Confucianism uses literature to disrupt laws and regulations, knights use force to violate prohibitions, but the monarch must treat them with courtesy. This is the source of national chaos. Those who break the law should be punished, but those Confucian scholars are appointed by their articles and doctrines; those who break the law should be punished, but those knights are supported by acting as assassins. Therefore, those who were opposed by laws and regulations became those who were favored by the monarch; those who were punished by officials became those who were supported by the powerful. The opposition of laws and the emphasis of monarchs, the punishment of officials and the support of powerful people are contradictory to each other without establishing certain standards. Even if there are ten Yellow Emperors, they cannot rule the world. Therefore, people who preach benevolence and righteousness should not be praised, because if they are praised, it will hinder their achievements; people who are engaged in writing and academics should not be appointed, because if they are appointed, it will undermine the rule of law. There was a man named Zhi Gong in the state of Chu. His father had stolen someone's sheep, so he went to Ling Yin to tell him. Ling Yin said, "Kill him." He thought that although he was upright to the monarch, he was unfilial to his father. . As a result, he was sentenced to death. From this point of view, the loyal ministers of the monarch have become the rebellious sons of their fathers. There was a man from the state of Lu who followed the king to fight and escaped many times. Confucius asked him why. He said, "I have an old father in my family. After I die, there will be no one to support him." Confucius thought that this was a filial son, so he He was recommended as Ding Guan. From this point of view. The filial son of his father is exactly the traitor to the monarch. Therefore, Ling Yin killed Zhi Gong, so that no one would report bad people and bad deeds in Chu State to the superiors. Confucius rewarded deserters. When the people of Lu fight, they surrender easily and flee. The interests and gains and losses between the monarch and his ministers are so different, but the monarch agrees with the behavior of seeking personal gain. It is definitely hopeless to seek prosperity and strength for the country.

In ancient times, Cangjie created words and called the things that circle around him "private". The opposite of "private" is called "public". Cang Jie already knew the opposite of public and private. There are still people who think that public and private interests are the same. This is a mistake that they have not carefully examined. So for personal reasons, there is no better way than cultivating benevolence and righteousness and becoming familiar with academics. If you practice benevolence and righteousness, you will gain the trust of the monarch. If you gain the monarch's trust, you can become an official; if you are familiar with academics, you can become a good teacher. Become a good teacher and you will be honored. To an individual. This is the most beautiful thing. However, one can become an official without merit. Being able to show honor without a title creates such a political situation. The country will definitely fall into chaos, and the monarch will definitely be in danger. Therefore, mutually incompatible things cannot coexist. Those who have made great achievements in killing the enemy should be rewarded, but they advocate benevolence and kindness; those who have made great achievements in siege of the city should be awarded with honors. However, they believe in the doctrine of universal love: they use strong armor and sharp weapons to prevent war, but they also advocate wearing wide robes and belts; the country's prosperity depends on farmers. To defeat the enemy, we rely on soldiers, but we also value Confucian scholars who are engaged in literary and academic careers; we do not use those who respect the emperor and abide by the law, but adopt people like knight-errants and assassins. With such governance, it is impossible to make the country peaceful and prosperous. When the country is in peace, it adopts Confucian scholars and knights, and when danger comes, it uses hard-wearing and hard-edged soldiers; the people the country provides benefits are not the people the country wants. And the people the country wants to use will not get any benefits. As a result, those engaged in farming and warfare abandoned their careers, while the number of knights-errants and Confucian scholars increased every day. This was the reason why society fell into chaos.

Now the people in the territory are talking about the way to govern the country, and every house has a book on laws and regulations written by Shang Yang and Guan Zhong. However, the country is getting poorer and poorer. There are many people talking about farming, and those holding hoes But there are few people. The art of war is discussed in the territory, and every family has the military books of Sun Wu and Wu Qi. However, the combat effectiveness of the army is weak. There are more people talking about war, but fewer people are wearing armor and going into battle. Therefore, a wise monarch must use his strength and do not listen to his empty words. To reward his meritorious service, we must prohibit the activities of Confucianism and knight-errants that are of no use to the country, so that the people can follow you to the best of their ability. The power of cultivating the land is very hard, and the people say that they can become rich if they do it. War is very dangerous, and the people go to war, and they say that they can get rich. Nowadays, those who are familiar with literary classics, are familiar with speech, and have wealth without the hard work of cultivating the land, and have a noble status without the danger of war, who would not do it? So a hundred people go to do intellectual work and one goes to do physical work. If there are many people engaged in intellectual work, the laws will collapse; if there are few people engaged in physical work, the country will be poor. This is why the world is in chaos. Therefore, in the country of a wise king, there is no need for academic literature and classics.

Instead, they use laws and regulations as their teaching base; they forbid the speeches of the previous kings, and use officials as their teachers; they do not have the ferocity of knight-errant assassins, but only kill enemies and perform meritorious deeds as bravery. In this way, all the speeches of the people in the country must comply with the law, all actions must be attributed to meritorious service to the country, and all courage must be used in the army and war. Because of this. In times of peace, the country will be rich, and in times of war, its military strength will be strong, which will lay the foundation for dominating the world. Since he has the capital to dominate the Five Worlds, Yi is good at exploiting the weaknesses of enemy countries; to establish achievements that surpass the Five Emperors and catch up with the Three Kings, he must use this method.

This is not the case now. Confucian scholars and knight-errants are doing whatever they want at home, while political strategists are creating great momentum abroad. The internal and external situation has deteriorated as much as possible, and this is how we deal with powerful enemies. Isn't it too dangerous? Therefore, those ministers who discuss diplomatic issues either belong to the Hezong or Lianheng factions, or they have the secret intention of using the power of the state to avenge themselves. The so-called vertical integration. It is to unite many weak countries to attack a strong country; the so-called Lianheng is to rely on a strong country to attack other weak countries. These are not good ways to protect the country. Now those ministers who advocate Lianheng say: "If you don't rely on a big country, you will suffer disaster when you encounter a strong enemy." Serving a big country may not have any practical effects. Instead, you must first present the map of your country and the government seal, so that you can Request military assistance. If you present a map, the territory of your country will be reduced; if you present a seal, the monarch's reputation will be reduced. The version area is reduced. The country is weakened; its prestige is reduced. Politically it's chaos. Serve the great country and practice continuous balance. Before it was too late to see any benefits, it had already lost its territory and messed up politics. Those officials who advocated cooperation said: "If you don't rescue a small country and attack a big country, you will lose the trust of all countries; if you lose the trust of all countries, the country will be in danger; if the country is in danger, the status of the monarch will be reduced." Rescue of small countries does not necessarily mean that the country will be in danger. What benefits are there? Instead, we should raise troops to make enemies of the great powers. Saving the small country tree will surely preserve it. However, attacking a big country may not always make mistakes. Once it makes a mistake, it will be controlled by the big country. If you send out troops, the army will be defeated; if you retreat, the city will be captured. Rescue small countries and implement cooperation. Before it was too late to see any benefits, the country had been invaded and the army was defeated. Therefore, serving a powerful country can only enable those who engage in alliances to obtain high-ranking officials at home by relying on foreign forces; rescuing small countries can only enable those who engage in alliances to gain benefits from abroad by relying on domestic forces. The national interests have not been established, but the ministers first obtained the fiefdom and generous salary. Although the monarch's status has been reduced, his subordinates have been elevated; although the state's land has been reduced, private individuals have become richer. If things can be successful. Politicians will rely on their power to be reused for a long time; if things fail, they will go home and enjoy happiness by virtue of their wealth. If the monarch listens to the lobbying of his ministers, he will give them high titles and salaries before the matter is completed, and there will be no punishment for failure. Then, who among those lobbyists is not willing to use the rhetoric of seeking fame and fortune to continue speculative activities? Therefore, the situation where the country is destroyed and the king is destroyed is all caused by listening to the rhetoric of politicians. What is the reason for this? This is because the monarch cannot distinguish between public and private interests, does not check whether his remarks are fair and correct, and does not resolutely impose punishment after failure. Politicians all say: "If you carry out diplomatic activities with great results, you can unify the world, and with small results you can ensure security." The so-called unification of the world means being able to defeat other countries; the so-called maintaining security means that one's own country can be prosperous and safe. Inviolable. A strong army can defeat other countries. National security cannot be violated. The strength and stability of a country cannot be achieved through diplomatic activities, but can only be achieved by doing a good job in internal affairs. Now we are not promoting magic in the country, but we have to concentrate on using our brains in diplomacy. This will surely achieve the goal of national stability, prosperity and strength.

The policy of a wise king in governing the country is always to minimize the number of industrialists, businessmen and idlers. And the status is low; lest there are few people engaged in farming and many people devoted to industry and commerce. Nowadays, it is very popular in society to bribe the courtiers who are close to the monarch in exchange for favors, so that officials and titles can be bought with money; if officials and titles can be bought with money, then the status of industrial and commercial people will not be low. If opportunistic and illegal profit-making activities can be carried out in the market, there will be no shortage of businessmen. The wealth they collected exceeded the income of farmers several times, and the noble status they obtained was far more than those engaged in farming and warfare. As a result, there were fewer and fewer upright people, while more and more people were engaged in business.

Therefore, the customs that cause chaos in the country are: those who write books and treatises, claiming to introduce the ways of the ancestors to promote benevolence, righteousness and morality; they pay attention to appearance and clothing, and use their writing and rhetoric to disrupt the current laws. Thus shaking the monarch's determination. Those politicians resorted to deceit, cheating, and resorted to foreign forces to achieve their personal goals, thereby giving up national interests. Those errant assassins gathered gang members, flaunted their integrity, and tried to make a name for themselves, but in the end they violated the national ban. A large number of those who evaded military service relied on powerful ministers and nobles, paid bribes wantonly, and relied on the entrustment of important ministers to avoid the hard work of fighting in the army. Those who are industrial and commercial make crude utensils and accumulate luxurious wealth. They are hoarding them and waiting to sell them in an attempt to make huge profits from farmers. The above five kinds of people are all worms in the country. If the monarch does not get rid of these five kinds of people who are like moths and does not recruit upright people, then... Even if there are ruined countries in the world, and the imperial court is wiped out, it is not surprising.