算地

The worry of all rulers in the world is that those who employ armies do not measure their strength, and those who develop waste lands do not calculate their territory. Thus some have narrow territory but numerous people — the people exceed the land; others have broad territory but few people — the land exceeds the people. Where the people exceed the land, effort must be directed toward opening new territory; where the land exceeds the people, affairs must be directed toward attracting immigrants.

Opening new territory doubles the return on effort. When the people exceed the land, the state's accomplishments are few and its military strength is small. When the land exceeds the people, the resources of mountains and marshes go unused. To abandon heaven's resources and indulge the people's dissoluteness — this is the critical error of rulers in the world. When both ruler and subjects engage in this, the people are numerous yet the army is weak, the land is vast yet strength is meager.

Therefore in allocating territory for the state: mountains and forests occupy one-tenth, marshes and wetlands one-tenth, valleys and waterways one-tenth, and cities, towns, and roads four-tenths — this is the standard law of the former kings. Thus in allocating field acreage for the state: five hundred small mu are sufficient to support one service obligation — this is the minimum land assignment. A territory of a hundred square li that can field ten thousand battle-ready soldiers — this number is small. Such a territory has enough cultivated fields to feed its people, enough cities, towns, and roads to house its people, enough mountains, forests, marshes, wetlands, and valleys to supply its resources, and enough marshes and dikes for storage. Therefore when the army marches out, grain supplies are adequate and wealth has a surplus; when the army rests, the people work and livestock and stores are ample. This is called the standard for assigning land and preparing for service.

Now the rulers of the world possess territories of several thousand square li, yet their food supply is insufficient to sustain their service obligations or fill their granaries, and their armies are menaced by neighboring enemies — this is why your minister worries on behalf of the rulers of the world. Great territory that is not cultivated is the same as no territory; a numerous population that is not employed is the same as no population. Therefore the art of governing the state lies above all in cultivating waste land; the way of employing armies lies above all in unifying rewards. When private profit is blocked externally, the people devote themselves to agriculture; devoted to agriculture, they are simple; simple, they fear commands. When private rewards are prohibited below, the people's strength is concentrated against the enemy; concentrated against the enemy, they prevail. How do we know this is so? By the nature of the people: when simple, they produce labor and readily exert their strength; when impoverished, they develop cunning and calculate profit. Those who readily exert their strength regard death lightly and gladly serve; those who calculate profit fear punishment and readily endure hardship. Those who readily endure hardship will exhaust the land's capacity; those who gladly serve will exhaust the army's capacity. One who governs the state and can exhaust the land's capacity while bringing the people to risk their lives — both fame and profit will arrive together.

The nature of the people: when hungry they seek food, when exhausted they seek rest, when suffering they seek pleasure, when humiliated they seek honor — this is the people's disposition. In seeking profit, people abandon the constraints of propriety; in seeking fame, they depart from the norms of their nature. How do we know this? Consider that bandits and thieves violate the ruler's prohibitions above and fail in the proprieties of ministers and subjects below — their names are disgraced and their persons endangered, yet they do not stop. Why? Profit. Consider the scholars of the highest antiquity who wore clothes that did not warm their skin, ate food that did not fill their bellies, tormented their wills and spirits, exhausted their limbs, and injured their organs, ever expanding and extending — this is not the norm of human nature, yet they did it. Why? Fame. Therefore it is said: where fame and profit converge, the people will follow that path.

The ruler holds the levers of fame and profit, and to achieve meritorious results through these is a matter of technique. The sage examines authority to grasp the levers and examines technique to employ the people. Technique is the art governing the relationship between ruler and minister, and the essential matter of the state. There has never been a state of ten thousand chariots that lost its technique yet avoided peril, nor a ruler-minister relationship that lost its art yet avoided disorder.

Yet this is not the case today. What the rulers of the world exert themselves upon is all non-essential to the state. Those whose personal conduct matches Yao and Shun yet whose achievements fall short of Tang and Wu's strategic accomplishments — this is the fault of how they handle the levers of power. Allow your minister to speak of their errors. If in governing the state one abandons positional advantage and relies on persuasive talk, one's person is imperiled and accomplishments are few. If one patronizes scholars of the Odes, Documents, and persuasive talk, the people will wander and hold their ruler in contempt. If one patronizes recluse scholars, the people will grow distant and criticize their superiors. If one patronizes brave warriors, the people will compete recklessly and treat prohibitions lightly. If technically skilled people are employed, the people will become volatile and prone to migration. If merchants are at leisure and profiting, the people will find pretexts to criticize their superiors. Thus if these five types of people are added to the state's employ, fields go barren and the army grows weak. The capital of persuasive scholars lies in their mouths; the capital of recluses lies in their ideas; the capital of brave warriors lies in their spirit; the capital of the technically skilled lies in their hands; the capital of merchants lies in their persons. The whole world is one dwelling, and they circulate their person-capital. When the people's capital is weighted on their persons and their dependence is placed outside the state — carrying heavy capital and returning to some remote household — this is what even Yao and Shun would find difficult. Therefore Tang and Wu prohibited this, and their achievements were established and their names accomplished. The sage does not overcome what is difficult with what the world finds easy; he must overcome what is easy with what is difficult. When the people are simple, knowledge can prevail over them; when the world is knowledgeable, strength can prevail over it. When the people are simple, it is easy to apply strength and hard to use cleverness; when the world is clever, it is easy to apply knowledge and hard to use strength.

Therefore Shennong taught plowing and became king of the world — they submitted to his knowledge. Tang and Wu brought about strength and campaigned against the feudal lords — they submitted to their force. Now the world is clever and the people dissolute; to imitate the era of Tang and Wu while practicing the policies of Shennong, following the prohibitions of that age — this is why states of a thousand chariots are confused and disordered, because what they exert themselves upon is wrong.

The nature of the people in life: they measure and take what is long, weigh and take what is heavy, calculate and seek what is profitable. If the enlightened ruler carefully observes these three things, then governance can be established and the people's abilities can be obtained. What the state demands of the people is little, while what the people use to evade those demands is much. Inwardly direct the people to devote themselves to agriculture; outwardly direct the people to commit themselves solely to warfare. Therefore the sage's governance employs many prohibitions to stop cunning, and relies on strength to exhaust deception. When both are employed together, the people within the borders are unified. When unified, they farm; when they farm, they are simple; when simple, they are content to stay and reluctant to leave. Therefore in the sage's governance of the state, the people's resources are stored in the land and their dependence for safety is placed on the danger beyond the borders. When resources are stored in the land, they are simple; when dependence is placed on external danger, they are watchful. Coming in, they are simple; going out, they are watchful — therefore they strive at agriculture and are disciplined in war. When the people strive at agriculture, their resources are weighty; when disciplined in war, their neighbors are in peril. When resources are weighty, one cannot shoulder them and flee; when neighbors are in peril, there is nowhere to go. To have no resources, to return to danger, to depend on others outside — not even a madman would do this. Therefore in the sage's governance of the state, he observes the customs and establishes law, then there is order; he examines the state's affairs and attends to fundamentals, then measures are appropriate. If one does not observe the customs of the time and does not examine the state's fundamentals, then the law will be established yet the people will be disordered, affairs will multiply yet accomplishments will be few. This is what your minister calls the error.

Punishment exists to prohibit evil; reward exists to assist in that prohibition. Shame, humiliation, toil, and hardship are what the people detest; display, glory, leisure, and pleasure are what the people strive for. Therefore if a state's punishments are not dreaded and its ranks and salaries are not worth striving for, this is the omen of a doomed state.

If the punished are allowed back and the guilty escape, then petty men evade and act dissolute without suffering punishment, and they gamble on luck with both the people and the ruler — gambling for profit. If the gates to glory and honor are not unified, then gentlemen will manipulate power to achieve fame. When petty men do not avoid the prohibitions, punishments become onerous. When gentlemen do not observe the edicts, penalties are constantly enforced. When punishments are onerous and penalties constantly enforced, the state has much villainy — the wealthy cannot protect their property and the poor cannot pursue their livelihoods. Fields go barren and the state is impoverished. When fields are barren, the people resort to deception; when the state is impoverished, the ruler lacks the means to reward. Therefore in the sage's governance: the punished hold no state rank and the condemned hold no official appointment. If the punished have standing in the hierarchy, gentlemen lower themselves from their positions; if the punished wear silk and eat meat, petty men covet their advantage.

When gentlemen lower themselves, they feel shame about merit; when petty men covet advantage, villainy flourishes. Punishment and condemnation exist to stop villainy; office and rank exist to encourage merit. If the state establishes ranks that the people are ashamed of and institutes punishments that the people are happy about — this is indeed the affliction of a flawed legal art.

Therefore the ruler operates the levers of authority in a unified and correct manner to establish his art: he establishes offices, values ranks, and balances them properly; he evaluates glory and elevates merit to appoint properly. Then the balance between above and below is level. When the balance between above and below is level, ministers can fully exert their strength, and the ruler can exclusively control his levers of power.