墾令

If there are no overnight backlogs in administration, then corrupt officials have no opportunity to extract private profit from the people. If the affairs of the hundred offices do not obstruct one another, then the farmers have surplus days; if corrupt officials have no opportunity to extract private profit from the people, then agriculture is not harmed. If agriculture is not harmed and there are surplus days, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If taxes are assessed according to grain production, then the ruler's standard is unified and the people are treated equitably. When the ruler's standard is unified, there is trustworthiness; when there is trustworthiness, ministers dare not engage in corruption. When the people are treated equitably, they are cautious; when cautious, they are hard to destabilize. When the ruler is trusted and officials dare not be corrupt, and the people are cautious and hard to destabilize, then those below do not criticize those above, and those in the middle do not resent their officials.

When those below do not criticize those above and those in the middle do not resent officials, then the able-bodied apply themselves diligently to agriculture without wavering. When the able-bodied apply themselves diligently to agriculture without wavering, then the young learn from them without ceasing.

When the young learn from them without ceasing, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If external connections are not allowed to influence the granting of rank, appointment, or office, then the people will not prize learning and scholarship, nor will they despise agriculture. If the people do not prize learning, they will be simple-minded; if simple-minded, they will have no foreign connections; without foreign connections, the state will be secure and not imperiled. If the people do not despise agriculture, they will strive at farming without shirking. If the state is not imperiled and the people strive at farming without shirking, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

Those with generous stipends and heavy taxes but many mouths to feed are the ones who ruin agriculture. If such people are taxed according to the number of their dependents and subjected to heavy labor obligations, then the idle, dissolute, and lazy will have no means of subsistence. When the people have no means of subsistence, they must farm; when they farm, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If merchants are not permitted to purchase grain, and farmers are not permitted to sell grain, then the lazy and neglectful farmers will exert themselves. If merchants cannot purchase grain, then in plentiful years they gain no extra pleasure. If they gain no extra pleasure in plentiful years, then in famine years they have no surplus profit. Without surplus profit, merchants will grow timid; when merchants are timid, they will desire to farm.

When the lazy and neglectful farmers exert themselves, and merchants desire to farm, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If music and fine clothing are not circulated through the hundred counties, then the people at work will not be distracted and at rest will not listen to entertainment. If at rest they do not listen to entertainment, their spirits will not become dissolute. If at work they are not distracted, their minds will be focused. When minds are focused and spirits are not dissolute, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If no one is permitted to hire labor, then the great officers and heads of households will not build or renovate, pampered sons will not eat without working, the lazy will not be idle, and those who depend on hired labor will have no means of subsistence — they must farm. If great officers and heads of households do not build or renovate, then agricultural work is not harmed. If pampered sons and the lazy are not idle, then existing fields will not go uncultivated.

If agricultural work is not harmed and farming people apply themselves more to agriculture, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If inns are abolished, then the deceitful, restless, those who maintain private connections, and those who might waver from agriculture will not travel. Those who depend on running inns will have no means of subsistence and must farm. When they farm, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If mountains and marshes are placed under unified state control, then those who detest agriculture, the lazy and negligent, and the excessively greedy will have no means of subsistence. Without means of subsistence, they must farm. When they farm, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If the prices of wine and meat are made dear, their rents are made heavy, and they are set at ten times their basic cost, then there will be few merchants; farmers will not be able to indulge in drunken feasting; and great ministers will not gorge themselves into dissipation. With few merchants, the state does not waste grain. If the people cannot indulge in drunken feasting, they will not neglect agriculture. If great ministers are not dissipated, state affairs will not be delayed and the ruler will make no faulty decisions. If the state does not waste grain and the people do not neglect agriculture, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If punishments are made heavy and guilt is shared collectively, then the narrow-minded and hot-tempered will not fight, the stubborn and overbearing will not litigate, the lazy and idle will not wander, the wasteful will not engage in frivolous enterprises, and the flattering and malicious will not attempt to stir change. If these five types of people do not arise within the borders, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If the people are not permitted to relocate at will, then the foolish are deterred. Those who would disrupt agriculture will have no means of subsistence and must farm. When the foolish and impulsive are made to concentrate on a single pursuit, the farming people will be at peace. When the farmers are at peace and the foolish are deterred, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If surplus sons are uniformly assigned to labor service obligations on a hereditary basis, and if their lodging fees are raised while stipulating that they eat only from official allowances at standard rations — when there is no way to evade service and high office cannot be obtained as a matter of course — then surplus sons will not wander about serving others but must farm. When they farm, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If the great ministers and various grand officers of the state are not permitted to engage in broad learning, clever disputation, or idle residing, and are not allowed to travel idly through the hundred counties, then the farming people will hear no subversive ideas and see no novel methods. When the farming people hear no subversive ideas and see no novel methods, then the clever farmers will have no cause to abandon their customary work, and the simple farmers, knowing nothing, will not develop a taste for learning. When the simple farmers know nothing and do not develop a taste for learning, they will devote themselves diligently to agriculture. When the clever farmers do not leave their customary work, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If military markets are ordered to admit no women, and if merchants are commanded to supply their own armor and weapons while being made to observe when the army is mobilized, and if furthermore no one is permitted to privately transport grain to the military markets, then treacherous schemes will have nowhere to hide, grain thieves will have no private way to delay, and the frivolous and lazy will not roam in military markets. When grain thieves have nowhere to sell, grain transporters do not act privately, and the frivolous and lazy do not roam military markets, then the farming people will not become dissolute and the state's grain will not be wasted — and the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If the administration of the hundred counties follows a single form, then those who would take roundabout approaches dare not alter the system, and those who have been dismissed for errors cannot conceal their misdeeds. When misdeeds cannot be concealed, there will be no corrupt officials. When the roundabout do not embellish and replacements do not alter precedent, then subordinate offices will be few and the people will not be burdened. When there are no corrupt officials, the people will not be insolent; when the people are not insolent, their livelihoods will not fail. When subordinate offices are few, levies will not be oppressive. When the people are not burdened, farmers will have more days for work. When farmers have more days, levies are not oppressive, and livelihoods do not fail, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If taxes on markets and border passes are made heavy, then farmers will resent merchants, and merchants will develop hesitation and reluctance. When farmers resent merchants and merchants hesitate and become reluctant, then the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If merchants are assigned labor service according to their household population, and if woodcutters, cart-drivers, porters, and haulers are all held to account by name, then farmers will be at ease while merchants toil. When farmers are at ease, good fields will not go uncultivated; when merchants toil, the gift-bearing visits back and forth will not circulate through the hundred counties. Then the farming people will not go hungry and their conduct will not be embellished. When farming people are not hungry and their conduct is not embellished, then public work will proceed swiftly and private work will not be neglected — and agricultural production will prevail. When agricultural production prevails, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If grain transporters are ordered not to charge hiring fees and are not permitted to take return commissions, and if carts, oxen, and loaded vehicles are all held to account by name, then the going will be swift and the return fast, and commerce will not harm agriculture. When commerce does not harm agriculture, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.

If no one is permitted to petition officials on behalf of criminals or to provide them with food, then criminal elements will have no protectors. When criminal elements have no protectors, they will not exert themselves at crime. When they do not exert themselves at crime, criminal elements will lack the basic resources for wrongdoing. When criminal elements lack basic resources, the farming people will not be harmed. When the farming people are not harmed, the waste lands will surely be cultivated.