勵士

Marquis Wu asked: "Are strict punishments and clear rewards sufficient to win?"

Wu Qi replied: "I cannot cover every detail of strict and clear administration. But in any case, these alone are not what you should rely on. When orders are issued and the people are glad to hear them; when the army is mobilized and the people are glad to fight; when blades clash and the people are glad to die — these three are what a ruler should rely on."

Marquis Wu said: "How can this be achieved?"

Wu Qi replied: "Elevate those with merit and feast them; encourage those without merit to strive harder."

Thereupon Marquis Wu arranged seating in the courtyard of the ancestral temple in three rows, and held a banquet for the officers and grandees. Those of the highest merit sat in the front row, with fine dishes, full table settings of precious vessels, and the finest sacrificial offerings. Those of the next rank of merit sat in the middle row, with somewhat reduced table settings and vessels. Those without merit sat in the rear row, with dishes but no precious vessels. After the banquet, he went out and distributed gifts to the parents, wives, and children of the meritorious at the temple gate, also graded according to merit. For the families of those who had died in service, he dispatched envoys every year to present condolences and gifts to their parents, demonstrating that they were never forgotten.

After three years of this practice, the Qin raised an army and advanced to the Western River. When the Wei soldiers heard the news, without waiting for official orders, those who donned armor and helmets and charged out to fight numbered in the tens of thousands.

Marquis Wu summoned Wu Qi and said: "Your teaching from before has taken effect."

Wu Qi replied: "I have heard that men have strengths and weaknesses, and morale has its peaks and troughs. Let my lord send out the fifty thousand who have not yet earned merit, and allow me to lead them against the enemy. If we fail to win, we will be laughed at by the other lords and lose our authority in the realm. Now consider: if one man resolved to die lies in ambush in the open wilderness and a thousand men pursue him, every one of them will look around warily like owls and glance back like wolves. Why? Because they fear he will spring up suddenly and harm them. Thus one man who throws away his life is enough to terrify a thousand. Now if I take fifty thousand men and transform them all into that one man resolved to die, and lead them into battle — it will be very hard for any enemy to withstand us."

Thereupon Marquis Wu followed his advice. With five hundred additional chariots and three thousand cavalry, they defeated a Qin army of five hundred thousand. This was the achievement of encouraging the officers.

The day before battle, Wu Qi issued orders to the three armies: "All officers and soldiers are to engage the enemy as assigned. Chariots against chariots, cavalry against cavalry, infantry against infantry. If the chariot corps does not defeat the enemy chariots, the cavalry does not defeat the enemy cavalry, and the infantry does not defeat the enemy infantry — then even if the army wins the battle, none shall receive credit for merit." Therefore on the day of battle, his orders were few and simple, yet his authority shook the realm.