Han Feizi identifies three usurpation risks: open, affair-based, punishment-based. Strong safeguards block them, securing royal power.
Han Feizi cites brutal regicides. Rulers without law and statecraft face worse fates than lepers at ministers’ hands.
Han Feizi warns weak rulers let cliques seize power. Unchecked, states fall like Qi and Jin, despite wealth and land.
Han Feizi’s core rule: rulers must monopolize punishment and reward. Losing either lets ministers usurp power, endangering the throne.
Ran You returned late from court. The Master asked, “Why so late?” He replied, “There was government business.” The Master corrected him, “That was merely administrative affairs. If there were truly matters of state policy, even if I were not employed, I would surely have heard about them.”
The Master said, “The governance of Lu and Wei is like that of brothers.”