王荆公好言利，有小人诏曰：“决梁山泊八百里水以为田，其利大矣。” 荆公喜甚，徐曰：“决水何地可容？” 刘贡父曰：“自其旁别凿八百里泊，则可容矣。” 荆公笑而止。
——《邵氏见闻录》
A New Lake for an Old
Wang
Anshi, prime minister of the Song Dynasty, was fond of public utility projects.
A man who wanted to get into his good graces offered a proposition. “Drain
Liangshanbo Lake, and you will have eight hundred square li of fertile land,”
said the man. Wang
Anshi was elated, then he asked, “Where shall the water go?” “Dig
another lake of the same size beside it and the question is solved,” said Liu
Kongfu. Wang
Anshi laughed and called the matter off.
The Records of Shao （杨宪益、戴乃迭 译） |
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