Through the exchange with Sun Zi and Sun Yanlong, Tong Yuan had a preliminary understanding of the Taiyuan Wang family and the Yangqu Guo family.

The Taiyuan royal family is a new family, which is developed by relying on the Yangqu Guo family; The Wang family of Qi County takes good care of the descendants of Jinyang because Wang Yun takes good care of the younger generations of Jinyang, and the Jinyang family has a good impression of the Wang family of Qi County, and the relationship is good.

The relationship between the Guo family in Yangqu and the Wang family in Qi County is better, while the Guo family, the Wang family and Liu Yu of Youzhou have a close relationship. The Wang family of Qi County and the Wang family of Taiyuan are the actual control of the vicinity of Taiyuan.

Because Dong Bai and Tong Yuan killed Wang Yun and forced the Wang family in Qi County to escape, they naturally hated the Dong family, and Dong Bai and Tong Yuan's power was far inferior to Liu Yu and Yuan Shao.

Dong Bai and Tong Yuan represent the Xiliang Army, and they can't turn their faces, Tong Yuan estimates that it would be good to accept the officials and trade he sent to manage the people's livelihood, and it should be successful to negotiate with the two families with Sun Zi's ability and identity.

Sun Zi went to Jinyang to visit Wang Rou and Wang Ze and explained his intentions.

The second king was polite on the surface, and used the military ring on all sides of Jinyang as an excuse to talk about the disadvantage of Jinyang, and he avoided Sun Zi's proposal, but he was just a hypocrisy and a snake, not talking about substantive topics, and he didn't say a reason for the first meeting.

He went to Yangqu to meet Guo Yi, and only met three times.

Guo Yi's status is very high, Sun Zi is a courtesy to his juniors, and when talking about political affairs, Guo Yi also said something factual rather than something, neither agreed nor agreed, and finally said that he would go back and let everyone discuss.

At the second meeting, Sun Zi no longer discussed with Guo Yi, but talked endlessly about what Tong Yuan did in Hexi and Hedong, which was nothing more than expelling foreign enemies, promoting trade, clearing wasteland for farming, and improving people's livelihood.

Cooperation is mutually beneficial, while hostility is a lose-lose situation, and it is inevitable to cite scriptures and classics as evidence. With a three-inch tongue, he finally persuaded Guo Yi to agree to accept the officials and trade contacts sent by Tong Yuan.

Back in Taiyuan, because the Guo and Wang families had been ventilated, although they were not free to speak, they finally experienced some twists and turns and completed the task assigned by Tong Yuan.

Therefore, the situation near Jinyang has finally settled down, and the Guo family and the Wang family are friends rather than enemies for the time being. As for how they choose in the future, it depends on the development of the situation later.

……

"Father, why do we have to come to this place to meet that General Pingbei?"

"Fang'er, you're still too tender. The need to ensure the security of the rear before the war was both a strategic consideration and a key to reassuring the brethren. If he doesn't come to invite me, I'll send someone for him." ”

The father and son who were talking on horses were none other than Zhang Yan, the leader of the Montenegrin Army and the general of the Ping Nan Zhonglang, and his son, Zhang Fang.

Zhang Yan and Xiliangjun are temporary friends, but this friend is very limited, just because they have a common enemy.

Zhang Yan sighed in his heart, this Pingbei general was really interesting, and directly sent five hundred catties of salt as a meeting gift, with a very friendly attitude, and invited him to meet in Qi County.

He considered that the Montenegrin army had not been able to penetrate deep into Taiyuan County, and it was indeed much better to rely on it than to make enemies on all sides, so of course he gladly accepted it, and led the 10,000 soldiers and horses of his headquarters to meet him.

The Montenegrin Army was a peasant rebel army in Hebei and Shanxi at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with hundreds of thousands of people at its peak. At present, after nearly 10 years of fighting, the combat effectiveness is very strong.

However, its internal organization was relatively loose, and it lacked the support of the nobles and the powerful. Dozens of leaders each have a piece of land, raise a group of soldiers and horses, and have less contact in peacetime, and get together to help each other in wartime.

In the past ten years, in addition to Zhang Yan, there are more than ten troops and horses such as Yu Poison, Zheng Gu, Tao Sheng, Liu Shi, Qingniujiao, Huang Long, Zuo Xiao, Guo Daxian, Li Damu, and Yu Yigen, with a population of tens of thousands and thousands of soldiers and horses.

On the whole, all the departments of the Montenegrin Army respected Zhang Yan very much, regarded him as the leader of the alliance, and responded to his call.

Tong Yuan and Zhang Yan met in Qi County, Tong Yuan went ten miles out of the city to meet Zhang Yan, and the two sides started the first step of talks outside the city.

Tong looked at Zhang Yan from afar, about seven feet five inches tall, thin but powerful. Knowing that he was in his thirties, but his face was wrinkled, and he seemed to be fifty years younger, and he could hardly see his ability to be swift and light as a swallow.

Thinking about it again, most of the bitter backgrounds in this era have been exposed to wind and sun, and they have never had a few good days in their lives. Zhang Yan was born in poverty, fell into the grass, and later became the leader of the party recognized by the imperial court, and did not enjoy much luxury, which is really not easy.

Tong Yuan naturally did not slack off, bowed and said, "Junior Tong Yuan, I have seen General Zhang. ”

Zhang Yan was gentle to people on weekdays and was welcomed by soldiers and farmers. He saw that Tong Yuan was not lacking in etiquette, although he was not yet at the age of a weak crown, but his childishness had been taken off, and he had a heroic spirit on his body, so he felt less prejudice and more admiration.

He was not verbose, and went straight to the point and asked, "What is the important matter for General Tong to see me?" ”

Tong Yuan consolidated the alliance between the two sides, began trade, and recognized the Montenegrin army's rule over Yangyi and Kuyu counties, as well as large areas of countryside and forests.

He said that he would send a long history to follow Zhang Yan to govern the area of Taiyuan County of the Montenegrin Army. Of course, the county magistrates and officials of the corresponding small counties are arranged by Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan was deeply surprised when he heard this, the previous alliance between the Xiliang army and them was mainly to contain Yuan Shao, and there was no practical help except for the military aspect. Now, it is a real guarantee for the safety of the rear.

Others don't know the difficulties of the Montenegrin Army, but he Zhang Yan still doesn't know. The forces around the Montenegrin army were strong, and most of the states were occupied by the Hu people, and he did not dare to provoke them.

A few areas such as Jinyang are in the hands of the deep-rooted scholars, coupled with the high walls of the city, he has not had much to do for so many years.

Youzhou in the north is located in the border, the Han soldiers and Wuhuan, Xianbei have many wars, very elite, and Liu Yu, Gongsun Zhan two bosses in the town, although most of the black mountain thieves are active at the junction of Hebei and Youzhou three states, but Zhang Yan has always been self-aware, never to Youzhou to plunder.

Fortunately, because of the practical interests and the matchmaking of the imperial court, he and Gongsun Zhanxin formed an iron-clad ally, and the two sides traded and attacked Yuan Shao together, and the cooperation was relatively pleasant.

The east and south were relatively wealthy, but they were occupied by the powerful enemy Yuan Shao and his supporters Cao Cao and Zhang Yang. Fortunately, many forces besieged Yuan Shao and others, making them scrambling, and the Montenegrin army was able to occupy a lot of areas and often plundered Jizhou.

Zhang Yan was naturally happy to get Tong Yuan's help, and he also raised his own questions. "General Tong arranged it like this, I'm afraid it's not easy for Jinyang and Yangqu to speak. As far as I know, the Guo family of Yangqu is hostile to our army in every way, and they are planning to gather troops and horses to retrieve the county of Yuyu, which is very close to them. ”

Tong Yuan said: "General Zhang, don't worry, who is a friend and who is an enemy, Weiyang Jun and I are still very clear." In order for the people to live a stable life, it is necessary to solve the current situation of the gentry holding a large amount of land and the erosion of the border. ”

Zhang Yan heard what Tong Yuan said, and there was a surprised expression on his face, it is really not easy for this person to understand this truth at such a young age. Although he has been in a high position for several years, he does not like to hide his feelings and imitate those scholars to disguise themselves.

Zhang Yan said: "So I am also relieved. By the way, it is estimated that there are already candidates for this Taiyuan long history, right? ”

Tong Yuan said: "Haha, exactly. His surname is Jia Mingkui, the word Liang Dao, the age is weak, and he is a native of Xiangling, Hedong. He is both good at civil affairs and keen on military affairs, although the general asked him to cooperate. If you have any questions about cooperation, you can also discuss with me. ”

Zhang Yan has been in the rivers and lakes for decades, and knows very much about the affairs of Bingzhou, Jizhou, and Youzhou, and when he heard Tong Yuan's introduction, he said after a little thought: "Presumably he is a child of the Xiangling Jia family, since he is willing to come to my side, then welcome." ”

"However, although our Montenegrin army obeys my orders, the area under its jurisdiction is thousands of miles long from north to south. Take this state as an example, Yangyi County is not far from here, but it is in the northeast of Taiyuan, and the distance between the two places can be 300 miles. ”

"My direct subordinate department is in the area from Jingcheng to Hutuo River, which is very close to Yuyu County. And here, it's close to the jurisdiction of the Green Horn Brothers. I'm afraid that there will be a lot of inconvenience in the day-to-day administration. ”

Tong Yuan had already learned from Wei Qi and Jia Kui that the various departments of the Montenegrin Army were very complicated.

He discussed with Jia Kui for a few days, but he was not too worried. As a result, the affairs of Taiyuan's long history were properly negotiated, and other alliances, trade, and exchange of information were also very smooth.

After the two leaders discussed the important matter, Tong Yuan introduced Zhang Lu and Jia Kui to Zhang Yan, and Zhang Yan also brought his sons Zhang Fang and Qu Shuai Qingniujiao, and the two parties asked their subordinates to discuss the specific details.

Jia Kui officially served as the magistrate of Taiyuan County, and was specifically responsible for the development of people's livelihood in the areas occupied by the Montenegrin Army.

Before leaving, Zhang Yan said: "General Tong is really a young hero, Yan admires it very much. If there is any emergency that comes to me, you can send an envoy directly to the area between Jingcheng County and the Hutuo River. There are 167,000 of my tribes, and the towns, villages, and camps stretch for miles, and it is not difficult to find. ”

It turned out that this Zhang Yan garrison had been in the northern part of the Black Mountain Army, and the specific area was in the area of Jingcheng and Hutuo River.

Hutuo River is one of the main rivers of the Haihe River system, since ancient times there are many different names, Huchi, Evil Pond, Huo Chi, Houchi, Yayuan and so on are its aliases, the name of the Eastern Han Dynasty is the same as later generations, all are called Hutuo River.

And Jingcheng is also one of the eight Taihang Mountains, and it is also a county, and Zhang Yan's department is now in the north of Jingcheng County. At present, there are about 40,000 elite soldiers, and the old and weak add up to 1670,000.

The central area of the Montenegrin Army, that is, the southeast of Taiyuan County, as well as Zhao Guo and Julu, are mainly weaker Qu commanders such as Liu Shi and Qingniujiao. The south, that is, Shangdang County, Hanoi County, and parts of Wei County, were ruled by stronger commanders such as Poison, Zhenggu, and Tao Sheng.

In this way, the area ruled by the Montenegrin army is indeed very narrow and long, and the head is located in the north, so the echo from the beginning to the end is relatively slow, and it has been suppressed by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in the past two years, and it has a tendency to weaken.

However, only in terms of the current mobilized troops, the situation of Yuan Shao, Zhang Yan, and Gongsun Zan north of the Yellow River is still unshakable, and Tong Yuan can only be regarded as a second-rate character at present.