Unlike on the way here, the ox cart moved slowly. Autumn was gradually deepening now, and a fine rain fell, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. Rising and falling together, they traveled at leisure. The two sat facing each other. After a long while, Qian Wei finally asked, "Chancellor, are there any loopholes in this strategy?"
Zhao Xu had also been deep in thought. Hearing this, he let out a long sigh. "Alas. If this strategy is carried out, I fear Prince Shu will not even reach the Capital City before he is defeated in the second month."
Qian Wei fell silent again. After a long time, he said, "Isn't this a little too hasty?"
This haste did not mean the strategy itself was rushed. Rather, the emperor had personally drawn up the strategy, which made it seem overly impetuous, carrying too much of the smoke and fire of the human world.
"Chancellor, I feel somewhat uneasy." Qian Wei looked out at the streets, government offices, and alleys. "It is naturally a good thing for a sovereign to have talent and drive."
"But in the long run..."
In history, there had in fact been young rulers of great talent. Their beginnings were not necessarily wrong; indeed, they often achieved success after success. Yet they gradually grew smug and complacent, headstrong and arbitrary, and instead brought about catastrophic defeat.
For an emperor, stillness, restraint, and suppleness were in truth more important.
Zhao Xu was an exceedingly profound man. Hearing Qian Wei's words, he waited a long while before saying, "Zhuangzi once spoke of this—"
"A mantis raising its arms to block a cart. In the past, I read Record of the Solitary Lamp by Xiang Pu, the famed chancellor of the previous dynasty. It said there was a tree in his courtyard, its