During this period, Ma Teng's army was relatively honest, and there was no fighting between the two armies for the time being.
So Zhang Xiu's daily pastime was to lead his army into the grasslands and constantly harm the nearby grassland tribes.
Zhang Ji was furious about this, but there was nothing he could do about his nephew.
It's not that Zhang Xiu doesn't take his uncle seriously, but Zhang Ji can't think of a way to punish Zhang Xiu.
Go ahead and fight. If you can't do it, you can't bear it.
Swear, open your mouth or not, we are all a family, no matter how you scold, it will involve you.
Moreover, Zhang Xiu had grown up with Zhang Ji since childhood, and the uncle and nephew had a close relationship, just like father and son.
Since Zhang Xiu could not be dealt with, Zhang Ji naturally had to find another punching bag.
Therefore, in the past few days, all of his followers were cautious and did not dare to be careless. Sometimes if he accidentally sneezed in front of Zhang Ji, he would be slapped with a riding crop.
When Jia Xu's secret letter arrived, Zhang Ji had just finished his angry outburst and was alone in the room to relieve his emotions.
"For your information, General, Mr. Jia has a letter to send back."
Zhang Ji snorted inside the room, quickly opened the door and walked out.
"Bring it to me and see."
He knelt down on one knee and presented the letter. Zhang Ji opened it and read every line of it.
"This old Jia, I don't know who he wants to trick again, why is he still related to Mad Dog Lin?"
No one in the Xiliang Army had a good impression of Lin Feng. When the Eighteenth Route Princes besieged Sili, had Lin Feng not suddenly emerged and attacked Luoyang, the Xiliang Army would not have lost.
Jia Xu did not explain in the letter that he was forcibly taken away by Lin Feng, but only analyzed the benefits of joining forces with Pingyuan to the Xiliang army to Zhang Ji.
And Jia Xu has been emphasizing that if Xiliang can form an alliance with the Plains in private, then Zhang Ji will have a great chance of getting out of the current predicament and have the opportunity to return to the Central Plains.
Although Zhang Ji was a former general of Xiliang, he was actually different from Li Jue, Guo Si and others. He yearned more for life in the Central Plains and was tired of the bitter cold of Xiliang.
Jia Xu accurately grasped Zhang Ji's pulse. With just this sentence, Zhang Ji paid full attention to the matter of joining forces with Pingyuan.
After thinking about it, Zhang Ji ordered his people to summon Zhang Xiu and ordered his nephew to temporarily command the army for him, while he himself went straight to Tianshui City to see Dong Zhuo.
At this time, Dong Zhuo had lost all his previous ambitions and hunkered down in Tianshui City, trying his best to forget the existence of the Central Plains, and devoted himself to building a palace in Xiliang so that he could have the opportunity to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
If it weren't for Li Ru's every effort to dissuade him, Dong Zhuo, who had fallen into a paranoid state, would have proclaimed himself the Holy Emperor and become a real national thief.
Zhang Ji went to the city to see Dong Zhuo, but was led into a side room by Li Ru's orders.
There were already several people in the room. Zhang Ji raised the curtain and entered the room. The first thing he saw was his old acquaintance Dong Min.
Dong Min, also known as Shuying, is Dong Zhuo's younger brother.
This person has mediocre abilities, but he is quite self-aware. He has never been special in the Xiliang Group based on his special status. Instead, he actively helped his eldest brother Dong Zhuo to stabilize the morale of the army and win over the generals.
Dong Zhuo's four closest confidants were all on good terms with Dong Min, especially Zhang Ji, whose relationship with Dong Min was even more extraordinary.
In later generations, there are so-called four irons in life. They lived in the same window together, carried guns together, shared stolen goods together, and visited prostitutes together.
Zhang Ji and Dong Min fall into the fourth category.
In ancient times, there were legal brothels, and going there together was not considered a strong relationship.
The relationship between Dong Min and Zhang Ji is much closer, which is not enough for outsiders to understand.
Zhang Ji has a good nature, otherwise he would not have robbed Zou Yanran.
When Lin Feng sneaked into Luoyang and rescued Zou Yanran from Zhang Ji's house, the matter became an unresolved case. Zhang Ji still doesn't know whether his favorite Mrs. Zou is alive or dead.
After returning to Chang'an from Luoyang, Dong Min saw Zhang Ji looking worried. In order to comfort Zhang Ji, he cruelly sent his two beautiful concubines to Zhang Ji's house.
The two wore the same pair of boots, so their friendship was naturally different from others, and they became much closer in private.
When Mo Ming saw Dong Min in the house, Zhang Ji felt very strange.
He turned to look at Li Ru and asked, "Mr. Wen You, I came here to ask for an audience with the Grand Master. Why did you bring me to Shu Ying's place?"
Zhang Ji's meaning is obvious. I came to see Master Dong to discuss something. Why did you bring me to Dong Min's side? If something big is delayed and Master Dong is blamed, will it be yours or mine?
Dong Min stood up and laughed loudly, opening his arms to greet Zhang Ji.
"Lao Zhang, what's going on? Are you not happy to see me?"
Zhang Ji also laughed and went up to him. He and Dong Min hugged each other heavily, and at the same time they patted each other's shoulders and back vigorously to show their affection.
"How could I not be happy to see Shu Ying? It's just that I really have something important to do to meet the Grand Master. I originally planned to go to your house to bother you after meeting the Grand Master."
Dong Min pulled Zhang Ji to sit down, and after nodding to Li Ru, he took Zhang Ji's hands and said, "Old Zhang, it's not that I want to delay you on something important, I just have to say hello to you in advance.
"
Zhang Ji immediately smelled something inappropriate. Was there something going on in Tianshui City?
Seeing Zhang Ji secretly retracting his hands into his sleeves, Dong Min suddenly smiled bitterly.
Zhang Ji always hides two half-foot-long steel daggers in his sleeves for self-defense. Anyone who is familiar with him knows that this guy will not let him go except when he returns to his home or goes to a brothel to have fun.
The steel dagger left the body.
"Lao Zhang, don't be nervous, no
It’s something extremely important, but if you ignore it, it will definitely lead to catastrophe in the future.”
"What happened?"
Zhang Ji has been uniting his army in battles all year round, fighting in mountains of swords and seas of fire. Once he becomes serious, he will erupt with so much murderous aura that it will be suffocating.
Li Ru coughed lightly, sat aside and interjected: "General Zhang Ji, my lord has been in and out of consciousness during this period. I am afraid that he will not be able to continue to preside over Xiliang's military and political affairs in the near future."
Hey!
Zhang Ji took a deep breath.
Isn’t this a big deal?
Dong Zhuo is insane and has some signs of semi-madness. If it cannot be properly handled, either the Xiliang Group will fall apart and become a low-level force, or an iconic figure who can represent Xiliang will be re-elected after a bloody fight.
Neither Dong Min nor Li Ru could take over Dong Zhuo's mantle, but Dong Zhuo himself did not have any heirs. Although he had many wives and concubines, none of them could give him a son, and his daughters gave birth to eight or nine in a row.
indivual.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ji suddenly raised his head and looked at Dong Min: "Did Shuying have some ideas about the throne of the Grand Master?"
Dong Min smiled bitterly: "Old Zhang, my family knows my own affairs, and I can even weigh how many jins and taels I have. Let alone let me take charge of Xiliang, even if you give me a county and a city, I don't have the ability to manage it."
Very organized.”
Li Ru found that Zhang Ji had not even looked at him. Knowing that Zhang Ji was wary of him, Li Ru moved his buttocks and got closer to Zhang Ji. He raised his right hand to his chest and swore to God: "Someone
Li Ru Li Wenyou swears to God here that he will never betray the Dong family in this life, and will serve the Dong family as his master forever. If he violates this oath, he will not be able to reincarnate for a thousand tribulations, and his descendants will fall forever."
As soon as this poisonous oath was uttered, Zhang Ji no longer had any suspicion of Li Ru, and frowned as he looked back and forth between Dong Min and Li Ru.
"The Grand Master's mind is sometimes unclear. Instead of saying that you are looking for famous doctors to treat the Grand Master's illness, you secretly called me here. What are you planning to discuss?"
Dong Min covered his face with his hands in distress: "When my eldest brother woke up in the morning today, he didn't recognize anyone very well. At least two servants died under his sword. You entered the city suddenly without following orders. Wen You is suspicious.
You have other plans, so it shouldn’t be too much, right?”
Only then did Zhang Ji realize that he came at the wrong time today, as Dong Zhuo was ill.
On the contrary, Li Ru understood that Zhang Ji just happened to meet him, and he felt relaxed.
"General Zhang, please don't spread the news about the Grand Master's illness. Apart from people from the Dong family, there are only three people present at this matter, you and me."
Zhang Ji nodded, sighed and said: "Since the Grand Master is ill, what should we do if we join forces with Pingyuan to seek Hongnong?"
After listening to what Zhang Ji said, Li Ru stood up suddenly, came to Zhang Ji in one step, and asked with a trembling voice: "General Zhang, are you serious about what you just said? Did someone from Pingyuan contact you, or did you send someone