Original text

? Sun Tzu said: Anyone who raises an army of one hundred thousand and marches for thousands of miles, at the expense of the people and the support of the public, spends thousands of gold a day; there is turmoil inside and outside, and he is lazy on the road, and he is not allowed to do anything. , 700,000 households. To stay together for several years in order to win in one day, but to love a noble title and a hundred gold, and to know nothing of the enemy's feelings, is extremely unkind. He is not a human general, not a helper to his master, and not a victorious lord. Therefore, a wise ruler and a wise general can conquer others through action, and his success comes from the crowd, and he is also a prophet. A prophet cannot be obtained from ghosts and gods, cannot be imitated by things, and cannot be verified by measurement. He must be obtained from people, who know the enemy's mood.

Therefore, there are five kinds of time: there is the time of cause, there is the time of innerness, there is the time of reaction, there is the time of death, and there is the time of life. The five rooms all rise together, but no one knows the way. This is called the divine discipline and the treasure of the human king. The reason is used because of the people in the country. Those in the inner room are used because of their officials. Those who are against the enemy use it because they are enemies. Those who died were deceiving others, so that we would know about it, and then spread it among the enemies. Those who are alive will be repaid.

Therefore, when it comes to the affairs of the three armies, no one should be close to each other, no rewards should be generous to others, and no affairs should be kept secret among others. Without sage wisdom, one cannot use time, without benevolence and righteousness, one cannot use time, and without subtlety, one cannot obtain the truth of time. Wei Zai! Wei Zai! No time is needed for anything. Anyone who hears about it before it happens will die, as will those who report it.

Wherever the army wants to attack, wherever the city wants to attack, and wherever the people want to kill, they must know the names of their guards, left and right, those who pay homage, those who are at the door, and those who sacrifice themselves, so that I will ask for them. Know it.

We must look for those who come to interfere with us among the enemies, so we can benefit them, guide them and abandon them, so we can get them and use them. If you know it because of it, you can get it and use it in your hometown and in the inner world; because you know it, you can use it to deceive the enemy after death. Because you know it, you can make it happen as planned in your lifetime. The master must know the things in the five rooms, and the knowledge must lie in the back room, so the back room must be thick.

When the Yin Dynasty was prosperous in the past, Yizhi was in Xia; when the Zhou Dynasty was prosperous, Lu Ya was in Yin Dynasty. Therefore, only those who have wise rulers and wise generals who can control the situation with superior wisdom will achieve great success. This is the key to the army, and it is what the three armies rely on to move.

Translation

? Sun Tzu said: If you raise 100,000 troops and fight thousands of miles, the expense of the people and the expenditure of the country will cost thousands of gold every day. Due to roads, 700,000 households are unable to engage in farming. The two sides in the war have been in stalemate for several years in order to win one day. It would be too "unkind" if they were stingy with honors, salary and money and did not reuse spies, so that they could not understand the enemy's situation and suffered defeat. Such a general is not a good general of the army or a good assistant to the monarch; such a monarch is not a good monarch who can win battles. The important reason why a wise king and a good general can defeat the enemy as soon as he sends out troops and successfully surpass the others is that he knows the enemy's situation in advance. To understand the enemy's situation in advance, you cannot obtain it by superstitious ghosts and gods, divination, etc. You cannot use similar things in the past as analogies, or you cannot verify it by observing the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. You must obtain it from people who know the enemy's situation.

There are five types of spies: there are causes, there are internals, there are counterattacks, there are deaths, there are lives. If all five kinds of spies are used at the same time, the enemy will be unpredictable and unable to deal with it. This is a wonderful principle and a magic weapon for the king to defeat the enemy. The so-called cause refers to the use of ordinary people in the enemy's country as spies. The so-called neijian refers to the bribery of officials from the enemy country to serve as spies. The so-called counter-intelligence refers to buying or using spies sent by the enemy to work for us. The so-called dead time refers to deliberately spreading false information to let our spies know and pass it on to the enemy. After the enemy is fooled, they are often executed. The so-called alive refers to those who can report back to the enemy alive after being sent to conduct reconnaissance on the enemy.

Therefore, among military personnel, there is no one more trusted than a spy, no reward more generous than a spy, and no matter more confidential than a spy. A general who is not extremely intelligent cannot use spies; a general who is not kind and generous cannot use spies; a general who is not careful and skillful cannot obtain real information from spies. How subtle! How subtle! There really is no place where you can use the spy! Yongjian's plan was leaked before it was implemented, and spies and those who knew the secret were put to death.

Any enemy army that is to be attacked, the enemy city that is to be attacked, and the enemy personnel that are to be killed must be known in advance about the generals who are guarding the city, the confidants on the left and right, the officials in charge of conveying and reporting, and the gatekeepers. The names of the officials and retainers and staff were ordered by our spies to investigate clearly.

It is necessary to search out the spies sent by the enemy to spy on us, so that he can be bribed with heavy sums of money and treated with gifts according to the situation. He must be induced to hand over the task, and then let him go, so that the spy can work for us. used. After learning about the enemy's situation from the counter room, the countryside and inner rooms can be used. Because the enemy's situation is known from the anti-major, the false information spread to the dead can be passed on to the enemy. Because he learned about the enemy's situation from Fanjian, he could come back to report the enemy's situation according to the predetermined time limit. The king must understand the use of the five types of spies. The key is to be able to use counter-spies. Therefore, favorable treatment must be given to rebels.

In the past, the rise of the Shang Dynasty was due to the reuse of Yi Yin who was a minister in Xia; the rise of the Zhou Dynasty was due to the reuse of Jiang Ziya who was an official in Yin. Therefore, a wise king and a capable general who can use extremely resourceful people as spies will surely achieve great achievements. This is an important step in military warfare. The entire army relies on spies to provide intelligence and take action.