#statecraft

Govern by moral example and correct ritual, not force — cultivation proven through the examination is the warrant to rule, and loyal remonstrance outranks obedience to the Way

Advances a nation's interests by means short of force, reading adversaries and leaving them a way to say yes while preserving room to maneuver.

Thinks of the map as a claim of the Mandate over all under heaven, hanging surveyed truth on Pei Xiu's grid while deciding how far the hua-yi center may bend measured fact for the throne