Chapter 392. Council at Hoeryeong Fortress
Aguda summoned a council.
The discussion was chaotic.
Then again, it had always been chaotic.
The difference was that now it had lost its direction.
For the time being, the prevailing opinion was that the war should pause.
Some argued that negotiations with Goryeo mattered most.
Others insisted that the annual payments Song had once sent to Liao should now go to Jin instead.
There were also those who said that from this point on, Jin should obtain what it wanted through diplomacy rather than war.
The desire for the war to end hung heavily over the room.
It was difficult to ignore.
The soldiers were exhausted.
The tribal chiefs wanted to secure their spoils.
The newly submitted groups were watching carefully to see what Jin would do next.
It was a council of victors, yet once the question became what should follow victory, their opinions scattered.
After the general meeting ended and only the commanders of the imperial guard remained, the Great Khan asked Zonghan,
"What matters most?"
There was a danger that the same old answers would simply repeat themselves.
Everyone could speak of his own circumstances.
His own tribe's exhaustion.
His own achievements.
The question was which of those things truly mattered most.
Zonghan thought for a moment, then brought up Yi Youngwoo.
"Commander Yi said that only by concentrating on the destruction of Liao could we bind the surrounding peoples together as one."
Aguda spoke quietly.
"Everyone wants to rest before continuing."
Zonghan lowered his head.
"Of course, Your Majesty. We can rest for a time. But that does not change what is most important. This is still the time to fight. We must not stop here. We must continue until Liao ceases to exist. That was Commander Yi's position, and I agreed with him. One victory does not change that."
At that moment, Zongwang offered a different opinion.
"I heard that the Eastern Capital, Liaoyang Prefecture, has been taken. Should we not at least send a delegation to congratulate them?"
Wugimai burst into laughter.
"Looks like Zongwang wants to visit Liaoyang."
Zongwang answered without backing down.
"If Your Majesty gives me the task, I would be deeply grateful."
Aguda asked,
"Why?"
Zongwang chose his words before answering.
"Commander Yi has been weighing on my mind. I still regret that we sent him away without any support."
Zonghan said,
"We had barely won a major battle. We did not have the strength for another campaign."
Zongwang answered at once.
"But they did. And they took Liaoyang."
The room fell quiet.
They had said it could not be done.
Yet the others had done it.
Perhaps the judgment that Jin could not support the operation had been wrong.
Even without Jin's support, they had still taken Liaoyang.
That fact alone made Jin's excuses sound thin.
Saligal spoke next.
"We are celebrating because we won. But Commander Yi left. And the Immortals disappeared as well."
He looked around at the faces of the commanders.
"The Immortals may not have gone to Liaoyang, but they must have decided there was no longer any reason to remain in Hoeryeong without Commander Yi. We did not merely lose one man. In effect, we also turned away the support of the Immortals."
Zonghan immediately objected.
"It is not wise to exaggerate the role of a single man. This victory was achieved because everyone joined their strength."
Saligal nodded.
"Of course. That is also true. Everyone joined their strength. But when everyone else said something could not be done, we had one stubborn commander who kept driving matters forward anyway, and we lost him. His absence is large. I do not mean that he did everything. But when he was here, we repeatedly stopped and asked ourselves what had to be done first.
"Now everyone speaks only of his own concern.
"Negotiations with Goryeo are dragging.
"Song only made a show of moving and in the end failed to advance north.
"We lost the best opportunity.
"If Commander Yi were here, he would have said this must be done this way, that must be handled that way, and he would have kept pushing matters forward.
"We have lost the strongest force that kept us moving.
"So if a delegation goes to Liaoyang, and if Your Majesty permits it, I would like to go as well."
Even Wugimai's laughter faded.
Aguda looked at the commanders in silence.
Zonghan was right.
So was Saligal.
Wars were not won by one man.
Yet sometimes one man could gather the eyes of many and turn them toward the same direction.
Only after that man left did the rest realize how often they had relied upon the standard he provided.
Aguda spoke quietly.
"We will send envoys to Liaoyang."
Zongwang's eyes brightened.
Aguda looked at him.
"But you are not going merely to offer congratulations. Examine the situation in Liaoyang. Listen to what the Balhae troops want. And find out what position Yi Youngwoo now stands in."
Zongwang bowed deeply.
"I will obey."
Aguda looked around at the commanders again.
"And we will rest. But we will not stop. Reorganize the troops. Repair the armor. See to the horses and the men. While we rest, prepare for the next battle.
"The first task is to destroy Liao.
"The second is to build the stature of an empire, just as Commander Yi argued we must."
At those words, the scattered voices finally stopped.
Once the ideas of resting and preparing were placed side by side, the men could at last see what they were supposed to do next.
No one could completely fill the space Youngwoo had left behind.
But his words remained.
They still seemed to linger in their ears.
They did not have his fervor—the kind that had him begging everyone to bring in every scrap of iron they had, every piece of metal they could find.
They needed him.
He had to be there.