Wei Liaozi — Talk of War尉繚子 兵談
1Land, wall, people and grain must match one another
量土地肥墝而立邑，建城稱地，以城稱人，以人稱粟。三相稱，則內可以固守，外可以戰勝。戰勝於外，備主於內，勝備相用，猶合符節，無異故也。
Measure the land, whether rich or barren, and set up your towns by it. Build the wall to match the land, match the wall to the people, and match the people to the grain. When the three match one another, within you can hold firm and without you can win in battle. You win in battle abroad and keep defense as the chief thing at home, and victory and defense serve each other as the two halves of a tally are fitted together, for there is nothing to make them differ.
2Troops win in the court
治兵者，若秘於地，若邃於天，生於無，故關之。大不窕，小不恢，明乎禁舍開塞，民流者親之。地不任者任之。夫土廣而任則國富，民眾而制則國治。富治者，民不發軔，甲不出暴，而威制天下。故曰：「兵勝於朝廷。」不暴甲而勝者，主勝也；陣而勝者，將勝也。
He who governs troops is as one hidden in the earth, as one sunk deep in Heaven. He is born out of nothing, and so he bars the way. What is great has no gap in it, what is small is not loose. He is clear about what to forbid and what to let go, what to open and what to close. He draws to himself the people who drift and wander, and he gives charge of land that no one has taken charge of. When the land is broad and charge is taken of it, the state is rich; when the people are many and they are kept in order, the state is well governed. Rich and well governed, its people do not roll out their carts and its armor does not go out, and still its awe holds all under Heaven in check. Therefore it is said, "Troops win in the court." To win without bringing out the armor is the ruler's victory. To win by drawing up the ranks is the general's victory.
Interlinear notes 1
大不窕，小不恢
Tiao (窕) is slackness and hui (恢) is breadth. Some read the two words the other way about, giving "in great matters there is no gap, and in small matters nothing is slack." — translator
3Troops are not to be raised out of anger
兵起，非可以忿也。見勝則興，不見勝則止。患在百里之內，不起一日之師；患在千里之內，不起一月之師；患在四海之內，不起一歲之師。
Troops are not to be raised out of anger. See victory, and raise them; do not see victory, and stop. When the trouble lies within a hundred li, do not raise an army for a day. When the trouble lies within a thousand li, do not raise an army for a month. When the trouble lies within the four seas, do not raise an army for a year.
4A general is held in check neither by Heaven above, nor Earth below, nor men between
將者，上不制於天，下不制於地，中不制於人。寬不可激而怒，清不可事以財。夫心狂、目盲、耳聾，以三悖率人者，難矣。
A general is not held in check by Heaven above, nor by Earth below, nor by men between. He is broad, and cannot be goaded into anger. He is clean, and cannot be worked upon with goods. A mad heart, blind eyes, deaf ears: to lead men with these three perversions is a hard thing.
5They win on a road like a sheep's gut, they win on a road like the teeth of a saw
兵之所及，羊腸亦勝，鋸齒亦勝，緣山亦勝，入谷亦勝，方亦勝，員亦勝。重者如山、如林、如江、如河，輕者如炮、如燔、如垣壓之，如雲覆之，令人聚不得以散，散不得以聚，左不得以右，右不得以左。兵如總木，弩如羊角，人人無不騰陵張膽，絕乎疑慮，堂堂決而去。
Where the troops come, they win on a road like a sheep's gut, they win on a road like the teeth of a saw, they win along the mountains, they win down in the valleys, they win on square ground, they win on round ground. Heavy, they are like a mountain, like a forest, like a great river, like a stream. Light, they are like fire catching and like a blaze, like a wall falling upon men and like cloud covering them over. They leave men unable to scatter once gathered and unable to gather once scattered, so that the left cannot become the right and the right cannot become the left. The soldiers are like trees gathered and set upright, the crossbows are like a ram's horns, and every man of them leaps up and swells his gall, cuts off doubt and worry, and goes forward with bold decision.