Seeking the Kingdom in White Clothes: Li Mi's Four Dynasties Chess Game

When the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, the young Li Mi famously moved Chang'an with his famous saying: "Fang is like practicing righteousness, roundness is like using wisdom, movement is like rushing materials, and tranquility is like being proud." An Lushan raised troops, Chang'an fell, and the emperor fled west. In Lingwu City, the new emperor was eager to regain the two capitals, and everyone in the court was thinking about how to win. Only Li Mi in white advised: Don't be in a hurry to regain Chang'an. Because what others saw was a city, but what he saw was the world after the war. From Xuanzong to Suzong, Daizong, and Dezong, the four dynasties changed, Anshi chaos arose, eunuchs took power, vassal towns became powerful, Tubo suppressed the territory, and the throne was repeatedly in danger. Li Mi entered the empire's most dangerous chess games again and again, and escaped before power was about to swallow him up. Some people are fighting for victory in the moment, but they are planning for ten years; some people just want to take back the world, but he is thinking: How to hold on to the world after it is taken back? He was once a hermit in the mountains, an old friend of the emperor, and a white-coated adviser who ruled the military without an official position. He finally went through ups and downs and ascended to the position of prime minister. People in the world say that he knows gods and fortunes and can foresee the future. But Li Mi knew that the so-called strategy is just to look one step further than others; the so-called deep strategy is just to dare to bear the price of tomorrow when everyone only cares about today. The chessboard is square and the chess pieces are round. What really moves is the human heart. This is the story of a counselor who spanned four dynasties, and it is also the story of a man who stood under the afterglow of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and spent his life questioning: When everyone is vying for power, is there anyone who just wants to make this world last a few more years?