| Establishing Laws: |
To be of the same rank as others and yet to stand to them in such relations as subject or concubine points to poverty or wealth; to be of the same territory as others and yet to be annexed by them points to strength or weakness; to have land, but the prince being in the one case strong and in the other weak, points to disorder or order. If there is a right method, even a territory of a square li is sufficient to give room to the body, and people may be attracted (to colonize), and if it but contains a market-place, riches may become many. Whoever has land cannot be called poor, and whoever has people cannot be called weak. If land is made truly productive, one need not be anxious about not being wealthy; if the people are truly employed, one need not fear force or violence; if virtue be clear and with the right teaching prevailing, one will succeed in utilizing for oneself what the people have. Therefore, the intelligent kings utilized what was not their own, and employed those who were not their own subjects. The point to which intelligent kings attached importance was that of rewarding with titles only men of real merit; if this condition was fulfilled, honour and outer marks of distinction were awarded to them. If there were no honour connected with them, then people would not be anxious for noble rank, and if there were no outer marks of distinction, then people would not be concerned about titles. If titles are easily obtained, then people do not appreciate the highest titles nor the various other titles; if emoluments and rewards are not obtained through a definite gateway, people will not strive to the death for rank. For a prince there exists the fact that people have likes and dislikes; therefore, for it to be possible to govern the people, it is necessary that the prince should examine these likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes are the basis of rewards and punishments. Now, the nature of man is to like titles and emoluments and to dislike punishments and penalties. A prince institutes these two in order to guide men's wills, and he establishes what they desire. Now, if titles follow upon the people's exertion of strength, if rewards follow upon their acquisition of merit, and if the prince succeeds in making people believe in this as firmly as they do in the shining of sun and moon, then his army will have no equal. |
