Book VII 491know when the sun set while they were outside or when the morning broke
while they were inside. As a result, the hours they spent carrying out their
duties could be numbered, whereas the time they spent with their consorts
and concubines was unlimited. The banquets and entertainments knew no
limits, while the meetings with their councilors and ministers became less
frequent.
“Nevertheless, they could not avoid dealing with the state affairs on their
hands. However, the problem was that they found it difficult to bring coun-
cilors and ministers into their private royal quarters in order to have the
state affairs carried out, nor could they let court women convey their mes-
sages to the councilors and ministers who were living outside. Thus, they
used eunuchs as their messengers or agents to contact the outside world.
Furthermore, so- called eunuchs are the ones who were so clever that they
knew how to please the king with their words and behavior. So the kings
believed that the eunuchs were good for conveying royal messages and had
them carry out the task from morning till night.
“Consequently, it happened that the power of deciding on promotions and
demotions or rewards and punishments was transferred to the eunuchs,
while the kings were unaware of it. This was certainly no trivial matter.
Since every word they heard was nothing but flattery, the kings believed
that there was nothing to worry about and that they were doing well in gov-
erning the state. Indulging themselves in music and women, they enjoyed
drinking in the backyard of the palace, leading a life of luxury. They also
started massive construction works, draining the national treasury until
they ruined not only themselves but also their kingdoms, and such cases
have never ceased to take place. This is the reason ancient sage kings
rejected the [lewd] songs of Zheng and stayed away from cunning people.
“Endowed with virtue and talent and assisted by Heaven and men, Your
Majesty has inaugurated a new dynasty, ascending the throne and emu-
lating the laws of the Three Dynasties [Sandai: Xia, Yin, and Zhou]. This
has never happened since the days of the Han and Tang dynasties. However,
according to the observations we have made, there are certain things in
your words or conduct that do not agree with those found in the flourishing
ages of the three dynasties, and therefore we dare to speak out.
“We have noticed in recent days that the sound of music in the palace has
often continued all night long, which contradicts the benevolence of the
king who wants to foster the people, and also that the royal carriage left the
palace too impulsively, which we are afraid is not the proper way to conduct