Wang Yang replied, "The Xiangyang Records recounts that when Marquis Wu campaigned against the Southern Man, Ma Su offered this counsel: 'In warfare, attacking hearts is superior to attacking cities; fighting for hearts is superior to fighting with soldiers. I ask only that you win their hearts.' Though Ma Su lacked the talent to command armies, those words were excellent. The means I spoke of were precisely this: attacking hearts. There are two ways to do it-through material interests and through culture."
"What do you mean by 'through material interests'?"
"Our current strategy toward the Southern Man is chiefly a blockade. The more you blockade them, the poorer they become, and the poorer they become, the more they want to come and plunder us. Besides, people without property hold their lives cheap; those who hold their lives cheap will not settle peacefully, and those who will not settle peacefully turn to fighting and violence. That is why Southern Barbarian Rebellions are frequent and difficult to quell. When a great army arrives, the tribesmen have no possessions to weigh them down and simply flee. When the army withdraws, they emerge again. How can that cycle ever end?
"So do not blockade them-open communications! Do not prohibit trade-promote it! We are wealthier than the tribes, more populous, more lavish in our pleasures, superior in our goods, and more refined in our culture. What have we to fear from contact? Encourage merchants to travel to their lands, and encourage tribesmen to come here and earn money! Let them see this dazzling world of ours! When famine strikes, donate food and supplies; when it does not, sell them things cheaply, or even give some away! It will not cost much. The main aim is to cultivate their wants and broaden their horizons. The five