It is said that Zhao Chen confidently went to the mountains and woods northwest of Kaiyang City to arrest Zang Ba and others, but found that he had pounced, and on the way back, he was ambushed and lost many brothers.

After returning to Kaiyang, Zhao Chen inadvertently flipped through the county records and found that it was not only himself who was attacked in the air, but also in many previous battles against bandits.

Zhao Chen thought about it for a long time and suddenly understood the reason for this defeat.

There must be a fine work in Kaiyang City!

Thinking deeply, Zhao Chen suddenly realized, and only then did he understand why Zang Ba could be so tough in the face of Cao Cao in history.

It was he who underestimated Zang Ba.

Cao Cao had attacked Changfeng (also known as Changba) five times in vain, and it was the Taishan group behind him that he was afraid of.

The scope of activities of Taishan Group is basically in the areas of Beihai, Langya, Taishan and Donghai, which is equivalent to the junction of Qinghai, Xu and Yanzhou.

Zang Ba and others existed for a long time as an independent force in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Cao Cao was reluctant to bother to exterminate Zang Ba, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

Zang Ba and others have lived near Mount Tai for a long time, and they are deeply rooted and very familiar with the surrounding terrain and humanities, and it is basically impossible to uproot them. And out of the Mount Tai area, Zang Ba and others lost their natural barrier, so Zang Ba and others also knew each other very well, so they stayed near Mount Tai and didn't go anywhere.

Even if Cao Cao later used them to resist Yuan Tan in the north and balance Xuzhou, they didn't care.

In the end, after Cao Cao obtained the four prefectures of Qing, Hebei, Yan, and Xu, he could only appoint his henchmen on the boundary of Zang Ba and others' sphere of activity by besieging but not attacking, cutting off Zang Ba and others from the outside world, and forcing Zang Ba and others to surrender.

After Cao Cao died, Zang Ba and others went back to the Taishan area.

Therefore, if you want to defeat the Taishan Group represented by Zang Ba here, there is only one way, to capture the thief and capture the king first.

Zhao Chen figured out the truth, and he had a calculation in his heart.

He called Zhang Fei and Chen Dao, gave him two instructions each, and the two left in a hurry to prepare.

Then he called Cheng Yu and told him his thoughts.

Cheng Yu said with a smile: "This method is still soft-hearted!" ”

Zhao Chen smiled awkwardly: "It's enough to deter the entire Kaiyang." ”

In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Chen ordered: "Send troops today, with the whistle as the signal." ”

Zhang Fei led the soldiers at the gate of Kaiyang City to wait for troops at any time.

But when it got dark, I didn't see Zhao Chen blowing the whistle.

The soldiers discussed one after another, whether Zhao Chen had forgotten, or whether Zhao Chen had experienced a failure and did not dare to send troops again.

In short, the gossip that had been circulating in the army before began to spread in the army at this time.

Zhang Fei didn't care about it for the first time, just sat on the horse, his eyes staring ahead.

After a long time, a team of men came not far away.

The leader is Chen Dao.

Zhang Feize immediately stepped forward and hurriedly asked, "Did you catch it?" ”

Chen Zhi pointed to the person behind him and said with a smile: "General Zhang, please look!" ”

Zhang Fei glanced at Chen Zhi behind him, and laughed: "Look where he Zang Ba is hiding now!" ”

Chen Zhi immediately led the people behind him to the county office, and Zhang Fei turned around and shouted loudly to the soldiers: "Those who were not here before, go and get the ten army sticks by yourself!" After that, all the soldiers went to the county government and waited for the military division to arrange. ”

The soldiers who had chatted happily before were now surprised, so they had to obediently go and get the baton.

Above the county government hall, Zhao Chen sat in front of the table, and Lu Xun came out from behind him and said, "The military advisor has an order, interrogate immediately!" ”

Chen Zhi brought the two arrested people to the hall and asked why the two of them were reporting the news!

When the two saw that Zhao Chen was a young man in his twenties, they didn't pay attention to it at all, and refused to admit in the face of Zhao Chen's questioning.

They thought that Zhao Chen had no witnesses and no physical evidence, so they must have nothing to do with them.

Liu Bei has always flaunted benevolence and love for the people, and his soldiers will never go against the will of the lord and destroy Liu Bei's reputation.

Seeing the two of them standing arrogantly in the hall, they kept saying that they were wronged, and they also deducted Zhao Chen from the charges of oppressing the people and framing the innocent.

Chen Zhi on the side beat the two of them angrily, and then led the army on his own.

Cheng Yu was looking at Zhao Chen, seeing how he was dealing with this thorny problem.

Zhao Chen didn't seem to take it to heart, stopped Chen Dao, and confirmed to the two of them again and again: "Do you refuse to admit that you have fornicated with Zang Ba and other thieves?" ”

"Absolutely not!"

"Okay, in that case, come here, and the punishment will be served!"

Zhao Chen was very decisive, and regardless of the crying of the two, he asked people to take out all the torture instruments that could be used in the prison and place them in the lobby in turn.

Then several soldiers rushed over and pressed the two of them on the torture bench.

This move gave Cheng Yu a new understanding of Zhao Chen, he thought that Zhao Chen would not really do it, after all, it was a move that damaged Liu Bei's reputation, but he didn't expect that Zhao Chen did not hesitate at all, and really had the potential to become a general.

Where have the two of them seen such a posture, looking at the various torture instruments, they have long been frightened and their feet tremble.

Seeing that he was about to be pressed to the torture bench, one of them couldn't help it, and immediately kowtowed and confessed.

When they were bought by thieves, how they reported to them, how they collected their shares, etc., Zhao Chen asked Lu Xun to write them down one by one.

During the interrogation, there was a small episode, which shocked Zhao Chen.

After the two confessed, they should be taken to prison.

But the two of them didn't obey each other, they were only willing to stay in Zhao Chen's barracks, and nothing else would go.

Zhao Chen asked suspiciously: "What's the difference between my military camp, do you have to stay?" ”

The two expressed their worries, because they were afraid that their families would be looted by bandits after being caught.

Zhao Chen wondered, he had already considered the problem of meticulous work, only a few people knew about this operation, and he ordered Zhao Chen to follow them secretly, and they were all masked when they were brought back, how could they be known by thieves far away in the mountains?

After careful questioning, I learned that these thieves were all locals before they fell into the grass, and they basically had their own families in various places, only because there were too many of them, and there were Zang Ba and others behind them as support, the local officials did not dare to touch them at all.

Zhao Chen suddenly realized, got up and comforted them and said: "Don't worry, I have my own way, you can stay in this military camp with peace of mind, if you want, follow the army to suppress the bandits." ”

The two kowtowed and thanked him, and followed Chen to report to the barracks together.

Lu Xun on the side saw the two of them go away, so he asked Zhao Chen: "Sir, I am afraid that this matter involves a large number of people, if it is eradicated one by one, it is very likely to cause a civil uprising, causing unnecessary trouble, if it is impossible to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, it will affect the army to suppress bandits, which is a tricky matter." ”

Zhao Chen smiled with relief: "Bo Yan has seen through the key points at a glance, and he is already ahead of everyone. ”

Listening to Zhao Chen's praise, Lu Xun didn't twist at all, just stood upright, and smiled on his face.

I have to say that Lu Xun was able to calm down before the company burned down the camp, thanks to his character, calm and tenacious, and now at the age of fourteen, he shows such a posture, and his future is limitless in time.

Zhao Chen looked at Lu Xun with satisfaction, and Cheng Yu on the side cast envious eyes.

"Bo Yan, Zhong De, if you want to solve this matter, you only need one way."

"How?"

"Have you heard of ten cards?"