參患

The ruler who is fierce will be attacked; the ruler who is weak will be murdered. The fierce ruler executes recklessly — the upright feel unsafe and talented men flee; enemies then exploit this and external disaster follows. The weak ruler is slow to punish — the wicked do not change and ministers form cliques; internal disorder follows. In warfare: three alarms equal one approach; three approaches equal one deployment; three deployments equal one battle. One campaign's army exhausts ten years' stored provisions; one battle's cost consumes accumulated generations of work. Equipment must match the enemy or the army is given away: blunt weapons give your soldiers to the enemy; incompetent generals give your army to the enemy; a ruler ignorant of military affairs gives his state to the enemy.