In terms of learning style, the old uncle felt that little Sara was quite similar to teaching Her Excellency the Shogun—both were slightly serious and very proper.
But there were also differences. When it came to human emotions, the gap between little Sara and Her Excellency was quite large.
Little Sara actually had very rich emotions. It was just that, because she had to grow up and was aware of the heavy burdens on her shoulders, she covered up that emotional richness with a rigid and old-fashioned demeanor.
The Raiden Shogun, on the other hand, was different. She belonged to the type who showed no emotional weakness—her eyes held only the duty of eternity, and she had almost no thoughts about her own feelings.
Precisely because of this, when the old uncle used examples to explain things, little Sara would very quickly understand the human helplessness present in the cases and then deliver correct judgments that were both in accordance with the law and considerate of human sentiment.
As for Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun... she treated everything equally. Everyone was the same—she would simply look at past cases and make decisions based on them.
It wasn't that what the Raiden Shogun did was wrong. The main reason laws exist and are continually perfected is to protect the beauty of human nature.
Every case has its own unique aspects, and therefore requires different considerations rooted in humanity.
Relying solely on past cases to pass judgment is insufficient, because humanity's greatest evil lies in finding loopholes in the past to benefit oneself.
If one only analyzes based on historical cases, it becomes impossible to respond to how people in a new era exploit legal gaps.
Once someone seizes a vulnerability, they might commit unforgivable mistakes while riding a wave of public anger.
For example, in the future, the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree carried out by Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun.
She wanted to preserve the current eternity, but ended up treating the regression caused by isolation as a way of distancing herself from the future.
In reality, regression is sometimes a form of progress compared to the present—it's just that the direction of progress has changed.
While the old uncle taught little Sara and spread knowledge,
he was also having new thoughts.
As times develop, progress is inevitable. The Raiden Shogun's eternity is an unchanging eternity—meaning that as long as the people live peacefully and contentedly in the present, there is no need to constantly think about development.
But even when the people are living in peace and contentment, problems will still arise. At that point, Her Excellency will naturally have to advance with the times, revise the laws, and move forward.
By then, Her Excellency's eternity will unknowingly have transformed into an eternity oriented toward the future...
A very good idea.
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou was quite satisfied with his own line of thought.
However, subtly influencing Her Excellency would probably still take a considerable amount of time.
Take it slow. Once the theoretical foundations are solid, then use practice as the sole criterion.
The old uncle also flipped through books to review the upcoming lessons, while at the same time picking up intelligence gathered by the Kamisato Clan for verification...
There is an old saying: "Governing a great state is like cooking small delicacies."
Next, he would use this phrase as a lens for understanding.
"Cooking small delicacies" refers to preparing small fish. The flesh of small fish is tender; if you flip them too frequently while boiling, they easily fall apart.
The ancients used this as a metaphor: when governing a great state, one should be as cautious as when cooking small fish—do not make arbitrary changes.
In truth, the political environment on the Shura Anyakonsen-shou's side was already very favorable.
There was hardly any meaningful resistance to change—after all, his fist was big enough.
An easy-to-understand analogy: when cooking small fish, you can still freely wield the spatula. In other places, even picking up the spatula is a struggle.
Therefore, the most urgent issues at present were only the time required to replace personnel and how to implement effective supervision.
And the topic of effective supervision was a very interesting one.
How do you determine whether a person is actually getting things done? How do you know whether your subordinates are working properly and not slacking off?
How can you accurately judge the state of affairs without problems arising? And what exactly are your subordinates doing in their work—are those tasks reasonable and necessary?
An easy-to-understand analogy: when cooking small fish, you at least need to know what kind of fish it is, where it was caught, whether it's edible, whether it tastes good, and whether it's expensive...
Learning how to control the spatula with both hands is not something that needs to be taught. What needs to be learned is how to get things done. It doesn't require perfection, but at the very least there must be understanding. Only with understanding can one know the hardships of the common people and know what actions are truly reasonable.