Tao's overstepping of authority

If the people are not even afraid of death, how can you threaten them with it?

If people were always afraid of death, and those who do wrong were seized and killed, who would dare to do evil?

But there is already a proper executioner whose job it is to carry out killing. To kill in place of the executioner is like taking the place of a carpenter in cutting wood. One who takes the carpenter’s place to cut wood will rarely avoid cutting his own hand.