This is Explanation Two from Han Feizi: Inner Congested Sayings. With over ten cases covering households, courts and state relations, it illustrates the structural conflicts between ministers’ private interests and national interests.
This excerpt comes from “Canon Two: Conflicting Interests” in Han Feizi · Inner Congeries Part II‑Six Subtleties. One of Han Fei’s most radical propositions, it rejects Confucian moral narratives of loyal ministers and reduces the ruler‑minister bond to a cold‑blooded interest formula: when ministers gain benefit, the sovereign’s interest perishes.