Original text and translation of "Warring States Policy·Qin Policy II"

Warring States Policy

Original text:

Qin wanted to attack Qi, Qi, The relationship between Chu and Chu was good, but King Hui was troubled by it. Zhang Yi said: "The king has made an appointment for me with a chariot and coins, and I would like to test it."

Zhang Yinan met the King of Chu and said: "The king of Haoyi said that there is no great king; only Yi There is no great king who is willing to serve as a minister. There is no great king of Qi who is hated by the king of Chaoyi. There is no great king of Qi who hates Yi very much. Now the great king of Chaoyi wants to attack him. Huan, because the king of Haoyi can't do anything, and Yi can't serve as a minister.

The king can stay in seclusion, so I ask the king of Qin to offer the land for business, which is six hundred miles away. Therefore, Qi will be weak, and if Qi is weak, it will be the king's service. If the north is weak, Qi will be weak, and the west will be weak against Qin. If the private businessmen are interested in the land, then this plan will achieve all three benefits."

The King of Chu made a big statement and declared it to the court, saying: "Bu Gu ① can get business and farmland, and it is six hundred miles away." When the ministers heard about it, they congratulated each other, and Chen Zhen saw it later, but he did not congratulate him. . Chen Zhen said: "I see that the land cannot be obtained by merchants, and trouble will surely come, so I dare not congratulate you rashly." The king of Chu said, "Why?" He said to him, "The reason why Qin values ??the king is because the king has Qi.

Today, if the land is not available, Qi must be destroyed first. This is Chu alone. Why should Qin attach great importance to an isolated country? It is not necessary for Qin to conquer Qi first and then attack the land. If you are deceived by Zhang Yi, the king will be embarrassed. If Qin is in trouble in the west and Qi is cut off in the north, the troops of the two countries will come." The king of Chu refused to listen and said, "I have done a good job! I am speechless, but I am waiting for you. "The King of Chu sent people to the Qi State, and the envoys came back to do it again.

Zhang Yi rebelled, and Qin envoys envoyed Qi, and the relationship between Qi and Qin merged. Chu Yin sent a general to take over the territory from Qin. Zhang Yi arrived and said he was ill but refused to go to court. The king of Chu asked, "Zhang Zi, how can I not stop Qi with only a few people?" He then sent his warriors to meet the king of Qi. Zhang Yi knew that Chu was the enemy of Qi, so he went out to see the envoy and said: "From such and such to such and such, it is as wide as six miles." The envoy said: "I heard about six hundred miles, but not six miles." Yi said: "Yi Gu is a villain. , six hundred miles away?"

The envoy reported back to the King of Chu, and the King of Chu was furious and wanted to attack Qin. Chen Zhen said: "It is not a plan to attack Qin. It is better for the king to bribe one of the capitals and attack Qi with him. I am dead in Qin and I need to pay Qi. Isn't the state of Chu complete? The king has now destroyed Qi. But if you blame Qin, we will unite Qi and Qin, and the country will suffer great harm.”

The king of Chu refused to listen, so he raised his troops to attack Qin. Qin and Qi united, and the Han family followed. Chu soldiers were defeated by Du Ling.

(Excerpted from "Warring States Policy? Qin Policy II")

[Note] ①Bugu: The modest words that ancient princes claimed to have.

Translation:

Qin wanted to attack Qi, but Qi and Chu were friendly countries. King Qin Hui was worried about this. Zhang Yi said: "Please prepare chariots, horses and gifts for me. I request to go to Chu State to persuade King Chu to give it a try." There is no one I love more than your Majesty; as a minister, there is no one I wish to serve more than you. There is no monarch that the King of our country hates more than King Qi; and there is no monarch that Zhang Yi is most unwilling to serve than King Qi. King. Now our country is preparing to send troops to conquer Qi, but your country has formed a friendly alliance with Qi. Therefore, King Qin cannot serve the king well, and Zhang Yi and I cannot be your loyal minister.

If the king can protect you. Qi Guo cut off diplomatic relations with Qi, and asked the King of Qin to donate 600 miles of land to merchants. In this way, Qi lost its support and was bound to be weak. After Qi became weak, it can be seen from this that it will obey the king's orders. Come on, if your Majesty can do this, the Chu State will not only weaken the power of the Qi State in the north, but also benefit the Qin State in the southwest, and at the same time gain the land of Shang and Yu. This is really the best strategy to kill three birds with one stone."

When King Huai of Chu heard this, he was very happy and hurriedly announced to the court: "I have obtained 600 miles of land from Qin State!" After hearing King Huai's announcement, all the ministers unanimously expressed their gratitude to Huai. The king congratulated him, and his guest Chen Zhen finally came to see him, but he did not congratulate King Huai. Chen Zhen said: "I think that not only will the king lose the land of Shang and Yu, but it will also bring disaster, so I dare not congratulate the king casually." King Huai asked: "What's the reason?"

< p>Chen Zhen replied: "The reason why King Qin pays attention to your Majesty is because he has such a powerful ally as Qi.

Now that the Qin State has not ceded the land to the king, the king has severed diplomatic relations with the Qi State. This will make the Chu State isolated. How can the Qin State value an isolated and helpless country? What's more, if Qin is allowed to cede land first, and then Chu breaks off diplomatic relations with Qi, Qin will definitely be unwilling to do so;

If Chu breaks off diplomatic relations with Qi first, and then asks Qin to cede land, it will inevitably suffer Zhang Yi cheated and got the land. After being deceived by Zhang Yi, the king will definitely regret it greatly in the future; as a result, the west will cause trouble to the Qin State, and the north will cut off the backup of the Qi State, so that the troops of Qin and Qi will attack the Chu State. "

The King of Chu refused to obey and said: "My affairs have been settled. I hope you will shut up and stop talking. Just wait for good things for me! "So King Huai sent envoys to Qi to announce the severance of diplomatic relations with Qi. Before the first envoy came back, King Chu was in a hurry to send people to sever diplomatic relations with Qi for the second time.?

After Zhang Yi returned to Qin, King Qin sent an envoy to Qi, and Qin and Qi secretly formed an alliance. Chu sent a general to Qin to take over the land, but Zhang Yi pretended to be ill and refused to go to court. "Does Zhang Yi think that I am unwilling to sincerely sever diplomatic relations with Qi? "So King Huai of Chu sent a warrior to Qi to scold King Qi.

After Zhang Yi confirmed that Chu and Qi had indeed severed diplomatic relations, he reluctantly came out to meet the envoys of Chu and said: " From here to there, the total radius of the land donated by our country to your country is 6 miles. The envoy from Chu State was very surprised and said: "I only heard that it was 600 miles, but I didn't hear that it was 6 miles." Zhang Yi said: "I, Zhang Yi, am just an insignificant official in the Qin State. How can I say there are 600 miles?" "

The Chu envoys returned to report to King Huai of Chu. King Huai was furious and prepared to send troops to attack Qin. Chen Zhen said: "It is definitely not a good idea for Chu to send troops to attack Qin. Your Majesty, why not take this opportunity to give Qin another big city and join forces with Qin to attack Qi? In this way, what was lost to Qin can be recovered from Qi. Doesn't this mean that Chu has been preserved?

Since your Majesty has severed diplomatic relations with Qi State, and now you are blaming Qin State for its breach of trust, this is tantamount to strengthening the diplomatic relations between Qin and Qi, and Chu State will suffer great harm! "? King Huai of Chu did not adopt Chen Zhen's advice, so he sent troops north to attack Qin. Qin and Qi formed a joint front, and South Korea also joined the military alliance. As a result, the Chu army was defeated by the three-nation coalition in Duling. .?