Liu Bei was overcome with sorrow after hearing this. He murmured, "I was indulging in wild fantasies. Even Ziyu has no solution—how could there be any fixed method for ensuring the realm stands forever?"
"Though there is no fixed method, there is a way to delay it," Lan Tian answered solemnly.
"Oh? Teach me quickly." Liu Bei folded his legs beneath him, his interest immediately piqued.
Lan Tian sat upright facing Liu Bei and pointed at the fruit on the small table between them as an example. "Your Majesty, look at the fruit on this plate. If we divide it between us and eat it, will it fill our stomachs?"
"Uh?" Liu Bei was puzzled at first, then immediately realized Lan Tian was making an analogy. Nodding along, he said, "There is plenty of fruit on the table. Filling our stomachs would naturally be no problem."
Lan Tian nodded and added, "If General Chen were invited to join us, I believe there would still be no problem. But if all the officials at today's banquet were summoned here, this fruit would not be enough to divide among them."
"More people, less food—naturally there would not be enough to go around. What are you getting at, Ziyu?" Liu Bei frowned.
Staring at the fruit, Lan Tian answered gravely, "The rise and fall of dynasties Your Majesty spoke of earlier follows the same principle as dividing this fruit. So long as the common people have a bite to eat, they will not riot. But if even their grain rations cannot be guaranteed, would they not rather raise the pole in rebellion than starve to death? They would become blades of rebellion in the hands of those with ulterior motives, and the decline of the state would become inevitable. For the nation's land