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The undue severity of his rule

In order to strengthen the government's control over the people,
Emperor Wu had Chang T'ang and others enact a strict and detailed
code of laws, so that it became difficult for anyone to keep out of prison

except by the favor of the emperor or of some official. At this time,
Wang Wen-shu moreover made popular among officials his method of
controlling the people by protecting certain criminals and using them as
his "teeth and claws" in suppressing others. It is said that when Tu
Chou was Commandant of Justice, there were always in prison more
than a hundred officials, of ranks as high as two thousand piculs, waiting
for their cases to be decided, and that each year there were more than a
thousand cases concerning commandery officials, the larger cases involving
several hundred accused and the minor ones involving several dozen
people. By contrast, Emperor Wen is said to have pronounced only
four hundred verdicts in his whole reign (cf. 4: 22a).

One reason for this startling number of prisoners was doubtless the
Emperor's constant demands for soldiers and workmen. By about 115
B.C., the regular levies for military service seem to have been mostly
exhausted and volunteers no longer appeared. Several armies had been
lost in expeditions against the Huns and even horses had become scarce.
When, in 112, it became desirable to send expeditions against the kingdom
of Nan-yüeh, the prisons were opened and amnesty was offered to those
who would go with the armies. After that time most of the Chinese
armies were composed of criminals. Probably many of Emperor Wu's
edifices were also built by criminal workers—about 110 B.C., when
Emperor Wu wanted to build the T'ung-t'ien Terrace and no laborers
were available, Wang Wen-shu asked for leave to restudy the cases in
the Palace Military Commander's office, and set free those who could
work, thus securing several ten-thousands of men (cf. Glossary, sub
voce). Government slaves were also secured by condemning people to
penal servitude. Such slaves were employed in the government monopolies
in salt, iron, and liquor. In 44 B.C., Kung Yü reported that the
government still employed more than a hundred thousand convicts for
that purpose. Szu-ma Ch'ien states that through condemnations for
false reporting of property and capital, the government obtained wealth
in cash by the hundred-thousands, in slaves by the thousands and ten-thousands,
and in fields to the amount of several ten-thousands of mou
in large prefectures and over ten thousand mou in small prefectures, with
residences in proportion, so that merchants and the middle class were
ruined (cf. Mh III, p. 585 f; HS 24 B: 16a, b).

The undue demands made upon the people by Emperor Wu wrecked
the country. In SC ch. 30, Szu-ma Ch'ien gives a picture of the economic
calamities that came upon his country while Emperor Wu was exhausting
the reserves accumulated during the peaceful reign of Emperor Wen.
The Emperor drained the country, while his sycophantic officials and

complaisant courtiers fed his megalomania. The wastage in the army
was especially great, for the Chinese generals, spurred by imperial commands,
often took undue risks. In 129 B.C., Li Kuang3 and Kung-sun
Ao were defeated; the latter is said to have lost 7000 men. In 123, Chao
Hsin4 surrendered to the Huns and Su Chien's troops, comprising more
than 3000 cavalry, were killed or surrendered. In 121, Li Kuang3 lost
most of 4000 men. In the strenuous campaigns of 119, Chinese are said
to have been killed by the ten-thousands, and more than a hundred
thousand army horses were worn out and died. In 103, Li Kuang-li lost
eight to nine-tenths of his army, composed of several ten-thousands of
men. In 102, Chao P'o-nu was captured by the Huns with 20,000 men.
In 101, Li Kuang-li brought back from Ferghana only ten thonsand-odd out
of sixty thousand men. In 99, he again returned, having lost six to seven-tenths
of a much larger force. In that year all but 400 of Li Ling's 5000
famous foot-soldiers were destroyed. In 90, Li Kuang-li surrendered to
the Huns with 70,000 men. Thus Emperor Wu's rule was anything but
kindly. His intense desire for fame made his reign a calamity to China.