should we present those misfortunes to annoy Our Majesty? In my humble opinion, it is not decent….”
“You are much in mistake,” the prime minister immediately cut him short. “Our emperor is in his early teens, an age of innocent optimism. Without those calamities to constantly remind him that governing the dynasty is a demanding and strenuous job, I am afraid that Our Majesty will gradually become lax, and even neglectful of his duty. I will be retired very soon. It will become your responsibility. Be careful.”
A few months later, the prime minister retired and the vice prime minister was promoted. Northern barbarians made peace treaties with China. Without war or other natural disasters, the national economy grew rapidly. The country enjoyed prosperity. With few matters of state to worry him, the young emperor began to visit famous mountains and rivers. Cunning eunuchs and crafty officials, who knew how to flatter their master, clandestinely approached the unsophisticated emperor and quickly won his trust. Favoritism developed. Regardless of their ability, unscrupulous power mongers employed their compatriots in government positions. Gradually, they occupied most of the influential positions. They encouraged the young emperor to build another grand-scale imperial palace and many extravagant mansions. The new prime minister was powerless to control this rapidly deteriorating situation. He wanted to resign but couldn’t bear to watch the dynasty collapse. He then understood that his predecessor’s farsighted concern had been most warranted.
A similar case happened in the chaotic Spring and Autumn period, 770 B.C. to 476 B.C. A strong country, after years of struggle and numerous bloody battles, finally conquered one of its equal-sized neighbors. The triumphant lord Gin-Li9 intended to massacre every single one of the prisoners of war and enslave all of the citizens.
“Please, Your Lordship, for our own ultimate benefit, spare your enemy,” a commissioner named Fan Shieh (Fan Win-Zye)10 politely suggested. “Only an all-wise man could always keep a country free of troubles. For an ordinary statesman, there are always troubles either externally or internally. But by sparing our enemies, keeping them alive but weakened, we shrewdly create an opponent, which will constantly remind us of the importance of our self-existence and keep us alert. Otherwise, a carefree period will follow. We might become spoiled and even, if I may say, be destroyed by our own prosperity.”
The lord sneered at this prediction and mercilessly ordered his soldiers to slaughter the conquered people and devastate the city. After this absolute victory, the country’s reputation and prestige was at its peak. Ranking among a handful of the most powerful rulers, the lord became arrogant and wasteful. His people felt glamorized by their new status among the nations. They became egotistic and extravagant. Government became corruptive and citizens greedy. Lots of money was wasted in needless projects. As a result, heavy taxes were imposed on the laboring class, who had no political voice and suffered greatly.
During a period of natural disaster, many farmers, who couldn’t pay their overdue taxes, rebelled against the government. Soldiers were called to handle them. Thousands of people died in the conflict. In another rebellion, the lord was murdered and his regime was overthrown.
An ambitious person must always possess a sense of discretion. He or she has to be fully prepared to confront any trouble, and to be aware of potential crises. Too much carefree living can gradually corrode discretion and eventually become a source of ruin.
We Manipulate It
Tang Dynasty618 A.D. to 907 A.D.
In the late eighth century A.D., China was suffering through period of chaos and confusion. The emperor Tang-Teh11 was a hostage to a handful of powerful and ruthless warlords. A well-known general, Lee Chan,12 rapidly assembled tens of thousands of loyal infantrymen and indignant citizens and stationed this motley army on the outskirts of the capital city, which was under the rebel’s control. This mixed army patiently waited for a proper time to start an assault to repossess this heavily-populated and well-constructed city.
In the old days, astrology was highly regarded and was very popular among educated gentlemen. The government had special posts for astrologists. Most educated people had some general knowledge of astrology. It became a custom before executing any important plan that the performer—from emperor, general, administer, civil servant, even ordinary people—would observe, study and interpret the specific movements of stars or hire an astrologer to do it. The astrologer would choose the best time to start the task, which people generally believed could bring good fortune and secure the success of this task.
Having waited for over a week, the army made no move. The soldiers were bored. The food supply was rapidly decreasing. Health conditions were deteriorating. There was rumor of a potential mutiny if this tedious and fruitless delay continued. All of the low-level officers were both depressed and distressed.
During this time, an astrologist approached the commanding general. “Congratulations, sir. Last night, I carefully studied the stars for hours and learned that you will win the coming battle in the next few days. Please, accept my premature but very sincere greeting….”
“Nonsense!” the general, obviously annoyed and disgusted, abruptly cut the astrologer short and scolded him. “How dare you, try to use superstition to butter me up? The existence of our dynasty is at stake. By all means, we must do our best to rescue Our Majesty. I don’t give a damn about those twinkling stars.”
Astonished, this aged astrologer, with embarrassment and uneasiness, grumbling for a moment, excused himself and left. A few days later, the general initiated a full-scaled attack. After winning several bloody military engagements, they finally recovered the capital city and saved the emperor. All of the commanders and assistants gathered to congratulate the general. One close associate, out of curiosity, asked him the reason behind his harsh reaction toward that astrologer’s accurate prediction.
“Maybe you are too young to understand this. However, I can try to explain to you. There is something that we all know but couldn’t comment on it,” the general, with a profound smile, calmly explained. “I didn’t rebuff him because of his forecast, but I am totally against him expressing it so publicly. As a common practice and a tradition, we indeed sometimes have our military plans correspond with the stars’ movements. When it is favors us, we will boldly launch an assault. However, if I allowed our soldiers to comprehend this, I would totally forfeit the control of our army. If someday in the future an ill-fated sign was spotted in the sky, the soldiers would be scared, demoralized, and eventually lose their will to fight. Our army might collapse right in front of the enemy! How could we expect to win a war in a situation like that?”
“To keep that from happening, we must never place ourselves under the mercy of the heavens. We can use customs and superstitions for our own advantage but never allow it to upset our determination. To prevent my soldiers from relying on the stars, I had to openly deride the astrologer, although I privately agreed with him.”
“Sir, you are really clever and farsighted,” called his associate, and all his compatriots praised the general in unison.
A Voluntary Sucker
Ming Dynasty1368 A.D. to 1644 A.D.
In this contemporary, material-oriented society, money is a symbol of success and prestige. However, it was not always so. In the old days, education was essential and money was regarded as an distasteful necessity. Chinese society was generally divided into four categories; intellectual, farmer, worker, and merchant. The goal of the educated class was to successfully pass three extremely competitive national examines and become government officials. Through step-by-step promotions, they might eventually high ranking positions, which carried both power and prestige, and could more efficiently serve the country.
