For a thorough analysis of Ba Gu using this essay see: http://www.wlu.edu/~hhill/baguwen.html
When the people have wealth below, the ruler naturally will have wealth at the top. For the wealth of the ruler is one that is stored among the people. If the people possess wealth, how can the ruler have any reason to be poor alone?
By way of scolding Duke Ai, You Ruo asserted emphatically that the ruler and the people are a single entity. He said, "You have increased your taxes because you do not have enough for your needs. If you want to satisfy your own needs, why not first satisfy those of your people?
In truth, one can "tax 100 mou" and constantly economize and maintain an attitude of humanness. To take one-tenth in taxes is not to maltreat the people for selfish purposes. Therefore, what the people's labor produces will not be jeopardized by tax demands nor will the wealth of the people be exhausted by exorbitant taxes. Within the villages they will store up goods and those who "support parents as well as wives and children" will be without care. In the suburbs and in the country, produce will pile up to the thatch and beams of the houses, and those who "nourish life and provide fitting deaths" will be without regret. If the people are provided for, how can the ruler alone be poor?
If the wealth is stored in the villages, the ruler may obtain it and have use of it. He will not need to place it in the treasury and later call it his own. If it is stored in the suburbs and country, the ruler may obtain it and have use of it. It will not be necessary to have it stored up in the granaries and later say that he owns it, If one taxes without causing poverty, how can one worry about making a demand and not seeing it met? If one has used wealth without exhausting it, how can one be distressed that a moment might come for which one is not prepared? Sacrificial animals and new millet are sufficient for sacrificial offerings. Jade, silk, and round and square bamboo chests are sufficient expenditures on audiences with the ruler or for intercourse among feudal lords. Morning and evening meals are sufficient for entertaining guests. Armament for vehicles and horses are sufficient for military expeditions. If one says there is not enough, the common people have something and will give of it. Who, then, will be concerned about insufficiency?
Therefore, if taxation laws are established for the good of the people, the government will have sufficient for its needs, and for this reason, why should you increase taxes in order to get rich?