The Fierce Teacher of Zhenguan: Starting with Teaching the Crown Prince to Make a Comeback

Chapter 62 can be called 'The Way of Balancing'.

"It is precisely to obey His Majesty."

Li Yichen's tone was certain.

"Your Highness, do you still remember the principles of strategic maneuvering I explained to you before? In a contest with His Majesty, when His Majesty displays a cooperative attitude, such as now that Your Highness has been given authority and responsibility, Your Highness's best strategy is to respond with cooperation and obedience. This is not cowardice, but rather a necessity for consolidating trust and reducing suspicion. His Majesty is watching Your Highness right now, to see whether Your Highness will become complacent and eager to seize power, or whether Your Highness will be cautious and humble, prioritizing the affairs of the state."

Li Chengqian seemed to be deep in thought, but there was still a trace of resentment in his eyes.

"But if we blindly obey, wouldn't we appear to lack our own opinions? And how can we use this opportunity to cultivate our own loyal followers?"

“Compliance does not mean being without one’s own opinions,” Li Yichen explained.

"In fact, you should closely follow His Majesty's intentions on a grand scale. His Majesty wants to develop Xizhou to secure the border, so Your Highness should focus on how to better develop Xizhou. In specific matters, Your Highness should of course have your own thoughts and plans, but all proposals and measures must be under the banner of 'to better realize His Majesty's established strategy.' In this way, His Majesty will feel that Your Highness is doing things sincerely, rather than having ulterior motives. Once trust is deepened, Your Highness will have more room to maneuver in the future."

He paused, and seeing that Li Chengqian was still processing the information, he knew that he needed more in-depth tools to guide the Crown Prince's way of thinking.

It is not a long-term solution to always provide strategies directly; the crown prince must be taught to think and weigh things for himself.

"Your Highness,"

Li Yichen changed the subject. "To achieve great things, it's not enough to just know when to advance and when to retreat; you also need to know how to use your limited energy where it will yield the most results. This involves two things... well, you could call the 'way of balancing'."

Li Chengqian became interested.

"Is this yet another new strategy?"

"It can be seen as an extension of the game theory, and is more about specific choices."

Li Yichen carefully chose his words. He couldn't directly use modern terms like "diminishing marginal utility" and "opportunity cost," so he had to explain it in a way that the ancients could understand.

"Let's talk about the first kind of balance. Your Highness, have you ever noticed that when a person is hungry, the first steamed bun tastes incredibly sweet and filling? The second one is still satisfying, but not as satisfying as the first. By the third or fourth one, you might feel a bit bloated, and the taste becomes ordinary. If you force yourself to eat the fifth or sixth one, it will not only be useless, but may also become a burden, or even damage your spleen and stomach."

Li Chengqian nodded: "That's normal. If you already have food in your stomach, eating more will naturally reduce the flavor."

"Exactly that."

Li Yichen was guiding him.

"The feeling of fullness that the steamed bun brings is 'utility.' The additional utility gained from eating each additional steamed bun gradually decreases. This is the essence of the first trade-off: when doing anything, investing resources, whether it is energy, time, or money, the initial return is the greatest, but as the investment increases, the additional return from each additional investment becomes less and less. If you ignore this principle and blindly add more, you may achieve half the result with twice the effort, or even lose more than you gain."

Li Chengqian seemed to be thinking about something.

"It's like... warfare? An initial surprise attack yields the greatest gains; but if you besiege a fortified city and fail to conquer it after a prolonged siege, every extra day you waste food and manpower yields little, and you actually deplete your national strength?"

"Your Highness's insightful observation is exactly what I'm looking for!" Li Yichen praised. "Then, Your Highness, please consider the matter of Xizhou using this reasoning. The court intends to relocate people to populate the border regions. Initial investments, such as repairing water conservancy projects and providing land for resettlement, can quickly stabilize the people's hearts and attract displaced people, maximizing their effectiveness. But what if, disregarding Xizhou's carrying capacity, a large-scale and endless influx of people continues, exceeding the land and water resources' capacity?"

Li Chengqian pondered for a moment.

"New migrants have no land to cultivate and no water to use, which will instead deplete their food reserves, breed resentment, and even... cause unrest! Just like eating too many steamed buns can harm your health! Therefore, it is not a case of the more migrants the better; there must be a limit?"

"Your Highness is wise!" Li Yichen affirmed.

"This is about grasping the 'degree'. When Your Highness participates in the affairs of Xizhou, you need to consider in which areas investment can bring the greatest new benefits? Should we continue to relocate people? Or should we shift resources to consolidating the livelihoods of the already relocated people, such as intensive farming, developing handicrafts, and facilitating trade routes? The latter may not seem as noticeable as increasing the population, but it may be more effective for the long-term stability of Xizhou."

A flash of realization crossed Li Chengqian's eyes; he felt he had grasped a completely new perspective.

In the past, he only thought about "the more the better," but now he has begun to consider "just the right amount."

"Then... what about the second option?" he asked impatiently.

“The second kind of trade-off concerns ‘choice’,” Li Yichen continued, using examples to guide the discussion.

“Your Highness, if you only have a thousand taels of gold and you fancy both a fine Ferghana horse and a famous painting from the previous dynasty, both priced at a thousand taels each, you will either buy the horse or the painting. The value of choosing the horse over the painting, or the painting over the horse, is the ‘hidden cost’ you pay for making this choice.”

"Hidden costs?" Li Chengqian murmured, the concept both intriguing and perplexing to him.

“Yes, it’s an invisible but very real cost,” Li Yichen explained.

"Just like Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, if he had been content with the title of King of Hanzhong and remained in a corner of the country, he might have enjoyed a few years of peace. However, the 'hidden cost' he paid was the loss of the possibility of later sweeping away all rivals and establishing the Han Dynasty, which lasted for four hundred years. The 'hidden cost' he paid for choosing to go east and contend for hegemony was the risk of being defeated and killed at any time. Every choice means giving up the benefits that other choices might bring."

Li Chengqian frowned deeply as he began to try to understand this somewhat abstract concept.

This seems different from the straightforward game theory he learned before, emphasizing the deeper costs behind choices.

Li Yichen observed his expression and knew that he needed more specific examples.

"Your Highness, please consider this further. The imperial treasury has limited annual revenue. If a large amount of money and grain is continuously invested in the Liaodong war, then there will be less money and grain available for the repair of water conservancy projects in Guanzhong and for disaster relief in the Central Plains. Investing in Liaodong may lead to territorial expansion, but the risk of internal strife caused by the neglect of water conservancy projects in Guanzhong and the lack of relief for disaster victims is the huge 'hidden cost' of this continuous investment in Liaodong. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty launched three campaigns against Goguryeo, exhausting the country's strength and causing turmoil throughout the land. This was because he only saw the visible achievements of territorial expansion and ignored the staggering 'hidden costs' behind it."

"boom--!"

Li Chengqian felt as if something had exploded in his mind!
He suddenly stood up, ignoring the pain in his ankle, and paced hurriedly around the hall.

Yes! Yes!
In the past, when he thought about problems, he would only focus on what he wanted to get and what obvious price he needed to pay, but he never thought that when he chose to do one thing, he was giving up the opportunity to do other things at the same time!
These opportunities that were given up may be of immense value!
Just as he is now focused on matters in Xizhou, the time and energy he invests means that he has temporarily given up the opportunity to cultivate in other areas of the court or to interact with more civil and military officials!
This is the "hidden cost" of his focus on Western State!
If he doesn't know how to weigh the pros and cons and puts all his energy and all the resources of the Eastern Palace into Xizhou, what if there is a slight setback in Xizhou or the court's stance changes? Wouldn't he lose everything?

Because he left no other options or room for maneuver!
This realization sent a chill down his spine!
(End of this chapter)