Shang Yang South Gate Standing Wood

Among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, Qin lagged behind the vassal states of the Middle Kingdom in all political, economic, and cultural aspects. The neighboring state of Wei was stronger than Qin and took away a large part of the western part of the river from Qin.

In 361 B.C., the new ruler of Qin, Duke Qin Xiao, assumed the throne. He was determined to make efforts to strengthen the state and first searched for talents. He gave an order, saying, "Whoever can find a way to make Qin rich and strong, whether he is from Qin or a foreign guest, will be made an official."

When the Duke of Qin called for this, he attracted many talented people. A nobleman from the state of Wei, Gongsun Yang (later Shang Yang), who was not highly regarded in the state of Wei, came to Qin and asked for an introduction, and was received by the Duke of Qin.

Shang Yang said to the Duke of Qin, "If a country wants to be rich and strong, it must pay attention to agriculture and reward its generals; if it wants to rule well, it must have rewards and punishments. With rewards and punishments, the court will have prestige, and all reforms will be easy to carry out."

Duke Xiao of Qin fully agreed with Shang Yang's idea. However, some nobles and ministers of Qin opposed it with all their might. The Duke of Qin saw that there were so many opponents and he had just assumed the throne, so he put the reform on hold for the time being for fear of making a mess.

After two years, when his throne was secure, he made Shang Yang the Minister of the Left Concubine and said, "From today onwards, the Minister of the Left Concubine will be responsible for the reform of the system."

Shang Yang drafted a reform decree, but he was afraid that the people would not trust him and would not follow the new decree. He had a three-foot-tall log erected at the south gate of the capital and ordered, "Whoever can carry this log to the north gate will be rewarded ten taels of gold."

In a short time, a large number of people gathered at the south gate, and there were a lot of discussions. Some said: "This wood can be moved by anyone, where is the need for ten taels of reward?" Some said, "This is probably a joke on the part of the chief of the Zuo Shu."

Everyone looked at me, I looked at you, but no one dared to carry the wood.

Shang Yang knew that the people did not believe his order, so he raised the reward to fifty taels. But the higher the reward, the more the spectators found it unreasonable, and still, no one dared to carry it.

While the group was talking, a man in the crowd ran out and said, "I'll try." As he said, he picked up the wood and carried it to the north gate.

Immediately, Shang Yang sent word to reward the wood carrier with 50 taels of gold, not a penny less.

The story immediately spread and became a sensation in Qin. The people said.

"The Zuo Shuji's order is not ambiguous."

Knowing that his order had worked, Shang Yang published the new decree he had drafted. The new decree rewarded and punished clearly, stipulating that the size of an official position and the rank of a title were based on merit in battle. Those who produced more grain and cloth were exempted from official duties, and those who were poor because of laziness and trade were punished with their wives and children as servants of the government.

Since the change of law by Shang Yang, Qin increased its agricultural production and its military power. Soon, Qin attacked the western part of Wei, from the west to the east of the river, and took down the capital city of Wei, Anyi.

In 350 B.C., Shang Yang implemented a second reform, the main contents of which were

First, abolishing the good fields and opening up the roads (a road is a big road between fields). The State of Qin flattened these wide roads and planted crops on them, and also reclaimed the mounds, wastelands, woods, and ditches that used to be used for dividing the boundaries. Whoever reclaimed the wasteland would own it. The land could be bought and sold.

Secondly, the organization of counties was established, and municipalities and villages were combined and organized into counties, which were directly administered by officials sent by the state. In this way, the power of the central authority was more centralized.

Third, the capital was moved to Xianyang. To facilitate development to the east, the capital was moved from Yongcheng to Xianyang , north of the Wei River.