Wen Huanzhang's surrender made Zhao Bufan feel good, but he was not in a hurry to make promises and arrangements, and when they sat down again, he led the topic to the current war.

"Mr. Wen, as you just said, I let the army enter Shouzhang County, I do have the intention of avoiding the Liangshan bandits from robbing the camp, but the bigger reason is that I really don't dare to enter the army, one is that I don't want to fight a war of attrition with the Liangshan bandits, we have few people, the other side has many people, and the officers and soldiers in the army are all elites who have followed me for a long time, and I don't want them to lose too much in the vicious battle. The second is that the complex terrain of Liangshan Shuibo is extremely unfavorable to us, even if we win, the other party can quickly get out, and it is impossible to effectively annihilate the main force of the bandits.

The third is that we really don't have the strength to forcibly capture Liangshan, so I asked the soldiers to retreat in Shouzhang County first to avoid losses in meaningless battles. In my opinion, this time to conquer Liangshan, or not to rush to fight, to fight will lead the other party to pour out of the nest, one blow to break the opponent's main force, otherwise this mere 5,000 people no matter how elite it is, it is very dangerous, so I have been thinking about the strategy of breaking the enemy for the past ten days, because I am not completely sure, so I have not acted. ”

As he spoke, Zhao Bufan looked at Gao Chong, Wu Song, Yan Qing and others who were listening attentively next to him, and saw that they showed a look of relief, so he smiled and continued: "I don't know if Mr. Wen has a clever plan to break through Liangshan?"

Speaking of the war, Wen Huanzhang's expression was very serious, and while Zhao Bufan was speaking, he kept holding the short beard on his chin, and only then shook his head after listening to everything quietly.

"Lord Zhongshu, my subordinates think that they can't expect to break the opponent's main force with one blow, the Liangshan bandits occupy a geographical advantage after all, and the number of people is also several times ours, and there are more naval strategies, no matter what strategy is used, there will be a lot of losses in the end, with our current situation, if Lord Zhongshu wants to break the enemy, it is inevitable to lure the Liangshan bandits out, but there is no need to break the enemy with one blow, you can take the strategy of encroachment, divide and attack it!"

"Cannibalization?" Zhao Bufan lowered his head and pondered.

Hu Sanniang, who was sitting next to him, saw that the two of you were talking to me, and said that the Liangshan bandits seemed to be at the mercy of the others, and couldn't help but interject and ask: "Little sister really can't understand, why are you so sure that the Liangshan bandits will take the initiative to fight?"

Although Liangshan is located in the extreme north of Shuibo, it is still surrounded by water on all sides, only Nanshan has a dry road that winds to the territory of Yuncheng County in the southwest, and according to the layout map of Liangshan drawn earlier, this Liangshan bandit set up a dry village at the foot of Nanshan, and stationed heavy troops, and there are two water villages in the southwest and southeast to deal with it, which can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack, why should they take the initiative to attack?"

Her questioning made Gao Chong, Wu Song, and Yan Qing all frown, and they all looked at Zhao Bufan, obviously not thinking about it.

Zhao Bufan was slightly stunned, he really didn't expect Hu Sanniang to be able to think of this level, and was about to open his mouth to respond, but he didn't expect Wen Huanzhang to suddenly laugh, and took the first step to take over and said: "Little sister Hu, since you have already thought that Liangshan is surrounded by water on all sides, and the terrain is extremely complex and dangerous, then think about it the other way, how can it not be a Jedi?"

"Jedi?" Hu Sanniang turned her head sideways, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly: "What does Mr. Wen mean is that we can cut off their contact with the outside world, cut off water and food, and force them to go down the mountain?"

When Yan Qing heard this, he immediately shook his head and said: "How is this possible, if there are 100,000 troops, it is okay, but we only have only 5,000 people, how can we do it? This Liangshan Shui Bo extends in all directions, there is Jishui in the north to connect to the Yellow River, and the waterway in the south is even more connected to many tributaries of the Huai River.

"Yan Xiaoyi has some truth!"

Gao Zhong also spoke out, he is also thinking about how to break the enemy these days, and he also knows the situation in Liangshan very well.

"I looked at the layout of Liangshan drawn in detail, this Liangshan is not a small mountain, it is a stretching mountain, there is a livestock breeding farm in their Wanzi City, maybe the livestock raised is limited, but a certain degree of meat supply can be done, not to mention that there are all kinds of fish in the water of 800 miles, their water army can go into the water to fish, plus the grain they have been looting all over the years, I am afraid it will be no problem to support it for two or three years!"

Seeing that several people were enthusiastically raising questions and taking the initiative to think about the battle situation, Zhao Bufan was very happy in his heart, and immediately asked with a smile: "You all say very reasonably, but the key point is, who told you that the Jedi can only be cut off from water and food?"

Gao Zhong and several people were stunned, completely stunned by Zhao Bufan's words.

Wen Huanzhang on the other side looked at Zhao Bufan with a smile, feeling that he wanted to cultivate a few people, so he smiled and said: "Generals, what Lord Zhongshu said just now means that people need not only food and water, but also many necessities that can be considered and utilized, you can think more about this!"

After he reminded him like this, Wu Song's eyes lit up instantly, and he suddenly spoke: "Wine! Many heroes in the green forest love wine, although there are also wine-making workshops on Liangshan, but they can't make good wine from grain storage, not to mention how dare they consume a lot of grain to make wine, after a long time, they must go ashore to buy wine!"

"Poof!" Zhao Bufan instantly squirted out the tea he had just drunk in his mouth, and coughed again and again.

"Isn't that right?" Wu Song was slightly embarrassed.

"No! no!" Zhao Bufan waved his hand again and again, because he didn't want to discourage Wu Song's enthusiasm, he held back his smile, and when he had recovered his strength, he said euphemistically: "This is indeed an aspect, but wine is not a must, and not everyone loves wine, it is better to think about it again, maybe there is something more urgently needed?"

"Could it be a woman? Most of the heroes in Liangshan are young and strong men, so it is impossible for them all to abstain, right?" Yan Qing often messed around in the brothel of the Qinglou, so he immediately thought of this, but soon even he couldn't help laughing, and said teasingly: "But it shouldn't be, where to find so many women to tempt them, three or five is not enough for them!"

Everyone was amused by him, and they all laughed out loud.

Hu Sanniang, who was already a woman, gave him a blank look, and scolded: "Yan Xiaoyi, are you deliberately joking?"

Yan Qing seemed to realize that Hu Sanniang was next to her, and immediately waved her hand awkwardly: "No, I just can't think of it for a while, by the way, you shouldn't have heard it!"

After a while, Zhao Bufan couldn't hold back a smile, still didn't blame anything, but said encouragingly: "Although it is outrageous, it may not be a road, the beauty plan has also existed since ancient times, if you do it well, you can use it to catch some of the people, but it is difficult to force everyone, you can ...... again"

"Salt! It's salt!" Gao Chong's voice suddenly sounded, and at this time, his eyes flashed, and he looked straight at Zhao Bufan. "The general is planning to cut off the salt road?"

In an instant, Wu Song, Yan Qing and Hu Sanniang all suddenly realized.

Zhao Bufan finally nodded approvingly, and said with a deep smile: "Yes, it's salt, maybe there are many other ways to force them out, including spreading diseases, controlling drugs, etc., but one of the mildest and most effective means is salt, people don't have the strength to eat salt, they will get sick, there are tens of thousands of people living on Liangshan, and there are countless amounts of salt consumed every day, I cut off their salt road, and they will all turn into soft-footed shrimp and come out, and they can be easily broken!"

Yan Qing thought for a moment and opened her mouth to ask, "What if they go out to buy salt from the waterway?"

"Ten days ago, I have already issued an order to the surrounding major military states, requiring a complete ban on navigation, there are a large number of people to monitor along each river, as long as there are boats on the river, regardless of the reason, they will be shot, and if the shooting is not closely monitored, mobilize local soldiers and horses to wait for them to go ashore and round them up, if their army is dispatched, then we will just set up an ambush and annihilate!"

Hu Sanniang followed up and asked, "But what if they secretly landed in the villages and towns near Shuibo and bought them at a high price from familiar villagers?"

"What's so difficult about this? Ordered all the military states to carry out the clearing of the wilderness, all the people were evacuated to other places, all forces were mobilized to control salt, and only the people were allowed to sell it to the people on a regular and quantitative basis, and the people themselves were barely enough to eat, all under strict control, how could they sell it?"

Having said this, Wu Song and the others were all impressed, and they all showed joy, obviously seeing the hope of a big victory.

How could I think that Wen Huanzhang suddenly got up and hurriedly persuaded: "Lord Zhongshu, my subordinates think that Jianbi Qingye's approach is not appropriate!"

"Huh?" Zhao Bufan looked over in surprise: "Why is it inappropriate?"

"This is the key to the subordinates' proposal earlier, the subordinates know that Lord Zhongshu wants to implement the strong wall and clear the wilderness, so that the Liangshan bandits are completely desperate, forcing them to take the initiative to attack, so as to set up an ambush to annihilate in one fell swoop, if it is conventional, this must be a good strategy, but the subordinates implore Lord Zhongshu to have mercy on the people, don't do this!"

Zhao Bufan was inexplicable when he heard these words.

"I didn't hurt the people, I just let them temporarily move to avoid trouble, and the food, clothing, and daily necessities during this period were also provided by the government, how could I hurt them?"

When Wen Huanzhang heard this, his face was slightly hesitant, as if he was scrupling about something.

Zhao Bufan saw his thoughts and waved his hand: "Don't be restrained in front of me, just say what you have to say, I won't blame you, what kind of person am I, I believe you have understood something during this time, and the officers and men in the army can also testify for me!"

After getting the promise, Wen Huanzhang finally put his mind at ease, put aside the scruples in his heart, and hurriedly continued: "Lord Zhongshu doesn't know, there are many faint officials and evil officials around Liangshan, and many people are forced to live because they can't survive, so they follow Song Jiang and others to become bandits, otherwise, no matter how capable he Song Jiang is, how can he let the good people who live and work in peace and contentment follow him to rebel?"

Wen Huanzhang's words stopped abruptly, obviously only half of what he said, but Zhao Bufan's brows became more and more wrinkled, and he thought for a while before he realized what he meant, and hesitated: "Do you mean to say that such a large-scale strong wall and clear the wilderness will create opportunities for those faint officials and evil officials, so that they can use it to oppress the displaced people on a large scale and forcibly seize them?"

Seeing that Zhao Bufan had already said what he didn't dare to say, Wen Huanzhang immediately continued: "What Lord Zhongshu said is very true, the so-called policies and countermeasures, no matter how Lord Zhongshu restricts, it is really chaotic, there is no way to investigate, and it is difficult to strictly control everything." These innocent people are bullied by faint officials and evil officials, and there are Liangshan thieves who destroy commerce and trade, threatening lives and property, and it is not easy to survive in this crack, and it is not easy for the people to survive in this crack, and it is for the benefit of the country and the people to beg for thieves, but if the measures are not appropriate, those faint officials and evil officials take the opportunity to mess around, I am afraid that it will make the adults hated by the people!"

"I understand what you mean!" Zhao Bufan nodded, thought carefully for a moment, and there was no good way to solve this problem, after all, now is not the time to purge the officials, and now has to put aside the matter of the faint officials and evil officials for the time being.

"Fortunately, Mr. Wen has thought it through, otherwise I would have almost put the people in dire straits, but if we don't clear the wilderness, even if we block the waterway, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no villagers who secretly provide salt for the Liangshan bandits, after all, many people in Liangshan are from the surrounding villages, and it is normal for people to be greedy for money, if the Liangshan bandits secretly buy salt from the people at a high price, our plan will be difficult to implement." ”

"Lord Zhongshu don't worry, his subordinates have already thought of a better way for Lord Zhongshu, and it is also the strategy that his subordinates said earlier to divide and attack and gradually encroach!" As he spoke, Wen Huanzhang saw Zhao Bufan's doubts on his face, and couldn't help but take a light step, walked in front of him and whispered in his ear, and said the plan in his heart one by one!

............

In the next half month, Zhao Bufan did not move, guarding the county seat of Shouzhang, which really made several leaders on Liangshan dumbfounded.

Wu Yong's long-time plan to rob the camp was completely frustrated, and all kinds of response arrangements were useless, Song Jiang convened the mountain leaders several times to discuss the matter, but no one could guess what the imperial court officials and soldiers were going to do, only that the officers and soldiers were stationed in Shouzhang County, more than 100 miles away, neither came to requisition nor withdrew, which was really weird.

On this day, many leaders gathered in Zhongyi Hall again and were arguing, but Bai Sheng, who was out to investigate, hurriedly ran in.

This Bai Sheng is nicknamed the White Sun Mouse, although he has some martial arts foundation, but he may not be able to beat the elite soldiers of the frontier in actual shots, but he is very smart, good at using poison, and has some small tricks. He was also one of the seven people who followed Chao Gai to intercept Liang Zhongshu's Shengchengang, at that time he pretended to be a wine seller, lured Yang Zhi and other guards who escorted Shengchengang to drink medicinal wine, turned them all over, and robbed them worth 100,000 yuan, and later followed Chao Gai to Liangshan and became one of the small leaders of the intelligence battalion.

At this moment, he rushed into the Zhongyi Hall in a hurry, and before Song Jiang could ask, he was already panicking and shouted: "Brother Song Jiang, the big thing is not good, Zhao Bufan secretly ordered all military states to block the rivers around Shuibo and completely ban navigation, but if a ship appears, it will be immediately executed as our brothers in Liangshan!"