(^24) THE WEALTH AND POVERTY OF NATIONS
need to expend effort on the transport of grain. In consequence he de
stroyed the swarms of bandits [the forces of rival political chiefs] and
brought peace to the empire.
A half century later, according to the same source, "it was desired to
extend the area under cultivation and to amass a supply of grain that
would make it possible to destroy the 'bandits.' " To do this, "it would
also be necessary to excavate canals to provide water for irrigation, to
make possible the accumulation of large supplies of grain for the
troops, and to serve as routes for the transport of the government
grain. ..." Some calculations follow: "Within six or seven years thirty
million measures of grain would be stockpiled on the Huai. This would
be enough to feed 100,000 men for five years. Wu would thus be con
quered and [Wei] arms prevail everywhere."^8 And so it was.
This erratic seesaw of labor-hungry soil and food-hungry labor in
evitably brought times and places of want, even famine. No room for
animals. Around 300 CE. a memorialist named Shu Hsi complained:
The situation is especially bad in the San-Wei, and yet grazing lands for
pigs, sheep, and horses are spread throughout this region. All of these
should be done away with, so that provision may be made for those with
no or litde land.... All the pasturages should be removed, so that horses,
cattle, pigs, and sheep feed on the grass of the empty plains, while the men
who roam about in search of a living may receive land from the bounty of
the state.^9
Clearly, Chinese agriculture could not run fast enough. State and the
society were always striving for new land and higher yields, making and
using people in order to feed people. Under the emperor T'ai-wu
(reigned 424-52, so, over a century later), the government was not
going to leave anything to chance. Peasants without oxen were forced
to sell their labor for the loan of oxen. Families were listed, numbers
were counted, labor duties and performance clearly recorded. "Their
names were written up at the place where they worked, so that it was
possible to distinguish between their varying degrees of success. They
were also forbidden to drink wine, to attend theatrical entertainments,
or to abandon agriculture for wine-making or trade."^10
No time, then, for fun or money. Only for growing food and mak
ing children.
Viewed over time, the treadmill process shows a number of stages:
nora
(Nora)
#1