The king became angry with his minister, so he threw him into prison. After a while, the country’s economy deteriorated. Consequently, the people became dissatisfied with their king, and no matter what he did to win their approval, he was unsuccessful.
Therefore, he ordered that the minister be brought out of prison. When the minister appeared before him, he said: ‘It has been a while since the people turned away from me. If you can win their approval, I will pardon your offense.’
The minister replied: ‘I will execute your command, I only ask for some soldiers from you.’
The king said: ‘I hope you’re not resorting to violence against the people.’
‘What do you need the soldiers for?’ asked the king.
The minister replied: ‘I never aim to suppress. I simply need them to carry out a task.’
Hearing this, the king gave some soldiers to his minister.
That night, the minister disguised each of the soldiers as thieves and ordered them to go to every house and steal something, but not anything of significant value, so as not to cause much harm to the people. He also gave them a paper and instructed them to place it wherever they stole.
The paper read: ‘Our goal is to seize the palace of the empire and rule over the people.’
Following the minister’s orders, the soldiers acted accordingly. Upon reading the papers left behind, the people gathered together.
The first person said: ‘It is true that during the reign of the king, we have faced economic hardships, but the king never resorts to stealing our belongings. These thieves, who currently have no power, have managed to steal our belongings. Woe to the day they gain authority.’
The second person also said: ‘It is true; we must appreciate the value of this king and support him to remain protected from these thieves.’
They all agreed with each other’s statements and thus decided to support the king.
