【明報專訊】In days of yore, there was an empire ruling the central plain. With its large expanse of territory and great ambition, kingdoms large or small were conquered and turned into provinces (省) one after another. People were treated like slaves under the regime, and taxed every year to sustain the empire's spending on its army and building of walls. But the money was running out like tap water. Sooner or later it would need a new source of money.

Then it was the moment. A small kingdom was located east to the empire. It only had a small population and a primitive economy. At the same time, the empire was not ready for another war. The emperor sent a representative to meet the king, attempting to put diplomatic pressure on him.

"I'm from the empire. The emperor demands an amount of taxes be paid each spring." The representative handed in a notice to the king.

"1000 kilos of gold! Are you looking for protection money? I'm not afraid of you." The king was furious and rejected the unreasonable request.

The representative was baffled (困惑), but could only return to the empire.

Having known the rejection from a petty kingdom, the emperor was raging and consulted the prime minister. The prime minister said, "They have a neighbour stronger than us from the west. It's their sheet anchor (靠山). Try to lure (引誘) the kingdom rather than pressure them into submission. Weaken them with sweeteners. When they're lax, we win."

The emperor was delighted and ordered workers to put 1000 kilos of gold onto the carts. The official went to the kingdom with the gold this time. They gave the kingdom the gold and help it build its bridges and roads.

But the kingdom wasn't taught how to do the maintenance (保養). Years gone. The bridges were rusting and roads were covered with grasses.

"We the empire could assist you in building the infrastructure. But you need to pay taxes first." The folks from the kingdom didn't know how to repair the bridges and roads. So they kept paying the maintenance fees.

The king realised that he had been deceived. He asked his strong neighbour to help pay the taxes. But his representative came back only with a letter saying that it was the kingdom's fault not to think carefully.

The kingdom couldn't resort to war. It was weak. It then signed an agreement, letting the experts from the empire come in.

Not long after, the kingdom was full of "experts" from the empire. It was ruled by administrators from the empire.

Like other lands, it was turned into a province and its people were taxed as sheep are shorn.

■Food for thought

The kingdom was subjugated (被征服) like a frog in a pot of boiling water. When a crisis comes, people often ignore it. Try to avoid delaying things that should be done!

■Glossary

regime (n) 政權

primitive (adj) 原始的

petty (adj) 微不足道的

lax (adj) 鬆懈的

[Smarties' Power English 第232期]