An emperor was almost eighty years old and knew it was time to choose his successor . Instead of choosing one of his children, he decided on something different. He called all of the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued, "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One special seed. I want you to plant it and come back one year later with what you have grown from this seed. I will then judge the plants, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!" One boy named Ling received a seed like the others. He went home and planted the seed in a pot, watering it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. A year finally went by and all the youths brought their plants to the emperor. Ling thought he should be honest about what had happened. So he took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the plants grown by other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. Suddenly, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow." Why did the emperor decide to choose his successor?
He was growing old. He was tired of his position. He wanted to do different things. He wanted to do some tests.