Zhang Lang was very energetic, with a high attitude, holding his head high and calm. Under the high pressure of Zhu Jun's burning gaze, he still looked calm as usual, with a calm smile on his face. This ability of Mount Tai in front of him without changing his face, even Zhu Jun felt a little surprised.

Zhu Jun retracted his eyes, his gaze was soft, although it was not as sharp as just now, but it was also extremely majestic. Unhurriedly stood up from the chair, stepped forward to greet the guests, and said dumbly: "I am sick and can't be courteous to the guests, and if I am not thoughtful, please forgive me." ”

Zhang Lang didn't dare to hold it up, stopped in the middle of the lobby, and said, "Where did this come from, but I despise disturbing Lord Zhu's rest, and I feel deeply uneasy." ”

Zhu Jun smiled indifferently, said a few more words, and after instructing the waiter to set up a tea watch, he casually made a hand gesture of invitation.

After Zhang Lang sat down to taste tea and talk about tea, Zhu Jun first spoke: "I don't know your Excellency's surname?" ”

Zhang Lang took a deep breath, tasted the fragrant tea just now while his mouth and tongue, and said calmly: "My surname is Zhang, and my name is Lang." ”

Zhu Jun frowned, read it lightly in his mouth, and then seemed to think of something, and said with a somewhat surprised face: "It's you?" ”

Zhang Lang looked at Zhu Jun's resolute face with a look of surprise, he was very satisfied with the effect he caused, and smiled: "It's exactly below." ”

Zhu Jun's brows not only did not understand, but wrinkled deeper, and a variety of thoughts passed through his mind in an instant. Secretly pondered: I didn't expect to really guess Dong Zhangzhong for Master Shangshujia, Zhang Lang really didn't expect it, put aside the team, and secretly sneaked into Hongnong. And he is so unaware that there is no wind outside, this person has really experienced harm.

Zhang Lang carefully observed Zhu Jun's reaction, and although he was a little surprised at first, he quickly calmed down. There was no trace of expression on his face that was not angry or threatening, full of military spirit, so that people couldn't see what he was thinking. It is inevitable that there will be some disappointment in my heart.

Zhu Jun rolled his eyes, lukewarm, and said tentatively: "It turned out to be General Zhang, I didn't know that I came to visit early in the morning, do you have any advice?" ”

Zhang Lang secretly thought that Zhu Jun was righteous and upright, and loyal to the Han family, without any recklessness, there must be no sloppiness, otherwise everything would be smashed. With a roll of his eyes, he said with a smile: "How dare you give advice, as soon as I entered the customs, I came to visit Lord Zhu non-stop, and I hope to relieve the congestion." ”

Zhu Jun obviously heard too much of this, and said lightly: "General Zhang has something to say." The tone was rather cold.

Zhang Lang couldn't figure out what he made Zhu Jun look down on, as if he was very prejudiced, but he still said seriously: "Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the world has been in turmoil, and the war has been going on for many years. This is in the danger of national disaster, but all people with lofty ideals do not want to raise their arms, sweep away the thieves, support the Han family, and revitalize the dynasty. ”

These words cannot but be inspiring, and Zhang Lang also said that the tone was subdued and frustrated, and the tone was harmonious. But Zhu Jun only blinked his eyes twice, glanced at him again, and seemed indifferent to Zhang Lang's "full of enthusiasm", and said with a very calm face: "General Zhang is right, if there are more people like General Zhang who are loyal to the Han family and have real talents in the DPRK at this time, I believe that the revitalization of the Han family can be waited." ”

No matter how thick-skinned Zhang Lang is, he can't accept Zhu Jun, who doesn't know whether it is praise or sarcasm, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Zhu, don't bend the brakes, Zhang Lang has no talent and no virtue, if it weren't for Lord Tao's love and full help, I don't know where to wander now." It's just a pity that Lord Tao is sick and difficult to treat, so he let go and returned, thinking about a piece of Dan's heart, but not being able to see the revival of the Han family, it's really sad. At this time, Zhang Lang sighed and stopped, his face was sad, obviously he was really a little sad Tao Qian. However, he quickly came back to his senses, glanced at Zhu Jun with his eyes, and secretly observed his reaction.

Sure enough, when Zhu Jun heard Tao Qian, his strong and mighty face also showed sadness, and his eyes were even more confused. It turned out that he couldn't help but think of how Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian helped him when he helped Dong Zhuo in order to uphold justice, Kuang helped the Han family, and openly resisted and attacked Dong Zhuo. Later, how did he unite many princes, fund the army, horses, and food, and let himself go all out to crusade against Li Xuan and Guo Yan, in order to stabilize the world. If he had listened to Tao Qian's advice at that time and resolutely crusaded against the two thieves, I believe that the current situation would not be so chaotic, and the saint would not have lost all his face, and the prestige of the court would have been lost. Putting aside Li Xuan and Guo Yan, he is the biggest sinner in this turmoil.

Zhang Lang saw that he had successfully broken through Zhu Jun's psychological gap, and said while the iron was hot: "In the next secret entry pass, I met the saint, in fact, in the name of sending back the jade seal, in order to share the heavy responsibility of the saint, get rid of the two thieves Li Xuan and Guo Yan, and return me to the peace of the country." This is also the greatest wish of Tao Gong at the end of his rebirth. Lang is loyal to righteousness, holy for the people, and will go all out in his lifetime. ”

Zhu Jun nodded, and finally showed a look of approval on his face, which made Zhang Lang secretly happy when he saw it. Just as he was about to continue the attack, an attendant hurriedly came in to report and bring unexpected news. Said: "My lord, the news is returned, and the saint will arrive at Hongnong in less than half an hour." ”

Zhu Jun jumped up from the chair violently, his eyes were dazzling, and he asked excitedly, "Is this serious?" ”

Zhang Lang was also obviously stunned, in the morning Eagle Guard also said that Emperor Xian was on the way, would he probably arrive in the afternoon? Why did you come so soon?

The attendant said respectfully: "Yes, just now Duan Chengshou's cronies have brought a message, and the Holy Lord is about to arrive, so that the officials can prepare to welcome the Holy Driver." ”

Zhu Jun couldn't hold back his mood anymore, he was quite excited, his pale face gradually brought a hint of ruddy, and said happily: "Where is the Holy One now?" ”

The attendant said: "Zhihong Agricultural City is less than ten miles, and General Duan is escorting it with all his might. ”

Zhu Jun quickly turned his head and took Zhang Lang's hand and said, "General Zhang, I'll go to meet the holy car quickly." His expression was extremely excited.

Zhang Lang was also infected by Zhu Jun, pointed to Zhu Jun's clothes, and smiled easily: "Lord Zhu, are you dressed up like this?" ”

Zhu Jun glanced at himself, suddenly realized, knocked his forehead hard, and said with a smile: "Fortunately, General Zhang woke up and changed his clothes and belts first." ”

Zhang Lang nodded with a smile, watching Zhu Jun hurry away and enter deep thought.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Xian would arrive in Hongnong so soon, and he was already a little short of time, so he had no chance to contact more officials in the DPRK and China before sending back the jade seal, so as to get their support. It stands to reason that Emperor Xian shouldn't be so fast. Zhang Lang couldn't help frowning, regretting that he didn't send envoys to communicate with some princes in the first place, and he was in a hurry now.

At this time, he happened to see that the attendant was about to retreat, and shouted and asked, "This military master, how did the Holy Lord get to Hongnong?" What about other officials? ”

The attendant didn't dare to slack off, so he stopped his feet and turned around and saluted: "Lord Hui, the details of the villain are not very clear, I heard that it seems that only General Duan and a dozen or so personal soldiers accompanied the saint, and the other adults have not heard about and seen it." ”

Zhang Lang sighed, and then entered into contemplation, and then his eyes flashed with surprise. The attendant did not dare to disturb him, so he took the opportunity to retreat.

Originally, it was estimated that there would be half a day, and I would visit some people again, but now it seems that the situation is urgent, as soon as the emperor arrives in Hongnong, the envoys of the princes from all over the country will go all out to encourage the migration, because when they were in Chang'an, everyone was still not sure about the direction of the situation, but the appearance of Zhang Ji, Guo Yan and Li Xuan's rebellious, showed that the Han family was really on the verge of life and death, and it was in danger. At this moment, in the face of such a good opportunity, how could the ambition miss it, everyone sees a great prospect inside.

Then according to the traditional practice, at noon or night, Duan Xuan will definitely wash the dust for the emperor, and hold a banquet, then the banquet will invite the envoys of the princes from all over the country to gather, I believe that it is the beginning of a battlefield without gunpowder, and to a large extent, it will determine the next move of the emperor. According to his own guess, Duan Xuan is very likely to lead a small number of personal soldiers to protect Emperor Xian's light horse, and the ministers of civil and military affairs are lagging behind. Then his biggest advantage now is that Emperor Xian is under no civil servants, which is extremely beneficial to himself, because the candidates from all over the country have more or less connections in the court, but in this way, the envoys from all over the country are standing on the same starting line. As long as you use your three-inch tongue, lobby the saints, and bitterly report the suffering, although you can't be sure of a complete victory, at least you will increase the law code of success.

Zhang Lang suddenly felt that he had such a strong confidence that he could win this diplomatic battle. And the situation is so conducive to development, Li urged Guo Yan to be "great". Even if you welcome a light pole to the emperor at that time, as long as you have a name, it will be enough. At this time, Zhu Jun and others had several ministers in Hongnong, and they became extremely important. As long as he can get the support of Zhu Jun, Ma Teng and several other important figures, and then borrow the power of the jade seal and attack hard, this matter is still promising.

The more Zhang Lang thought about it, the more excited he became, the more promising he became, and he couldn't wait to see the saint right away and make a big career.

But calm down and think about it, the top priority is not to see Emperor Xian first, but to make more allies, and then hit with one blow. said that now is not the time to go to see Emperor Xian, so I can't put myself in a rather bad situation, and let Xun You and others take advantage of it.

After sorting out the clues, what we need to do now is to meet with Zhang Song in Shuzhong, Yang Song in Hanzhong and other local forces that have no hope of welcoming Emperor Xian, but it is impossible to ignore, promise them all kinds of benefits, and lobby with all their might, hoping to get their strong support. Your chances of success will be greatly enhanced. The only thing that worries me now is that the envoys of Hanoi, Guanzhong, and Shu Han have already greeted the holy driver.

Thinking of this time, Zhang Lang couldn't sit still any longer, and hastily said to Zhu Jun's guards, saying that he would come back to visit in the afternoon, and left in a hurry.

Zhang Lang was very lucky, and when he rushed to Zhang Song's residence, he happened to meet him and was about to go out, and it seemed that he was also going to greet Emperor Xian.

The two discussed for a while, and then Zhang Lang ran around again, busy for a morning, and then returned to the inn with great results.

The day passed quickly, and the sky was almost dark, because of the arrival of Emperor Xian, Hongnong suddenly became much more lively.

Only at this time, Zhang Lang got accurate news, it turned out that at the beginning of last night, Li Qi and Guo Yan had just arrived, and they launched a fierce surprise attack on Hangu Pass, dispatching nearly 10,000 elite soldiers from Shaanxi, and besieging Hangu several times.

And Duan Xuan led his cronies and protected the emperor when the form was not good, and the two of them were a world-famous horse "Absolute Shadow", and only went to Hongnong. This foal "Absolute Shadow", the red rabbit horse of the general Lu Bu who will never fly down, has a whole body as white as snow, tall and fit, and runs like lightning, traveling thousands of miles. What used to take half a day to travel now takes only a few hours.

And Yang Feng and Dong Cheng plus Huayin Duan Ying's soldiers and horses, the total number is less than 10,000, most of them are still disabled, old and weak, and their combat effectiveness is low. The Shaanxi army has nearly 50,000 or 60,000 people, but they have swept all the way, killing the old and the weak and the disabled, and driving the strong men to enlist in the army, and the morale is fierce, but I am afraid that Hangu Pass will not last for a few days, and it will soon be lost.

At this time, Zhang Lu's soldiers and horses in the Meridian Valley of Bingtun finally moved, and under the leadership of his brother Zhang Wei, they began to slowly move eastward, and the movement was unknown, I don't know whether to prepare to support Emperor Xian, or take the opportunity to fight for hegemony in Guanzhong. However, there is one absolute value of believing that Zhang Wei must be very concerned about Zhang Jihu's 100,000 Shaanxi army in Chang'an. And Xiliang Ma Teng, although he had the heart to contribute something to the Han family, but Ma Chao, the pioneer who went out from Shicheng, led the elite iron cavalry of Liangzhou, drove deeply, charged in a straight line, and it took at least two days to reach the Weinan area, and then attacked Li Qi and Guo Yan back and forth. Among them, it is better to put aside all the passes and say that they must be safe and sound, otherwise they will arrive later.

The so-called disaster is not a single line, at this time there is bad news coming, the Yellow Turban remnants of the white wave thieves Han Xian, Li Le, Hu Cai three soldiers, gathered bandits, gangs of bandits, took advantage of the fire to rob, when the deceptive room was unable to take care of it, in the area of Shouyang Mountain, looted the people everywhere, breeding bad things, completely fearless of the holy driving Hongnong, flying high, doing all evil, making the people miserable.

The situation is getting worse and worse, and the form has become more confusing, according to Wei Ying's report, early this morning, Xun You and Man Pet met Jingyue in Jingzhou, and talked secretly for an early morning, the content is unknown, but when Xun You came out, the spring breeze was full of faces, and Man Pet talked and laughed, and he knew that he had gained a lot. If Jing Yue really reached any agreement with Cao Ying's side, it would be quite unfavorable to his own situation.

In fact, Zhang Lang also wanted to appease Liu Biao, because it was beneficial and harmless to stand on the same alliance line with him in the short term. Helplessly, Liu Biao was lukewarm to himself, although he sent envoys many times to make friends, but the other party was perfunctory, and he didn't know what the meaning was.

Just when Zhang Lang was thinking hard at the inn, Yiyingwei came in with a solemn expression and reported: "Lord, I just received the news that a group of people and horses were found in an extremely hidden mountain forest on the outskirts of Xicheng, and the number of people was about nearly a hundred. And depending on the situation, it is very likely that it is not good for the lord. However, what is a little strange is that they are dressed up and their voices and tones are not like the people in Guanzhong and Hebei, but they are very similar to the people in the Jiangnan area. Speaking of which, the Eagle Guard was puzzled.

Zhang Lang was stunned and exclaimed: "How can you be sure that they are from the Jiangnan clan, and they are not good for me?" ”

Eagle Guard said respectfully: "We have a brother who risked his life to hide people secretly, and carefully eavesdropped on their conversations, and found that they could speak some dialects unique to the Jiangdong region from time to time, and heard the name of the lord Yunyun several times, so he made such a conclusion. ”

Zhang Lang patted his head and wrinkled, his heart was confused for a while, it seemed that things were getting more and more complicated. Obviously, this group of people and horses is not under their control, if they are really from the Jiangnan area, it is nothing more than Sun Ce and Shi Xie, then you don't need to think about it to know what these two secret people are doing. The already thorny road has added another layer of bumps.

Just when he was upset, another eagle guard came in and said excitedly: "As expected by the lord, Duan Xuan really held a banquet for the saint, and invited envoys from all parties and major officials in Hongnong. ”

Zhang Lang's spirits perked up, and he immediately ordered to leave a few eyeliners, and all the eagle guards were collected and protected, scattered around the county capital, and carefully investigated.

He dressed up, and ordered Huang Xu and Dian Wei to prepare carefully.

Surprisingly, Yang Rong and Zhao Yu learned that they were going to see the saint, and immediately pestered Zhang Lang to squeamish, sugar-coated cannonballs, and fought a gentle offensive.

In desperation, Zhang Lang could only ask them to disguise themselves as men, and also pretend to be their own soldiers, and go together.