Zhao Bufan took advantage of the prestige of Gao Zhong and Lu Junyi and others, and ordered five hundred guards cavalry to charge, and the soldiers and horses in the front of Liangshan, who had already been frightened, were defeated on all fronts, Gao Zhong and Shi Wengong took the lead and entered the defeated army, intending to take Song Jiang directly, but after all, it was a step too late, and Song Jiang was the first to withdraw under the escort of many leaders, and he could not catch up with him.

Soon, the main force of Liangshan in the distance sent six or seven phalanxes to reinforce it, and Zhao Bufan saw that there was no more opportunity, so he returned to the city with his soldiers.

Although this battle was only a small-scale tentative confrontation, and only one or two hundred bandits were killed, it greatly enhanced the confidence of the officers and men in defeating the Liangshan bandits, and at the same time dealt a heavy psychological blow to the Liangshan bandits, and their morale was seriously setback, which can be said to be a complete victory.

Back in the city, Gao Zhong, Lu Junyi and Shi Wengong, who had fought earlier, were all embraced by the soldiers, cheering around them, and crowding the vicinity of the city gate.

This joyful atmosphere played a very important role in stabilizing the morale and morale of the army, and Zhao Bufan also let them make trouble, while he quietly left the noisy crowd and went to arrange the next garrison matters, and at the same time asked the medical officer to take the seriously injured prisoner Li Ying for treatment.

After a while, he arranged the affairs on duty, and was about to return to the county office with Hu Sanniang to rest, but he didn't expect Lu Junyi to quietly leave the celebration team and rush over.

Because there was only Hu Sanniang beside him, and it was not a formal occasion, Zhao Bufan saw Lu Junyi hurriedly walking towards him, and immediately took the initiative to say hello: "Second master, you are not over there to celebrate with the soldiers, why did you come here?"

"I have something urgent to tell you!" Lu Junyi walked closer and looked around cautiously before he lowered his voice and continued: "Bufan, when I fought against Zhou Ang earlier, he had a secret conversation with me. ”

Zhao Bufan was slightly surprised, but he quickly figured out the situation on the battlefield earlier, and immediately smiled and said: "No wonder, I said how could Zhou Ang last so long in the hands of the second master, I thought he was hiding his strength earlier, it turned out that he had something to tell you." What's the matter? Could it be that Zhou Ang has the heart to surrender?"

"As you said, Zhou Ang really wants to surrender!" Lu Junyi nodded with a smile, and continued: "That Zhou Ang told me on the battlefield that he, Han Cunbao and others were framed and forced to fall into the grass, since he heard you say that he was not to blame for the past, he was moved, but he didn't dare to show it, because their family members are all in the mountains, and the slightest carelessness will cause the family to suffer, so he didn't dare to surrender openly for the time being, but he said that he would test Han Cunbao and Wang Huan's tone, and strive to unite to create opportunities for us secretly." ”

"It doesn't mean much!" Zhao Bufan waved his hand, with a relaxed smile on his face. "There are many factions on Liangshan, and many people are counting on the imperial court to recruit peace, even Song Jiang just wants to fight for greater capital, I have long known this from Xizuo, but now there are people who have the heart to return to obedience, most of them are the leaders who used to serve the imperial court, no matter what the reason, they basically dragged their families to Liangshan, and they have the burden of their families, so what they can do is very limited. ”

Lu Junyi thought about it, and felt that it was the same reason, and he regretted it a little at the moment.

"I knew this, I shouldn't have let Zhou Ang go back at that time, if I did my best, I might not be able to leave him on the spot!"

"Oh, it doesn't have to be!"

Zhao Bufan shook his head with a smile: "Zhou Ang would rather kill himself than fall into the grass, which shows that he is very courageous, and now it is the time to employ people, such a fierce general should not die in vain, and it is also a good thing to let him go back, at least it can shake the interior of Liangshan even more, and when I break Liangshan, naturally more people will be willing to take refuge in me, as for the internal and external cooperation, there is no need to be careless, but it will affect his whole family, why bother?"

"Since that's the case, then I'll go back over there to celebrate first, I'm a newcomer, don't let others think I'm arrogant!" Lu Junyi experienced that catastrophe, and his personality has really changed greatly, and he has obviously become much calmer and more cautious.

Seeing Lu Junyi go away, Zhao Bufan also returned to the county office, and came to the place where Li Ying was settled. "I've seen Lord Zhongshu!"

Zhao Bufan waved his hand, and while walking towards the door, he asked, "How is Li Ying?"

"He has deep internal strength and a strong body, although he has suffered a heavy blow and cannot move temporarily, but after all, it is a hard injury, and it will be good to raise it for two or three months!"

At the same time as the medical officer replied, Zhao Bufan had already strode to the door of the room, and without saying any more, he walked in directly.

At this time, Li Ying had already regained consciousness, and was originally staring at the roof in a daze, and only then sighed when he saw Zhao Bufan come in.

"Why did Lord Zhongshu spare my life?"

Zhao Bufan smiled faintly, sat down on the chair next to the bed with a big grin, and opened his mouth to say: "Master Li, I haven't seen you for a long time, how is it? How does it feel to be a bandit? But you are more at ease than when you were the owner of the village?"

"Is Lord Zhongshu here to laugh at me?" Li Ying's face was slightly annoyed.

Zhao Bufan waved his hand with a smile: "Okay! I don't have the time to laugh at you, I just want to persuade you to say a few words, this is not a long-term solution to be a bandit, you are also a wise and brave person, many things should be understood, how about it? If not, don't be a bandit, come to me to be a military capital, although it is not as good as the days when you were the owner of the big village, but it is better than being a bandit, even if you die on the battlefield, your family can also benefit, if your children are willing to join the army in the future, they can also directly make up for the officials!"

Li Ying was silent, and only sighed after a long time.

"Lord Zhao, if there is no way, who is willing to fall into the grass and become a coward, at the beginning, my family had a lot of wealth and countless fertile fields, what kind of bandit did I run to be a bandit for no reason?

"I don't want you to take refuge openly now, I will keep it secret for you before pacifying Liangshan, but I just need you to tell me how much salt is still on Liangshan first!" Zhao Bufan said with a smile.

"Salt?" Li Ying looked puzzled, thinking secretly for a long time, and horror gradually rose in those sharp eyes. "My lord, you want to cut off the salt road of Liangshan?"

"That's right, it's going to cut off the salt road in Liangshan, how about it?

Li Ying smiled bitterly: "My lord, your trick is too ruthless!"

"Are there Song Jiang and Wu Yong ruthless?"

"That's not as good!" Li Ying smiled faintly, took a deep breath, and looked at the beams of the roof again. "But there is no way for Leader Song to be ruthless, if he is not ruthless, the people on Liangshan will have no way to live, he is actually a very ambitious person, but he has embarked on the road of bandits, and there is no way to turn back, and his ability is not enough to support his ambitions, so he can only go sideways. ”

Zhao Bufan immediately waved his hand: "It doesn't matter to me whether he is good or bad, you just need to tell me your decision now!"

Li Ying thought for a moment and sighed: "I have one last request, I hope that the Lord will grant it!"

"Let's talk about it first!"

"If the leader of Liangshan is willing to surrender in the future, I hope that the lord will keep his earlier promise and not kill them all, although I also secretly resent many people on Liangshan, but I have been on Liangshan for so long, and I also know many brothers who share weal and woe, and I really don't want to harm them because of me. ”

"I never break my word, as long as I am sincere, I will never blame the past, but in the future, I must abide by the law, whoever dares to act in vain, I will be punished according to the law, and if I resist stubbornly, I will never show mercy!"

"This is nature!" Li Ying smiled at the corners of his mouth with difficulty, and finally put aside his inner scruples, and slowly told everything he knew, including the amount of salt and the purchase channels, as one of the money and grain managers of Liangshan, he knew almost all the situations in all aspects of Liangshan.

Zhao Bufan listened quietly, and waited for Li Ying to finish explaining the situation on Liangshan in detail, then he got up with a smile and walked out the door.

"Master Li Zhuang, you can recuperate with peace of mind first, and after pacifying Liangshan, you will be the military capital Yu Hou, follow me in the future!"

Li Yingru, who had gone through twists and turns, was relieved, as if he had completely unloaded the boulder that was pressing on his heart, and smiled slightly, but because the injury was relatively serious, he couldn't get up to see him off, so he just looked sideways at Zhao Bufan's back and said: "Then thank you first, I only hope that your lord will keep his promise and treat Liangshan's brothers who are sincere!"

"Don't worry, I won't break my promise!" Zhao Bufan waved his hand without looking back, and walked away.

In the next few days, Song Jiang launched several rounds of strong attacks on Shouzhang County, intending to take Shouzhang County with the advantage of troops, but he and Wu Yong and others had limited areas of activity, and they had never seen the real elite soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, which can be said to be a mistake in cognition.

This is not the local box soldiers, nor the pampered forbidden army stationed near Tokyo, it is the soldiers and horses that Zhao Bufan worked hard to build, and the soldiers and horses that were boiled out in the bitter cold northern Xinjiang, although the experience of the war may not be as good as the elite of the Western Army who fought with the Western Xia all the year round, but the superb force and strict military discipline are still excessive, not to mention the personal command of Zhao Bufan.

In a few days, the Liangshan bandits did not even rush up the city wall, and in the face of accurate crossbows and bows and arrows, the casualties were extremely heavy, even if they wanted to rush to the city, they had to pay a great price, but when they finally began to set up ladders to attack the city, dense rolling stones and hot oil and boiling water were sprinkled on their heads.

At the same time, Gao Chong, Lu Junyi, Shi Wengong, Yang Zhi and Hu Sanniang and others were also on standby, whenever the Liangshan bandits rushed to the city, they would lead the two cavalry of the Guards Battalion and the Feifeng Battalion to go out from other city gates, and go around the flank and rear of the siege infantry to launch an assault, making them uncomfortable.

Because the two battalions of cavalry only charged around the city wall, and were only responsible for dispersing the infantry attacking the city, Song Jiang and Wu Yong were also helpless, if they sent cavalry to block it, then before they rushed to the city, it was a rain of arrows, and the guards battalion and the Feifeng battalion also retreated to avoid, but let the cavalry of Liangshan become a live target, and suffered losses in vain.

In six days, the Liangshan bandits left more than 5,000 corpses outside Shouzhang City, but they did not even touch the battlements on the city wall, and their morale was extremely low.

Zhao Bufan could have taken the opportunity to defeat the remaining more than 15,000 people, but in order to avoid too many casualties, he still chose to give up, just standing at the head of the city and watching them leave, with a faint disappointment in his eyes.

Yang Zhi next to him saw that he was not in good spirits and felt a little puzzled.

"Your Excellency, we have won a great victory, but you are not very happy, but what worries you are in your heart?"

"What's the worry, now that I've won the battle, I'm naturally happy in my heart, it's just a little boring!" Zhao Bufan smiled lightly, without explaining too much, gently shook off the dragon pattern robe, and walked down the city.

"Boring?" the generals looked at each other, all a little inexplicable.

Only Wen Huanzhang looked at Zhao Bufan's distant back, and sighed with a smile: "Lord Zhongshu is really a well-deserved famous general, how many people in the Great Song Dynasty can have such courage today!"

Yan Qing looked at him in surprise: "Mr. Wen, what do you mean by this?

Wen Huanzhang said with a smile: "Lord Zhongshu was disappointed in the fragility of the Liangshan bandits just now, as a commander, of course he is intellectually eager to win easily and reduce the casualties of the soldiers, but as a famous general in the world, he is also emotionally bored with this kind of easy victory, this is like you masters competing with children, it is naturally good to win, but what is the meaning of winning a child?"

The generals who were originally rejoicing in the victory all fell silent, quietly looking at Zhao Bufan's distant back, with admiration in their eyes!

Gao Chong stood still for a long time, his eyes were very complicated, and it wasn't until Wen Huanzhang was about to turn around and leave that he couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Wen, if the Liangshan bandits want to attack us, what do they need to do?" My Great Song Dynasty is the most outstanding with bows and crossbows and infantry, and has always been the best at defense, and the Liangshan bandits don't have enough large-scale siege equipment, so there is almost no possibility of capturing us, at least I can't think of a way, and since Lord Zhao will be disappointed, obviously he should have a way in his heart!"

Wen Huanzhang paused, looked back at him, and said with a meaningful smile: "Our disadvantages are countless, how can there be no way, the more Lord Zhao pays attention to something, then what is the way to defeat us!"

When the words fell, Wen Huanzhang didn't say much, turned around and left, leaving only the generals frowning and thinking hard......

In the following days, most of the soldiers were idle, and they did not get orders for half a month, but they were just stationed in Shouzhang County, but in fact, the generals in the army had already taken turns to go out with elite soldiers, and even Zhao Bufan himself had already left Shouzhang, leaving only a few generals such as Su Ding to stay in the county town and be responsible for the garrison.

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

Tokyo Kaifeng, Privy Council!

Tong Guan, who was sitting on the Taishi's chair, looked at the secret letter in his hand, so angry that his hands were trembling, and when he finished reading the letter, he couldn't help but scold: "Zhao Bufan, this kid is really alive, with only 5,000 people, let Liang Shan lose his troops and lose his generals, and if he goes on like this, will he pay it back?"

When the words fell, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly shouted at Shen Hanyang beside him: "Inform the Shura Ghost to stop all the affairs in his hands and rush to Yunzhou in person, no matter what, he must try to reveal Zhao Bufan's movements to Liang Shan, and secretly assist Liang Shan to defeat Zhao Bufan!"

"Yes!"

Shen Hanyang bowed his head and retreated quietly.