Tiger Guards

Chapter 590 Kidnapping Situ
When Lü Bu's central army arrived at Xingyang, Wei Xu, the Imperial Guard General in Xuchang, began to retreat.

Many officials and scholars, along with their families, followed Wei Xu in his retreat.

A few days ago, too many people couldn't react.

The situation is becoming increasingly clear, and those who lack resolve are scrambling to seize this last opportunity.

At the General of Chariots and Cavalry's residence, a difficult choice was presented to Liu Bei as officials and scholars fled.

Should we immediately declare martial law and execute those who spread rumors, or should we simply watch and allow the people of Lü and Zhao to continue to incite chaos and further deplete the vitality of Xuchang City?

Chief Secretary Mi Zhu presented a scroll of silk: "My lord, an urgent order from the Grand Secretary."

Liu Bei noticed that Mi Zhu looked unwell, and then looked at his subordinates Jian Yong and Sun Qian, who both had blank expressions.

Slaughtering fleeing officials or scholars with a knife is clearly inconsistent with the way of life of Liu Bei's army and its civil and military officials.

Liu Bei picked up the silk scroll and saw that it read, "Zhao Rui, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat, has been misled by traitors and has fled with the seal of office. He must be apprehended immediately."

Upon seeing these dozen or so words, Liu Bei raised his eyebrows: "He is really impatient, so forgetful of the hardships we went through during our eastward relocation."

Mi Zhu lowered his head and remained silent. He was a figure in Xuzhou, but in the vicinity of Xudu, given his family background, personal origins, and reputation, serving as the Chief Secretary of Liu Bei's General of Chariots and Cavalry was clearly a hindrance to Liu Bei.

Faced with the infighting in the court, Mi Zhu lacked the confidence to comment on or categorize anything.

Liu Bei gripped the silk scroll with a clenched fist and said in a deep voice, "It's not difficult to capture Zhao Rui, the difficulty lies in keeping him alive."

There are increasingly more signs that indicate the Zhao family is about to bring chaos to the country.

If we send troops to capture Zhao Rui now, Zhao Rui will dare to die in front of you.

If Zhao Rui escapes back to Luodu or Jinyang, he can issue a proclamation in his capacity as the Director of the Imperial Secretariat, denouncing the high officials and figures such as Liu Bei, Dong Cheng, and Fu Wan for deceiving the emperor and disrupting the government.

Similarly, if Zhao Rui, the Grand Secretary, were killed through illegal procedures, it would also confirm that chaos had broken out in Xuchang.

By now, Liu Bei had a complete understanding of Lü Bu.

As long as you remain in a position of power in the court, the high-ranking officials will push you forward!

Back then, Dong Zhuo was able to win amidst the chaos because of the support of other officials, which gave him the courage to betray the Yuan family and put it into action.

Lu Bu didn't want to antagonize Zhao Ji, so he chose to retire while he was still at the height of his power.

Should I lead my fellow villagers from Youzhou to fight Zhao Ji's cheap band of barbarian rebels to the death?

Liu Bei tossed the silk scroll back into the wooden tray held by Mi Zhu and sighed, "If Cao Mengde were alive, he would have entered the court to seize power, and would he have hesitated like I have, missing so many good opportunities?"

The people around remained silent. Although Liu Bei had allowed Lü Bu to leave, weakening the overall strength of Xuchang, the situation remained unchanged.

This also prevented a potential civil war in Xudu. If a civil war broke out in Xudu, Liu Bei would lose face, and even if he won in the end, the influence of the Xudu court would rapidly decline.

Therefore, letting Lü Bu leave is not the best option, but it is a better-than-average one.

But now, the continuous exodus of officials and scholars from Xudu is also a sign that the influence of the Xudu court is declining.

By capturing these people and killing some of the ringleaders, we can suppress this vile trend.

In the future, when war breaks out with Zhao Ji, these scholars from humble backgrounds who possess cultural knowledge will be an excellent source of military and civil officials.

But Liu Bei felt a pang of reluctance to strike these officials and scholars who were merely fleeing.

If fleeing will result in death, then in desperation, officials and scholars will choose to collude with the army to launch a mutiny!

By voluntarily fleeing, although there may be elements of non-cooperation, it also signifies that they do not wish to be your enemy.

Caught in a dilemma, Liu Bei couldn't bring himself to be so ruthless.

Not only him, but also the core members of his shogunate were not used to it, and they all understood Liu Bei.

Liu Bei hesitated for a long time before turning to look at Zhang Fei, who was standing at the door.

Zhang Fei's eyes were round and bright. After noticing Liu Bei's gaze, he closed his eyes and turned his head to look to the side.

Zhang Fei couldn't bring himself to kill the officials and scholars who had fled from Xuchang.

Not all officials are the same. The officials of Xuchang were gradually reorganized after the imperial court moved east, and the most prominent feature of these officials was their youth. Under the joint rule of Zhao Ji and Lü Bu, these young officials, even if they wanted to do evil, lacked the time and opportunity.

Therefore, the official team in Xudu was full of vigor and vitality, showing a promising trend of the Han Dynasty's revival.

Although there was a senior noble family above them, the officials of Xuchang were like the rising sun, and had no bad deeds.

The current exodus of some desperate young officials is not necessarily in support of Lü and Zhao, but rather reflects their despair regarding the Three Revitalizations of the court.

Zhang Fei couldn't bring himself to kill someone like that.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bei said, "Yide, lead five hundred soldiers to patrol the outskirts of Xuchang, apprehend thieves, and escort the people and civilians to safety."

"Here."

Zhang Fei turned around, took three steps forward, cupped his hands in greeting, met Liu Bei's gaze, nodded slightly, and seeing that Liu Bei had no further instructions, turned and quickly left.

The others glanced sideways at Zhang Fei's disappearing figure. Jian Yong stood up and cupped his hands: "My lord, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat has fled to Xizhou. The Grand Marshal will surely raise an army to slander and denounce you for kidnapping the emperor and disrupting the court."

"The Zhao family has contributed to stabilizing the country and protecting the emperor."

Liu Bei spoke calmly, glancing around at the people around him, and continued, "Therefore, he has not been rewarded for his great achievements, and has raised an army to disrupt the state... I do not blame him. This is the state of my Liu family. He has raised an army to disrupt the country. We obey the court. The distinction between obedience and rebellion is in the hearts of the people. We will fight him with all our might."

After saying this, seeing that no one objected, Liu Bei looked at Mi Zhu and said, "Send a letter to the General explaining what has happened in Xuchang recently, and let's see how the General responds."

"Here."

Mi Zhu agreed, turned and left, and then found several clerks with good writing skills to draft the document.

As long as the Xu Du court does not declare Lü and Zhao as traitors, they are still recognized by the court as Grand Generals and Grand Marshals.

But what good would it do to declare Lü Zhao a traitor?
When Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si controlled the court, which faction hadn't been identified as a traitor by the court?
It was only in the last two or three years, with Zhao Ji and Lü Bu's continuous military victories and the successive establishment of the vassal system in the south, that the imperial court finally began to resemble an imperial court.

Among the fleeing group, Situ Zhao Wen, along with his old servants, disciples, and former officials, formed a group of over thirty people.

Zhao Wen was in good health, holding onto the oxcart with one hand, while the people around him silently made their way.

He never expected that there would be such a reasonable group of heroes as Liu Bei, who would open the road and allow scholars from the court and the countryside to flee.

Suddenly someone shouted from behind. Zhao Wen turned around and saw Zhang Fei leading more than fifty riders westward along the main road.

They rode at a light pace, not fast, but still three or four times the speed of the fleeing group.

Zhang Fei was in low spirits and had no interest in yelling at the fleeing officials and scholars.

Unfortunately, as Zhang Fei's gloomy gaze darted around, his eyes met Zhao Wen's, and in an instant, Zhang Fei perked up.

He suddenly spurred his horse to accelerate and chase after them, then yanked hard on the reins to slow down and jumped off, feigning surprise: "Why is the Minister of Works doing this?"

Zhao Wen said in a weak tone: "I am old and frail. Faced with this national crisis, I am powerless to share the Emperor's burdens. Therefore, I request to resign and return to my hometown."

"Minister Situ is only fifty years old, so how can you say he is already old?"

Zhang Fei took two steps forward. Seeing that some young scholars were trying to stop him, Zhang Fei, without any regard for reason, pushed them aside and moved closer to Zhao Wen, saying, "Minister Zhao, you wish to resign and return to your hometown. I will not stop you. However, my elder brother is currently in a difficult situation. If you can come up with a plan, I will let you go."

Upon hearing Zhang Fei's words, the knights dismounted and began to glare menacingly at Zhao Wen's former students and officials.

To protect Zhao Wen, these scholars and officials, mainly from Yizhou, but also from Sizhou, Liangzhou, and Bingzhou, gripped their sword hilts and glared at the armored foot knights. More knights surrounded them, and it was clear that they had no chance of winning.

Seeing Zhang Fei's arrogance and ferocity, Zhao Wen thought patiently for a moment and then said, "General Liu Jingsheng, who is in charge of the south, is highly respected throughout the country. Why doesn't the General of Chariots and Cavalry invite General Liu to come to court to assist in governing?"

Zhang Fei nodded slowly after listening, feeling that this was a battle to protect the Liu family's state, and there was no reason for his side to fight to the death.

Zhang Fei immediately bowed to Zhao Wen and said, "Your Excellency is wise, please forgive my rudeness."

One of Zhao Wen's former middle-aged subordinates, who held a high position, immediately stepped forward and rebuked him: "Why are you going back on your word?"

Zhang Fei stared wide-eyed: "Minister Situ is clearly quick-witted, yet he refuses to serve the country. Why is that!"

His imposing manner intimidated the group. Zhang Fei turned to his troops and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Why aren't you helping the Minister of Works onto his horse?"

(End of this chapter)