龚廷贤：寿世保元·第253则

Taxes are a portion of the produce of the land and labour of a country, placed at the disposal of the government; and are always ultimately paid, either from the capital, or from the revenue of the country.

楚不用吴起而削亂，秦行商君法而富强。二子之言也已當矣，然而枝解吳起而車裂商君者，何也？大臣苦法而細民惡治也。當今之世，大臣貪重，細民安亂，甚於秦、楚之俗，而人主無悼王、孝公之聽，則法術之士，安能蒙二子之危也而明己之法術哉？此世所以乱無霸王也。

The more we talked with the students, who were then coming to us from several parts of the state, the more we found that the chief ambition among a large proportion of them was to get an education so that they would not…