European knight would be in the most trouble because of the weight of his armor which ranged anywhere from 40- 60 pounds. His horse meant that he was able to be move about freely and without his horse, he was basically an open target.
The Japanese samurai’s armor allowed for more hand to hand fighting.
the answer is to influence public policy.
After Qin Shi's was killed in 207 BC the dynasty collasped totally because the power was too centralized.