制談

In all military matters, regulations must be established first. When regulations are fixed in advance, soldiers do not fall into disorder. When soldiers are not in disorder, their formations become clear and effective.

When gongs and drums direct them, a hundred men fight with full commitment. When breaking enemy lines and disrupting enemy formations, a thousand men fight with full commitment. When destroying armies and killing generals, ten thousand men draw their blades as one. Nothing under Heaven can withstand such a force.

In ancient times, soldiers were organized into squads of five and ten, and chariots into wing formations. When drums sounded and flags waved, those who climbed the walls first were always the strongest warriors -- but those who died first were also always the strongest warriors. Killing one enemy at the cost of a hundred of our own -- this subsidizes the enemy and grievously harms us. Ordinary generals cannot prevent this.

Soldiers deserting during mobilization or fleeing before battle -- the damage from desertion is even worse. Ordinary generals cannot prevent this.

Bows and arrows kill at a hundred paces; spears and halberds kill within fifty paces. Yet after the drums have sounded, soldiers shout at each other, snap their arrows, break their spears, clutch their halberds, and wait for others to strike first. When this happens in battle, the army defeats itself from within. Ordinary generals cannot prevent this.

Soldiers lose their squad formations, chariots lose their wing positions, the flanking force abandons its commander and runs, and the main body follows. Ordinary generals cannot prevent this.

A general who can prevent these four failures can cross mountains, ford deep rivers, and break through hardened formations. A general who cannot prevent them is like someone trying to cross the Yangtze without a boat -- it simply cannot be done.

People do not enjoy dying or hate living. When orders are clear and the legal system is rigorous, you can make them advance. Announce rewards before them and enforce punishments behind them -- then every move will hit the mark and every action will achieve results.

Assign one centurion to every hundred men, one marshal to every thousand, one general to every ten thousand. The few control the many, the weak control the strong. Hear my method: it can make an entire army of three armies execute a single man without error in punishment. A father would not dare shield his son, a son would not dare shield his father -- how much less would ordinary citizens!

When a lone bandit swings a sword in the marketplace, ten thousand people flee. I say this is not because one man is uniquely brave or ten thousand are all cowards -- it is because one man is certain he will die, while the others are certain they want to live. Those two certainties are not equal.

Hear my method: it can make the masses of three armies into that lone desperate bandit -- no one dares face them, no one dares pursue them, and they can strike and withdraw at will. An army that can strike and withdraw at will -- that is the army of a true king and hegemon.

Who led a hundred thousand and none under Heaven could withstand him? Duke Huan of Qi. Who led seventy thousand and none under Heaven could withstand him? Wu Qi. Who led thirty thousand and none under Heaven could withstand him? Sunzi.

Today, every state's commanders lead no fewer than two hundred thousand -- yet they cannot accomplish anything notable. This is because they do not understand the principles of regulation. When the system is properly designed, what one man can accomplish, ten men can also accomplish. What ten men can accomplish, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands can also accomplish.

Therefore it is said: sharpen our equipment, cultivate our military valor, and launch them like a hawk's strike, like plunging into a thousand-ren gorge.

Today when a state faces crisis, it sends out lavish gifts as diplomatic presents, sends beloved sons as hostages, and cedes border territory to gain allied troops from across the realm. They are called a hundred thousand, but in reality they number only a few tens of thousands. Every allied contingent tells its own commander: 'Do not be the first to fight for someone else.' In reality, they cannot be made to fight at all.

Assess the people within our borders: without the squad system, none of them can be properly organized. Regulate and organize a hundred thousand men, and the king can ensure they wear our uniforms and eat our rations.

If we cannot win in battle or hold in defense, it is not the fault of our people -- the failure comes from within our system. When the states of All-Under-Heaven send troops to help us fight, it is like fine thoroughbreds running at full gallop while nags struggle to keep pace -- how can they match our spirit?

Use the best methods in All-Under-Heaven as our methods; adopt the best regulations in All-Under-Heaven as our regulations. Perfect our orders, clarify our system of rewards and punishments. Ensure that no one can obtain food except through farming, and no one can obtain rank except through military service. When the people eagerly compete to farm and fight, we will be invincible under Heaven.

Therefore it is said: 'Issue orders and ensure they are faithfully enforced throughout the state.'

When someone claims they can defeat the enemy, do not accept empty talk -- put them to the test of actual combat.

To seize another's territory and hold it, to divide another's people and govern them, you must first have capable men within your own system. If you cannot retain capable men internally yet seek to possess All-Under-Heaven, you will inevitably suffer army destruction and general death.

Under such conditions, even victories weaken the state, and even territorial gains impoverish it -- because the internal system of regulations is broken.