《论衡·卷十二·量知篇》
我说：这有点像穷人欠了官府很多债，由于贫穷无法偿还，就亲自去为官府服劳役来抵债，这样债才能还清。
曰：此有似於贫人负官重责，贫无以偿，则身为官作，责乃毕竟。
My response is: This is akin to a poor man who owes the government a great deal of money but is too poor to repay, so he goes to work for the government to work off his debt. Only then can the debt be cleared.