| Making Orders Strict:...: |
If orders are made strict, orderly government is not delayed, and if laws are equable, officials are not wicked. Once the law is fixed, one should not damage it with virtuous words; if men of merit are appointed to office, people will have little to say; but if men of virtue are appointed to office, people will have much to say. The practice of good government begins with making judgments. Where five hamlets are the unit for judgments, supremacy is attained; where ten hamlets are the unit for judgments, there is merely strength. He who procrastinates in creating order will be dismembered. Govern by punishments and wage war by rewards; seek transgressors and do not seek the virtuous. Therefore, if the law is fixed and not altered, then... If in the country there are no wicked people, there is no wicked trade in the capital. If affairs are many and secondary things are numerous, if agriculture is relaxed and criminals gain the upper hand, then the country will certainly be dismembered. If the people have a surplus of grain, cause them to obtain office and rank by means of their cereals; if through their own efforts they can count upon obtaining office and rank, farmers will not be lazy. If a tube of no more than four inches has no bottom, it can certainly not be filled; to confer office, to give rank and to grant salaries, without regard to merit, is like having no bottom. |
