Zhang Ji was reluctant to continue the attack, not because he was afraid of the people of Kwantung Prefecture, but because he felt that Yan Xing, as an ally, should pay more.

Although Henan is adjacent to Hongnong, Zhu Jun in the land of Henan is strong, and the land of Hongnong bears the brunt of the threat to Zhang Ji. But since the edict of the Chang'an court was to let Hongnong and Hedong send troops at the same time, Yan Xing should not only send a few men and horses, and then count on himself to lead the army for him.

To the east of the river, he will either send thousands of more soldiers and horses, or he will have to bear half of the grain and grass supply of his army.

Between the two, Zhang Ji was more inclined to the latter, and heard that Hedong was building a large number of tuntians, although he did not know about farming, it was presumably that it should not be a problem to supply his 20,000 soldiers and horses for several months of grain and grass.

It's a pity that Yan Xing's letter is neither an increase in troops nor a transportation of grain.

In his letter, he was unusual, expounding his intention to go to the Chang'an court with Zhang Ji and express his intention to promote Zhu Jun to the court as an official.

This caused Zhang Ji to sneer again and again, he had just fought with Zhu Jun and drove his soldiers and horses out of the surrounding area of Luoyang, and at this time, let the Chang'an court recruit him into the court, Zhu Jun would really be stupid enough to throw himself into the net, give up resistance, and go to Chang'an to no avail.

However, what was said at the end of the letter was that if the plan could succeed, Hedong and Hongnong would be able to annex Zhu Jun's territory and troops without a single soldier, which still made Zhang Ji's heart flutter.

Zhang Ji calmed down and thought about it, whether it is to increase troops or transport grain, it will take time at the moment, in the gap between this time, it is okay to cooperate with Yan Xing and put pressure on the direction of Chang'an, if things can really succeed, then there is no doubt that the Hongnong side adjacent to Henan is the biggest winner.

After thinking about it, Zhang Ji immediately made up his mind, and during the period of confrontation, he and Yan Xing jointly wrote to the Chang'an court, asking for forgiveness for Zhu Jun's sins and recruiting him to the court as an official.

The two of them went straight to Chang'an with the fast horse.

···

Chang'an City, the General's Mansion.

After listening to the contents of Zhang Ji and Yan Xing's letters from the palace, Li Wei, who was adjusting the bowstring, suddenly changed his face, the joints on his hands were prominent, and he threw his beloved horn bow to the ground with a "snap".

Seeing this, the soldiers and maids all looked like earth, and the maid who was startled lowered her head, tremblingly held the silk scarf in front of Li Dao, but was pushed away by Li Dao, and the maid who staggered back only heard a loud shout.

"Come on, go and find Li Ru for me!"

Then, Li Dao left the shooting range in a huff.

Li Ru served as a servant, a close minister of the Son of Heaven, who was often in the court for the Son of Heaven to consult. Now Li Dao sent someone to look for him, but Li Ru didn't dare to slack off, and he didn't even change the official uniform and ribbon, and immediately took a car to the general's mansion after leaving the palace.

The carriage and horses came to Li Wei's mansion, Li Ru got out of the carriage with the support of the slave, he was a regular guest of the general's mansion, no one stopped him, and he walked all the way to the lobby.

Seeing the silent soldiers outside the hall, Li Ru knew why Li Dao was angry. He straightened his clothes and walked into the hall.

"Bang!"

As soon as he stepped into the hall, Li Ru heard the sound of heavy objects impacting, and he raised his eyes to see that Li Dao, who was dressed in a silk brocade dress in the lobby, was still a half-point noble and graceful, and he was a rude military man who was angry and ruined.

"Tell me, that day, you were going to ask the edict to order Hedong and Hongnong to jointly send troops to Henan, first, to test the ambitions of Yan Xing and Zhang Ji, and secondly, to borrow Zhu Jun's hand to damage the soldiers and horses of the two of them, so as to weaken their strength, but now?"

"The two places of Hedong and Hongnong took this opportunity to unite together, and they also wrote to the court together, asking for pardon for Zhu Jun and recruiting him to the court as an official, isn't this putting pressure on me in turn!"

"When Zhu Jun enters the court, the two of them can encroach on a place in Henan and the people under Zhu Jun's command, which is well calculated. Knowing this, I might as well listen to Jia Xu's words and recall Zhu Junzheng back to the court at the beginning! ”

As soon as Li Wei saw Li Ru enter the hall, the anger in his chest rose again, he kicked away the desk in front of him, stared at Li Ru's horse face with wide eyes, and roared one after another through gritted teeth.

Li Ru knew that this would be the case, and he also explained:

"The prince doesn't have to be so angry, this Henan Yin was moved into Guanzhong as early as when the capital was moved, and the trees and crops were all burned, and now there are ten rooms and nine emptiness, thousands of miles of red land, and those soldiers and horses under Zhu Jun are all rabble scattered soldiers who have been temporarily gathered from all over the Kanto, and the prince and the prince sit on the land of heaven and the solidity of Cuihan, and there are countless victorious soldiers, this is like Wenxuan and contempt, splendid and short brown, what is there to be angry about?"

After hearing this, Li Wei sneered again and again, and he held his head high and said:

"Then according to the meaning of the servant, I will allow the imperial court to pardon Zhu Jun, and give up the land of Henan and the soldiers and horses to Yan Xing and Zhang Xiu?"

"Taichung's meaning, that's true!"

Li Ru did not hide it, so he expressed the opinions of the ministers of the court, and it was indeed that most of the courtiers believed that Zhu Junnai was a meritorious minister to the society, and should not continue to implement the policy of conquest advocated by Li Dao and Li Ru, but should recruit him into the court.

"Then what if I don't allow it!"

Li Dao showed his sharp teeth, held the saber at his waist and said with a sneer.

Li Ru shook his head when he saw this. The Xiliang army captured Chang'an by force, with no popular support and no official support, so Li Dao was respected as a chariot and cavalry general, and after taking charge of the imperial court, he could only compromise with the Son of Heaven and the scholars like Dong Zhuo, support the orthodoxy of today's son, and promote the famous scholars of the Guanxi clan as officials, so as to stabilize the situation in the Chang'an court.

Since the beginning of this dynasty, although the three princes have been placed above the court, the matter has been returned to the cabinet. Shang Shutai is the center of the court's administrative affairs, and the servants and squires are the close courtiers of the Son of Heaven, and they often serve in the court for the Son of Heaven to consult, which is the core of the decision-making of the court.

There is Jia Xu in Shangshutai, and Li Ru near the Son of Heaven, which is the foundation of Li Wei's ability to control the government remotely, and it is also the advantage of the Xiliang Army in the face of the separatist forces of the Kwantung Prefecture.

Therefore, maintaining the authority of the Son of Heaven, appeasing the states and counties of the eastern part of the country, weakening the internal branches of the Western Liang Army, and making the world realize that the Chang'an Imperial Court is the orthodox consciousness of the emperor, so that Li Dao can truly control the Western Liang Army, this is the most important thing.

Li Wei's current position is delicate, in Li Ru's view, just like Xiang Yu, who had just conquered the Qin State, with outstanding military achievements, and the eighteenth princes and kings who attacked Guanzhong together but had their own thoughts after dividing the seal, they would then use the name of consolidating the authority of Emperor Yi to expand their momentum and weaken the threat of the princes, that is, to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

At present, it is Jia Xu who is in charge of maintaining the cooperative relationship between the Western Liang Army and the Son of Heaven, the ministers of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, and the famous clans of Guanzhong, while Li Ru is responsible for monitoring the affairs of the internal ill-intentioned people and weakening the affairs of other generals and schools of the Western Liang Army.

This inside and outside is the way to control the world, but as soon as Li Wei encounters the slightest dissatisfaction with the government, he will use the means in the army to coerce the Son of Heaven and humiliate the courtiers, just like the one who killed the righteous emperor.

Li Ru had no choice but to look at Li Dao and persuade again:

"The land of Henan is not important, Zhu Jun's soldiers are difficult to call fine, for the prince, it is like contempt, short brown, as for the pardon of Zhu Jun, the general can even pardon Yuan Shu and seal it, so why bother with the mud now?"

Yuan Shu was also hostile to the Xiliang army before, Dong Zhuo also killed the Yuan family, and the two sides had a common hatred, but Li Dao did not also add the defeated Yuan Shu as the left general, Feng Yang Zhai Hou, and fake festivals.

As long as it is conducive to the interests of one's own side, what does it matter if you are pardoned and conscripted, and you are promoted to a knighthood?

But Li Dao snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and sneered:

"The servant is so skillful, I can't say that you can't say it, but what you promised before, ordering Hedong and Hongnong to send troops, can use Zhu Jun's hand to weaken Zhang Ji and Yan Xing, what is the effect? said that there are many benefits, it is better for me to listen to Jia Wenhe's words at the beginning! ”

When Li Dao said this, Li Ru's face finally changed a little, and his horse face turned slightly red, and he didn't know whether he was excited or ashamed.

This is the second time that Li Wei has mentioned in front of him that his plan is not as good as Jia Xu's strategy.

This is exactly what Li Ru cares about the most!

Helplessly, Li Wei didn't care about this, Li Ru had no choice but to sigh, and after stabilizing his emotions, he continued:

"What I offered for the prince before was the strategy of 'driving the tiger and devouring the wolf', using the soldiers of Hedong and Hongnong to eliminate Zhu Jun in Henan, although the effect is not obvious, Zhang Ji, Yan Xing and others still have strength, but there is only one place in Henan, as soon as Zhu Jun leaves, there will be a conflict between Zhang Ji and Yan Xing, at this time, we only need to take advantage of the situation, and we can sit and watch the 'two tigers fight' happen."

"Two tigers fighting?"

After Li Wei sneered a few times, he began to repeat Li Ru's words, and after chewing the taste, the nasolabial folds on his face trembled slightly, his face was gloomy, and his eyes flashed fiercely.

···

Half a month later, Hedong Anyi.

"The imperial court has sent a messenger with an edict in his hand to Zhongmu to recruit Zhu Jun into the court as a servant, and another enshrined Zhai Hao as a general in Fenwu, so that he can be stationed in Henan."

Yan Xingyang raised the fast horse urgent report he had just received, looked at Xi Zhicai who came and said:

"It is said that because the land of Henan is adjacent to Henan and Yan, the predecessor of Henan Yin Yangyi is weak and incompetent, and he needs to have a strong general to garrison, and the captain Zhai Hao is brave in battle, and he is brave in the three armies, so he was specially named the general of Fenwu Zhonglang and stationed in the Luoyang area."

"The land of Henan is the closest to Zhang Ji's Hongnong, but he wants Zhai Hao to garrison, which is obviously to provoke a fight between the two families."

After listening to it, Xi Zhicai took the fast horse urgent report from Yan Xing's hand, and read it at a glance, and then said intently:

"Maybe I want to divide the mind of my Hedong general."

"Although Zhai Hao is rude and rude, he is not stupid, this Henan land seems to be a place of ointment, but in fact it is sandwiched between Hongnong and Hedong, like a tiger's den in Longtan, without the support of any party, it is impossible to gain a foothold at all."

"He originally wanted to resign from the appointment, but Ji Qi persuaded him."

Xi Zhicai listened to Yan Xing's words, his eyes flashed, and he asked:

"Ming Gong is interested in the land of Henan?"

"If Zhang Ji can't defend it, I don't mind taking over."

"But between Hedong and Henan, there are still Hongnong and Hanoi, for Anyi, this Henan land is like an enclave, I'm afraid that with the soldiers of Hedong, it is not easy to garrison."

Xi Zhicai said worriedly, he was worried that Yan Xing would be complacent after his victory, and underestimated the hidden fish hook behind the incense bait thrown by Li Dao, Li Ru and others.

"Indeed, if you keep the enclave, it is very unfavorable for Hedong, but it is not a good policy to idle this place, I just have a slight intention, and I have not yet made up my mind, whether it will be successful or not, whether it will be successful or not, whether it will be good or bad, and look at the results after discussing with Zhang Ji."

"The land of Henan is ten rooms and nine scarves, if Zhang Ji does not defend it, with Zhai Hao in charge, I am afraid it will not be able to govern it, but it will be necessary to transfer grain and grass to supply the garrison."

Xi Zhicai did not forget to check and fill in the gaps, and continued.

"Well, if you defend Henan, you need to send capable officials to govern."

Yan Xing nodded when he heard this, he lowered his head, took out another secret letter from the desk, and said to Xi Zhicai:

"In addition, the letter from Pei Gong of Chang'an was personally sent by Wen Heng, in which he said that Li Dao controlled the dynasty and became increasingly arrogant, coercing the Son of Heaven and bullying hundreds of officials, and the West was afraid of a mutiny.

Xi Zhicai did not rashly reach out to take Yan Xing's letter this time, but frowned slightly and said:

"The letter is vague and unclear, and there are hints, could it be that Ma Teng and others want to raise troops into Beijing?"

Xi Zhi learned that in today's Chang'an City, there is still a group of old ministers of the Han dynasty who are planning to use the hands of foreign soldiers to eradicate Li Dao, Guo Yan and other Xiliang generals who control the government, and assist the Son of Heaven to revitalize the dynasty.

Ma Teng and Yan Xing are all their favorite borrowings.

However, Xi Zhicai is not familiar with the recent changes in Chang'an, and can only guess the plan in the temple based on the content of the letter.

"It is not known how it is, but if it is according to what the letter says, the troops in Hexi will lead the ideas of Li Dao, Guo Yan and others to Hedong, so I don't plan to increase troops in Hexi, and I am ready to send someone to Linjin on a fast horse, and tell Shusheng to let him move the camera, whether to support Li Dao and others, or to enter the king of Beijing with Ma Teng and others, and observe the situation first."

Yan Xing didn't know the inside story of Chang'an, but Chang'an would definitely have made a big move recently, otherwise Pei Mao would not have sent Pei Ji back to Hedong.

"Ming Gong Gao sees that this is a safe plan."

Xi Zhi knew that the inside story was unknown, and he was not greedy for merit to make suggestions, Yan Xing smiled faintly, and his vision was profound.

"Li Dao ordered the Xiliang Army, intending to dominate the generals, and regarded me as a potential enemy, and used the orders of the imperial court several times to restrain Hedong, I think Ma Teng can surprise the army and give Li Dao in Chang'an City a deterrent."

···

Outside the city of Luoyang, Zhang Ji is in the tent.

"Uncle, do you want to give up the land of Henan to Yu Zhai Hao?"

When Zhang Xiu heard Zhang Ji's plan to lead troops back to Hongnong, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked in disbelief.

Zhang Ji smiled meaningfully on his face and said indifferently:

"Zhai Hao is a general under Yan Yan, so he also gave Henan to Hedong."

"Why did my uncle act like this, this Henan land was defeated by my Hongnong soldiers and horses, and Zhu Jun was also defeated by us, Hedong just took the opportunity to offer a plan, why did you give Henan land to Hedong."

"Then in your opinion, this place can't be ceded, so why did Zhu Jun from Henan leave, why did Chang'an let Zhai Hao stay, and how much benefit did it do to us if I got this place?"

Zhang Ji understood Zhang Xiu's depression, which was also his choice after careful consideration, he smiled, and patiently tested his nephew and asked.

Zhang Xiu listened to Zhang Ji's words, he was stunned for a moment, and after he calmed down, he immediately pondered the question raised by Zhang Ji.

Obviously, the Chang'an Imperial Court still let Zhai Hao stay in Henan under the calculation of letting Hedong and Hongnong restrain each other, and why did Zhu Jun leave, Zhang Xiu didn't know other inside information, but it can be guessed that Zhu Jun must have also seen the difficult and difficult situation in Henan, so he chose to be conscripted into the court after weighing the pros and cons.

In this place of Yin, Henan, first Dong Zhuo moved the capital, and then Sun Jian led the troops, Li Dao, Guo Yan, Zhang Ji, Zhu Jun and others have been driving back and forth here in recent years, which can be said to be an inhumane and thousands of miles away.

After assigning Henan Yin to Hongnong, Zhang Xiu estimated that his side could only garrison the surrounding area of Luoyang west of Chenggao, and then abandon the cities and land east of Chenggao.

Thinking about these clearly, Zhang Xiu's depression at the beginning suddenly dissipated a lot, he looked at Zhang Ji and asked in surprise:

"So my uncle wants to..."