Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

The fault lies with Wang Yun, not Jia Xu!
When these words were spoken, all the ministers in the four seats were shocked, and everyone had a look of surprise on their faces.

Xiao Fang's words were indeed somewhat shocking.

It is a consensus among people all over the world that Wang Yun instigated Lu Bu to rebel and fight against Dong Zhuo, and was regarded as a hero who supported the Han Dynasty.

Who would have thought that at this moment, Xiao Fang suddenly made a judgment, denouncing Wang Yun, a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, as a criminal minister of the Han Dynasty!
This was tantamount to breaking everyone's inherent ideas, which was bound to shock the ministers.

"Your Majesty, I think the Prime Minister is right."

Ma Chao, who had been listening quietly, was suddenly touched and couldn't help but speak:

"According to what my father told me, after Wang Yun defeated Dong Zhuo, not only the people of Xiliang under Dong Zhuo's command, but also people like me who were not under Dong Zhuo's command, were all in a state of panic."

"My father said that at that time they all thought that the late emperor would regain power, the court would regain its prestige, and everything would return to the situation during the reign of Emperor Ling."

"My father has even written a memorial to present to the late emperor, expressing his submission to the late emperor and the court."

"Who would have thought that Wang Yun would force the emperor to issue an edict to kill all the people of Xiliang!"

"Not only must we kill all the Xiliang troops under Dong Zhuo's command, but all the Xiliang people like me who have never followed Dong Zhuo to do evil must be killed!"

"After hearing the news, my father was greatly shocked and immediately reorganized his troops and prepared to retreat to Liangzhou to defend it."

"If my father is like this, you can imagine how terrified those Xiliang soldiers under Dong Zhuo are."

"To be honest, if I were in that situation, I would have to fight hard to protect myself."

"Otherwise, you can't just sit there and wait to be killed by Wang Yun, right?"

As a native of Xiliang, Ma Chao stood up and said a few fair words on behalf of Jia Xu.

Ma Chao's words still carry great weight.

After all, Jia Xu once served under Ma Teng, gave advice to Ma Teng and his son, and also persuaded Ma Teng and his son to surrender to Cao.

Logically, Ma Teng was eventually killed by Cao Cao, so Ma Chao should have hated Jia Xu.

But Ma Chao did not hate Jia Xu. Instead, he stood up and said a few fair words for Jia Xu.

After hearing this, all the ministers nodded slightly, deeply agreeing with what Xiao Fang and Ma Chao said.

"What the Prime Minister and Meng Qi said makes sense. It seems that the incident in Chang'an cannot be blamed entirely on Jia Xu."

"Although Wang Yun had the merit of killing Dong, he was stubborn and self-willed, and forced the people of Xiliang to rebel. This was his crime."

Liu Bei was relieved, so he said happily:
"Okay, I will do as You Chang said. I will write a letter myself to see if I can persuade Jia Wenhe to surrender, so that he can make up for his mistakes, return to the Han Dynasty, and help me capture Chang'an and destroy Cao Cao!"

...

Three days later, in a secret room in Jia Mansion in Chang'an City.

Jia Xu, with his hair and beard half white, sat there like a stone statue, staring at the letter in his hand with complicated eyes.

That was the handwriting of Liu Bei, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

The content of the letter was concise and to the point, persuading Jia Xu to betray Qin and surrender to Han, and to help the Han Dynasty recapture Chang'an with internal and external support to make up for his previous crimes.

In this letter, Liu Bei did not make any big promises or offer high positions or generous rewards to induce Jia Xu to surrender to Han.

Liu Bei only promised to regard Jia Xu's return to Han as a compensation for his crime of disrupting the country by counterattacking Chang'an, and promised him a life of wealth and peace after the success. To put it bluntly, I will not pursue your crime of disrupting the country, but I will not use you again, give you a high position, and only allow you to be a rich man and die of old age.

"Father is a high-ranking official in the Qin Dynasty. If he surrenders to the Han Dynasty, he can only be a rich man?"

"The Han emperor's offer of surrender is too insincere. He should at least promise my father a promotion to the third highest official. Otherwise, why would my father betray Qin and surrender to Han to help him capture Chang'an?"

The eldest son Jia Mu, who was standing by, complained indignantly.

Jia Xu did not express his opinion, but respectfully put down Liu Bei's handwritten letter, and then asked his son to bring pen and ink.

Jia Mu became alert, but he didn't dare to ask too much, so he just took out the pen and ink.

Jia Xu picked up the pen and pondered for a moment, then took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and wrote a book in an instant.

"Quickly give this letter from my father to the Han envoy and ask him to present it to the Han emperor."

Jia Mu took the letter with uneasiness in his heart. After just a few glances at it, his face changed drastically.

It turned out to be a letter of surrender!
In the letter, Jia Xu not only expressed his desire to return to Han, but also reflected on his crimes of disrupting the country in the past. He was grateful to Liu Bei for giving him the opportunity to make amends, and claimed that he would do his best to help Liu Bei recapture Chang'an with internal and external support.

"Father, have you thought it through?"

"The Emperor of Han did not promise a promotion for your father, nor did he promise you a title. He only promised you a good and prosperous death. This is not a surrender, it is simply a threat."

"He is so insincere and disrespectful to my father, yet my father wants to demote him?"

Jia Muyang held the letter in his hand and questioned Jia Xu with a puzzled look on his face.

"Alas, Mu'er, although you are my son, you don't understand your father as well as the Emperor of Han..."

Faced with his son's emotional questioning, Jia Xu shook his head and sighed in disappointment.

Jia Mu was stunned, not understanding what his father meant.

"Do you really think that your father covets a high position, a position of the Three Dukes, or a promotion?"

Jia Xu's series of rhetorical questions made his son look confused and stunned.

"In fact, for all these years, I have lived cautiously every day. Every lord I surrendered to and every strategy I offered were all for the purpose of protecting my own life and preserving our Jia family."

"That was how I persuaded the Xiliang generals to counterattack Chang'an. That was how I persuaded Ma Teng to submit to Cao Gong. That is how I decided to submit to the Emperor of Han today!"

"The Han army has now reached the gates of Chang'an. With the national strength of the Han State, the great talent and strategy of the Han Emperor, and the brilliant strategy of Xiao Jinglue, the fall of the Qin State is a foregone conclusion, and no one can reverse this trend."

"My father also offered advice to Cao Gong, asking him to give up Guanzhong and Liangzhou, preserve his strength and retreat all his troops back to Yizhou. Only in this way can we have a chance to rely on the natural barrier of Qinling Mountains and defend this corner of Yizhou."

"In this way, I, your father, can also spend the rest of my life in Yizhou."

"It's a pity that Cao Gong no longer has the courage to cut off his own arm. First he listened to Zhang Song's advice and refused to defend Weikou, and now he wants to defend Chang'an to the death."

"The final result can only be the loss of people and land. Even the troops retreating to Yizhou will be lost. The Qin State will eventually be destroyed."

"If that's the case, why should I, as a father, still insist on assisting Duke Cao, blindly becoming an enemy of the Han emperor, and ultimately paying the price for the Qin state's burial?"

Jia Xu expressed his life creed to his son for the first time, and then a look of relief flashed in his eyes:
"Now that the Emperor of Han has taken the initiative to recruit your father, giving your father a chance to save his life and preserve my Jia family, tell me why I should not seize it?" (End of this chapter)