The 48 Laws Of Power

shrewdRichelieu

played

him

differently,deliberatelypushing

himinto

one

ambitious

project

after

another,

such as a crusade

against

the

Huguenots

and

finally

an

extendedwar

with

Spain.

The

immensity

of

these

projectsonly

madethe

king

more

dependent

onhis

powerfulpre-

mier,

the

only

manableto

keep

orderintherealm.And

so,

forthenext

eighteenyears,

Richelieu,

exploiting

the

king’s

weaknesses,

governed

and

moldedFrance

according

tohisown

vision,

unifying

the

country

andmak-

ing

ita

strongEuropeanpower

for

centuriestocome.

lntcipretation

Richelieusaw

everything

asa

militarycampaign,

andno

strategic

move

wasmore

important

tohimthan

discovering

his

enemy’s

weaknessesand

applyingpressure

tothem.As

early

ashis

speeoh

in

1615,

hewas

looking

forthe

weak

linkinthe

chain

of

power,

andhesawthatitwasthe

queen

mother,NotthatMariewas

obviously

weakmslie

governed

bothFrance

andher

son;

butRichelieusawthatshewas

really

aninsecurewomanwho

neededconstantmasculineattention.Heshoweredherwithafiectionand

respect,

even

toadyingup

toher

favorite,

Concini.Heknewthe

day

would

comewhenthe

king

wouldtake

over,

buthealso

recognized

thatLouis

lovedhismother

dearly

andwould

always

remainachild

in

relationtoher.

The

way

tocontrol

Louis,then,

wasnot

bygaining

his

favor,

whichcould

changeovernight,

but

bygainingsway

overhis

mother,

forwhomhisafv

fectionwouldnever

change.

OnceRichelieuhadthe

position

he

desiredm-prime

minister———hedis-

cardedthe

queen

mother,

moving

ontothenextweaklinkinthechain:

the

king‘s

owncharacter.Therewasa

part

ofhimthatwould

always

bea.

helpless

childinneedof

higherauthority.

Itwasonthefoundationofthe

king’s

weaknessthat

Richelieu

establishedhisown

power

andfame.

Remember:When

entering

the

court,

findtheweak

link.The

person

incontrolisoftennotthe

king

or

queen;

it

issomeonebehindthescenes-«

the

favorite,

thehusbandor

wife,

eventhecourtfool.This

personmay

havemoreweaknessesthanthe

kinghimself,

becausehis

powerdepends

on

allkindsof

capricious

factorsoutsidehiscontrol.

Finally,

when

dealing

with

helpless

children

whocannot

makedeci-

sions,

play

ontheirweaknessand

push

themintoboldventures,

They

will

haveto

depend

on

you

even

more,

for

you

willbecometheadult

figure

whom

theyrely

onto

get

themoutof

scrapes

andto

safety.

Observance

H

InDecemberof

1925,

guests

attheswankiesthotelinPalm

Beach,Florida,

watchedwithinterestasa

mysterious

manarrivedina

RoI1s—Royce

dn'ven

byajapanese

chauffeur.Overthenextfew

days

they

studiedthishand~

some

man,

whowalkedwithan

elegant

cane,

received

telegrams

atall

hours,

and

onlyengaged

inthebriefestof

conversations.

Hewasa

count,

they

heard,

CountVictor

Lustig,

and hecamefromoneofthewealthiest

familiesin

Europe—~but

thiswasall

they

couldfindout.

Imagine

their

amazement,then,

when

Lustig

one

day

walked

up

to

oneoftheleast

distinguishedguests

inthe

hotel,

aMr.Herman

Loller,

Tlll"l,H"|’|,l£'|'|||'\(IS

(,(ll‘\'ll

AstimewentonIwine

tolook

for

theIitllrt

weaknesses....It’:the

liitfe

tlrings

thatcmml.

OI;nice‘nrazximz.I

workedonthe

pre5x'—

den!

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in

Omulm.The

[phony]

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(heytrvcl

railwayx_v.m=nzof

Omaha,

includirlg

a

bridge

acros.\'IIII4

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LAW 33