I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 295 A Small Hit
The person who spoke for Zhang Jian couldn't answer this question.

Moreover, when things progressed to this point, the people in Luoyang City had almost realized something and suspected that this matter was closely related to the Yuan family, so they gradually stopped talking and dared not get involved in this muddy water.

Zhang Jian soon found himself in a helpless situation. Even Liu Biao and Xia Fu, who were closest to him, stayed away from him, not wanting to be too involved with him.

So, by the beginning of May in the second year of Zhengshi, Zhang Jian was completely laid to rest. He knew that he could no longer defend himself and his reputation was almost ruined.

In the Luoyang public opinion field, he has been kicked out of the mainstream. If the situation continues to ferment, he will probably be sitting at the same table with Cao Ji.

Why is this day so bitter?

However, this is not the end. Yuan Shu always kills his targets with one strike, and never leaves any way for his targets to make a comeback.

On the second day of May in the second year of the Zhengshi reign, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, Duan Wei, submitted a memorial to the court, stating that Zhang Jian, as a court minister, had caused such a great controversy that it would damage the court's prestige among the people. If Zhang Jian really had a moral stain, he suggested that the court dismiss Zhang Jian from office.

This memorial was quickly approved by Yuan Feng, who then pretended to go to Chongde Hall to pay a visit to Liu Kui and had the human-shaped jade seal stamped on the drafted edict, thereby dismissing Zhang Jian from his official position, demoting him to a commoner, expelling him from the court, and never employing him again.

Zhang Jian lost his official position just like that.

When the imperial edict came down, his head was buzzing. He had no idea how the situation had suddenly become so bad. In just a month, he went from being a leader of scholars to a commoner. He lost all his power and status, and ended up being never employed again.

How is this different from being confined at home during the Party and Faction Persecution period?
But that’s not all!
Yuan's methods are not over yet. The principle he follows is to strike the first blow to avoid a hundred blows. In order to allow his father, who was ordered to follow a pacifist policy, to be able to control the situation after he went north and avoid harming his son, Yuan Shu decided to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, using Zhang Jian as an example so that some people with ulterior motives would consider their own weight before they want to cause trouble.

So, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, Duan Wei, appeared on the scene again.

On the fourth day of the fifth month of the second year of the Zhengshi reign, Duan Wei took direct action and sent a team of Zhongdu officials to break into Zhang Jian's home. They took the confused Zhang Jian away and detained him in the prison controlled by the Inspector of the Imperial Capital.

Afterwards, Duan Wei spread the word that a family had sheltered Zhang Jian during his escape, but because of him, the family was exterminated by the eunuchs. Only one son managed to escape because he was away. Now he came to the capital to sue the eunuchs and Zhang Jian, hoping that the court would give him justice.

This person's words were sincere and his tone was almost pleading, which was really touching. Duan Wei needed Zhang Jian to assist in the investigation, to get to the bottom of this matter and to determine whether Zhang Jian was guilty.

Zhang Jian was imprisoned in the prison controlled by Duan Wei. He was thrown from the broad daylight into a dark and damp place. He was close to collapse and kept shouting that he was not guilty and that he wanted to see the emperor and Yuan Feng.

Duan Wei didn't care about him at all and locked him up in prison, only giving him a porridge meal every day. He didn't contact him, interrogate him, or let anyone talk to him, intending to keep him in prison.

The news that Zhang Jian was dismissed from office and thrown into prison quickly spread throughout the Luoyang public opinion field. Many people applauded it directly, loudly praising the court for its swift and decisive action, and expressed their determination to severely punish this hypocrite.

However, those party officials who had a good relationship with Zhang Jian and had some dealings with him felt sympathetic, knowing that this was most likely a game controlled by the Yuan family. They gradually developed resentment towards Yuan Feng and Yuan Shu, father and son, but because of Zhang Jian's criminal record, they did not dare to express their dissatisfaction and doubts openly, for fear that they would follow in Zhang Jian's footsteps.

It was not until this time that they realized that the supervisory system represented by the Inspector of the Imperial Capital was also completely controlled by the Yuan family. Once this supervisory system was put into effect, its destructive power was truly staggering.

Moreover, they also realized that Yuan and his son were not impatient clay figures, nor were they stupid wooden men who could be manipulated by them at will without knowing how to fight back. If they wanted to deal with them in the future, they had to be careful. They actually controlled important power and important court departments. Although they would not kill you if they disagreed with you, they would definitely make you lose your official position and power.

What's the point of being a scholar if he doesn't serve as an official?
Yuan Shu's action was very successful. This small warning made many party members who had just arrived in Luoyang fearful of the Yuan regime and no longer dared to act recklessly. It was a preliminary deterrent system established for the Yuan regime.

However, Zhang Jian's identity was really unsettling, and he was thrown into prison. He didn't know how he would be interrogated next. His family was terrified and looked for people everywhere to plead for him, hoping to rescue Zhang Jian from prison.

Due to past friendship and some favors, it's not that no one wanted to plead for him, but most of these people went to the wrong person and found Yuan Feng.

Yuan Feng was just watching the show as he did not do anything, so he did not show up. This made the party members worried, fearing that Yuan and his son were really going to kill Zhang Jian.

Liu Biao, however, had some opinions on this. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that this matter was somewhat strange.

From what he had learned about Yuan Feng during this period, Yuan Feng had never been a decisive person. It could even be said that he was somewhat hesitant in doing things. He was neither swift nor decisive. He was even indecisive in many things, which was fully reflected during the campaign against the rebels.

Less than a month after the army set out, Yuan Feng was already privately struggling with whether he should quit fighting while he was ahead. He began to worry about what to do if the rebels became too powerful or the war dragged on for too long, and the national treasury could not hold on.

How could this cautious person suddenly launch a series of combined punches that beat Zhang Jian, who seemed to be attacking aggressively, like a storm, leaving him with a bloody head and a swollen face. He was also thrown into prison, without even the last bit of dignity left.

This is unscientific.

If Yuan Feng acted so decisively and ruthlessly, Zhang Jian would not be able to jump up at all, let alone embarrass Yuan Feng in public. The two of them were still fighting back and forth like playing house.

Therefore, it is very likely that this operation was not done by Yuan Feng.

If we analyze it from this perspective, the person who can manipulate, or borrow Yuan Feng's momentum and power to launch such a combination of punches must be someone who is very close to Yuan Feng and very trusted, and this person also has a certain amount of energy and reputation in the court and the country, otherwise he would not be able to mobilize the Inspector of the Capital Duan Wei.

In this way, this person's name is about to come out.

Yuan Shu.

Liu Biao had some thoughts in his mind.

On the seventh day of the fifth month of the second year of Zhengshi, which was a day off, Liu Biao took a bath and washed his hair early, changed into clean clothes, rode out of Luoyang City, and then headed north to the recruitment camp near Xiaopingjin, where he met Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu is of course very busy.

From mid-March to now, Yuan Shu has not been idle at all. Although he took some time to teach Zhang Jian a lesson, the main tasks were left to Duan Wei, and most of his own energy was focused on recruiting soldiers.

(End of this chapter)