Reading 1001 discussion

Q2, Question 3 - In Chapter 62, Xuande says in regard to letting Ling Bao go free, "I treat men with humanity and honor, and they never betray me." Of course, Ling Bao immediately betrays Xuande, almost to disastrous effect. This is par for the course for Xuande. Is he just hopelessly naïve?

Liu Bei's (Xuande's) righteousness is also his Achilles' heel; while this enables him to be quite successful in the follow-up of his conquests, it works against when he doesn't see through the schemes of his enemies. Note that this incident happened while Liu Bei was without any of his advisors; had Pang Tong or Zhuge Liang been around, I am sure that a different course of action would have ensued.

His generosity pays dividends with the lower orders who are given the option to join him or peacefully go home, in the future I think this kind of attitude will be rewarded as men will remember being treated kindly.

In terms of the higher orders who distinguish themselves by their loyalty to their leader this attitude is naïve as it won't change that loyalty.