Jia Xu's decision to come and pledge allegiance came as something of a surprise to Wang Yan.
Though his family background was not extraordinarily illustrious, the Jia clan of Wuwei was undeniably a major local family.
He was a descendant of Jia Yi. There was no need to say much about Jia Yi—two thousand years later, the textbook essay "On the Errors of Qin" would still be attributed to him, and he was known as Jia of Changsha. Sima Qian had written a joint biography of him and Qu Yuan, and later generations called them "Qu and Jia." He was versed in Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism alike—a true master of his age.
Jia Xu's great-grandfather had been Governor of Wuwei, his grandfather Inspector of Yan Prefecture, and his father General of Light Cavalry. Though they could not compare to the eminent great clans of the Central Plains, they were still, in every sense, a powerful family.
Jia Xu himself was no slouch either. He had risen to become a Palace Attendant, a proper official with a two-thousand-dan salary. But everyone knew what state the Han Dynasty was in now. After all, Li Jue was even more formidable—he was General of Chariots and Cavalry, held an independent command office, served concurrently as Colonel Director of Sili, bore the imperial tally, and was Marquis of Chiyang. How high an office one could hold depended on whose hands the Emperor was in. You could be whatever official you wanted; if the post did not exist, you could simply make one up.
Just like Wang Yan's "Heavenly Martial General"—he had named himself that. It had nothing to do with whether the Han Dynasty recognized it or not. Although, after he had dirtied the honorary rank, Heavenly Martial General was later recognized by the Han