Volume 44 of "Quan San Guo Wen"

Original text:

The urgent need of the country. Only farming and war. If a country is rich, its army will be strong. A strong army will lead to victory. Ran farmers. The foundation of victory. Confucius said. Enough food and enough soldiers. Eat before the soldiers. There is no advice from above to set up a title. Then there will be no merit of wealth and animals. This is the reward for performance evaluation. It lies in accumulating millet to enrich the people. Then the road to friendship will be dead. The source of glitz is blocked.

Translation:

The top priority of the country is the harvest and the war situation. When the country is rich, the soldiers will be strong, and when the soldiers are strong, they will win in war. Farmers are the foundation of victory. Confucius said, "There must be enough food and soldiers." Food is to supply soldiers. If the state does not set up official positions, the people will not have ministers to collect finance. Now the purpose of implementing rewards based on performance is to gather food for farmers. Otherwise, the country's road to making friends will be cut off, and the rich land will become blocked.

Postscript:

Deng Ai (about 197-264), courtesy name Shizai, was born in Jiyang, Yiyang (now Xinye, Henan). An outstanding military strategist and general of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. Deng Ai had been guarding Shu Han Jiang Wei on the western front of Cao Wei for many years. (Encyclopedia)

This is a memorial to Sima Shishang that focused on agriculture when Deng Ai was appointed governor of Yanzhou.

Deng Ai was a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, and was well versed in the art of war. In 263 AD, he and Zhong Hui respectively led the Wei army to attack the Shu Han. In the end, he took the lead in entering Chengdu, causing the Shu Han's demise.

He was also very insightful in domestic affairs. He once wrote "Jihe Lun", which discussed the opening of rivers in the Huaihe River Basin, and wrote a letter to Sima Yi, which was deeply appreciated by him.

While dealing with the war against Wu and Shu, he also gained insight into the threat to the Central Plains from foreign tribes in the north. He once pointed out that "there are rebel Hus in Liu Bao's tribe, and they can be divided into two kingdoms because of the rebellion to divide their power." He knew that the Hu people in the north were powerful and always a border trouble, so they should not be allowed to gradually become a threat, so he suggested that the court wait for opportunities to divide The forces of various tribes. If the Sima family had paid attention to the problem of the Hu people and taken precautions against it, the "Five Hus" in the later Jin Dynasty would never have happened.

Deng Ai played a vital role in the military, diplomacy and agricultural support of the Later Wei Dynasty. "Three Kingdoms" records this: "Where Ai is, the wilderness has been opened up, and both soldiers and civilians are abundant."