Chapter 175

He thought for a moment and then understood.

"Right, Liu Bei's surname is Liu, and he considers himself a loyal minister. If he welcomes the Emperor to Taiyuan, will he be a powerful minister or a loyal minister? Haha!"

"If he acts as a powerful minister, he will inevitably be scolded by the high officials of the imperial court, and the people of the world will be suspicious, damaging the reputation of loyalty he worked so hard to build!"

"If he acts as a loyal minister, he will have his power divided by the ministers under the Emperor and will be exhausted, working for others."

Everyone cupped their hands.

"My lord is wise!"

Cao Cao waved his hand.

"However, Liu Bei will still go to welcome him. We set out in an hour!"

"Understood!"

Jizhou.

Things here were indeed as Cao Cao had expected.

They were arguing endlessly over whether to obey the edict or not.

Xu You advocated obeying the edict, holding the Son of Heaven to command the warlords and holding the reins of the world!

Guo Tu shook his head, urging his lord to focus on development; eliminating Brother Gongsun Zan was the top priority!

Ding Yuan Shao's decision-making phobia kicked in; he asked for opinions, yet it was as if he hadn't, and he just stayed stuck!

In the end, he chose the wrong answer: don't go!

Liu Biao of Jingzhou received the edict and hurriedly sent people to transport grain and other items to Luoyang.

Other warlords had their own reactions.

Bingzhou, Jinyang City, Governor's Mansion.

Liu Bei also received the edict and had all sorts of thoughts in his heart.

Zhang Fei spoke first.

"Eldest Brother, why go to Luoyang? The old officials around the Emperor all have such high salaries; we can't afford the burden."

Guan Yu, however, said,

"Eldest Brother, the Emperor has summoned us; we must go."

Sun Tao Qian and others expressed that they should go to Luoyang to obey the edict and bring grain as well.

Ju Shou cupped his hands.

"My lord, the Son of Heaven is covered in dust; our army should rescue him. However, Luoyang is dilapidated, and with Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao watching, the Son of Heaven might be snatched away very soon."

Zhang Fei became anxious; although he didn't want to, the thought of Cao Cao snatching him away was unacceptable!

"That won't do. My Eldest Brother is a member of the Han imperial clan; we must snatch the Emperor—no, welcome him to Jinyang."

Sun Jian Yong frowned.

"If we welcome the Son of Heaven to Jinyang City, many of the lord's affairs will be constrained, especially by the old officials around the Son of Heaven."

"Furthermore, Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao will say the lord is a powerful minister, imitating the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and it's not impossible for them to attack the lord together."

Liu Bei nodded; at that time, Cao Cao, Ding Yuan Shao, and others would stand on the moral high ground to accuse him, and another campaign of warlords against Liu Bei was not impossible.

But that wasn't the most important thing; as a member of the Han imperial clan, a powerful minister? A loyal minister? Neither seemed very reasonable; it was a dilemma!

Liu 557 Bei looked around; those who truly had strategy hadn't spoken yet.

"In this way, to prevent everyone from being influenced by each other, you go out first, and come in one by one to tell me."

Everyone filed out.

Netizens in the livestream room also frantically posted comments.

"The Big-Eared Thief is in a dilemma!"

"With so many advisors, they will surely come up with a way."

"It feels like the Big-Eared Thief is like a homeroom teacher, calling everyone in one by one to ask."

"Cao Cao over there has it much easier; he must get the Emperor into his hands."

The first to come in was Xu Shu.

"My lord, your subordinate believes you are a loyal minister of the Great Han and should go to welcome the Emperor. And, more importantly, we cannot let Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao control the Emperor, or the lord will be passive."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Ding Yuan Zhi is very right."

Next were Ju Shou, Xun You, and Fa Zheng.

Their opinions were similar; although the Great Han was in turmoil, the Emperor was a banner that must not be held by others.

Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, and others still had thoughts of loyalty to the monarch and naturally also advocated obeying the edict.

Jia Xu walked in slowly and cupped his hands.

"My lord."

Liu Bei laughed.

"Wen He, you are always steady; tell me your thoughts."

Jia Xu cupped his hands.

"My lord, I also cannot make up my mind. However, there are many wolves in Liangzhou; when the wolf king dies, the wolves will fight each other, and a new wolf king will emerge."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Good, you go down first."

Guo Jia came in last.

Liu Bei frowned.

"Guo Fengxiao, everyone has their own thoughts; you must give me a clear one."

Guo Jia shook his head.

"My lord, the Emperor is a fragrant bun to Cao Cao and Ding Yuan Shao, but to you, he is indeed a chicken rib: tasteless to eat, but abandoning him is absolutely not an option!"

Liu Bei heaved a sigh.

"How could I not know? That's why it's hard to choose."

Guo Jia continued,

"My lord, we must go to Luoyang, and the Emperor cannot be controlled by Cao Cao or Ding Yuan Shao, or the lord will be too passive."

Guo Jia paused and suddenly told a story.

"My lord, this morning, I saw three children arguing fiercely on the side of the road, all wanting a bird egg from a nest in a tree."

None of them would yield to the others.

However, a gust of wind blew, the bird egg fell to the ground and broke, and all three children went home crying..."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Fine, you go out first."

Everyone was whispering in the outer courtyard.

Xun You pulled Ju Shou to compare answers.

"I suggested the lord go to Luoyang; what about you?"

Ju Shou nodded.

"I am the same."

Jia Xu quickly said,

"I said the same thing."

Guo Jia indicated that he had also filled in the correct answer!

Zhang Fei looked around; the top students were comparing answers.

As a poor student, he felt embarrassed to be alone.

"Me too!"

Liu Bei walked out.

"Synthesizing everyone's opinions, I intend to lead 5, 00 elite cavalry to rush to Luoyang overnight to protect His Majesty."

"Two hours later, Yunchang, Zhang Zhang Liao, Guo Jia, and Fa Zheng will set out with me!"