Great leadership depends on a leader’s ability to be fair even when faced with challenges. In this case, the law dictates that the needs of the meritorious people should be addressed before those of the less fortunate.
The king is willing to throw away the available food rather than distribute it evenly among the people. He fears that such a fair act may bring disorderliness and upset the balance that exists between different social classes in Qin.
To some extent, the king is right. This is because enactment of laws facilitates the presence and continuance of orderliness. As such, going against the law is not only risky but also wrong.
In addition, the meritorious people have levels of influence and resources that might be used to discredit the king if he does not uphold his duties.
This would explain why stratification of the people on social and economical grounds is more important than saving lives. The king believes that poor people would rather die than receive the level of treatment given to the rich.
However, the food is collected from various regions (Five Parks) and is produced by both the rich and the poor from these regions. As such, it is only fair that the food be distributed evenly among them.
With these undertones, it is clear that discrimination is rampant in Qin. Basing such a consequential decision (feeding the citizens) on discriminatory grounds is not right. Every human being has a fundamental right to live.
Despite what the law says, no one deserves to die simply because he/she does not belong to the elite members of a given society. There are alternatives that can be used to resolve this issue without leading to the disorderliness mentioned by the king.
A quota system can be implemented put in place to ensure that each member of the society gets a share of the available food. The meritorious people can have bigger shares of the food than the poor in a bid to uphold the law.
It still would be unfair, but everyone would have food on the table as they wait for the famine to end. This would make the king look considerate in the eyes of the less fortunate, and reasonable among the meritorious people.
Similarly, the king has the power to suspend this law if circumstances call for such an action. In this case, suspension of this law would save lives, thereby making it a logical decision. Failure to feed the people may lead to an uprising.
Despite the laws in place, people cannot die knowing that there is a solution to their problem. They will be forced to fight back leading to chaos and disorderliness. Suspending this law would ensure that such results are averted.
The last viable alternative would be to come up with a tribunal, which would be set to address the needs of the poor people. Communication is extremely important in any society.
This tribunal would act as a bridge between the rich and the poor. Members of the tribunal would collect the views of the poor and relay them to the king.
This would provide an excellent platform for negotiations on various issues that affect the people. In this case, the tribunal would negotiate a deal that is mutually beneficial to both parties, thereby minimizing the risk of disorderliness.