During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, a renowned scholar named Yang Shangxi devoted himself to rigorous study from childhood. His tireless dedication earned him a recommendation to the Imperial Academy, where he mastered the Confucian classics and developed extraordinary wisdom. The court held him in high esteem, and he served as a key minister under three emperors—Ming, Wu, and Xuan—becoming an indispensable pillar of the state.
Later, Emperor Wen of Sui overthrew the Northern Zhou regime, and Yang Shangxi remained fiercely loyal to him. Emperor Wen restored all Han institutions, completely overhauling the Northern Zhou's Xianbei rule to align with the Han people's aspirations. One key reform was redrawing administrative boundaries and establishing new prefectures and commanderies.
During the Sui Dynasty, the number of prefectures and counties had doubled compared to the Qin and Han periods. In some areas, a region less than a hundred li across would be carved into several counties, and a territory with fewer than a thousand households might be split between two separate commanderies. Naturally, this bloated the bureaucracy, multiplying officials and clerks. Each locality cost the state tens of thousands of silver taels annually in salaries and administrative expenses, placing an unbearable burden on the national treasury.
Yang Shangxi, deeply concerned about this situation, reported his opinion to Emperor Wen of Sui:
Yang Qian explained, "Having too many prefectures is like ten sheep being watched by nine shepherds—completely unnecessary. The priority is to keep the important prefectures and merge the idle ones. This way, the land and population remain the same, annual taxes, grain, and cloth revenues won't decrease, but expenses can be greatly reduced. Moreover, we can assign talented officials to where they're truly needed, boosting efficiency."
Emperor Wen of Sui received this report, studied it carefully, and was greatly impressed. He then followed Yang Shangxi's advice, abolishing and merging many prefectures and commanderies, achieving excellent results.
In the early years of the Sui Dynasty, with the loyal support of Yang Shangxi and others, the regime was quickly consolidated.
The idiom "ten sheep, nine shepherds" means ten sheep with nine herders. In ancient times, people were likened to sheep and officials to shepherds, illustrating too many officials for too few people. Later, it also came to describe conflicting commands that leave one at a loss.
Source: *Book of Sui*, "Biography of Yang Shangxi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "十羊九牧" came to describe how conflicting commands leave one at a loss.