Chapter 63: Return to Liangzhou
As he spoke, the whole bowl of wine was slowly poured onto the sandy ground, and the crimson wine was as red as the blood of brave warriors. The soldiers also stood in silence, mourning their fallen comrades.
After the sacrifice of the brave warriors, Liu Ze ordered his men to hide their armor and weapons, still disguised as a merchant team. The whole team set off and entered the Yumen Pass. The guards at the entrance of the Yumen Pass did not pay much attention to the Liu Ze merchant team that came to report, simply checking the pass documents, asking what kind of goods they were transporting, collecting two taels of gold as the pass fee, and then letting them go.
Compared to Yangguan, the scale of Yumenguan is much smaller. After leaving Hexi Corridor, the Silk Road splits into two routes: one goes along the southern foot of Tian Shan, via Cheshi and Qiuci to reach Dayuan. This route is relatively easier to travel, but has been controlled by Xiongnu for a long time, so most merchants have no choice but to take the southern route, which is the same route Liu Zhen took when he left Yangguan, passing through Loulan and Khotan.
Compared to the North Road, the South Road had to traverse thousands of miles of vast desert, its hardships are self-evident, but it could avoid the Xiongnu people, and naturally became the first choice for most merchant teams. However, Liu Ze believed that the Xiongnu people had already been defeated and migrated westward, the North Road was restored to smooth passage, and the prosperity of Yumen Pass would soon arrive.
Just after finding an inn to settle down, Liu Ze was preparing to let everyone rest and leave the next day. Jia Xian appeared in front of him at this time. Liu Ze naturally understood his meaning, but still intentionally asked: "Is there anything else, Mr. Wen He?"
Jia Xun cupped his hands and said: "I have returned to Liangzhou, and the contract between me and Liu Zhanggui has also been automatically terminated. I came to bid farewell especially, and in the future if Liu Zhanggui still needs Jia Mou's help, he can come to Yangguan to find Jia Mou."
Liu Ze pretended to be deep in thought and said, "Does Mr. Jia know where this place is?"
Jia Yu was taken aback for a moment, wasn't this a question that he already knew the answer to? But he still replied: "Liangzhou Yumenguan."
Liu Ze nodded and said, "Oh, it's Yumen Pass, not Yangguan - the contract clearly stated that it was Yangguan. This place is still some distance from Yangguan, which can only mean that our contract has not yet ended."
Jia Xian felt that something was not quite right, Liu Ze was actually nitpicking at the Yumen Pass and Yangguan, he wouldn't be... He hastily said: "The Yumen Pass and Yangguan are only a few dozen miles apart, let alone..."
"It's only a mile, but that doesn't even get us to Yangguan, does it? Mr. Jia has been traveling all day, let's just take a break and rest for now, there's still a long way to go tomorrow." Liu Ze smiled with some ill intent.
Jia Yu's face turned red with anger, his voice distorted, and he hastily said: "Liu Zhanggui, we had an agreement beforehand, you can't just go back on your word!"
"I didn't prepare to welch on the deal, don't worry, hasn't it been a year already? After a year has passed, I will naturally pay Mr. the annual commission of one hundred and two gold." Liu Ze said slowly.
Jia Xuan hastily pulled out the contract and said, "Liu Zhanggui, we have an agreement here, it clearly states that the contract starts from the time we leave Yangguan and ends when we return to Yangguan——" As Jia Xuan read through the contract, he was stunned, while Liu Ze looked at him with a naive expression.
Heavens! Jia Yu's eyes turned black and he almost fainted, holding that contract as if it were a hot coal. What a trap! This contract was a complete scam from start to finish - "starting from the west of Yangguan and ending at Yangguan", regardless of time or location, which means that as long as he couldn't return to Yangguan, whether it's one year, ten years, or fifty years, this contract would be forever valid. Heavens! Is this an employment contract? It has completely become Jia Yu's lifelong slavery contract! Jia Yu never could have imagined that his cleverness had been outsmarted by Liu Ze, a young whippersnapper, and those seemingly ordinary clauses actually hid mysterious mechanisms.
Jia Yun groaned painfully and said with difficulty: "Liu Zhanggui, apart from being able to speak a little foreign language, I have no other skills. If I follow Liu Zhanggui to the Central Plains, I will definitely be of no use. It's not worth taking Liu Zhanggui's hundred taels of gold. To be honest, I don't feel right about it. How about this? I return the hundred taels of gold to Liu Zhanggui and let me go back to Yangguan?"
Liu Ze burst out laughing and said, "So Mr. Jia wants to back out? Alright, alright, a forced marriage is not sweet anyway. If Mr. Jia wants to return to Yangguan, that's easy too..."
Jia Yu was half believing and half doubting, saying: "Really?"
"According to the contract, if you want to breach it, Mr. Jia just needs to give me the liquidated damages, which is one million taels of gold, isn't it?"
These words were like a thunderbolt on a clear day, striking Jia Yu's vital point, and he was completely stunned. At the time of signing the contract, he had already felt that this tenfold compensation was child's play. Others mostly doubled or tripled their compensation, and at most it would not exceed ten times. Although so, he still did not think much of it, thinking that Liu Ze was just pretending to be mysterious. But today, it has become the last straw that crushes the camel, erasing Jia Yu's last bit of hope.
Even if it's double, it's probably ten times the compensation. Jia Yu would have a chance to pay back even if he sold his house and land and borrowed from usury, but this is 1 million taels of gold! He has never had the opportunity to see so much money in his life, 100 million yuan - equivalent to the total tax revenue of several western states of the Great Han Dynasty. He was completely speechless, his face ashen, and he walked silently towards the door.
"Mr. Wenhe, slow down, oh, right, Mr. Wenhe, if you can't raise so much money for the time being, I can wait slowly. However, before the contract is lifted, Mr. Wenhe still follows me with peace of mind. If Mr. Wenhe insists on leaving, I will not be able to guarantee Mr. Wenhe's safety." Liu Ze sat there without moving, shouting at Jia Xun's back.
Liu Ze's methods were not unfamiliar to Jia Xu, hundreds or thousands of Xiongnu prisoners would fall with just a flick of his finger, and Liu Ze didn't even bat an eyelid. How could a weak and bookish scholar like himself escape from his grasp? Jia Xu let out a bitter laugh, said nothing, and walked out with a despondent expression.
Looking at Jia Xi's despondent back, Liu Ze couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and wondered if his methods had been too heavy-handed. In this world, it was easy to subdue a brave general, but subduing a renowned scholar was like trying to climb the sky - the proud bones on a scholar's body were not easily broken. Otherwise, Liu Bei wouldn't have needed to visit Zhuge Liang three times. Now Jia Xi had no choice but to surrender, but it could only be said that he had surrendered in body but not in heart. To make him willingly submit and devote himself wholeheartedly would still require a long journey. If he ended up like Xu Shu who entered Cao's camp with no enthusiasm, it would be a disaster. Lost in thought about how to make Jia Xi surrender willingly, Liu Ze fell into a deep sleep, unaware of the fatigue that had crept over him.
The next morning, Liu Ze got up early to arrange the itinerary and caught sight of Jia Yu. However, he found it strange that Jia Yu was calm and composed, as if nothing had happened the day before. He took the initiative to greet him: "Good morning, Mr. Wenhe!"
Jia Yuhe smiled slightly and said calmly: "Good morning, Manager Liu."
