Chapter 60 Suddenly

  How?

  Lu Zhi at this time really wanted to stroke his beard, then closed his eyes and pondered for several hours before slowly and deliberately expressing his views.

  This attitude may be used on other young people, but using it on this young man in front of me is courting death - being discourteous to one's superior is no light offense.

  But that's not the point, the key is that Lu Zhi didn't have a good evaluation of Liu Bei at all.

  When Liu Bei was his student, Lu Zhi had a poor impression of this student, so he didn't pay special attention to him and later almost forgot that he had such a student.

  If it weren't for the expedition against the Yellow Turban bandits, Liu Bei would have brought his local militiamen to assist in the battle, which gave him a small surprise. Perhaps his evaluation of Liu Bei was just four words: unlearned and unskilled!

  When I'm old, maybe I'll suddenly remember that I once taught a student who wasn't very serious about learning and was always causing trouble, but then I won't be able to recall the student's name, and it will all come to nothing.

  Who would have thought that the world is so wonderfully strange, and even more strangely, this student who was not valued by him actually caught the eye of the emperor, not only did he previously use himself to make Liu Bei write down that letter of impeachment, but also wanted to recruit him into the capital.

  "What is so special about this Liu Xuande? How can he be valued so highly by Your Majesty?"

  As for the emperor's vision, Lu Zhi didn't have much understanding of it. However, judging from Liu Xuan reusing Cao Cao, Zhu Jun, and Huangfu Song, the Son of Heaven attaches great importance to actual ability when using people. So, if Liu Bei was valued by him, he must have had some extraordinary qualities. As for that identity as a Han imperial clan relative, don't make jokes, would the emperor care about that?

  He turned it over in his mind a great deal, but still could not make out what it meant. However, the Emperor's words could not be left unanswered, so he replied: "This son is quite loyal and righteous."

  This can also be considered a positive evaluation, after all, Liu Bei is his student, and it's not good for the emperor to speak ill of his own student behind his back. Moreover, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei was able to spontaneously organize a militia and come to assist his teacher in battle, so the two words "loyal" and "righteous" can be barely applied to him...

  Liu Xuan smiled and knew that Lu Zhi probably didn't know what to say either, so he didn't continue to dwell on this topic. Instead, he said: "You are Liu Xuande's teacher, so as his teacher, write him a letter. At the same time, I will also issue an imperial decree, choose someone to deliver the letter and the decree together."

  Liu Bei is now just below Luoyang City, not very close but not too far either. If he rides a fast horse, it won't take long to make a round trip.

  Lu Zhi thought that the emperor had found him for this matter, but it wasn't a bad thing for him either. If his students could really achieve something, wouldn't it also bring honor to him as their teacher?

  Moreover, in the power structure of the imperial court, the relationship between teacher and student is an unbreakable alliance. Lu Zhi may not want to be a powerful minister, but after experiencing many ups and downs, he has come to realize that without some real power in his hands, even if he truly wants to do something for the imperial court, he won't be able to do it.

  Before that, many of his students either died or resigned in several successive chaos, and the remaining ones were also seen as incompetent by him. Liu Bei came, and at least he had someone to help and discuss with when there was a big deal.

  But he did not expect that Liu Xuan's next sentence would be: "As the master of Xuande, do you think his talent can take on what position?"

  "This..." Lu Zhi opened his mouth, originally wanting to say let the emperor decide, but in the next second he understood that the emperor was asking him whether Liu Bei would be in the court or outside leading troops.

  If it were in the past, this kind of problem would be unquestionable. However, Liu Xuan had just recently issued a decree, strictly ordering the separation of civil and military officials, with each having their own system, and even following the emperor's intention, most military officials would be responsible for leading troops to fight in the future. The only difference is that from now on, these military generals will all be assigned to the Imperial Guard system, which means they will basically lead the country's most elite troops, not like before when they led a small part of the central army and a large part of the temporarily mobilized provincial soldiers.

  It seems that staying in the court is the best choice. Thinking about Liu Bei's past experiences as a county magistrate and then as a county governor, it's said that he did quite well, which shows that he has some skills in governing the people. It can be inferred that he will also have his own place in the imperial court. Moreover, being close by, I can still instruct him, and if there are any mistakes, I can correct them immediately.

  It is precisely at this time when the situation is chaotic and the imperial court is frequently using troops, according to the new emperor's arrangements, that martial generals have almost no opportunity to display their prowess during peaceful times, and can only sit in garrison on the borders and fight against foreign tribes to gain military merit.

  But when it comes to military affairs, it's a completely different story. Everyone knows that times of great turmoil are the best opportunities for generals to show off their skills, and as long as they have military achievements, promotions won't be restricted like those of civil officials, but rather will be easier to achieve success.

  "This..." Lu Zhi thought back and forth, only to feel that each option had its advantages and disadvantages. Letting him decide Liu Bei's future direction in one go, he really couldn't open his mouth.

  Liu Xuan saw Lu Zhi didn't speak and knew that this question was too difficult for him. However, Lu Zhi didn't know that Liu Xuan himself was having a headache because of this question.

  He wants to separate military and politics, does not want the two to be mixed together, resulting in a situation where power is intertwined and difficult to clean up, wanting to emulate some methods of later generations to govern the country.

  However, for people like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, placing them in a single direction would be a waste of their talents. Moreover, during this time period, there were many who excelled in both literature and martial arts, so it wasn't that Liu Xuan had to take the issue with Liu Bei seriously, he was just thinking about his own standards for using people after some contemplation.

  If there were such talents, would they be sent to the army to lead soldiers or to the imperial court for official duties?

  In comparison, some civil officials who are good at planning and strategy can be easily managed, those who are skilled in battlefield tactics can be thrown into the staff office, and those who are skilled in governing the people's livelihoods can be placed in the six ministries.

  There is still a group of people who are good at this, did Liu Xuan split them in half?

  "Headache!" Pinched the bridge of his nose: "Perhaps it's just that I took it for granted?"

  At first, when he and the others built the Xiuzhen Empire, it wasn't so troublesome. Due to the unique circumstances of the Xiuzhen civilization, many things weren't as complicated as they were in the mortal world. The so-called "people's livelihood" was simply providing a place suitable for Xiuzhen practitioners to cultivate, as well as a large quantity of various minerals.

  Divide the remaining into two parts. One part focuses on maintaining internal stability and preventing any chaos, while the other part is to expand its influence by all means.

  "Maybe I've been thinking too much, but isn't the current situation similar? It suddenly dawned on me that it's actually myself who has been making things difficult for myself. In reality, he always wants to get everything done in one step, which is why he ended up getting stuck in a dead end."

  In reality, things are much simpler - when someone arrives, you use them, if they perform well, they naturally climb up the ranks, and by the time they reach a high position, the so-called distinction between civil and military officials is no longer significant.

  Just like the position of Taiwei, which oversees all the troops in the world, this should be the top military position. But can Taiwei, who is on the court, not express any opinions on internal affairs?

  But in the middle and lower levels, Liu Xuan still had to firmly separate the civil and military. After all, it didn't matter whether the top few ministers were separated from the civil and military, as long as they were convenient for him to control at his side.

  The ones who are truly worth worrying about are the people below, as the saying goes "the mountain is high and the emperor is far away", Liu Xuan cannot possibly split himself into thousands of pieces to keep an eye on every single person at all times, so it's necessary to have a division between civil and military affairs, but there's no need to divide them as thoroughly as originally thought.

  The upper echelons can be vague, but the middle to lower levels must be clear. At the same time, the military must be fully controlled from top to bottom, using the military to intimidate officials in distant areas and not dare to have different intentions.

  After understanding thoroughly, the topic with Lu Zhi also shifted elsewhere, such as whether Lu Zhi had received any other outstanding students?

  Lu Zhi did mention a few names, but after thinking about it, Liu Xuan realized that most of them were unfamiliar to him. However, he didn't want to say that these people really had no talent - perhaps they were just overlooked and hadn't been given the opportunity to shine. After all, there were so many officials in the imperial court, and not everyone could be recorded in history books. Maybe among these people, there were those who diligently worked hard and were ordinary people.

  So Liu Xuan had Lu Zhi bring all his students, after all, the court was in a state of disrepair and there were countless places to use people. Just the reorganization of the six ministries alone created many new official positions. Although Liu Xuan also abolished many, the court had suffered from successive disasters, and many official positions were originally vacant. After so much shuffling around, many mid-to-low-level officials had no one to take charge.

  For an institution to function properly, the lower-ranking officials are indispensable. In fact, at this time many people were recommending their acquaintances and friends, but it was still not enough. If Lu Zhi could recruit a large number of students, he would at least be able to alleviate the urgent need of the imperial court.

  Lu Zhi also agreed with a single word, then seemed to want to say something, but finally closed his mouth and remained silent.

  "What is it that you want to say? Speak freely."

  Since Your Majesty has said so, Lu Zhi naturally had no more reservations and proposed his own suggestion: "Now that the Eastern Lords have broken through Hu Lao, Dong Zhuo is already dead, although the various armies have made achievements in killing the bandits, however..."

  Anyway, Lu Zhi felt that there was no need to say too much, just looking at the preparations made by the Crown Prince today, it is clear that he had already sensed the situation.

  He looked up at Liu Xuan, saw that he meant to continue speaking, so Lu Zhi had to say: "Now the governor of Bohai, Yuan Shao, and the governor of Beiping, Gongsun Zan, are the leaders of the allied army. If Your Majesty can summon them to come to court for appointment, I think..."

  His idea was also for the consideration of the Han Dynasty. If Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, these two families can take the initiative to abandon their territories and troops, enter the capital to serve as officials, then it is absolutely possible to restore the prestige of the imperial court, making the vassals honest and not dare to make any unusual moves. Then the emperor will also have more time to plan slowly.

  But this is absolutely just a one-sided wishful thinking, the current Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, would they give up their troops and territories to go to the imperial court to be an official with only a nominal title?

  Obviously won't!

  Seems like I'm out of the running? By the way, the recommendation is a bit pitiful