After this he may urge them, and they will proceed
to what is good, for in this case the people will follow after that with
readiness.
"But now the livelihood of the people is so regulated, that, above, they
have not sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, they
have not sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children; even
in good years their lives are always embittered, and in bad years they
are in danger of perishing. In such circumstances their only object is
to escape from death, and they are afraid they will not succeed in doing
so--what leisure have they to cultivate propriety and righteousness?
"If your Majesty wishes to carry out a benevolent government, why not
turn back to what is the essential step to its attainment?
"Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five
acres, and persons of fifty years will be able to wear silk. In keeping
fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be
neglected, and persons of seventy years will be able to eat flesh. Let
there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of
the field-allotment of a hundred acres, and the family of eight mouths
will not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to the
teaching in the various schools, with repeated inculcation of the filial
and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the
roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads.
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