Refers to a situation where there are too many officials for a small number of people, leading to overstaffing, inefficiency, and potential exploitation; or, it describes a scenario with too many leaders giving conflicting orders, resulting in confusion and a lack of unified direction.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
In the late Northern Zhou Dynasty, after Emperor Wen of Sui replaced the Northern Zhou regime, he restored the Han system and re-divided the land into many small prefectures and counties for administration. This led to a significant increase in the number of officials.
Yang Shangxi was deeply concerned about this situation. Observing the sharp rise in annual expenditures, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Wen of Sui, urging him to change this 'ten sheep, nine shepherds' situation. Emperor Wen of Sui adopted his suggestion, which yielded excellent results.