A statement asking that an edict be sent down to instruct the Two Zhe請降詔旨指喩兩浙狀
1Wu and Yue are enemies again
右先淮浙西周相公牒。杭州與浙東兵士鬪敵。某遂具事由申奏。請降詔書。速令戢斂。伏奉二月二十日詔旨。已詔兩浙。務在叶和者。某當時備錄王言。各移公牒訖。兼先差人齎書牒。與劉漢宏尙書。詰彼起戎之本。諭其繼好之規。今得廻書。其言不讓。唯稱周相公與董昌苟恃寵榮。妄行威福。虐侵近境。阻截通津。況有不同國之讎嫌。又夫無蘊年之誓約。必想見豺而戰。猶能首鼠幸生。已決加兵。終期釋憾。然則此無和氣。彼有鬪心。嘗膽者結怨旣深。抉眼者遺言可驗。必恐以吳與越。終當有越無吳。實所謂夫差之麋鹿興譏。范蠡之黿鼉得便。唯憂黎庶枉見殺傷。輒再具狀奏。陳請更飛詔止遏。某徒圓鑿方枘。避柱觸楹。累陳高鳳之詞。莫解子都之怒。且讎因手足。疾在腹心。久練師徒。決期戰伐。則也衛絲轉亂。鄭蔓難除。三人是仇。百姓何罪。伏惟相公贊成睿略。施展廟謀。俾陳兩武之事端。唯仰一言之恩庇。謹錄狀上。
For the above: in accordance with the earlier dispatch of Chief Minister Zhou of Zhexi, Hangzhou was fighting the soldiers of Zhedong. Your servant then set out the whole matter and reported it, asking that an edict be sent down to make them draw back at once. On the twentieth day of the second month I respectfully received the imperial order, which said that an edict had already gone to the Two Zhe, charging them to work for concord. Your servant at that time wrote out the royal words in full and sent an official dispatch to each of them. I had also sent a man ahead with a letter and a dispatch to Liu Hanhong, Minister, to question him about the root of his raising troops and to instruct him in the rule of keeping up friendship. Now his answer has come, and his words yield nothing. He says only that Chief Minister Zhou and Dong Chang rely carelessly on the favor they enjoy, wield awe and grace as they please, oppress the borders near them, and cut off the fords that join them. He says further that there is between them the hatred of enemies who cannot serve one state, and that there is no oath sworn to hold through the years; that seeing a jackal they must surely fight, though they might still live by luck like rats; and that he has already resolved to add more soldiers and looks in the end to loose his grudge. If so, there is no air of peace on this side and there is a will to fight on that. The one who tasted gall has bound his hatred deep, and the words left by the one whose eyes were cut out may well come true. I fear that with Wu and Yue it must end with Yue standing and Wu gone. This is truly what is meant by the elk and deer of Fuchai stirring reproach, and by the turtles of Fan Li getting their chance. Caring only that the people may be killed for nothing, I again set out a statement and report it, and ask that an edict be flown down once more to stop them. Your servant is only a square peg for a round hole, who shuns a pillar and strikes a post. Though I set forth the words of Gao Feng again and again, I cannot loose the anger of Zidu. Moreover the enmity begins in the hands and feet, and the sickness lies in the belly and the heart. They have long drilled their soldiers, and the time has come for them to settle it in battle. The silk of Wei grows more tangled, and the creepers of Zheng are hard to root out. Three men are enemies. What crime have the people committed? I humbly consider that the Chief Minister brings the sagely plan to completion and spreads abroad the counsel of the court. Let the two men of arms be made to set out the grounds of their quarrel. I look up for one word of grace that will shelter them. Respectfully submitted.