Immediately following the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, Wei Yuan released his second major piece of writing, the Sheng wu ji (圣武记), or Records of the Conquest, a paean to the rise of the Qing Dynasty.

Again, Wei looked to themes of wealth and power, and this time the Legalist influences were clear. Here is Wei, as quoted in De Bary’s Sources of Chinese Tradition:

When the state is rich and powerful, it will be effective–it deals with the traitors and they will not persist in their ways; it administers revenue and [the revenue] will not be wasted; it acquires weapons and they will not be flawed; it organizes armed forces and the troops will not be understrength. What then is there to fear about barbarians anywhere–what is there to worry about as to defense against aggression?

A complete scan of this work is available online in two parts (in Chinese)–read part 1 and part 2.