What metaphors are used in The Death of Woman Wang by Jonathan D. Spence?

In the second part, P’u Sung-ling talk about the people who were in charge when natural disasters struck and the people who were given the task of collecting tax money. He compared their efforts in trying to deal with the above mentioned problems with their ability to deal with bandits. The government was unable to help the people protect themselves from bands of bandits just like they were unable to protect them from natural disasters. This shows just how ill prepared the ruling class was to protect their people and how powerless they were when faced with different problems.