To find a good counselor, one can look for someone with qualities such as experience, a good reputation, and a track record of success in giving advice.
However, these are not the criteria followed by Emperor Hoang-ti, The Yellow Emperor,a legendary emperor who is said to have reigned from 2697 to 2597 bce (W).

According to the “Great Historian » Sima Quian (= Se-ma Ts’ien) (c. 145-86 bce)
The Emperor Hoang-ti raised in dignity Fong-heou, Li-mou, Tch’ang-sien, and Ta hong, and charged them with governing the people. 
Chavannes, Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts’ien . Tome I, p. 12

Chavannes adds the following note to this passage:

« The names Fong-heou and Li-mou gave rise to a legend that Hoang-fou Mi recounts in his Ti wang che ki.”

According to the legend, Hoang-ti saw in a dream a great wind sweeping away all the dust, then a man holding a huge bow and guarding sheep. He concluded that heaven was thus indicating the names of those he should take as advisors.
Indeed, wind is called fong — and dust is called keou; by removing the key on the left from the latter character, we obtain exactly the name Fong-heou; on the other hand, the enormous bow suggests the idea of strength, li, and the fact of guarding sheep suggests the idea of a shepherd, mou; this gives us the name Li-mou.
Hoang-ti did not rest until he had found two men with these names. »
Chavannes, Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts’ien   T1 note 130, p. 133.

Se-ma Ts’ien, Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts’ien (Shiji). Tome premier, traduit et annoté par Édouard Chavannes. E. Leroux, Paris, 1895.
Mode texte par Pierre Palpant www.chineancienne.fr