Wang praised Dai's words publicly and rewarded him, but did not relent on the efforts to take over the throne. In 619, when Wang had Yang Tong bestow the nine bestowments on him--the penultimate step before seizing the throne-- Dai spoke against it, but Wang did not accept Dai's suggestion. Rather, he made Dai the secretary general of Zheng Prefecture (**, roughly modern Zhengzhou, Henan) to assist his nephew Wang Xingben (***) in defending Hulao Pass.
Wang
Dai