Unquestioned Loyalty
Another story from the Shang Wars series.
It had been a difficult campaign of two years, a campaign that first began when the Generalissimo had first arrived to his camp and surveyed his troops. They had rallied behind him, and fought many battles. The fighting were so fierce and intense that even his Aide-de-Camp and him fought on the very battlefield itself, to encourage the troops.
It was a difficult war to wage. His troops were often without weapons, and sometimes even without bread. Many times, calls for more weapons and bread went unheeded by the Emperor. During these times, he had to dig into his own silver to give bread to his troops, and to convince the local weaponsmith to get him a few spears.
During a lull in the campaign, his wife wrote from the capital. His children had shown great interest in carpentry, and she would like to move back to their home in the south, where renown carpenters were available for them to apprentice with. The Generalissimo was happy to hear all these. He hardly had time for his children, with all his attention placed on the fierce fighting. They would grow up to be contributing members of society.
His Aide-de-Camp frowned and bit his lips when he knew about it. His friends in the Imperial Court had written to him with other news. They told him that the Emperor had been livid at news of the Generalissimo’s family moving away from the capital to return to their homeland south. To the Emperor, this was disloyalty. Were there not carpenters at the capital? Why go to the south?
The Aide-de-Camp understood very well the hidden meanings behind the words. To the Shang Emperor, unquestioning loyalty was more important than the ability to win a war and win it well. He would rather than have someone who listened to and obeyed all his nonsense (including his ideas of how troops should fight), than someone who could help him defeat the enemy.
The Aide-de-Camp shook his head and burnt the letter. It would be treason if any spies within the camp reported the contents of the letter to the Emperor. It appeared very likely that an edict would soon come, to execute the Generalissimo for disloyalty to the Emperor. When that happened, it should perhaps be time for him to resign from his duties and return to farm the land.
It had been a difficult campaign of two years, a campaign that first began when the Generalissimo had first arrived to his camp and surveyed his troops. They had rallied behind him, and fought many battles. The fighting were so fierce and intense that even his Aide-de-Camp and him fought on the very battlefield itself, to encourage the troops.
It was a difficult war to wage. His troops were often without weapons, and sometimes even without bread. Many times, calls for more weapons and bread went unheeded by the Emperor. During these times, he had to dig into his own silver to give bread to his troops, and to convince the local weaponsmith to get him a few spears.
During a lull in the campaign, his wife wrote from the capital. His children had shown great interest in carpentry, and she would like to move back to their home in the south, where renown carpenters were available for them to apprentice with. The Generalissimo was happy to hear all these. He hardly had time for his children, with all his attention placed on the fierce fighting. They would grow up to be contributing members of society.
His Aide-de-Camp frowned and bit his lips when he knew about it. His friends in the Imperial Court had written to him with other news. They told him that the Emperor had been livid at news of the Generalissimo’s family moving away from the capital to return to their homeland south. To the Emperor, this was disloyalty. Were there not carpenters at the capital? Why go to the south?
The Aide-de-Camp understood very well the hidden meanings behind the words. To the Shang Emperor, unquestioning loyalty was more important than the ability to win a war and win it well. He would rather than have someone who listened to and obeyed all his nonsense (including his ideas of how troops should fight), than someone who could help him defeat the enemy.
The Aide-de-Camp shook his head and burnt the letter. It would be treason if any spies within the camp reported the contents of the letter to the Emperor. It appeared very likely that an edict would soon come, to execute the Generalissimo for disloyalty to the Emperor. When that happened, it should perhaps be time for him to resign from his duties and return to farm the land.
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