A letter summoning Zhao Zhang招趙璋書
1Urge Huang Chao to come over and submit
都統太尉馳問趙璋。古人有言曰。大厦成而燕雀相賀。湯沐具而蟣蝨相弔。審其賀之與弔。由彼依之與違。且爾同惡相成。異謀斯搆。遽爲犯順。尙敢偸安。今我水陸徵軍。天人助信。久審風雲之會。遠揚雷電之威。卽當行展豹韜。立擒梟帥。剋收城闕。靜剗煙塵。想計爾曹具知吾意。但以先春而後秋者天之道。重賞而輕罰者君之恩。遂乃馳吾咫尺之書。問爾方寸之事。爾等依憑大憝。猾亂中朝。罪已貫盈。理須誅翦。然若黃巢狠性能改。雄心自新。望其國封。建彼家社。勳業可超今邁古。恩榮可付子傳孫。必爲致之。速相報也。如或螳蜋努臂。猰㺄磨牙。輒欲拒張。必當撲滅。爾須審詳至理。勸誘元兇。欲令天下知名。早申忠節。奈何草間求活。終作叛徒。況居成算之中。卽在覆巢之下。死生有命。禍福無門。唯審是非。可知成敗。所謂燕雀相賀。蟣蝨相弔。實在於知與不知。順與不順。良時易失。嘉會難逢。生爲有害之人。死作無知之鬼。深可恥也。深可痛也。勉惟去就。早副指蹤。悉之。
The Commander-in-chief and Grand Commandant sends this urgent inquiry to Zhao Zhang. A man of old said, "When a great hall is finished, the swallows and sparrows congratulate one another, and when the bathwater is ready, the nits and lice console one another." Look closely at that congratulating and that consoling, and you will see they turn on whether a creature leans toward the thing or goes against it. You and your kind complete one another in a common evil, and schemes at odds with each other are woven here. Suddenly you have offended against what is right, and still you dare to steal your ease. Now I am calling up troops by water and by land. Heaven and man aid good faith. Long have I watched for the gathering of wind and cloud, and far have I spread the awe of thunder and lightning. Soon I will unfold the arts of war and take the owl chieftain where he stands, recover the walls and the gate towers, and quietly scour away the smoke and dust. I think you all know my mind. But spring comes first and autumn after, and that is the way of Heaven. Reward is weighed heavy and punishment light, and that is the grace of the sovereign. So at last I send off this letter of mine, a mere foot and an inch of it, to ask after the matter that lies in the inch of your heart. You and your men have leaned upon the great villain and thrown the central court into disorder. Your crimes are already full to the brim, and by reason you ought to be cut down and destroyed. Yet if Huang Chao can change his savage nature and make his ambitious heart new again, if he looks to a fief from the state and would found a house and its altars, then his merit can rise above the present and pass beyond the past, and the grace and honor he receives can be handed to his sons and passed on to his grandsons. This will surely be brought about for him. Answer me quickly. But if the mantis braces its arms and the yayu grinds its teeth, and you would block the way, then you will surely be crushed and wiped out. You must look closely into this final reason and urge the arch-villain, so that his name may be known in the world and his loyalty declared early. Why seek to stay alive in the grass and end as one of the rebel band? You are already inside a reckoning that is complete, and already beneath a nest about to overturn. Death and life have their appointed lot, and calamity and fortune come in by no gate. Look only to right and wrong, and you can know success and failure. What I called the swallows and sparrows congratulating one another and the nits and lice consoling one another lies truly in whether you know or do not know, whether you comply or do not comply. A good season is easily lost, and a fine gathering is hard to meet. To live as a man who does harm and to die as a ghost without knowledge is deep cause for shame and deep cause for pain. Strive to weigh your going and your staying, and fall in early with what I point out. Know all of this.