Xu talked about offering advice to Li Jue and Guo Si, he stopped and did not explain further.
He didn't even mention that he had given Liu Xie advice - if Bai Tu didn't know, he wouldn't mind talking about it, but since Bai Tu already knew, he didn't want to mention it again.
The reason why he was so indifferent was not because Jia Xu's "desire to survive" had decreased, but quite the opposite... Jia Xu was trying to test Bai Tu's reaction!
Since Bai Tu "invited" him to come to Jinling, he would not kill him as soon as he arrived. Even if he behaved a little more presumptuously now, he would be safe for a short time.
Therefore, Jia Xu wanted to take advantage of the safe period to test Bai Tu's attitude towards him. It would be meaningless for Jia Xu to use emotional words to please the other party at this time.
If Bai Tu showed disgust, Jia Xu would have to think about how to get out of this situation. If he was just pretending to be nice and showing understanding in a business-like manner, but in fact he wanted to use him, Jia Xu would have to consider how much effort he could put in to be safest.
Even if his family was taken to Jinling in the future, it would not affect his desire to escape. In fact... if Bai Tu relaxed his vigilance because his family was here, Jia Xu would feel fortunate.
Of course, as long as it did not threaten his life, he also loved and cared for his second wife, children, and grandchildren, and invested real emotions in them. However... in Jia Xu's view, emotions are something that only those who are alive can have.
Jia Xu now looked exhausted with his eyelids drooping, but he was actually concentrating and observing the white map nervously.
I saw... Bai Tu's eyes turned red.
The redness of her eyes was not due to anger, but rather to sympathy and sadness...
"How can the great heaven be so unkind to you?" Bai Tu said as he stepped forward and held Jia Xu's hand.
Jia Xu: ...
Jia Xu couldn't tell for a moment whether Bai Tu's reaction was true or false.
Judging others by himself, Jia Xu felt that Bai Tu should forge the truth now. No matter whether he was a hero or a sage, there was no reason for him to sympathize with a man like him who was causing trouble for the Han people.
However, if one really wants to lie, one should pretend to be "you are innocent" or "I will allow you to atone for your sins with your merits".
However , Bai Tu started to complain about the heavens on behalf of Jia Xu, asking why they were so unkind to him...
"The laws of nature are unchangeable. They are impartial and without favoritism. It's not that I'm the only one being treated unfairly...Of the Han people who were captured with me in that small tribe, only one in ten escaped during the civil strife. The people in Liangzhou who died in the war were far more than just my family." Jia Xu said solemnly, trying to pull his hand away.
On the one hand, it was to further test Bai Tu's attitude, and on the other hand... Bai Tu's words actually hit the softest spot in Jia Xu's heart, causing him to lose control of his emotions and not be as calm as he appeared.
If Jia Xu had thought carefully, he would not have forced himself into a dead end like this - this was telling Bai Tu that God was not so unfair. Wang Yun wanted to kill all the people in Liangzhou, but Liangzhou only had him, Jia Wenhe! Must he put the blame on someone else?
"How can the great heaven be so unkind to the people?" Bai Tu changed one word but held Jia Xu's hand without letting go.
No matter how strong and healthy Jia Xu is, he can never have the strength of a young man.
"Mr. Bai... can only complain about the heavens?"
After Jia Xu finished speaking, he regretted it. Although it was a safe period, he also... shouldn't have tried it so much!
I seem to be in a bad state today... When was the last time I was so emotional?
Is it the time when he abandoned his wife and children and fled alone in the chaos of war, crying bitterly on the edge of a cliff, but in the end he had no intention of jumping off the cliff at all?
"I would like to create a new world for the sun and the moon!" Bai Tu said firmly.
"Mr. Bai is truly a sage. I am willing to serve him like a dog or a horse to atone for my own mistakes." Jia Xu said "touched".
Although he showed an expression of being touched and no longer as nonchalant as before, in fact... it was Jia Xu's "desire to survive" that prevailed again and wiped out the sentimental emotions that had just been revealed - the desire to survive told Jia Xu that he should give it a lick now instead of continuing to test.
Bai Tu hesitated after hearing this. After a pause, he said, "Wenhe only gave a good idea to the tyrannical people... The disaster in Guanzhong was caused by the remnants of the Dong thieves and the officials . If Wenhe is willing to be a commoner, my Jinling can also accommodate an old man."
"No, Xu pays respects to my lord." Jia Xu seemed to be really excited, and the meaning of taking the initiative to address him as lord was obvious.
"Okay! Heaven has failed you, I will definitely treat you well... I also hope that in the future, all people in the world will be treated well!" Bai Tu said, and patted the back of Jia Xu's hand with his other hand before letting go.
Jia Xu had just arrived in Jinling, and came to see Bai Tu after bathing and changing his clothes. Therefore, Bai Tu asked him to go back and rest first, as the mansion had been prepared.
When leaving the main hall of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion, Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes drifted slightly left and right, and he thought to himself: I would like to be an ordinary old man, but... what if a hundred or eighty swordsmen rush out?
However, the smile on the corner of his mouth was something he did not notice...
