Chapter IV
ON FAVOURITE VASSALS[1]
: A MEMORIAL
Favourite vassals, if too intimate with the ruler, would
cause him personal danger. Ministers, if too powerful,
would overturn the august position of the sovereign.
Wives and concubines, if without distinction of rank, would
cause legitimate sons dangers. Brothers, if not subservient
to the ruler, would endanger the Altar of the Spirits of Land
and Grain.
Thy servant has heard: "The ruler of one thousand
chariots, if not on his guard, would find close by him vassals
of one hundred chariots aiming to shake his authority[2]
and upset his country. The ruler of ten thousand chariots,
if not on his guard, would find close by him vassals of one
thousand chariots aiming to shake his authority and upset
his country." That being so, wicked ministers can multiply
while the sway of the sovereign declines. Therefore, the
territorial expansion of the feudal lords leads to the damnation
of the Son of Heaven; the extraordinary wealth of
ministers leads to the downfall of the ruler. Hence generals
and ministers who would leave the sovereign's interests
behind
[3]
and prosper
[4]
the welfare of their own families
instead, should be ousted by the ruler of men.
Nothing is more valuable than the royal person, more
honourable than the throne, more powerful than the
authority of the sovereign, and more august than the position
of the ruler. These four excellences are not obtained from
outside nor secured from anybody else, but are deliberated
in the ruler's own mind and acquired thereby. Hence the
saying: "The lord of men, if unable to exercise his equipment
with the four excellences, is bound to end his life in
exile." This the ruler of men must keep firmly in mind.
Of old, the ruin of Chow and the fall of Chou were both
due to the territorial expansion of the feudal lords; the
partition of Chin[5]
as well as the usurpation of Ch`i[6]
was
due to the extraordinary wealth of ministers. So were the
regicides in Yen and Sung, indeed. Thus, whether in the
cases of Yin and Chou or in the cases of Chin and Ch`i,
or in the modern cases of Yen and Sung, the same reason
never failed to hold true.
For this reason, the intelligent ruler, in keeping officials
in service, exhausts their abilities with laws and corrects
their errors with measures. Hence no release from the
death penalty, no remission of punishment. Both release
from the death penalty and remission of punishment, being
called "authority-losing"[7]
on the part of the ruler, mark
the fall of the Altar of the Spirits of Land and Grain into
danger as well as the shifting of the state under the "deflected
authority"
[8]
of the wicked ministers.
Therefore, no minister, however large his bounty may
be, should be allowed to include[9]
the capital city in his private
fief; nor should he be allowed, however numerous his
adherents and supporters may be, to subject officers and
soldiers as personal vassals. Accordingly, no official, while
serving the state, should be allowed to have any private
governmental office. While in the army, nobody should be
allowed to cultivate personal friendships. No official should
be allowed to make any loan from the public treasury to
individual families. This is the way the intelligent ruler
should forbid wicked practices.
For the same reason, no minister should be allowed to
have a four-horsed chariot as personal escort nor should he
be allowed to carry any kind of weapons. If anyone, being
neither a public courier nor a herald of urgent messages,
transport implements of war from place to place, he should
be condemned to death without mercy. This is the way the
intelligent ruler should provide against accidents.
