Jinting Han people

Chapter 337 The Bandit Shi Le
The guards at the gate had just seen Zhang Bin off when, unexpectedly, another old acquaintance of the marshal appeared. Moreover, judging from his appearance, this man was a Jie person with dark eyes and fair skin, and his clothes were shabby. How could such a person know the marshal? He couldn't believe it and was unwilling to let him pass.

But this was no challenge for the young Jiehu man. He vividly described the appearance of the feathered horse and joked, "Oh dear, even great men have their humble and impoverished times. How can you look at people like that! You don't think your marshal was born a marshal, do you?"

His eyes were sincere, and the confidence he exuded despite his playful tone was extraordinary. The soldier, somewhat skeptical, finally agreed to relay the message for the young barbarian at dinner time.

Therefore, by the time Liu Xian learned of Afule's arrival, it was already evening.

"What? This kid is also in Ye City?"

When Liu Xian heard this news while he was eating a steamed bun, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Why does this barbarian lad seem to be everywhere? When I gave him a thousand gold pieces, didn't he claim he was going north? How come he's come to Ye City again?
Regardless, the two were indeed bound by a somewhat ill-fated relationship. Liu Xian was quite fond of this Jie youth, even though he was illiterate, uneducated, and prone to boasting. His carefree and willful nature was something Liu Xian could never emulate. Therefore, often when Liu Xian felt he had reached a dead end, he would think of him and try to use him as a mirror to reflect on himself, which indeed proved very beneficial.

He couldn't help but laugh at Li Sheng, "This kid always picks the time to see me, right around mealtimes? Is he doing this on purpose?"

As he said this, he immediately put down the steamed bun in his hand, instructed the fire camp to make two more bowls of soup buns, and then went to the camp gate to see Aful.

Five years had passed since they last met. Liu Xian had changed a lot, but this young man from the Jie tribe seemed to never age. Apart from some changes in his clothing, his face was still the same as before, his smile so bright and arrogant that he seemed to have never been bullied, and his eyes were still full of affection and curiosity.

Afule laughed, "Oh, Liu Xian, you've gotten younger! Has something good happened?"

Liu Xian replied with a smile, "How could my husband not be happy to see the little guy jumping around like this?"

Both of them burst into laughter, as if they had returned to their first meeting in Luoyang. However, Afule's current attire was not as shabby as before, nor was it luxurious. He was dressed in animal hides that were carefully sewn together, still carrying a slightly unpleasant stench. His belt, boots, hair ornaments, and saddle were all mismatched, giving him a rather rough and unrefined air.

The two returned to their tent. Without Liu Xian saying anything, Afule saw that soup noodles were prepared on the table, immediately picked up a bowl and started eating, mumbling indistinctly as he ate:
"You're really doing better and better. Now, to see you, I have to wait an hour..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian couldn't help but recall Afule's previous vow and laughed, "People always strive for better things! Didn't you say things would get better and better in the future? I remember when you crossed the river, you said you would rise to great heights. How are you doing now?"

"Haha, little one, you'll rise to great heights!" Aful swallowed the soup dumpling in his mouth and grinned at him, "I've come to you to make my mark!"

"To achieve great things?"

"Didn't you want to recruit soldiers and horses to storm Luoyang and replace the emperor? I have a thousand men here, do you want them?"

"A thousand people?" Liu Xian was puzzled. He asked, "Where did you get a thousand people from?"

"Hmph, don't underestimate me. I'm a bandit leader now!"

It turned out that after the Hao San Rebellion, Afule originally planned to lead his people north to Jinyang to seek refuge with Liu Yuan, the Left Wise King of the Xiongnu. Unexpectedly, before he could even meet Liu Yuan, the court ordered Liu Yuan and other Hu leaders to be moved to important locations such as Yecheng and imprisoned, leaving him empty-handed.

Afule had no choice but to change his destination and continue north from Jinyang, eventually reaching the northernmost border of the empire—Yanmen County. There, he used the thousand gold coins given to him by Liu Xian to bribe officials, appease his clansmen, and befriend people from Bingzhou. He quickly seized a piece of grassland by a river, where he was able to graze his livestock and cultivate the land.

However, Afule understood that in these times, the idea of ​​peacefully herding livestock was probably a pipe dream. So he began to think about side businesses. Coincidentally, the Tuoba Xianbei had pacified Shuofang, and there were a large number of Hu people captured and enslaved. He then cooperated with some Xianbei people to trade Hu slaves between Hebei and Shuofang, making a considerable fortune.

Unfortunately, his good fortune didn't last. When Afule was making this ill-fated deal, he was so greedy that he didn't bribe the governor of Yanmen, and instead took a back road to bypass the checkpoints. When the governor of Yanmen learned that such a person had emerged from his prefecture, he was naturally furious. Upon further investigation, he discovered that Afule had no connections, so he immediately skipped the proper procedures and sent two thousand prefectural soldiers to search and confiscate his hometown.

Afule's forces numbered three to four thousand, but only a thousand were able-bodied, and they lacked proper armor and weapons. Logically, with the arrival of the main army, he would have been forced to surrender, and beheading would have been his only fate. Fortunately, someone within the prefectural government tipped him off, allowing him to escape from Yanmen Pass. He then wandered around before finally returning to his hometown in Shangdang.

The journey was truly harrowing. A lone Hu person like him, once spotted by a Han Chinese stranger, could easily be captured and sold into slavery. After all, Afule himself was in this line of work, and he knew the market rates best. Fortunately, he was eloquent and had made many friends in Bingzhou over the years, including a branch of the Guo family of Taiyuan. Therefore, although he faced danger several times and nearly became a slave, he managed to escape back to Shangdang unharmed.

Then, he sought refuge with the bandits of Leping, located between Shangdang and Weijun.

He said to Liu Xian with smug satisfaction, "I've raised horses since I was a child. I know how to judge horses and train them. I can't speak for other things, but when it comes to controlling these beasts, few can surpass me! It was with this skill that I gained the favor of our leader, and now I'm the second oldest among the brothers!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian was speechless at Afule's bizarre experiences. After all, this young Jiehu had been breaking the law, and logically, Liu Xian should have beheaded him immediately. At the same time, Liu Xian felt admiration for Afule's incredible resilience. In just five years, he had experienced several ups and downs, even losing everything at one point, yet he always managed to start over. It seemed that no matter what setbacks he encountered, they couldn't break him.

He is like water; wherever he encounters a crack, he can flow out naturally.

Aful then introduced himself, "Oh, by the way, Liu Xian, my current leader is Han Chinese, and he gave me a Han Chinese name, Shi Le!"

"Shi Le?"

“Yes, Shi Le!” Afule patted his chest and laughed, “He said my life is as hard as a rock, I can't be killed no matter where I'm thrown, so he simply called me Shi! What do you think? I quite like it!”

"Back in January, we had just pulled off a stunt in Zhangwu. The fortified villages there were tough, and we lost some men, so we had to rest for almost a month. It wasn't until the end of February that we heard about the uprising. Good heavens, my brother, who's the leader, said this was a golden opportunity to be granted amnesty, and that we'd miss it if we didn't come back. So we rushed here to Yecheng." "We arrived in Yecheng the day before yesterday. We heard that the King of Chengdu had already left, and my brother thought we wouldn't make it in time. But then, unexpectedly, you were here! I told my brother that we could come and find you."

At this point, Shi Le proudly introduced his team, saying, "Liu Xian, let me tell you, don't underestimate us, the bandits of Leping. In the past two years, we've traveled as far east as Qingzhou and as far north as Shanggu. We've dealt with Xianbei, Xiongnu, and Wuhuan people. Although there are fewer than a thousand of us, every single one of us is a talent! My elder brother is an outstanding man of his generation, and he's definitely capable of achieving great things."

"Help us find a job in the rebel army, and it will definitely not bring you shame!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian became somewhat cautious.

To be honest, accepting the surrender of a few hundred people isn't difficult. Asking Sima Yi and Lu Zhi to intervene should be a simple matter. But the problem is, what to do afterward? Bring him under their command? He knew all too well what kind of person Shi Le was.

As a friend, Shi Le was a very worthwhile person to befriend; he was never boring. However, once he entered officialdom, he became far too self-centered. Shi Le lived entirely according to his own will, with no rules able to restrain him. Therefore, he made countless enemies and caused endless trouble. Wasn't Shi Le's previous experience at Yanmen Pass a perfect example of this?
Such a person could never be anyone's subject.

Considering all this, Liu Xian didn't want to cause trouble for himself, so he carefully said, "I can help you with this, but it's probably just a title. In any case, you're just bandits who joined halfway through, so it's unlikely you'll gain the trust of your superiors. What you can achieve afterward will probably depend on yourselves on the battlefield, risking your lives. Can you do that?"

Faced with these words, Shi Le showed no fear whatsoever. He patted Liu Xian on the shoulder and laughed, "Haha, Liu Xian, what do you take me for? Do you think I'm the kind of person who's afraid of death? We've already put life and death aside since we came here this time."

"Liu Xian, do you know what I want to do most in my life?"

This piqued Liu Xian's interest. He picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and squinted, saying, "Oh? I really don't know. Tell me about it then?"

Shi Le took a big gulp of the hot soup in his bowl, then rubbed his stomach and burped, saying slowly, "Humans are so insignificant, and the world is so vast. Shouldn't we try our best to see it all?"

"So, I set some small goals for myself."

"A small goal?" Liu Xian asked curiously.

Shi Le waved his hand and said loudly, "There are twenty-one provinces in the world now. It's impossible for me to see them all; that's too extravagant. So let's settle for second best. In one's lifetime, one should visit at least eleven provinces! Only then can one's life be worthwhile!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian immediately chuckled. Over the years, he had traveled to only five provinces: Sili, Yong, Bing, Qin, and Ji. The sheer exhaustion from the journeys alone was enough to make him weary. Shi Le, on the other hand, wanted to visit eleven provinces—he really knew how to make a fuss!
Then he said, "In every prefecture I visit, I also want to make one or two close friends. Liu Xian, what do you think? Is that too much to ask?"

"All men are brothers under heaven!" Liu Xian nodded and said, "I share the same dream."

"And then, I'm going to kill people!" Shi Le slammed his fist on the table and began to go berserk: "There are too many corrupt officials in this world who should have been killed but haven't been. I'll kill at least a hundred of them in my lifetime! That'll be enough!"

“I’m not only going to kill them, I’m going to berate them one by one to their faces! What have you accomplished? You were just born into a good family, right? Why do you always look up at us poor people with your heads held high and your eyes downcast? Do you really think we wouldn’t dare to kill anyone?”

"That's why I must kill, to fight my way to a bright and just world!"

Liu Xian was speechless upon hearing this. This truly was the common sentiment of all the poor people under heaven. Who wouldn't hate these parasites above them? To put it bluntly, the fact that the world had reached this point was largely due to the fact that the aristocratic families held their positions without doing their jobs, were rich but heartless, and had no backbone.

He thought Shi Le had finished speaking, but Shi Le continued, "Of course, after killing people, I also want to compile a history book, listing all the heroes and great men of the world, and then putting me first! Liu Xian, what do you think?"

When Shi Le first spoke, he was actually a little unsure of himself, but when he looked at Liu Xian, his eyes hardened like iron, just like his newly acquired surname. Liu Xian had originally intended to tease him, but seeing his solemn expression, he couldn't help but take it seriously as well.

Liu Xian replied, "I am not the kind of person to say such things, and it is too early for you to say such things. Wait until you are able to lead an army of 100,000 before you say such things to me."

Upon hearing this, Shi Le burst into laughter again, saying, "Very well, just you wait for that day!"

After saying that, he asked Liu Xian for a token that allowed him to pass through the military camp, and then left.

The next morning, Shi Le and his sworn brother came to see Liu Xian again and introduced him, saying, "This is my chief brother, Ji Sang."

Ji Sang was a handsome, eight-foot-tall man, rough in appearance yet shrewd in demeanor, clearly a daring individual. Only then did Liu Xian learn their true strength: Shi Le claimed to have a thousand men, but in reality, they numbered only eight hundred and eighty-seven, less than nine hundred. They did, however, have a considerable number of horses, 1,500 in total. They also possessed a considerable amount of plundered jewels, probably worth two thousand gold pieces.

Liu Xian led them to Sima Yi and told him about the bandits in Leping. Sima Yi admired the two men and, with a wave of his hand, sent an envoy to Lu Zhi to discuss the organization of these nine hundred men into an army.

At this time, there were nearly two hundred captains in the Northern Expeditionary Army. Lu Zhi, as the Chief Clerk of the King of Chengdu, could handle these positions without needing to report to the King. With a wave of his hand, he imitated Emperor Ling of Han's treatment of the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan during the late Han Dynasty, immediately appointing Ji Sang as the Black Mountain Captain and Shi Le as the Military Commandant. Then he gave each person a shi of wheat flour and a bolt of silk, which he considered their military pay.

The fate of these nine hundred people after them will depend entirely on their own efforts.

(End of this chapter)