This occurred sometime around 196 AD in China, during the Three Kingdoms period. Lu Su was a man from a wealthy family of some renown, and the lord of the local area where he lived, Yuan Shu, wanted to recruit him. Lu Su knew things would be bad under him, so decided to leave rather than refuse and possibly face some kind of punishment.
When Yuan Shu heard of Lu Su's fame, he wanted to recruit him to serve as the Chief of Dongcheng County (東城縣) under him. However, Lu Su saw that Yuan Shu's administration was ill-disciplined and believed that Yuan would not be successful. He told his followers, "The central government has failed. Robbers and bandits are rampant. The areas around the Huai and Si rivers are no longer safe. I heard the lands in Jiangdong are fertile, its population is prosperous, and its army is powerful. We can take shelter there. Are you willing to accompany me to that paradise and wait until the situation here stabilizes?" They unanimously agreed to follow him.
Lu Su led his followers and some civilians southward to Juchao County to join [his friend] Zhou Yu. He ordered able-bodied young men to guard the rear while the others moved ahead first. The local authorities sent some armed horsemen to stop Lu Su and his party from leaving. When the riders caught up with them, Lu Su turned back and said, "You're all men of courage, so you should understand the situation well. The country is now in a state of chaos. You won't be rewarded for your efforts (even if you succeed in stopping us), but neither will you be punished if you don't pursue us. Do you really want to force us (to fight)?" He then placed a shield upright on the ground and fired an arrow at it, piercing through the shield. The horsemen agreed with what Lu Su said and knew they could not stop him, so they gave up and left.
Source: Sangouzhi Zhu, Volume 54
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