Peter tells the King, "Goes back to 1720. Father to son. That's a lot of tradition to try to fight" (pg 244). That tradition of honorable service causes Peter much angst. One example in the book is when Peter is faced with taking money from the King for assisting in the completion of a black market sale. Peter feels that the King should not have sold a phony watch, and he certainly has qualms about accepting a 10% commission for his role in the deal. He remembers his father telling him, "There is such a thing as honor. If you deal with a man, tell him the truth then he must of necessity tell you the truth" (pg. 179). What is ironic is that Peter ends up taking the money because he knew what it could buy him.

That Peter accepted the money gives is similar to the way many individuals in the business world today act....

Though they know about honor and ethical behavior, they choose to look the other way, to accept money, fame, power and circumstances because of what they feel they are going to gain. At least in Peter's defense his choice could truly have been life or death. The money he accepted from the King would buy precious commodities that could keep himself and his mates alive. In the modern business world it is hard to justify such actions as being life and death. Instead, those that compromise their honor are oftentimes doing so to gain material wealth.
Lately, many of those same individuals have been left holding an empty sack similar to the same sad state of affairs in which the King found himself at the end of the book. Clavell seems to be saying that our choices will haunt us forever, especially if we chase the almighty…