Xu Jia aspired to be an upright official when he was young. He was selected as a scholar at the age of nine and as a scholar at the age of 19. However, he failed to pass the Chunwei exam four times in a row and was lamented as an injury to Zhongyong. At the age of thirty-one, he met his mentor Wang Guangqing and became a disciple of the Emperor.
After becoming an official, he was demoted to Huating because he supported the advice of his mentor, and was forced to cultivate wasteland. He returned to Beijing with meritorious service in flood control, and angered the powerful by supporting the reduction of feudal vassals, so he returned to his hometown Dingyou. In the first half of his life, he gave advice to wise men and lived in a simple life. He was a model of a famous minister. At the age of fifty-one, he was demoted to Yangjiang again because he truthfully reported the disaster of Yizi in Daizhou and refused to agree with Xiangrui.
After living in exile for twelve years, he witnessed how a moron in the name of incorruptibility could rise to great heights, a villain in the name of loyalty could soar to the top, and the flame of his ideals burned out in despair. When he returned to Beijing three times at the age of sixty-three, he completely changed - if the emperor wanted to frame Qingliu, he would make swords; if the emperor wanted to build a palace, he would make money. He used Taoism to charm his master, framed the loyal Xue Lei, tortured and killed the remonstrating minister Xu Guanshan, indulged his relatives in selling their official positions, and held power in the government and the public for twenty years. He was as rich as his enemies.
However, the emperor's suspicion, Qingliu's counterattack, and the loss of people's hearts eventually swallowed him up. At the age of eighty-eight, his home was confiscated and exiled, and his descendants were beheaded. He lived on the streets stealing tributes from graves, and finally died of cold and starvation, leaving a pile of empty graves.
From a young boy who slays a dragon to a powerful evil dragon, Xu Jia's life reveals the poison of power, the evil of the system and the subtleties of human nature - the original intention is easy to win, but it is always difficult to keep it.
