First Audience with Qin初見秦
臣聞：「不知而言，不智；知而不言，不忠。」爲人臣不忠，當死；言而不當，亦當死。雖然，臣願悉言所聞，唯大王裁其罪。
Your servant has heard it said, "To speak without knowing is not wise; to know and not to speak is not loyal." A man who serves another and is not loyal deserves death, and one whose words are not fitting deserves death as well. Even so, your servant wishes to set out everything he has heard, and asks only that the great king judge his offense.
臣聞：天下陰燕陽魏，連荊固齊，收韓而成從，將西面以與强秦爲難。臣竊笑之。世有三亡，而天下得之，其此之謂乎！臣聞之曰：「以亂攻治者亡，以邪攻正者亡，以逆攻順者亡。」今天下之府庫不盈，囷倉空虚，悉其士民，張軍數十百萬，其頓首戴羽爲將軍斷死於前不至千人，皆以言死。白刃在前，斧鑕在後，而却走不能死也，非其士民不能死也，上不能故也。言賞則不與，言罰則不行，賞罰不信，故士民不死也。今秦出號令而行賞罰，有功無功相事也。出其父母懷衽之中，生未嘗見寇耳。聞戰，頓足徒裼，犯白刃，蹈鑪炭，斷死於前者皆是也。夫斷死與斷生者不同，而民爲之者，是貴奮死也。夫一人奮死可以對十，十可以對百，百可以對千，千可以對萬，萬可以尅天下矣。今秦地折長補短，方數千里，名師數十百萬。秦之號令賞罰，地形利害，天下莫若也。以此與天下，天下不足兼而有也。是故秦戰未嘗不尅，攻未嘗不取，所當未嘗不破，開地數千里，此其大功也。然而兵甲頓，士民病，蓄積索，田疇荒，囷倉虚，四鄰諸侯不服，霸王之名不成。此無異故，其謀臣皆不盡其忠也。
Your servant has heard that all under heaven holds Yan to the north and Wei to the south, joins with Chu and makes Qi firm, gathers in Han to complete the Vertical alliance, and means to face west and contend with strong Qin. Your servant laughs at this within himself. There are three roads to ruin in the world, and all under heaven has taken every one of them. Surely this is what was meant. Your servant has heard it said, "He who attacks order with disorder perishes; he who attacks the upright with the crooked perishes; he who attacks the compliant with the contrary perishes." Now the treasuries of all under heaven are not full and the granaries are bare, yet they have driven out all their people and drawn up armies of hundreds of thousands, of a million. Of those who bow the head and wear the plume and become generals, resolved to die at the front, there are not a thousand; all of them die in words only. The bare blade is before them and the axe and the block are behind them, and still they fall back and run and cannot die. It is not that their people cannot die. It is that those above cannot make them die. Reward is spoken of and not given, punishment is spoken of and not carried out. Reward and punishment are not to be trusted, and so the people do not die. Now Qin sends out its orders and carries out reward and punishment, and deals with merit and with no merit each as it is. Men who have come out of their parents' arms and have never in their lives seen a bandit hear of battle and stamp their feet and strip bare, brave the naked blade, tread on burning coals, and resolve to die at the front. All of them are like this. To resolve to die is not the same as to resolve to live, and yet the people do it, because they hold a fierce death in honor. One man who dies fiercely can face ten, ten can face a hundred, a hundred can face a thousand, a thousand can face ten thousand, and ten thousand can overcome all under heaven. Now the land of Qin, cutting the long to fill out the short, is several thousand li square, and its famed troops are hundreds of thousands, a million. In its orders and its rewards and punishments, and in the profit and the harm of its ground, nothing under heaven is its match. To meet all under heaven with this is enough to take it all and hold it. For this reason Qin has never fought without winning, never attacked without taking, never faced an enemy it did not break, and has opened up land for several thousand li. This is its great merit. Yet the weapons and the armor are blunted, the people are sick, the stores are spent, the fields lie waste, the granaries are bare, the neighboring lords on four sides do not submit, and the name of hegemon king is not achieved. There is no other cause for this. It is that the ministers who lay the plans do not give all their loyalty.
臣敢言之：往者齊南破荊，東破宋，西服秦，北破燕，中使韓、魏，土地廣而兵强，戰尅攻取，詔令天下。齊之清濟濁河，足以爲限；長城巨防，足以爲塞。齊，五戰之國也，一戰不尅而無齊。由此觀之，夫戰者，萬乘之存亡也。且臣聞之曰：「削株無遺根，無與禍鄰，禍乃不存。」秦與荊人戰，大破荊，襲郢，取洞庭、五渚、江南，荊王君臣亡走，東服於陳。當此時也，隨荊以兵，則荊可舉；荊可舉，則其民足貪也，地足利也，東以弱齊、燕，中以凌三晉。然則是一舉而霸王之名可成也，四鄰諸侯可朝也，而謀臣不爲，引軍而退，復與荊人爲和。令荊人得收亡國，聚散民，立社稷主，置宗廟，令率天下西面以與秦爲難。此固以失霸王之道一矣。天下又比周而軍華下，大王以詔破之，兵至梁郭下。圍梁數旬，則梁可拔；拔梁，則魏可舉；舉魏，則荊、趙之意絶；荊、趙之意絶，則趙危；趙危而荊狐疑；東以弱齊、燕，中以凌三晉。然則是一舉而霸王之名可成也，四鄰諸侯可朝也，而謀臣不爲，引軍而退，復與魏氏爲和，令魏氏反收亡國，聚散民，立社稷主，置宗廟，令率天下西面以與秦爲難。此固以失霸王之道二矣。前者穰侯之治秦也，用一國之兵而欲以成兩國之功，是故兵終身暴露於外，士民疲病於内，霸王之名不成。此固以失霸王之道三矣。
Your servant makes bold to say this. In days past Qi broke Chu to the south, broke Song to the east, brought Qin (秦) to submission to the west, and broke Yan to the north; in the middle it worked Han and Wei, so that its land was broad and its troops strong, and it won when it fought and took when it attacked and sent out its commands to all under heaven. Qi's clear Ji and muddy He were enough to serve as its bounds, and its long wall and great dike were enough to serve as its barrier. Qi was a state of five victories in war, and when it fought once and did not win, Qi was no more. Looking at it in this way, war is the matter on which the survival or the ruin of a state of ten thousand chariots turns. Your servant has also heard it said, "In cutting the stump, leave no root; keep no neighbor in disaster, and disaster will not remain." Qin fought the men of Chu and broke Chu greatly, fell upon Ying (郢), took Dongting, Wuzhu and Jiangnan, and the king of Chu and his ministers fled and submitted at Chen (陳) to the east. At that time, had Chu been pursued with troops, Chu could have been lifted away; and had Chu been lifted away, its people would have been worth coveting and its land worth profiting by, and Qi and Yan could have been weakened to the east and the Three Jin trampled in the middle. Then at a single stroke the name of hegemon king could have been achieved and the neighboring lords on four sides brought to court. But the ministers who lay the plans did not do it. They drew the troops back and withdrew and made peace with the men of Chu again. They let the men of Chu gather up their ruined state and collect their scattered people, set up a master of the altars of soil and grain and place their ancestral temple, and lead all under heaven facing west to contend with Qin. This is the first way in which the road of the hegemon king was lost. All under heaven again banded together and set its armies below Huayang, and the great king broke them by his command, and the troops came up below the walls of Daliang. Had Daliang been surrounded for a few tens of days, Daliang could have been taken; had Daliang been taken, Wei could have been lifted away; and had Wei been lifted away, the purpose joining Chu and Zhao would have been cut. Had the purpose joining Chu and Zhao been cut, Zhao would have been in danger; and with Zhao in danger Chu would have wavered in doubt, and Qi and Yan could have been weakened to the east and the Three Jin trampled in the middle. Then at a single stroke the name of hegemon king could have been achieved and the neighboring lords on four sides brought to court. But the ministers who lay the plans did not do it. They drew the troops back and withdrew and made peace with the house of Wei again, and let the house of Wei instead gather up its ruined state and collect its scattered people, set up a master of the altars of soil and grain and place its ancestral temple, and lead all under heaven facing west to contend with Qin. This is the second way in which the road of the hegemon king was lost. Earlier, when Marquis Rang (穰侯) governed Qin, he used the troops of one state and wished to accomplish the work of two, and for this reason the troops were exposed abroad all his life and the people at home grew weary and sick, and the name of hegemon king was not achieved. This is the third way in which the road of the hegemon king was lost.
趙氏，中央之國也，雜民所居也，其民輕而難用也。號令不治，賞罰不信，地形不便，下不能盡其民力。彼固亡國之形也，而不憂民萌，悉其士民軍於長平之下，以爭韓上黨，大王以詔破之，拔武安。當是時也，趙氏上下不相親也，貴賤不相信也。然則邯鄲不守。拔邯鄲，筦山東河間，引軍而去，西攻脩武，踰羊腸，降代、上黨。代三十六縣，上黨十七縣，不用一領甲，不苦一士民，此皆秦有也。代、上黨不戰而畢爲秦矣，東陽、河外不戰而畢反爲斉矣，中山、呼沲以北不戰而畢爲燕矣。然則是趙舉，趙舉則韓亡，韓亡則荊、魏不能獨立，荊、魏不能獨立，則是一舉而壞韓、蠹魏、挾荊，東以弱齊、燕，決白馬之口以沃魏氏，是一舉而三晉亡，從者敗也。大王垂拱以須之，天下編隨而服矣，霸王之名可成。而謀臣不爲，引軍而退，復與趙氏爲和。夫以大王之明，秦兵之强，弃霸王之業，地曾不可得，乃取欺於亡國，是謀臣之拙也。且夫趙當亡而不亡，秦當霸而不霸，天下固以量秦之謀臣一矣。乃復悉士卒以攻邯鄲，不能拔也，弃甲兵弩，戰竦而却，天下固已量秦力二矣。軍乃引而復，并於李下，大王又并軍而至，與戰不能尅之也，又不能反，軍罷而去，天下固量秦力三矣。内者量吾謀臣，外者極吾兵力。由是觀之，臣以爲天下之從，幾不難矣。内者，吾甲兵頓，士民病，蓄積索，田疇荒，囷倉虚；外者，天下皆比意甚固。願大王有以慮之也。
The house of Zhao is a state in the middle, a place where mixed peoples dwell, and its people are light and hard to use. Its orders are not kept in order, its rewards and punishments are not to be trusted, its ground is not favorable, and those below cannot draw out the full strength of its people. They have from the first the shape of a state that will perish, and yet, with no care for the common folk, they drove out all their people and set their army below Changping to fight for Shangdang of Han, and the great king broke them by his command and took Wu'an. At that time high and low in the house of Zhao were not close to one another, and noble and base did not trust one another. Then Handan could not have been held. Handan could have been taken, Shandong and Hejian grasped, the troops led away to attack Xiuwu in the west, Yangchang crossed, and Dai and Shangdang brought to surrender. The thirty-six counties of Dai and the seventeen counties of Shangdang could all have become Qin's without the use of a single suit of armor and without the suffering of a single one of its people. Dai and Shangdang would have become Qin's entirely without a battle, Dongyang and Hewai would have returned entirely to Qi without a battle, and Zhongshan and the country north of the Hutuo would have become Yan's entirely without a battle. Then Zhao would have been lifted away; and with Zhao lifted away Han would perish; and with Han perished, Chu and Wei could not stand alone; and if Chu and Wei could not stand alone, then at a single stroke Han would be brought down, Wei eaten away and Chu held under the arm, Qi and Yan weakened to the east, and the mouth of Baima opened to drown the house of Wei. At a single stroke the Three Jin would perish and those of the Vertical alliance would be beaten. The great king could have folded his hands and waited, and all under heaven would have followed in a line and submitted, and the name of hegemon king could have been achieved. But the ministers who lay the plans did not do it. They drew the troops back and withdrew and made peace with the house of Zhao again. With the brightness of the great king and the strength of the troops of Qin, the work of the hegemon king was cast aside, not even land was got, and Qin was cheated by a state that was to perish. This is the clumsiness of the ministers who lay the plans. Moreover Zhao ought to have perished and did not perish, and Qin ought to have become hegemon and did not, and by this all under heaven took the measure of the planning ministers of Qin a first time. Then the soldiers were all driven out once more to attack Handan, and it could not be taken; they threw away armor and weapons and crossbows and drew back trembling from the fight, and by this all under heaven took the measure of Qin's strength a second time. The army withdrew and then came together again at Lixia (李下), and the great king too joined his armies and came, but he could not win the battle, and could not turn back either, and the army wore out and went away, and by this all under heaven took the measure of Qin's strength a third time. Within, they have taken the measure of our planning ministers; without, they have tested our military strength to the full. Looking at it in this way, your servant holds that the alliance of all under heaven is hardly a hard thing for them. Within, our armor and weapons are blunted, our people are sick, our stores are spent, our fields lie waste and our granaries are bare; without, all under heaven has matched its purposes and is very firm. Your servant asks that the great king give thought to this.
且臣聞之曰：「戰戰栗栗，日慎一日，苟慎其道，天下可有。」何以知其然也？昔者紂爲天子，將率天下甲兵百萬，左飲於淇溪，右飲於洹谿，淇水竭而洹水不流，以與周武王爲難。武王將素甲三千，戰一日，而破紂之國，禽其身，據其地而有其民，天下莫傷。知伯率三國之衆以攻趙襄主於晉陽，決水而灌之三月，城且拔矣，襄主鑽龜筮占兆，以視利害，何國可降。乃使其臣張孟談。於是乃潜行而出，反知伯之約，得兩國之衆，以攻知伯，禽其身，以復襄主之初。今秦地折長補短，方數千里，名師數十百萬。秦國之號令賞罰，地形利害，天下莫如也。以此與天下，可兼而有也。臣昧死願望見大王，言所以破天下之從，舉趙，亡韓，臣荊、魏，親齊、燕，以成霸王之名，朝四鄰諸侯之道。大王誠聽其說，一舉而天下之從不破，趙不舉，韓不亡，荊、魏不臣，齊、燕不親，霸王之名不成，四鄰諸侯不朝，大王斬臣以徇國，以爲王謀不忠者戒也。
Your servant has also heard it said, "Trembling and fearful, careful one day after another, if a man is truly careful of his road he may hold all under heaven." How do we know that it is so? In ancient times Zhou Xin (紂) was the Son of Heaven, and he led a million armored troops of all under heaven; those on the left drank at the Qi stream and those on the right at the Huan stream, until the waters of the Qi ran dry and the waters of the Huan ceased to flow, and with these he contended with King Wu of Zhou. King Wu led three thousand in plain armor and fought for one day, and he broke the state of Zhou Xin and took him captive, held his land and had his people, and all under heaven was not harmed. Zhi Bo led the multitudes of three states to attack Lord Xiang (襄主) of Zhao at Jinyang, and opened the water and flooded him for three months, and the city was about to be taken. Lord Xiang scorched the tortoise and divined by the milfoil to read the cracks, looking into profit and harm and which state might be brought over, and then he sent his servant Zhang Mengtan. Zhang Mengtan slipped out in secret, overturned the pact with Zhi Bo, won the multitudes of two states, and attacked Zhi Bo and took him captive, and restored Lord Xiang to his beginning. Now the land of Qin, cutting the long to fill out the short, is several thousand li square, and its famed troops are hundreds of thousands, a million. In the orders and the rewards and punishments of Qin, and in the profit and the harm of its ground, nothing under heaven is like it. To meet all under heaven with this, it may all be taken and held. Your servant, braving death, wishes to be received by the great king and to tell him the way to break the alliance of all under heaven, to lift away Zhao, to bring Han to ruin, to make subjects of Chu and Wei, to draw close to Qi and Yan, and so to achieve the name of hegemon king and bring the neighboring lords on four sides to court. If the great king truly listens to this counsel, and at a single stroke the alliance of all under heaven is not broken, Zhao is not lifted away, Han does not perish, Chu and Wei do not become subjects, Qi and Yan do not draw close, the name of hegemon king is not achieved, and the neighboring lords on four sides do not come to court, then let the great king behead your servant and parade him through the state, as a warning to those who plan for the king and are not loyal.