To Li Zhi of the Huaikou garrison — to the man who cut down his own son and stopped a revolt淮口鎭李質
1When a viper is on the hand, a strong man cuts off the joint
報李質。覽所申狀。慰愜良多。李再興未革狼心。敢張蜂目。搆稱虛事。違負本軍。初憑逐寇之名。却設起戎之計。賴質深懷智策。善審兵機。一唱義聲。四圍逆黨。狀疾風之掃危葉。如烈火之爇飛蓬。再興將見誅夷。果當懾竄。然旣是傷弓之物。必爲釁鼓之資。兼知質男裕黃口小兒。血氣未定。偶虧嚴父之訓。以涉叛夫之謀。質又徇公絶私。捨曲取直。愛而知惡。義以滅親。削其舐犢之言。遵彼烹梟之理。若非忠勇。何得如斯。古語有之。蝮虵在手則壯士斷其節。是乃忍小痛而除大患也。況石碏傳芳於魯史。日磾載美於漢書。故事斯存。令名不朽。足以見質有大丈夫之氣。有眞君子之心。權兵而動必成功。鎭境而靜能守節。前勞後效。日就月將。固當榮盛可期。勿以滯淹爲恨。勉安軍旅。善保勳名。以古況今。惟吾知汝。悉之。
Word to Li Zhi. I have read the report you sent, and I am much comforted and satisfied. Li Zaixing had not changed his wolf's heart and dared to open his wasp eyes. He framed and spoke of things that were not, he went against his own army and failed it, and leaning at first on the name of chasing bandits, he laid instead a plan to raise troops. Thanks to you, Zhi, who kept wise plans deep in your breast and read the moment of war well, one cry of righteousness went up and the rebel band was surrounded on four sides. It was as a swift wind sweeps the frail leaves, as a fierce fire burns the flying mugwort. Zaixing will be cut down and wiped out, and he will surely take fright and flee; but he is already a thing wounded by the bow, and he will certainly become the stuff for smearing a drum with blood. I know too that your son Yu is a small child with a yellow mouth, whose blood and breath are not yet settled, and that he happened to fall short of his stern father's teaching and so waded into a rebel's scheme. You, Zhi, followed what is public and cut off what is private, casting aside the crooked and taking the straight. You loved him and yet knew his evil, and for righteousness you destroyed your own kin. You pared away the words about a cow licking her calf and followed that principle of boiling the owl. If this were not loyalty and courage, how could it be so? There is an old saying, "When a viper is on the hand, a strong man cuts off the joint." This is to bear a small pain and remove a great trouble. Moreover Shi Que handed down his fragrance in the history of Lu, and Jin Midi had his beauty set down in the Book of Han. These old matters are here before us, and a good name does not decay. It is enough to show that Zhi has the spirit of a great man and the heart of a true gentleman. Taking arms in hand and moving, he will surely succeed; holding the border quiet, he can keep his constancy. Your earlier labor and your later proof advance day by day and month by month, and a flourishing honor may surely be looked for, so do not take the delay as a grievance. Strive to keep the army at peace and guard your name for merit well. Measuring today by old times, it is I alone who know you. Know all of this.