Eastern Zhou

All were arrested. Legalism demands blind obedience, so anything the people said was irrelevant at best, rebellious at worst.

The king Goujian suffered military defeat but bided his time to execute the long game—one that took 20 years.

The Chinese idiom 尊王攘夷 (zūn wáng rǎng yí) means to “respect the king and defend against barbarians.”

People are advised not to covet small gains while overlooking what is worthwhile in the bigger picture.