Chapter 322. The Flawed Emperor— Abul, Commissioner of the Hunting Grounds
A short while later, Abul arrived.
He was Commander of the Central Army now, but originally he had served as Commissioner of the Hunting Grounds.
His duties had once been to oversee the emperor's hunting grounds, the guards around the traveling palace, the horses, and the arrangements for encampment.
Yet Emperor Tianzuo had appointed him Commander of the Central Army and entrusted him with one hundred thousand Khitan and Han troops.*
"On the day bingyin, Abul, Commissioner of the Hunting Grounds, was appointed Commander of the Central Army, with Yelü Zhangganu as Military Inspector, and they were ordered to lead one hundred thousand Khitan and Han troops."
A man who had managed hunting grounds had become commander of the central army almost overnight.
That single appointment revealed how heavily Emperor Tianzuo's military appointments depended on men from his immediate circle.
Abul had grown accustomed to life beside the emperor.
He knew the lamps of the traveling palace better than the dust of battle, and he watched the end of the emperor's words more closely than the breathing of soldiers.
He knew exactly which direction Tianzuo wanted to look while hunting, which horse he wished to ride, and when he wanted to hear praise.
Before learning to read the wind for an arrow, he had learned to read the emperor's face.
He was diligent.
When the emperor moved, Abul opened the road ahead.
When the emperor wished to rest, he prepared tents, wine, and food.
The position of Commissioner of the Hunting Grounds suited such a man.
He was skilled at moving horses, attendants, tents, and wagons according to the emperor's wishes.
That was why Tianzuo found him convenient.
When Abul was nearby, hunts proceeded smoothly, the traveling palace remained orderly, and the emperor's wishes were carried out quickly.
But the order of a hunting ground and the order of a battlefield were different things.
On a hunt, one blocked the paths by which animals might flee, positioned beaters, and kept the emperor's shooting ground clear.
On a battlefield, the enemy thought for itself.
Commanders wavered.
Provisions arrived late.
Horses tired.
Tribal forces changed their minds according to their own interests.
Abul was poor at seeing such complicated movements as one whole.
When he was appointed Commander of the Central Army, he showed great emotion in public.
Before the emperor, he prostrated himself deeply and swore loyalty.
Before the generals, he raised his voice and read out military orders.
Yet his commands often went no further than repeating the emperor's wishes.
When asked which road should be blocked, which force should be withdrawn, or which tribal commander needed to be appeased, he first thought of the emperor's face.
While he searched for the answer His Majesty would prefer, the answer the battlefield required came late.
The generals feared Abul, but they did not follow him out of trust.
Everyone knew that he was close to the emperor.
The emperor's authority stood behind his words.
So men lowered their heads inside the command tent and observed proper form when receiving his orders.
Once outside, however, their expressions changed.
The skill of managing men on a hunting ground was not the same as the skill of placing one hundred thousand Khitan and Han soldiers on a battlefield.
Abul was quick at handling people and slow at reading armies.
He noticed immediately when the emperor's wine cup was empty, but learned late when a unit's fodder was running short.
He saw anger forming on the emperor's face before anyone else, yet rarely looked deeply enough to notice tribal commanders changing their calculations in silence.
Problems arising in the lower levels of the army reached him only after reports had worked their way upward.
That was why there was something strange about the atmosphere inside Abul's command tent.
There were many orders.
The procedures were complicated.
Everyone seemed busy.
Yet the larger direction was often unclear.
Abul tried to handle everything diligently.
He received reports, asked again, sent men out, and confirmed the emperor's wishes.
That very diligence made everything take longer.
Whenever a decision had to be made, he wanted one more confirmation.
By the time the answer came back, the situation on the battlefield had already changed.
"Loyalty. Your servant Abul has come in answer to Your Majesty's summons."
The emperor took Abul by the shoulders and raised him.
His grip tightened.
There was more desperation than trust in the gesture.
"I must make a brief journey to the Supreme Capital.
"I will move in secrecy. Prevent unrest in the camps and hold the present battle line."
Abul bowed deeply.
"Loyalty. I shall repay Your Majesty's trust."
The emperor looked toward Xiao Fengxian.
His expression seemed almost to say, See?
I still have men I can trust.
Xiao Fengxian swallowed a deep breath.
Things were different now from a time when the emperor's personal guards stood nearby and major commanders of the imperial clan remained firmly in place.
Once the emperor left, what remained behind was an encampment of seven hundred thousand men.
Tribal troops, Khitan soldiers, Han troops, commanders gathered from every region, provision wagons, fodder stores, and the roads through the sprawling camp were all tangled together.
Abul had his uses at the emperor's side.
He knew how to open roads through the hunting grounds, raise tents at the traveling palace, and prepare what the emperor wanted before he asked for it.
But such talents could not hold together a great army.
A man already overburdened by command of one hundred thousand troops was about to have the weight of the entire imperial encampment placed upon him once the emperor departed.
Xiao Fengxian looked at Abul's bowed back.
That man knew how to please the emperor.
He knew what His Majesty wanted to hear and what answers made him comfortable.
But battlefields did not move according to pleasing words.
When provisions arrived late, soldiers went hungry.
When fodder ran short, cavalry stopped moving.
When the hearts of the tribal troops wavered, the entire encampment loosened in an instant.
And the emperor intended to leave for the Supreme Capital after placing such a man at the center.
Xiao Fengxian swallowed another deep breath.
Perhaps it really would be only a short journey.
If they selected only the finest cavalry and rode hard through the night, the Supreme Capital might not take long to reach.
If the army remained quiet in the meantime, if the Jin noticed nothing, and if the tribal forces stayed where they were, perhaps the matter of Yelü Zhangnu could be settled without great disturbance.
Yet another set of images kept appearing in the back of Xiao Fengxian's mind.
The Jin discovering that the emperor had left.
Rumors spreading among the tribal armies.
Yelü Zhangnu gathering people around the Temple of the Founder in the Supreme Capital.
Abul sitting in the center of the command tent while reports piled higher and decisions were postponed.
Xiao Fengxian tried not to think any further.
Easy decisions always tempted men.
It will only take a short while.
Nothing will happen.
The enemy will never know.
He tried not to think any further.
For now, he had to prepare the emperor's command.
The words kept circling through his mind.
It will only be a short journey.
The enemy will not know.
The army will remain where it is.
He knew how fragile those assumptions were.
Even so, he finally bowed.
"Loyalty. I shall make the preparations."
The emperor spoke briefly.
"Keep it simple. We are going and returning. Travel light. Keep weapons and supplies to the minimum."
"Loyalty."
The emperor thought for a moment, then added,
"Return in one double-hour."
Xiao Fengxian bowed again.
"Loyalty."
He left the command tent with Abul's voice behind him, rambling at length about how he would perform every duty perfectly and how there was no need for anyone to worry.
Incompetent fools were often good with words.
And with those words, they captured the hearts of other fools.
The emperor considered rebellion within the realm more important than the enemy outside.
The moment that judgment was made, Xiao Fengxian felt a heaviness in his chest.
What mattered most now was keeping this enormous army and its encampment exactly where they were.
Seven hundred thousand soldiers had gathered in one place.
The enemy stood directly before them.
As long as the emperor's banner remained in the main camp, the tribal forces would stay in position, commanders would continue to obey orders, and soldiers would remain within their own camps.
The moment the emperor moved, countless hearts gathered beneath that banner could begin to move as well.
Even so, Xiao Fengxian hoped that this one time, nothing would happen.
If they selected only elite cavalry, rode through the night, reached the Supreme Capital, dealt with Yelü Zhangnu, and returned to the main army, perhaps that would be enough.
It would be only a short absence.
They only had to return before the rumors spread.
Before the Jin noticed.
Before the tribal forces grew suspicious.
Yet inwardly, Xiao Fengxian already knew something else.
Even if rebellion broke out on a large scale, the dynasty would not easily shake so long as the emperor's main army remained strong.
Every state had factions filled with resentment.
The reason they could not readily raise their swords was simple.
The emperor's army could march against them at any moment and crush them.
If the imperial guards remained intact, if the banner of the main camp did not move, and if military orders continued without hesitation, rebellion could remain no more than a local disturbance.
But now the emperor was leaving the main camp.
He would take twenty thousand of his strongest personal troops with him to the Supreme Capital.
That meant removing the greatest symbol of imperial authority from the center of the army in order to suppress a rebellion elsewhere.
That was what Xiao Fengxian feared most.
The decision to strike down the rebellion might instead become the beginning of a far greater collapse.
No one could know what would happen once the center of the entire army had been emptied.