The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

What? Wang Tao is actually Pan Lin's son?

The mountain tribe leader he had asked him to deal with turned out to be the man's father.

Guan Xing's face burned with embarrassment; he wished he could disappear into the ground.

Imagine what it would be like if Lü Meng put his arm around his neck and said earnestly, "Anguo, go and take care of Guan Yu for me."

Without saying a word, I would have gone up and given Lü Meng two big slaps. That's my own father.

Wang Tao didn't actually lay a hand on me; he's quite well-mannered.

Guan Xing touched his nose and chuckled, "Why don't you go back and persuade your father to take his troops and join the Han army? I'll petition the king to appoint him as a general, what do you think?"

"As a commander, your father must have had ambitions to be ennobled and promoted, right?"

Although the Yue people are a collective term for many ethnic groups, they are mainly Han Chinese. The Zhejiang region where they live is the inland area of ​​the Han Dynasty, and over the centuries they have been assimilated by Han culture.

It's important to know that the Han Dynasty's territory on paper was quite vast, extending as far south as Rinan Commandery in Jiaozhou. Rinan Commandery was the central part of what later became known as Yuezhou.

In other words, most of Southeast Asia is now nominally part of the Han Dynasty's territory, not to mention the Zhejiang region.

Zhejiang was part of the Han Dynasty's territory, and Pan Lin was a bandit from the Han Dynasty. There was no reason for them not to want to go ashore.

Unexpectedly, Wang Tao shook his head and said, "General, I think my father's kind of person still needs to be beaten. As for whether or not to offer him amnesty, we'll talk about that after we've beaten him up."

Guan Xing: "..."

What's going on? Are you really that filial?

Wang Tao continued, "To be honest, my father started his career by following Yan Baihu in the campaign against Wang Lang, the governor of Kuaiji. He had to abduct his wives. After each robbery, he would vent his lust on the women he had taken, which resulted in him having twelve sons and sixteen daughters."

“Some of these children died before they grew up, some were killed by wild animals while hunting, some died in battle, and some went missing during the war and their fate is unknown, like me.”

"When I was captured, I had twelve sons, but only five of them remained, and sixteen daughters, but only seven remained. I don't know how many I have left now."

Guan Xing said speechlessly, "This mortality rate is too high. More than half of them don't even reach adulthood."

Wang Tao said indignantly, "We haven't even counted those who miscarried or died at birth. My father is a bastard who only cares about killing and not burying. He never cares about the children after they are born and just lets us fend for ourselves."

"I hardly ever saw him before I was thirteen. After I turned thirteen, he thought I was grown up and could be used as a fighting force, so he threw me a knife, didn't teach me anything, and forced me to go to the battlefield with him."

“Back then, when I went to the battlefield, I was utterly useless except to act as a human shield to take his blows. He never cared about the injuries I sustained because of it, not even asking about them. General, tell me, have you ever seen such a beastly father? Is this what a father should do?”

Wang Tao became more and more agitated as he spoke, and by the end, he subconsciously gripped the hilt of his knife. Guan Xing's lips trembled as he watched, fearing that Wang Tao might suddenly have an emotional breakdown and stab him.

Guan Xing quickly patted his chest and comforted him, "Don't get agitated, don't get agitated. What about your mother? Do you miss her?"

Wang Tao paused for a moment when his mother was mentioned, a fleeting look of confusion in his eyes, and said slowly, "My mother is a member of the He family of Shanyin. She seems to have told me that she was the cousin of He Qi, the head of the He family. She was taken away by my father back then, which is how I came to be."

“My mother said that during the years when Liu Yao was governor, Jiangdong was particularly chaotic. There were mountain bandits, rebel armies, private soldiers of gentry, and clan feuds between villages. Looking across the entire Jiangdong, there was not a single clean place.”

“My mother was captured by Pan Lin under these circumstances. She died when I was ten years old. Before she died, she specifically told me never to go back to the He family of Shanyin, let alone be her son. Because the He family of Shanyin had a deep hatred for Pan Lin. If they knew I was Pan Lin’s son, they would not only not recognize me as their nephew, but would also kill me, the disgrace to the family. So after I was captured by the He family of Shanyin, I changed my surname.”

"I also have a full sister, I wonder how she is now?"

Guan Xing listened with a strange sense of sorrow. Wang Tao's childhood was too tragic, and those years were too chaotic.

The chaos back then was completely different from the chaos now; to be precise, it wasn't even on the same scale.

Although it is a chaotic time, with the Wei, Han, and Wu kingdoms constantly fighting each other, which looks terrible, the wars only occurred on the borders of the three kingdoms. The internal affairs of the three kingdoms were relatively stable, and the people could farm and live in peace.

The years when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out were different; it was a systemic chaos. Factional infighting took place in the imperial court, local warlords vied for power, bandits robbed, clans fought, local bullies oppressed, and all sorts of chaotic phenomena ran rampant.

Because of the loss of the law, everyone from kings and nobles to commoners has had their bestial desires unleashed, activating the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak.

At its peak, the Han Dynasty had a population of over 60 million, but the Yellow Turban Rebellion reduced it by half. Were all these population losses due to war?

No, how many people die in a war?

To be frank, even if Cao Cao was a notorious massacrer, he only killed a few hundred thousand people. How did the remaining tens of millions die?

It's nothing more than you killing me and me killing you, you robbing me and me robbing you, using violence to kill others or steal their food, causing them to starve to death.

The crucial point is that after killing them, they were too lazy to clean up the corpses, which in turn triggered a plague...

To put it bluntly, back then, you could get stabbed if you just glanced at someone on the street.

Therefore, war is not scary; chaos without order is scary.

Guan Xing's question stirred up Wang Tao's painful memories. Wang Tao said with a fierce look on his face, "General, I can go home to gather information, but I have a request. When we attack Pan Lin in the future, I want to be the vanguard and capture Pan Lin with my own hands."

Guan Xing was at a loss for words and weakly said, "This isn't right. He's still your father. Even if you don't like him, you should still be mindful of the impact. Filial piety is the most important virtue."

The Han Dynasty ruled the country with filial piety as its guiding principle. It's understandable that Wang Tao hates his father, but if he gets a reputation for patricide because of it, he won't be able to get by in the future.

Wang Tao shook his head and said, "I know you are worried about my future, afraid that I will ruin my reputation and not be able to get promoted in the future, but I don't care. I just want to grab Pan Lin with my own hands, take him to my mother's grave, and ask him if he is still a human being."

"I will trample his glory and dignity under my feet and teach him a lesson."

"General, don't you think the best way to bring glory to your family is to trample your father underfoot and tell him that you are better than him?"

Guan Xing: "..."

That's certainly a tempting proposition, but to actually trample Guan Yu underfoot is a rather difficult task.

Wait a minute, I came here to talk this kid out, how come I'm being brainwashed by him so quickly?

Is this still the same little brat I first met, the one who was so timid and submissive when bullied, the one who would even cover his eyes if I asked him to beat up his enemy?

Why have you gone mad after just a few days?

Indeed, honest people are a mixture of Buddha and demon; once the demon within them is activated, the destructive power they unleash is enough to drive people to despair.

However, this is a good thing for Guan Xing.

Guan Xing put away his smile and said solemnly, "Since you've put it that way, it would be unreasonable for me to refuse. When we go to fight Pan Lin, I agree to let you be the vanguard."

"Moreover, I promise you that after we defeat Wu's army and restore Jiangdong, I will allow you to enter the He family of Shanyin with the identity of Pan Lin, and let all the members of the He family of Shanyin pay their respects at your mother's grave. At that time, whether you want your mother to be buried in the He family or the Pan family is up to you."

This pie was exactly what Wang Tao wanted. He swore to the heavens, "General, rest assured, I will personally bring Pan Lin to you."

Guan Xing put his arm around his neck and laughed, "Come on, let's talk about acting. When you get back and see your father, you'd better put on a good show. Even if you want to kill him, you have to smile first and be a proper filial son and grandson, understand?"