Therefore, serving the people in farming, mulberry, and collecting livestock to prepare for floods and droughts:

The wise monarch understands this truth, so he lets the people engage in agricultural production, reduces their taxes, and stores a large amount of grain in order to enrich the warehouse and guard against floods and droughts, so he can own the people.

from Chao Cuo's "on your millet" in the Han dynasty?

If the holy king is on the throne and the people don't freeze and starve, they must cultivate and eat, and weave and clothe themselves, so as to open their way to wealth. Therefore, Yao and Yu have nine years of water, soup has seven years of drought, and those who donate barren land when the country dies, take advantage of the accumulation of livestock. Today, the sea is one, and the people of the land don't avoid Tang and Yu, and they are killed by natural disasters for several years, but the livestock are not accumulated. The land has its advantages, the people have their spare capacity, the land where the valley was born has not been reclaimed, the benefits of the mountains and rivers have not been exhausted, and the people who have traveled for food have not returned to agriculture. When the people are poor, evil spirits are born. Poverty is born of inadequacy, inadequacy is born of non-farming, and if you don't farm, you won't land. If you don't land, you will leave your hometown and despise your family. People are like birds and beasts. Although there are high cities and deep pools, strict laws and heavy punishments cannot be banned. Cold is to clothes, not to be warm; Hunger is for food, not for pleasure; Hungry and cold, regardless of shame. Human feelings are hungry as long as they stop eating, and cold as long as they don't make clothes. A husband can't eat when he is hungry, and his skin is cold and he can't wear clothes. Although a loving mother can't protect her son, how can you have her people? The wise master knows it is natural, so he serves the people in agriculture and mulberry, collects it thinly, accumulates livestock widely, and prepares for floods and droughts with solid granaries, so the people can get it and have it. People, in the world, are like Mu Zhi, pursuing profits like water, and the four sides have no choice. Gold, pearls, jade, gold and silver are inedible in hunger and clothed in cold, but those who are expensive are also used for the above reasons. It is a slight thing that is easy to hide, and it lies in grasping it, so that it can be surrounded by the sea without suffering from hunger and cold. This makes the minister lightly back to his master, while the people are easy to go to their hometown, and the thieves are persuaded, and the fugitives are also lightly funded. Millet cloth is born in the ground, but it can't be done in a day if it is longer than time and gathers strength. The number of stones is heavy, and the people win, not for the benefit of evil; A day of prosperity and hunger and cold. Therefore, Ming Jun valued grain and despised gold and jade. Today, a farmer's family of five has no fewer than two servants, and its cultivators are only a hundred acres, and the harvest of a hundred acres is only a hundred stones. Spring ploughing, Xia Yun, autumn harvest, winter storage, firewood cutting, official governance, and corvee; Spring is not allowed to avoid dust, summer is not allowed to avoid heat, autumn is not allowed to avoid rain, winter is not allowed to avoid cold and freezing, and there is no day off between four o'clock. They also sent them to greet them privately, asking for help, and raising orphans and children among them. Hard-working, it is still suffering from floods and droughts, and it is urgent and tyrannical. From time to time, it is changed from time to time. When those who have it are sold at half a price, those who don't have it will get double the interest; So there are people who sell farmland houses and descendants to pay their debts. While the big merchants accumulate double interest, while the small ones sit in a row and sell, and they will win their prizes. They will travel around the city every day, and when they are in a hurry, they will sell twice as much. Therefore, men don't cultivate, women don't weave, clothes must be literary, and food must be meat; No pains from farmers, but gains from buildings. Because of its wealth, traffic princes, power over the official situation, in order to benefit each other; Traveling thousands of miles, facing each other, taking advantage of strength and fertilizer, walking on silk and dragging. The merchant therefore annexed the peasants, and the peasants were also exiles. Nowadays, the law is cheap for businessmen, and businessmen are rich; Respect the farmer, the farmer is poor. Therefore, the vulgar is expensive, and the Lord is also cheap; The humble officials are respected by the law. Up and down, on the contrary, likes and dislikes are good, but if you want to make the country rich, you can't get it. The task of Fang Jin is to make the people farm. Want people to farm, lies in your millet; The way to expensive millet is to make people take millet as reward and punishment. Today, I have recruited the world to be the official of Suxian County, so that I can worship the Lord and get rid of sin. In this way, the rich have titles, the peasants have money, and the millet has something. If a husband can enter the millet to receive a knighthood, there will be more than one. If we take what is more than enough for use, then the poor can be endowed with loss. The so-called loss is more than enough, and the shortage is insufficient, and those who make it and benefit the people are also. In line with the people's will, there are three supplements: one is that the Lord uses enough, the other is that the people pay less, and the third is to persuade farmers to work. Today, the people have a car and a horse, and three people have died. The rider of the car is well equipped in the world, so he is a retired soldier. Shennong's teaching said, "There are ten hills in Shicheng, and a hundred paces in Tang Chi, with a million armor, but no millet, so you can keep it." In view of this, the millet, the king is of great use, and the main task of politics. It's a long way from riding a horse to making people feel knighted in the millet and above the Five Chiefs. Juezhe, who is good at what he does, is endless out of his mouth; Millet, planted by the people, is born in the ground and there is no shortage. A husband who gets a high rank is also exempt from punishment, and people want what they want. Make the world into the millet, in order to be exempted from punishment, but at the age of three, there will be more millet under the plug. Your majesty is fortunate to make the world fall into the millet to pay homage to the Lord, which is of great benefit. Whispering is afraid that there is not enough food for the pawn. Eating enough to support five years old can make you enter Sujun County. If you are over one year old, you can forgive at any time, and don't charge farmers rent. In this way, Deze is added to all the people, and the people are diligent. When there is military service, if there is a flood and drought, the people will not be sleepy and the world will be at peace; When you are old and beautiful, the people will be rich and happy.

Under the rule of a wise king, the people don't go hungry or freeze, not because the king can grow food for them and weave cloth for them, but because he can open up financial resources for the people. So although there were nine years of floods in Tang Yao and Xia Yu, and seven years of droughts in Shang Tang, there were no abandoned and emaciated people in China. This is because there are many things to store and save, and preparations have been made in advance. Now that the whole country is unified, the land is big and the population is as large as that of Tang and Yu, and there are no years of floods and droughts, but the savings are not as good as that of Tang and Yu. What is the reason? The reason is that the land still has potential, the people still have spare capacity, the land that can grow grain has not been fully reclaimed, the resources of mountains, lakes and marshes have not been fully developed, and all idlers have not returned to their hometowns to farm. When people live in poverty, they will do evil things. Poverty is due to not being rich, and not being rich is due to not farming. If you don't engage in agriculture, you can't settle down in one place. If you can't settle down, you will leave your hometown, despise your home, and run around like birds and animals. In this case, even if the country has tall walls, dangerous moats, strict laws and cruel punishments, it can't ban them. People who are frozen do not require light warmth for clothes; Hungry people don't ask for sweet and delicious food; When you are hungry and cold, you can't care about shame. It is human nature that if you don't eat two meals a day, you will go hungry, and if you don't make clothes all year round, you will get cold. Then, even a loving mother can't keep her son, and how can the monarch keep his people? The wise monarch understands this truth, so he lets the people engage in agricultural production, reduces their taxes, and stores a large amount of grain in order to enrich the warehouse and guard against floods and droughts, so he can own the people. As for the people, it depends on how the monarch manages them. They pursue interests like water flowing downwards, regardless of the southeast and northwest. These things, such as pearls, jade, gold and silver, can't be eaten when hungry, and can't be worn when cold; However, people still value it because the monarch needs it. These items, such as pearls, jade, gold and silver, are light, compact and easy to collect. If you hold them in your hand, you can travel around the country without the threat of hunger and cold. This will make the courtiers turn their backs on his monarch easily, and the people will leave their hometown casually, and thieves will be encouraged, and those who break the law will have property that is easy to carry. The raw materials of corn and silk are born in the ground, grow in a certain season, and harvest also needs manpower, which can not be achieved in a short time. Grain weighing several stones is beyond the reach of ordinary people, and it is not coveted by wicked people. But if you don't get these things for a day, you will starve and freeze. Therefore, a wise monarch values grain and despises gold and jade. At present, if there are five people in a farmer's family, there are more than two of them who go to serve the corvee; Farmable land, but not more than 111 acres; The grain that can be harvested in this 111 mu of land is not more than 111 stones. They plough in spring, plough in summer, harvest in autumn and store in winter. They also have to cut firewood, repair government houses and serve hard labor. Spring can't avoid dust, summer can't avoid heat, autumn can't avoid rain, winter can't avoid cold and freezing, and there is no day off all year round; On the private side, we should communicate with each other, mourn the dead, visit the sick, raise the lonely and old, and raise young children. All expenses should be paid from agricultural income. Farmers work so hard, but also suffer from floods and droughts, and the government has to levy and collect taxes urgently, apportion them at any time, issue orders in the morning and pay them at night. When paying taxes, people who have food will pay taxes after selling at half price; People who have no food have to borrow and pay taxes at double interest; Then came the sale of land and houses, and the sale of wives and children to pay off debts. And those businessmen, who hoard goods, get double interest; Small ones open shops, sell goods and gain profits by special means. They go to the market every day, and when the government is in urgent need of goods, the prices of the goods they sell are doubled. Therefore, the men in the merchant's family don't have to plow the fields, and the women don't have to raise silkworms to weave. They must wear gorgeous clothes and eat fine rice and meat. Without the hard work of farmers, it has a very rich profit. Relying on their own rich money, making friends with princes, their power exceeds that of officials, and they are in conflict with each other by virtue of their assets; They traveled all over the country, riding in an endless stream, riding solid cars, driving strong horses, wearing silk shoes and silk clothes. This is the reason why merchants annexed farmers' land and farmers went into exile. Nowadays, although the law despises businessmen, businessmen are actually rich; The law respects farmers, but farmers are actually poor. Therefore, what ordinary people value is what the monarch despises; What ordinary officials despise is what the law respects. On the contrary, likes and dislikes are reversed. In this case, it is impossible to make the country rich and implement laws and regulations. Nothing is more important than making people farm. If people want to engage in agriculture, the key lies in raising food prices; The way to raise food prices is to let the people take food for reward or exemption from punishment. Now we should call on the people all over the world to pay food to the government, and those who receive food can be knighted or atoned for; In this way, the rich can get a title, farmers can get money, and food will not be hoarded but circulated. Those who can pay food and get a title are all rich people. By getting goods from the rich for the government's use, the taxes borne by the poor people can be reduced. This is called taking the rich to make up for the deficiency, and the people can benefit as soon as the law is promulgated. Following the wishes of the people has three advantages: first, the monarch needs enough things; second, the people's taxes are reduced; and third, agricultural production is encouraged. According to the current law, if the people can transport a war horse, they can be exempted from military service for three people. War horses are used for national combat readiness, so they can exempt people from military service. Shennong once taught: "There are stone walls 71-81 feet high, moats filled with boiling water a hundred paces wide, and millions of armed soldiers. However, without food, it is impossible to keep them." In this way, food is the most needed wealth of kings and the most fundamental government affairs of the country. Now let the people pay food to buy knighthood, and seal it to five or more, so as to exempt a person from military service, which is far from the function of a war horse. Giving knighthood is the emperor's exclusive right. As long as he opens his mouth, he can give it to others endlessly. Food is planted by the people and grows in the land without lack. It is very desirable to be knighted and atoned for. If all the people in the world are asked to donate food to the frontier fortress in exchange for a title or atonement, then in less than three years, the food in the frontier will certainly increase. Your majesty graciously sent food to the frontier fortress to confer a title, which is a great kindness to the people. I am privately worried that there is not enough food for the garrison in the frontier fortress, so I let a large number of grain depots from all over the world flow into the frontier fortress. If the grain accumulated in the frontier fortress is enough for five years, the people can transport grain to the counties in the mainland; If the county has enough grain to use for more than one year, it can issue a letter at any time without collecting farmers' land tax. In this way, your majesty's kindness and rain will spread to all the people in the world, and the people will take an active part in agriculture? Production, the world will be very rich and happy.