Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 174 The Golden Statue Used by the Xiongnu for Sacrificing to Heaven! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, after Zhou Yi finished studying the Taoist scriptures, he habitually opened his black notebook and discovered that his merits were actually increasing rapidly.

At first glance, it looked like twelve taels, but in the blink of an eye, it became twelve taels and two mace, then twelve taels and four mace...

This was the first time in a long time that he had discovered that the merit number could change in this way, like wearing a buff ring in a game.

As you move your gaze downwards, lines of notes appear:

Huo Qubing executed members of the Xiongnu royal family and the Chanyu's wife, earning him +2 merit points.

Huo Qubing executed Luogubi, a member of the Xiongnu royal family and uncle of Yizhixie, earning him +2 merit points.

Huo Qubing executed Jiruo Houchan, the grandfather of the Xiongnu royal family member Yizhixietang, and his merits increased by 2.

Huo Qubing executed Ayimei, the elder sister of Yizhixie, a member of the Xiongnu royal family; merit +2.

【…】

The constant stream of notes made Zhou Yi somewhat puzzled. Had he stumbled upon the heart of the Xiongnu royal family?

He was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening:

"Oh, so the Battle of Dingxiang North has broken out!"

Zhou Yi picked up a history book from the bookshelf and turned to the record of the Battle of Dingxiang North.

The Battle of Dingxiang in history can be divided into two phases. The first phase was in March when Wei Qing went beyond the Great Wall but failed to find the main force of the Chanyu. Instead, he encountered Zhao Xin and Su Jian. One surrendered and the other fought off all his men and fled back to the camp alone. The morale of the Han army was dampened, and they had no choice but to return to Dingxiang to rest.

In May, they launched another attack, killing many Xiongnu people. Huo Qubing shone brightly, not only sweeping away the gloom of Su Jian's defeat, but also killing 2028 people with 800 troops, many of whom were Xiongnu nobles. His achievements were the greatest in the entire army.

Zhou Yi carefully checked the list of those who fought in the Battle of Dingxiang North and found that it was not quite the same as the notes in his notebook.

For example, the Chanyu's wife, who was captured during the Hexi Campaign and not killed, died prematurely at the hands of Huo Qubing.

There's also Yizhixie's older sister, Ayimei, whose only notable historical role was marrying Zhao Xin, who rebelled against the Xiongnu.

Yesterday, Zhao Xin was blasted to smithereens by Huo Qubing's protective divine lightning. Unexpectedly, his destined wife also died at Huo Qubing's hands tonight... The two of them embraced.

The discrepancies in the death list suggest that the outcome of this battle will surpass that of the historical Battle of Dingxiang North. It remains to be seen how much merit will be gained from this great battle.

Zhou Yi hopes to reach one jin (500 grams) soon so he can see what Taoist arts he can exchange for.

He was about to go to sleep, but Huo Qubing's great victory had stirred his emotions and made him wide awake. After thinking for a moment, he got up and went outside, raising his hand to knock on Wu Meiniang's door:

"Meiniang, are you resting?"

Wu Meiniang, dressed in her pajamas, opened the door, a hint of confusion on her pretty face:

"I'm reading a book. Is there something you need, Immortal Master?"

The Book of Changes says:

"The Battle of Dingxiang North has broken out. Come with me to the Wucheng King's Palace to pray for Huo Qubing and Wei Qing."

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the Temple of Taigong Shangfu was established to specifically worship Jiang Taigong and famous generals of past dynasties.

During the reign of Emperor Suzong, Jiang Ziya was posthumously honored as King Wucheng, and the Taigong Shangfu Temple was renamed the Wucheng King Temple, with a status equivalent to that of the Wenxuan King Temple of Confucius. Ten famous generals from various dynasties served as attendants in the sacrificial rites, which are known as the Ten Sages of the Temple of Martial Arts.

The Ten Sages of Martial Temple vary slightly from period to period. For example, Bai Qi was worshipped in the Tang Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin felt that a scoundrel who killed prisoners was not worthy of receiving incense offerings, so he kicked him out.

Wu Qi was also kicked out: His failure to observe mourning for his mother was unfilial, his killing of his wife for a generalship was inhumane, and his serving three different lords was disloyal. How could such a disloyal, unfilial, and inhumane person deserve the offerings of our Great Song Dynasty? Kicked out!
Furthermore, Han Xin, who was hailed as the God of War, was seen by Zhao Kuangyin as having treacherous intentions and not being respectful enough to the emperor, so he was also stripped of his right to receive incense offerings at the Temple of Martial Arts... Speaking of which, is the Temple of Martial Arts still a Temple of Martial Arts without the God of War?
As people leave, others come. After Zhao Kuangyin kicked out the old man, he added Guan Zhong, Fan Li, and Guo Ziyi to the ranks of the Ten Sages, who would enjoy the blessings of their ancestors for generations.

Judging from this lineup, Bai Qi, Wu Qi, and Han Xin, who were kicked out, are obviously more capable of fighting.

As for the sixty-four generals who stood behind the Ten Sages, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Deng Ai, Du Yu, Sun Bin, and Lian Po, they were also expelled from the Temple of Martial Arts by Zhao Kuangyin due to their moral character.

Old Zhao dismissed twenty-two famous generals in one go and even set a rule that they could not be added or removed. But after Zhao Ji came to power, he directly changed the list of military generals back to that of the late Tang Dynasty, trampling on Zhao Kuangyin's rules.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the old faction started to harass the Temple of Martial Arts again, kicking out anyone with a stain on their record. In the end, even Zhao Chongguo was dragged out to serve as a figurehead for the Ten Sages... If the kicked-out generals were put together for a team fight, they could probably beat the Ten Sages to a pulp.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of Martial Arts was abolished, and the Temple of Literature became the dominant institution. The concepts of the Temple of Martial Arts and the Ten Sages became increasingly blurred. Many modern people don't even know that King Wu Cheng is Jiang Ziya, and they even seriously analyze online why Jiang Ziya was not selected as one of the Ten Sages of the Temple of Martial Arts, which is quite ironic.

Entering the Hall of King Wucheng, the layout is the same as that of the Hall of King Wenxuan. There is only a statue of Jiang Ziya, without the Ten Sages, or the Sixty-Four or Seventy-Two Generals.

In the very center of the main hall stood a statue of Jiang Ziya, holding a command flag in one hand and a military treatise in the other. Were it not for his military attire, he would have looked not much different from Confucius next door. Wu Meiniang said:
"Confucius holding a sword, Jiang Ziya holding a book, the statues my grandfather made are really extraordinary."

Zhou Yi wiped the offering table clean with a rag and placed the prepared fruit offerings on it one by one:

"Grandpa believes that the descendants of the Chinese nation should be proficient in both literature and martial arts, and should not be biased... Next time, let Zhao Xu come and pay his respects as well, so as to raise the status of the generals of the Song Dynasty."

After setting out the offerings, the two men held incense and bowed to Jiang Ziya, praying for a successful battle in Dingxiang North.

After it was over, Wu Zetian asked:
"Master, can we capture the Xiongnu Chanyu Yizhixie in this battle?"

Zhou Yi shook his head:

"That's not important. The Xiongnu have a strong national fortune. Even if we capture Yizhixie, the Xiongnu will quickly put forward a new Chanyu. We need to find a way to break their backbone. That's the most important thing."

Wu Zetian said:
"Two pinnacles of Chinese culture have come to the Hall of King Wenxuan. I wonder what kind of historical figures will come to the Hall of King Wucheng. I am quite looking forward to it."

This question really stumped Zhou Yi.

Logically, a military general should have come, but the statue my grandfather made is shaped like someone holding a book, meaning someone who is both scholarly and martial, which narrows down the possibilities, but there are still options.

For example, Yue Fei was capable of both martial prowess, which forced the Jin soldiers to retreat to Kaifeng City and dare not fight back, and literary talent, which produced masterpieces like "Man Jiang Hong".

There's also Xin Qiji, a fierce general who could easily capture traitors from the Jin army camp. His grumbling words written when he was bored have even become poems that middle school students are required to memorize.

In addition, Wang Shouren, who was also known as a thinker, military strategist, writer, and educator, was proficient in suppressing rebellions, bandit suppression, writing books, and establishing schools of thought. He was known as a "hexagonal warrior".

There are many people to choose from, but it's unclear who will come to Hunyuan Palace through the Wucheng King's Hall. Zhou Yi thinks it's best to take some time to clean up the Wucheng King's Hall together and then discuss who would be the most suitable to come.

On the northern grasslands of Dingxiang, shouts of battle rose from all sides.

Li Ju led tens of thousands of cavalrymen to rout the Xiongnu and then charged straight into the Xiongnu camp.

Huo Qubing led his troops to begin massacring the scattered Xiongnu soldiers. These remnants were terrified and, if not killed off, they might regroup and turn the tables.

In large-scale military operations, formation is crucial; the more chaotic the formation, the more devastating the defeat. That's why great generals who have made a name for themselves in history have always placed military discipline first.

What Huo Qubing needs to do now is to prevent the Xiongnu from recovering their composure, to make them increasingly chaotic, until in the end they become easy targets.

Just as Li Ju's cavalry was about to storm the Xiongnu camp, a newly assembled Xiongnu cavalry force blocked their path. The two sides clashed fiercely on the grassland next to the camp, using the firelight as a backdrop.

However, the Han army had conducted night training, and with the firelight illuminating their path, they were in high spirits and maintained the upper hand.

Conversely, the Xiongnu, who could only fight when the wind was favorable, were increasingly unable to keep up with the pace. Although their formation was not yet in disarray, they clearly could not hold out for long.

At this time, Gongsun He's vanguard had already engaged with the Xiongnu scouts, and shouts of battle filled the air.

Yizhixie, who was in command at the camp, was shocked. He could have retreated to the Daqingshan area by dawn, but the Han army launched a night attack and did not give him that opportunity.

Several ministers advised Izhixie to quickly lead his army to break out from the northeast, as things were too chaotic now and they could only preserve their strength for the time being.

But Yi Zhixie felt that since there were Han troops in the northwest and southeast, there should also be troops along the diagonal line from the northeast to the southwest.

He wanted to organize a counterattack, but in the pitch black, there was no way to start. The Huns had no night fighting capabilities, and a rash counterattack would only increase casualties.

Moreover, Wei Qing has yet to appear, which clearly indicates that the great general is nearby. Once he is surrounded, the situation will be disastrous.

In search of a way out, Yizhixie stepped out of the main tent, came to the center of the camp, knelt down in front of a golden statue, and begged for guidance from the gods.

This golden statue is the Hunnic people's sacrificial golden figure. It is one zhang tall according to the Han dynasty system and is made entirely of bronze. Before the bronze oxidizes and rusts, it appears golden, hence the name "golden figure".

The Han Dynasty had already entered the Iron Age, while the Xiongnu's main weapons were still bronze.

At this moment, a sentry reported that Han troops had also been spotted in the southwest. Upon hearing this, Yizhixie did not hesitate any longer and immediately led the main force of the camp around the towering fire and fled north.

At midnight, Han troops from all directions converged on the Xiongnu camp, capturing countless weapons and armor, and taking prisoners so many that they could not be seen in the distance.

Huo Qubing had been stabbing for several hours straight, and his arms were so sore he could barely lift them, but he was full of energy and didn't feel tired at all.

He put on a headlamp and rode his horse leisurely through the Xiongnu camp. He inadvertently arrived at the very center of the camp and saw a solitary golden statue standing on an altar. He immediately rubbed his eyes, then took off his headlamp and looked at it from left to right, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.
"Ha, the gift I promised to give to my mentor has finally arrived!"

(End of this chapter)