学进去

In the state of Qin (秦国 ) , there was a man called Shang Yang (商鞅). He was a statesman (政治家) and worked out many reforms(改革) for the state, like paying more attention to farming and giving rewards (报酬) to soldiers who were successful when at war.

But these reforms were not easily carried out (执行) at first. Most people didn’t trust Shang Yang. In order to solve this problem, Shang Yang came up with an idea. He put a thin wooden pole at the south gate of the Qin capital. Many people came to see him and the pole.

Then, in front of the crowd, Shang Yang said loudly, “The man who takes this pole to the north gate will get 10 gold pieces.”

It was a simple job and the reward was so large. However, some time passed and no one stepped forward. They all thought Shang Yang was making a joke.

Hearing no answer, Shang Yang stepped forward and said, “The reward now goes to 50 gold pieces.”          

This reward was unbelievably large. Finally, a man from the crowd came forward. He put the pole on his shoulders and walked to the north gate. True to his word, Shang Yang gave the man 50 gold pieces.

After that, the people of Qin were all talking about what Shang Yang did about the pole. They believed he was a man of his word. So when Shang Yang began carrying out his reforms, the people followed him.

Under these great reforms, Qin grew stronger and stronger. At last, Qin made all the seven states into one empire (帝国).