Career During Jin
In 265, after Sima Zhao's death, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan forced the last Cao Wei emperor Cao Huan to abdicate to him, ending Cao Wei and establishing Jin Dynasty (as Emperor Wu). Jia, as a key contributor to the Simas' power, continued to be an important figure in government, and was commissioned by Emperor Wu with authoring the Jin penal laws, initially considered to be far more merciful than the strict Cao Wei laws. (However, uneven enforcement of these laws meant that the main beneficiaries were nobles.) He was granted the title of Duke of Lu.
For years, Jia had constant struggles within the government against Ren Kai (任愷) and Yu Chun (庾純), and in 271, Ren and Yu were able to have Jia sent out to battle the Xianbei rebel Tufa Shujineng (禿髮樹機能). Jia did not want to battle Tufa at all, and he was able to reverse the order by having his wife flatter and persuade Emperor Wu's wife Empress Yang Yan into recommending his daughter Jia Nanfeng to be crown princess to Emperor Wu's developmentally-disabled heir, Crown Prince Zhong. In 272, he fought back and was able to get Ren and Yu excluded from the government.
In 279, when Emperor Wu was set on launching a major attack on Eastern Wu to try to conquer it, Jia opposed, arguing that Eastern Wu was too difficult to conquer. Emperor Wu did not listen to him, and in fact made him the coordinator of the six-pronged attack. When Jia declined, Emperor Wu told him to coordinate anyway, or otherwise Emperor Wu himself would personally coordinate. Jia relented, but continued to oppose military action. In early 280, after some military successes against Eastern Wu, Jia continued to argue for the campaign to be stopped after conquering the western half of Eastern Wu. Soon after his submitted his petition arguing for the campaign to stop, however, Eastern Wu's emperor Sun Hao surrendered, and Jia became ashamed and offered to resign. Emperor Wu did not accept the resignation, and further rewarded him for what Emperor Wu perceived to be his contributions during the campaign.
Read more about this topic: Jia Chong
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