The Proper Way to Use a Monarch

"Duke Xuande, what brings you here? Come, have a seat!" Wang Xuan beckoned with a hand.

The group around him hurriedly rose and saluted. "Greetings, my lord!"

Wang Xuan had never called him "my lord." Of course, even if he dared to, Liu Bei would not dare accept it. After all, he was half Liu Bei's teacher, and given Liu Bei's temperament, he truly would not mind such things.

"After making your rounds, how do you feel?" Once Liu Bei sat down, Wang Xuan picked up the teapot and poured him a cup. Tea Leaves had completely taken the upper circles of Qi Commandery by storm. Aside from the two alcoholics, everyone loved the stuff.

"It feels pretty good. Everyone is busy everywhere, but no one has any complaints. It seems those commoners became bandits only because they had no other choice."

"Of course. Otherwise, who would rebel for no reason?"

"You're all so busy. Is there anything I can help with?" Seeing everyone working so hard, Liu Bei found it difficult to sit idle.

"You don't need to worry about these things. If any power needs its monarch to spend all day handling specific tasks, what future can it have?" Wang Xuan waved his hand and continued, "Duke Xuande, your task is to walk around and look things over."

"Huh? What use is that?" Liu Bei asked blankly.

"Of course it's useful. At the very least, it deepens the people's impression of you and lets them know whose rule they live under. In the former Han, the common people might not even have known the emperor's name, but they certainly knew which local clans held power. How could such rule be stable?"

"Another point is that the people below may never meet their monarch even once in their entire