Jinting Han people

The night passed quickly, and when Liu Xian woke up the next morning, he wondered if he had just had a bizarre dream. But the dream was so clear that he remembered every detail. Seeing the specks of snow and mud on his clothes, he finally confirmed that it wasn't a dream.

The people accompanying them gradually woke up. Unaware of what had happened the previous night, they continued to eat and drink as normal, awaiting Yang's response. After careful consideration, Liu Xian gave his subordinates a short break, claiming they had nothing else to do. He then called Li Sheng and Zhang Gu over and said, "Grab some things and follow me to see the man."

After that, Liu Xian took a basket of eggs, some seasonings, some hair grooming tools, and a dozen or so sets of clothes from the team's luggage. Li Sheng and Zhang Gu were puzzled, but seeing that Liu Xian didn't intend to say more, they didn't ask any more questions and took the luggage and tied it into the saddle bag.

Liu Xian then went down the mountain in the name of hunting. This time, he took the main road to the south, and carrying some hunting equipment would not arouse suspicion. But once out of the sight of the Di people, Liu Xian led his men off the main road and, following his memory from the previous night, made many twists and turns towards the small rock pool.

The small stone pond was still there, and the cave next to it was still there. Liu Xian walked in, and the bonfire was still burning. Those people were still there, sleeping in a mess beside the bonfire.

Geng Hui was already awake. He was roasting four skinned rabbits on sticks by the campfire. Seeing Liu Xian approach, he grinned and said, "Your Highness, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet. I brought some salt, eggs, and some clothes for everyone. Let's eat together. After eating, clean up and change clothes."

Geng Hui was very happy to hear this. He said yes repeatedly and woke up the dozen or so people who were still sleeping. When they heard that there were salt and eggs, they couldn't stop drooling. They quickly gathered together, took out a homemade clay pot from somewhere, and then built a simple stove with stones. They put the clay pot on it to boil water, and then threw the eggs in.

They also unceremoniously sprinkled the salt they brought onto the rabbit meat. Liu Xian could tell at a glance that it was too much. But they still put their noses to the rabbit meat and sniffed it greedily, as if it were the most delicious delicacy on earth, as if they had never tasted salt before.

When it was cooked, everyone tore off a leg and began to eat it with gusto. Liu Xian also got a piece. He took a bite and it was indeed very salty, but when he looked around and saw that everyone was chewing it with great enthusiasm, he was able to eat it too.

Li Sheng and Zhang Gu, who were accompanying them, finally realized that these dusty and monkey-like savages were actually the remnants of Shu Han. They were stunned for a moment and were speechless.

Liu Xian started chatting directly with Geng Hui and others. Yesterday, he only introduced his own situation, but he still didn't know how they had been getting through these years, and when the struggle started. He had a guess in his mind that always needed to be verified.

Among the people present, except Geng Hui, the rest were basically just soldiers of the Han army, so Liu Xian could only ask him to answer his questions.

He asked, "Have you been resisting since the fall of your country?"

Geng Hui swallowed a mouthful of meat, shook his head and said, "That's not the case, Your Highness. We started this in the eleventh year of Jingyao."

"The eleventh year of Jingyao?" Liu Xian was stunned at first, then suddenly realized that this was the Shu Han calendar. Converted to the Jin calendar, it should be the fourth year of Taishi. That is, six years after his grandfather Liu Chan surrendered.

Geng Hui continued, "In the five years after the fall of our country, those of us who had served in the army, as well as our families, were taken as slaves by the Jin dogs. Women did some weaving and laundry, and were even raped, but at least we could barely get by. But the men were either forced to work as charcoal carriers or miners for the iron officials. Many people died every year. If those Jin dogs were unhappy with us, they would chop off people's hands and feet and throw them on the streets to beg. Life was really hard..."

Liu Xian fell silent upon hearing this, but Geng Hui, already immersed in his own thoughts, continued:

"Your Highness, ever since the day His Majesty surrendered, we've actually been thinking about restoring our country every day. Furthermore, these difficult times have only made us even more resentful. But since His Majesty has already surrendered, what else can we do? So, with no other options, we can only endure this. At the time, we thought, if His Majesty hadn't surrendered, how wonderful it would have been! We would have been willing to die in this situation."

At this moment, Geng Hui's eyes lit up, and he said proudly:

"But who would have thought that one day, Lord Zhuge Siyuan would appear. He brought a dozen people to our Linqiong, killed all the Jin dogs who had imprisoned us, and said he would lead us to restore our country!"

Liu Xian was stunned and said, "Zhuge Siyuan? Zhuge Zhan? Didn't he die in the battle of Mianzhu?"

Geng Hui said as a matter of course, "That's what we heard, too. But Zhuge Siyuan was indeed alive. When we saw him, he was eight feet tall, with a face as beautiful as jade, broad ears and long eyes. He was 80% like the portrait of the prime minister in our ancestral hall. How could he be false?"

"The Prime Minister's image?"

"Your Highness, you haven't seen him yet, have you? There's not only a Prime Minister's Temple in Chengdu, but we down here often pay our respects to him whenever things go wrong. So almost every household has a portrait of the Prime Minister, and everyone knows what he looks like!"

"Oh, so that's how it is. Please continue talking and I'll continue listening."

"Lord Siyuan told us that after the general died in battle, a remnant of the army remained. They escaped and there was still a chance to restore the country. However, they were under the general's orders and were biding their time."

"Waiting for the right time? Waiting for what time?"

"I don't know. I'm just waiting for the right moment." Geng Hui closed his eyes slightly and sighed, "Lord Siyuan said this was the general's final order. No one knows what this waiting moment is."

"Lord Siyuan waited with this remnant army for five years, but felt that such waiting was pointless, so he returned to Bashu and said he would lead us to create an opportunity."

Liu Xian understood a little, and said, "He hopes to lead you to disrupt Bashu, and the Han army will respond to him."

"Yes, that's what he thought. He told us that despite heavy losses, the remnant army still had tens of thousands of soldiers, a force that should not be underestimated. As long as they responded, they would definitely be able to achieve something. We were also convinced by Lord Siyuan. We were suffering so much as slaves of a conquered country, so why not rise up and fight? So we followed him in the rebellion."

But Liu Xian knew the outcome of this rebel army. He sighed and said, "It probably didn't go very well."

Geng Hui nodded and said calmly, "It's all right. We'll start from Linqiong and gather our fellow villagers. Within a month, we'll have gathered tens of thousands of people, and then we'll march vigorously to attack Jiangyuan. As soon as Jiangyuan is captured, we can directly attack Chengdu. If Chengdu is also captured by us, it will certainly shake the whole of Shu, and the time to restore the country has come."

"Unfortunately, our weapons and equipment were so scarce. Although we had a large number of people, we had no weapons. The spears were all hastily made, and each person couldn't even have a ring-handled sword. Even arrows had to be prepared by each person, and often each person had less than ten arrows. In the end, the city only used 600 cavalry to break us apart." "In the end, only about 400 of us escaped from that battle. Lord Siyuan almost lost his life. It was his good friend Zhao Qi who wore his armor and distracted some of the pursuers, which saved his life. Even so, Lord Siyuan was stabbed in the face, from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth, and it almost took his life."

It sounded like a ridiculous battle. The rebels were full of passion but inexperienced, and the Jin army would surely view them as foolish. But Liu Xian's heart tightened as he heard this, for he knew that courage and foolishness were sometimes two sides of the same coin, and once lost, they could never be regained.

But when he looked up at Geng Hui, his expression was very calm hidden by his hair and beard, but Liu Xian knew that if his memory was not so profound and he had not recalled it thousands of times, he would never be so calm.

"and after?"

"Later, we hid in Nanmu Valley near Qingcheng Mountain, where we struggled to survive. Lord Siyuan was unwilling to give up, so after two years in the mountains, he took us to Wenshan to interact with the local Hu people. During those two years, he lobbied various tribes and recruited homeless people. Gradually, he accumulated a group of thousands of people. It was also around that time that he married a local Hu woman and gave birth to Nanqiao."

Nan Qiao was referring to the only young man in the group, Zhuge Yan. He had been listening nearby, and when Geng Hui reached this point, he raised his head with a proud expression.

Liu Xian finally understood his life story, and sighed in his heart. He then asked Geng Hui:
"He's not someone who's content with peace. He certainly won't live such a peaceful life, right?"

Geng Hui nodded again, recalling, "Yes, it seems to be the fifteenth year of Jingyao? That year, there was a famine in the mountains, and he persuaded two tribes from Wenshan to come south to Chengdu. He achieved considerable success and even persuaded General Zhang Hong, who was about to face the enemy, to defect, thereby assassinating Huangfu Yan, the governor of Yizhou sent by the Jin people."

"The situation was truly favorable at the time, and we all thought success was within reach. However, Zhang Hong's resolve was weak, and he soon regretted his decision. He was then lured to his death by Wang Jun, who arrived. Later, Wang Jun took over as Governor of Yizhou. While mobilizing troops to suppress the rebellion, he also spent heavily to bribe the Hu people, who had previously been relatively friendly with us. As a result, we had no choice but to leave Wenshan and come here."

Although it sounded lighthearted, it actually sounded like a hopeless and uneventful history. Effort after effort was like throwing a stone into a lake: besides a small splash, nothing changed, only disappointment after disappointment.

"Why here? Wouldn't it be better to go to Longshang?" Liu Xian felt that he was close to the whole story.

Geng Hui shook his head as if in a dream and sighed, "Mr. Siyuan said that the remnant of the army left behind by the general actually stayed here. At that time, he had almost given up the idea of restoring the country and just wanted to give us an explanation and a home."

"Right here?! Did you see it?"

"No, I haven't seen them. He told me that they did stop here before we came, but when we got here, everyone here had left and we had no idea where they were."

"Lord Siyuan took us back and forth here, searching Yinping, Wudu, Tianshui, Longxi, Jincheng... During those two years, he searched almost every place imaginable. Our numbers dwindled, and by the end, there were only two or three hundred left, but in the end, we still found nothing."

"Later, Lord Siyuan made a decision. He told me to take the remaining people and live well. He was going to go somewhere, find someone, ask some questions, and perhaps a lot of things would be revealed."

"Then he left alone and entrusted Nan Qiao to me."

"We've been waiting here for him for almost thirty years. We've been hiding from the authorities, hiding in caves, wearing brown deerskins, growing wild millet for food, and setting traps to catch wild animals. Over the years, out of two or three hundred people, only eighteen of us remain. Last year, there were twenty of us, but two brothers fell into hunters' traps and died of illness."

That's all there is to it.

After learning about everything that happened, Liu Xian was a little confused. He thought he would learn all the truth here, but he didn't expect that he only peeled off a layer and only knew Wang Fu's past.

Based on what his teacher and mother had said, he had long suspected that perhaps the Han army Jiang Wei had left behind still existed, somewhere in the northwest of the country, awaiting his summons. But now, it sounded like this Han army had disappeared. Did this make sense?
He could only continue to question Geng Hui: "Lord Geng, where do you think this remnant of the army would be if it still existed?"

Geng Hui smiled wryly and replied, "I'm afraid no one knows. Perhaps they're still wandering in the mountains like us, but somehow haven't been discovered. Or perhaps they've given up on restoring their country and gone to a place even farther away, so far away that no one knows where they are. Or perhaps they've simply run out of options and died out."

"Your Highness, which one do you want to believe?"

From a realistic perspective, complete destruction is undoubtedly the most likely outcome. Even if they didn't surrender and fled to the plateau or the Western Regions, that would have been a solution. But simply waiting somewhere was out of the question; otherwise, why would they vanish out of thin air here?

But Liu Xian didn't want to believe that. Birds of a feather flock together. Having seen so many stubborn people, he had no reason to believe that those who waited were traitors and spineless. So he answered decisively:

"Lord Geng, I believe they are still here. They must still be here! One day, I will find them!"

This sentence excited everyone, and they immediately asked Liu Xian:

"Your Highness, when do you plan to restore your country?"

This problem is very realistic and cruel. Liu Xian had not thought about it before, but now he has made up his mind.

"I'm afraid it will take a few years, but it should be within the next few years."

Liu Xian stood up and said to them, "I still have to go back to Luoyang. It seems that there are some things that I must see my father and teacher to truly understand."

"Then, once I have defeated the Hou Party and secured the position of Governor, it will be time to formally prepare to restore the country." (End of this chapter)