Cangyan Mountain, Xingshan Temple, the remnant sun is like blood.

Cangyan Mountain is located 30 miles northeast of Jingcheng Pass and 50 miles north of the Cotton River. The mountains are steep, the strange rocks are numerous, the valleys are deep and secluded, and the mountains are endless.

Xingshan Temple is a small temple on the mountain cliff, although the temple is small, the incense is very vigorous, legend, the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui Nanyang Princess became a nun here, and died here. Because of this legend, there is an endless stream of good men and women.

Xingshan Temple is built according to the mountain, as if it is suspended in mid-air, the bridge hall is built in the air between the east and west two cliffs, it is like a pavilion in the air, His Royal Highness is the abyss between the two cliffs, the whole building is ethereal, breathtaking.

"Tang system medal, military merits accumulated twelve turns, awarded the national pillar, is the second grade. Chao entered the Tang Dynasty for eight years, served in front of Wang Zhong's army, fought for thousands of miles, attacked Tubo, fought Xi people, destroyed the Turks, broke the Hui, no defeat, accumulated military merits eight turns, the court awarded me to the light car captain, is the fourth grade! ”

Chao Yongzhi leaned in front of the stone mountain gate of the bridge hall, pulled the loose cowhide wrist guard on his right arm, squeezed out a pool of blood, and flowed down his wrist to the long knife held in his right hand. The blood washed away the sludge from the blade, and the blade flashed a red, blinding reflection.

Bu Yunfei leaned against the stone pillar opposite Chao Yongzhi, subconsciously blinked his eyes, avoided the bloody sword light, and said casually: "Congratulations to the general!" ”

Chao Yongzhi is only in his early thirties, but he once had the senior rank of the fourth grade, according to him, a few years ago, he has become a senior general of the Tang Army, which is not only unique in the Tang Army, but also rare! At least, Bu Yunfei has seen high-ranking officials above the fourth grade, except for An Qingzong, the youngest is also in his fifties.

At this rate, if nothing else, Chao Yongzhi will be able to rise to the Shangguo Pillar before the age of forty, which is the highest rank of the Tang Army!

However, the current Chao is using it, but it is a white ding!

At the foot of the mountain, a listless black flag, in the cold wind, the flag opened weakly, revealing the word "Cai".

Chao Yongzhi shook the bloodstained shawl, ignored Bu Yunfei, and continued his self-talk:

"In the eighth year of Tianbao, the emperor plotted to attack the stone fort city of Tubo, the stone fort city was strong, the elite of Tubo, Wang Zhonghei wrote to admonish him, the emperor did not listen, and the king Zhonghei was dismissed, and Ge Shuhan replaced him, and the soldiers of Longyou besieged the stone fort, Chao led the troops as the vanguard, and the first battle was defeated under the stone fort city, three thousand soldiers, and most of the losses were lost. Cut the military merit for the second turn, awarded the cavalry captain, is the fifth grade, and sent to Jiannan Jiedu to serve in the army. ”

Chao Yongzhi stuck out his tongue and licked the blood that ran from his forehead to the corners of his mouth, and his voice was very calm, as if he was recounting an anecdote that had nothing to do with him.

"The general is not shocked!" Bu Yunfei muttered.

The battle of Stone Fort was a tragic victory of the Tang Army in the Western Regions, Stone Fort was an important bridgehead of Tubo in the Western Regions, in order to hold the Stone Fort, Tubo almost mobilized the elite of the whole country to gather in Shibao, although the Tang Army finally captured Shibao, but paid the price of 30,000 dead. Chao Yongzhi as a pioneer, encountered several times the elite of Tubo, and lost the first battle, which was originally reasonable, but because of this, he was demoted two levels in a row, and Bu Yunfei was very sorry for Chao Yong.

At the foot of the mountain, 3,000 armor soldiers gathered around the banner of the word "Cai". The front team, the rear team, the middle army, the left and right box armies, a team of fifty people, five steps down the camp, the infantry in the front, the crossbowmen in the center, the cavalry second. Swords and guns are unsheathed, and swords are rattling.

"In the summer and April of the ninth year of Tianbao, Chao followed the Jiannan Festival to make Xian Yu Zhongtong crusade against Nanzhao, and the soldiers went to the Xi'er River, and fought with Nanzhao Wang Ge Luofeng, Xian Yu Zhongtong did not listen to Chao's words, and drove into the Xi'er dangerous place, surrounded on all sides, the whole army was defeated, 60,000 soldiers and soldiers were wiped out, and only 2,000 soldiers and horses of Chao survived. Chao was stripped of his military merits three times and demoted to a flying cavalry captain, from the sixth grade! ”

The weather was too hot, the dirty blood on the long knife exuded a rancid smell, a group of flies fell on the long knife, Chao used it to shake the long knife, the flies scattered, and the dirty blood on the knife splashed Bu Yunfei's face.

"The general will hand over the canopy, but he doesn't have to worry about it." Bu Yunfei frowned and wiped the blood from his face.

The battle of the Xi'er River was an unjust battle that Yang Guozhong instigated Xian Yu Zhongtong to fight in order to seek military merits, and it was the same as An Lushan's initiative to attack the Tongluo Zhubu, both of which were despicable means to seek military merits. The difference is that Xian Yu Zhongtong is a straw bale, saying that stealing chickens does not make rice, and the war exploits were not fished, but led to the annihilation of the 60,000 Tang Army. Later, in order to cover up the defeat, Yang Guozhong insisted on saying that the annihilation of the whole army was a complete victory. It's just that this Chao used it, no one in the court spoke for him, and it was obvious that the whole army retreated, but he still became the general of the defeated army and the scapegoat for the battle of the Xi'er River!

On the slope in front of the mountain gate, the corpses were all over the field, and in the pile of dead bodies, a soldier with a spear on his back struggled to raise his head, the soldier's clothes and armor were already soaked with dirty blood, and he couldn't tell whether it was Fan Yangbing or Chang Shanjian, on his painful and distorted face, two empty eyes looked at Chao Yongzhi, and let out a faint moan: "General save me!" ”

Chao Yongzhi nodded, his wrist flicked, and the tip of the long knife plunged into the soldier's throat, and the soldier closed his eyes without saying a word, but his face was relieved.

Chao Yongzhi withdrew the long knife, and his voice was still as calm as ever: "In the eleventh year of Tianbao, Chao accompanied the Beiting to protect Cheng Cheng for thousands of miles to break the Turkic Absi, defeated the Absi army in a battle, and the army chased to the west of the moraine. Abs fled on his own, but Chao was ordered to pursue, but he got lost in the desert and let Abs escape. Chao lost the opportunity, cut the military merits three times, the military merits have been exhausted, and he can only flow out of the goods, lead the post of captain of the Longwu Military Academy, and serve the crime in the army! ”

There are a total of 12 levels of Tang Rank Honor, the highest level is the second rank of Shangzhu State, and the lowest level is from the seventh rank of the martial arts captain. This Chao used it, and in just eight years, it was promoted to the fourth grade, and in three years, it was lowered from the fourth grade to the outside of the stream, and it was downgraded by nine levels in a row, becoming a white ding!

There are three hurdles in the promotion of military attachés in the Tang Dynasty, the first hurdle, from the outside to the seventh grade, which can be regarded as entering the sequence of officers in the establishment. The second hurdle is the positive sixth grade, and ordinary people do not make any mistakes, and if they are promoted to the positive six grades, this life will be regarded as the end. Only a few of the best can go on to the top of their ranks. The third hurdle is the third grade, many people are promoted to the fourth grade, and they are already over half a hundred years old, and it is almost impossible to make military merits and continue to be promoted.

Chao Yongzhi is only in his thirties, just in the prime of life, after eight years in the Tang Army, he was promoted to the fourth grade, almost a year of promotion, it can be described as smooth sailing, not to say that it is unique, it is also rare. Speaking of which, this Chao used it with surprising luck.

But then again, in just three years, from the fourth grade to the outside of the stream, speaking of which, this Chao used luck is also surprisingly bad! This is a record in the Tang Army!

"The general is just starting all over again!" Bu Yunfei comforted insincerely.

A person who is out of exile and treats sin, if he wants to regain the future of the fourth grade, it is simply a fool's dream.

What's more, I'm afraid that Chao Yongzhi will never be able to get out of Cangyan Mountain again!

Cangyan Mountain has fallen into the siege of the rebels!

At the foot of the mountain, Cai Xide, a general dressed in Mingguang armor, rode on a war horse, waved the red flag, and the infantry of the front army held a long lance and moved forward in the whole team. The dense layers of lance tips emit a dazzling cold light in the sun.

The enemy is about to launch the fourth charge of the day.

In the first three charges, at least five hundred Fan Yang soldiers had fallen on the hillside in front of the bridge hall, but Cai Xide was unmoved!

An even more intense attack is about to begin!

In front of Chao Yongzhi, there is only one way: to die in Cangyan Mountain as Bai Ding!

Chao Yongzhi's voice was still so calm: "At the beginning, Chao followed General Wang Zhonghe, and he would win the battle!" General Wang was starved to death, and Chao played to the court with Bai Ding to avenge General Wang's grievances. The imperial court sent Chao to prison for the crime of trespassing, and one sentence was three years. Two years ago, Gao Lishi released Chao and asked Chao to serve in the Xiao Guard Army with Bai Ding. Chao thought that although he was Bai Ding, he could earn some military merits, so he agreed. ”

Bu Yunfei shook his head secretly, this Chao is used, and the fame is too heavy. If it were someone else, from the four products to the end, he would have been disheartened and returned to Longmu. But he really wants to start all over again, it's good to have ideals and ambitions, but he also has to do what he can, as a white ding who is used by Chao, he can mix with the seven products, even if it is an eye-opener! If you want to rise to the fourth grade again, it's a fool's dream!

"Don't fucking think that Lao Tzu is fascinated by fame, the fame of the Tang Dynasty, Lao Tzu looks down on it at all!" Chao Yongzhi saw through Bu Yunfei's thoughts, and let out a sneer: "Chao is sent by Japan to Tang. Back then, the shogun and Chao had an agreement that when Chao came to the Tang Dynasty, he had to obtain the six merits before returning to China. ”

Bu Yunfei nodded secretly. Japan admires the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, there is an unwritten rule, the envoy sent to the Tang Dynasty, if he does not achieve the fame of the Tang Dynasty, it is the biggest personal failure, back to Japan, from the shogun, down to the common people, will look down on him, and even his parents will be looked down upon. Therefore, the envoys who came to the Tang Dynasty were all diligent and hard-working, those who studied literature must participate in the Tang Dynasty scientific examination, those who studied martial arts must join the army to participate in the war, and even those who studied Buddhism must also participate in Buddhist debates and obtain fame.

Now, Chao Yongzhi has become a white ding, and he has no face to return to China to face his father and fellow villagers anyway. I had to start all over again, get military merits on the battlefield, and get the rank before I could return home. Otherwise, you can only look at your hometown for the rest of your life!

Bu Yunfei sympathized with Chao Yong's heart: "However, a few years ago, the general had already obtained the rank of Fourth Rank Medal, why didn't he go back at that time?" ”

At the foot of the mountain, there was a sudden roar like thunder, and the originally neat and majestic rebel phalanx scattered in all directions, and a row of black monsters emerged from behind the lancers, facing the bridge hall, like a row of mountain spirits and ghosts emerging from the ground.

The guards who were lying behind the gate of the bridge tower and the temple let out a lament.