pic w/edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZIu4B1omg
There was once a great King that declared peace and harmony to his kingdom.
Upon examining his enemies he declared, “I have had enough of war and although I have the ability to destroy the enemy from my land, I have relinquished my hand for 67 days. In that time you will meet with your proxy and convene what manner you will adhere to my commands. We shall meet on the 70th day and I will have your answer to whether you shall have peace or whether I shall destroy you from my land.”
After hearing the King’s words the Generals gathered together to discuss their options.
The first General stated, “We must strike now while we have the chance. The King must be weakened with sickness to make such a proposal. He is biding time to become strong again and so we must strike now while we can.”
The second General answered, “No we must await and see the matter through. We have been in constant war, our forces are attritioned and we may not last out the war if the King is not bluffing.”
The third General declares, “You are both wrong. We neither strike nor recoil, but get the people to turn against the King and erode his Kingdom from within. On the 70th day after we have accomplished this we will give the king our ultimatum for peace and what we desire within his lands. It will then be in his best interest to observe what we wish.
The Generals agreed but were perplexed at how they should go about turning the people against the King and said “Tell us how shall we do this.”
The General answered, “First we shall say his children are frauds and criminals. We shall stir up the people against them and show to the land that they are responsible for all the crimes and turmoil. The people will believe our report since the kings tributaries determine all financial affairs and the purchasing of their goods. We shall burn down the storehouses of food and sustenance that the people require and blame the kings heirs. We shall catch the heirs in lascivious affairs and send spies in amongst them to record their every deed and promote conspiracies that the people wil adhere to and thus turn the people against the King without him knowing of the infiltration.”
The Generals agreed and so put forth their plan into action. Within 45 days the heart of the people was turned against the King. Chaos began to abound and the kingdom was being torn apart.
The King asked his servants, “What goes on here?” His servants answered, “Our enemy sows discord amongst the people my Lord to turn our people against you.” The king further asks, “And what of my sons and daughters?”
The servants responded, “Some have turned against you my king from the engineered schemes and plots.”
The King, responded, “Gather my army together, make sure they are well prepared for the day of peace or war and we shall wait to see if my enemies come to their senses. Remind them with written letters that I desire peace and not war but will not hesitate to use force if they will not adhere to my plan.”
“It be done my Lord,” the servants stated.
Upon the 67th day the King ordered his army out into the land and to destroy all the enemies armies that could be found within his land and there was a great slaughter and defeat, so much so that the people were greatly afraid of the King and begged forgiveness of their uprisings and sought to make remediation to the king.
The king then advised to his servants to feed the people, to open the storehouses to replace the sustenance that was burnt and destroyed and to remove all spies within his kingdom to be hung before the people for their crimes openly so they could witness their oppressors.
Three days would pass as the unrest subsided and the people thanked the King and turned their hearts to him.
On the 70th day the Generals were in hiding and would not meet the king as they were sorely afraid he would destroy them.
The King ordered his servants, “Go and collect them, bring them here to my court and before the people.”
The servants obeyed and the Generals were gathered, their army in disarray.
The first General got on his knees before the King and said, “Forgive me my king. I was wrong to go along with this plan. I wanted peace but it was not to be.”
The King answered, “Arise, I desire peace and do have mercy on those who also desire mercy. You have forefit your army but you shall live. Go then and make yourself a good man before the people and amend your ways lest my anger burn hot against you.”
The General thanked and blessed the King and departed.
The second General was brought before the King and did not bow, nor bend the knee and stated, “Oh king, I being a man of war thought that you were tricking us to gather strength to strike and felt that it would be our interest to strike first and defeat your might. I was wrong, not knowing or believing your plans were for peace and not war.”
The King answered, “You admit in truth of your will and I admire those who will admit their faults. Your mind is against my rule and yet now I have taken your army and disbanded it. You will now serve as my General counsel in war and advise of your knowledge, but you must first learn the ways of peace after a career of war and my servants shall instruct you.”
The General thanked the King for his mercy and greatness and departed in joy expecting to be destroyed.
The third General was brought before the king, bowing, and awaited for the King to speak.
The King spoke, “I see you are a cunning man full of guile, shrewd as a rat, a serpents desire.”
The General knowing his doom, answered, “I knew your strength was too great to defeat, so the only method whereby to defeat you was from within. Your kin was easy to deceive since they are fat with riches and full of wine. Their sin continuously stinks before the people who despise them and I merely only showed the true face of your lineage which easily turned your people against you.”
The King answered, “Well have you done exposing my greatest enemy, those within my own household. You have done me a disservice by turning my flock against my own while exposing the weakness of my offspring. You have brought out the worse in culture, exposed it, flaunted it and reveled in the disgust. For this you shall have your life forefit since you cared not to upend the lives of others for deception and to bring out the evil in the sons of men for your personal victory.”
The King declared, “Hang the man before the people. Let them witness their deceiver for 11 days. On the 12th day there shall be a celebration and remembrance in all the land for a day of unity for all people.”
“We shall celebrate this day of remembrance that those who attempt to destroy us through deception will be subdued and we shall celebrate in their defeat.”
The King was then blessd by the people for his wisdom and for destroying the oppressors of the people.