 Thinkers of different ideological inclinations shared the sober realization that a sovereign may be a mediocrity; yet for them this problem was easily resolvable. Insofar as the ruler would be prudent enough to entrust everyday affairs to a meritorious aide, he would be able to continue enjoying absolute prestige, while practical matters would be decided by worthy ministers (see, e.g., Xunzi 11: 223–224; Hutton 2014: 112–113). For Han Fei, though, this solution is unacceptable. Time and again he warns the ruler that nobody can be trusted: the ruler’s wife, his beloved concubine, his eldest son and heir—all hope for his premature death because this may secure their position. Threats come also from the ruler’s brothers and cousins, from uncles and bedfellows, from dwarfs and clowns who entertain him, from dancers in his court; and, of course from the talkative “men-of-service” (shi) who conspire with foreign powers to imperil his state. Every single person around the throne should be suspected; and minimal negligence can cost a ruler his life and his power. And the most dangerous foes are precisely those whom other thinkers considered the ruler’s friends and teachers, namely his closest aides, his ministers. Han Fei compares them to hungry tigers ready to devour the sovereign whenever the opportunity arrives: