齊策四

There is a man of Qi named Feng Xuan, so poor he cannot support himself. He has someone recommend him to Lord Mengchang, saying he wishes to eat at his lord's table. Lord Mengchang asks: "What does the guest enjoy?" The answer: "The guest has no particular tastes." "What can the guest do?" "The guest has no particular talents." Lord Mengchang laughs and accepts him: "Very well." His attendants, assuming the lord holds the man in contempt, serve him coarse fare.

After a while, Feng Xuan leans against a pillar, taps his sword, and sings: "Long sword, let us go home! There is no fish to eat." The attendants report this. Lord Mengchang says: "Feed him fish — treat him like a regular guest." After a while, he taps his sword again and sings: "Long sword, let us go home! There is no carriage to ride." The attendants all laugh and report it. Lord Mengchang says: "Give him a carriage — treat him like the carriage guests." So Feng Xuan rides his carriage, brandishes his sword, and visits his friends saying: "Lord Mengchang treats me as a guest." After a while more, he taps his sword again and sings: "Long sword, let us go home! There is nothing to support a family." The attendants all despise him, considering him greedy and insatiable. Lord Mengchang asks: "Does Master Feng have family?" The answer: "An elderly mother." Lord Mengchang sends provisions to support her, ensuring she lacks for nothing. Feng Xuan sings no more.

Later, Lord Mengchang puts out a notice asking his retainers: "Who is skilled in accounting and can collect the debts owed to me at Xue?" Feng Xuan signs up: "I can." Lord Mengchang is surprised: "Who is this?" His attendants say: "The one who sang 'Long sword, let us go home.'" Lord Mengchang laughs: "So the guest does have abilities after all. I have failed him — I never once received him." He invites Feng Xuan in and apologizes: "I have been worn down by affairs and muddled with worries. My nature is dim and I have been sunk in state business, giving offense to you, sir. You are not ashamed — and you wish to collect the debts at Xue for me?" Feng Xuan says: "I do."

He prepares the carriage, packs the debt tallies, and sets off. As he departs he asks: "When the debts are collected, what shall I buy to bring back?" Lord Mengchang says: "Look at what my household lacks."

Feng Xuan drives to Xue and has the officials summon all the people who owe debts. When every tally has been matched, he rises and, forging Lord Mengchang's command, forgives all the debts — and burns the tallies. The people shout: "Ten thousand years!"

He drives straight back to Qi, arriving at dawn and requesting an audience. Lord Mengchang is startled by his speed, dresses formally, and receives him: "Are all the debts collected? How did you return so fast?" Feng Xuan says: "All collected." "And what did you buy?" Feng Xuan replies: "You told me to look at what your household lacks. I privately calculated: your palace is heaped with treasures, your stables are full of dogs and horses, your chambers are filled with beauties. What your household lacks is righteousness. So I took the liberty of buying righteousness for you."

"How does one buy righteousness?"

"You hold the tiny domain of Xue, yet instead of cherishing its people and treating them as your children, you have been squeezing profit from them. I took the liberty of forging your command, forgiving the debts, and burning the tallies. The people shouted 'ten thousand years.' This is how I bought righteousness for you."

Lord Mengchang is displeased: "Very well. You may rest, sir."

A year later, the King of Qi tells Lord Mengchang: "I do not presume to keep a minister of the former king as my own minister." Lord Mengchang retires to his domain of Xue. Before he has traveled a hundred li, the people — old supporting young, young leading old — line the road to welcome him. Lord Mengchang turns to Feng Xuan: "What you bought for me as righteousness — today I see it."

Feng Xuan says: "The cunning rabbit has three burrows and barely manages to avoid death. You, my lord, have only one burrow — you cannot yet rest easy. Allow me to dig two more for you."

Lord Mengchang gives him fifty chariots and five hundred catties of gold. He travels west to Liang and tells King Hui: "Qi has dismissed its great minister Lord Mengchang and made him available to the feudal lords. Whichever lord welcomes him first will grow rich and his armies strong." At this, the King of Liang empties the position of highest honor, demotes his current prime minister to supreme general, and dispatches envoys with a thousand catties of gold and a hundred chariots to recruit Lord Mengchang.

Feng Xuan races ahead and warns Lord Mengchang: "A thousand catties of gold is a heavy gift; a hundred chariots is a conspicuous embassy. Qi will certainly hear of it." The Liang envoys come three times; Lord Mengchang firmly declines each time.

The King of Qi hears of this. Ruler and ministers grow alarmed. He dispatches the Grand Tutor bearing a thousand catties of gold, two decorated four-horse chariots, a ceremonial sword, and a sealed letter of apology to Lord Mengchang: "I am an unlucky man, afflicted by ancestral spirits and led astray by flattering ministers. I have given offense to you, and I am not worthy. I beg you to remember the ancestral temple of the former kings and return to govern the people."

Feng Xuan advises Lord Mengchang: "Request the former king's ritual vessels and establish an ancestral temple at Xue." When the temple is complete, he returns and reports: "The three burrows are finished. Now you may rest easy and be content."

Lord Mengchang serves as prime minister for decades, without the slightest misfortune. This is all due to Feng Xuan's strategy.

Lord Mengchang is organizing a north-south coalition. Gongsun Hong says to him: "Why not first send someone to assess the King of Qin? If the King of Qin turns out to be a ruler of imperial caliber, you, my lord, should worry about not being able to serve him — let alone challenging him with a coalition. If the King of Qin turns out to be an incompetent ruler, it will not be too late to organize a coalition against him then."

Lord Mengchang says: "Good. I would like to ask you to go."

Gongsun Hong respectfully agrees and sets out for Qin with ten chariots. King Zhao of Qin hears of his coming and intends to humiliate him in debate. When Gongsun Hong is received, King Zhao says: "The Lord of Xue's domain — how large is it exactly?"

Gongsun Hong replies: "A hundred li."

King Zhao laughs: "My domain spans thousands of li, and I still do not presume to challenge anyone. Lord Mengchang's domain is a mere hundred li, and he presumes to challenge me? Is that reasonable?"

Gongsun Hong replies: "Lord Mengchang values men. Your Majesty does not."

King Zhao asks: "How does Lord Mengchang value men?"

Gongsun Hong says: "He has three men who on principle will not serve as subjects to any Son of Heaven, will not befriend any feudal lord, and if they attain their ambitions feel no shame in becoming rulers themselves — yet if they do not, refuse to serve as anyone's minister. He has five men whose governance could rival Guan Zhong and Shang Yang as teachers, whose counsel is heeded and whose plans are followed, men capable of achieving such things. And he has ten men like myself — men who, if the ruler of a ten-thousand-chariot state insults their envoy, will withdraw and cut their own throats, making certain their blood stains the king's garments."

King Zhao laughs and backs down: "Why does the guest speak so? I was merely debating with you! I admire Lord Mengchang, and I wanted you to convey my goodwill to him."

Gongsun Hong says: "Respectfully understood."

The narrator comments: Gongsun Hong can be called unyielding. King Zhao commands a great state; Lord Mengchang, a state of a thousand chariots. To uphold the dignity of a thousand-chariot lord and refuse to be overawed — that is what it means to be a worthy envoy.

Lu Zhonglian says to Lord Mengchang: "You are known as a lover of men of talent. Yongmen Yang Jiao shared his own food, clothing, and furs equally with his men, and every one of them died for him. Yang Dezi did the same, and every one of his men died for him. Your household is wealthier than either of those two men, yet no retainer has ever given his life for you."

Lord Mengchang says: "That is because I have not found men of their caliber. If I could find such men, would I alone fail to earn their devotion?"

Lu Zhonglian replies: "You have a hundred chariots' worth of horses in your stables, every one of them draped in embroidered blankets and fed fine grain — but is there a single thoroughbred among them? You have ten consorts in your inner chambers, all dressed in fine silk and fed choice meat — but is there a Mao Qiang or Xi Shi among them? Beauties and horses are found in the present age. Why should worthy men be sought only among the ancients? I say you have not yet truly committed to valuing talent."

Lord Mengchang is expelled from Qi, then returns. Tan Shizi meets him at the border and says: "Does my lord bear resentment toward any Qi officials?"

Lord Mengchang says: "I do."

"Does my lord intend to kill them all?"

"I do."

Tan Shizi says: "There are things that inevitably happen and principles that are inherently so. Does my lord understand?"

"I do not."

"The thing that inevitably happens is death. The principle that is inherently so is: people flock to wealth and status and desert poverty and disgrace. This is inevitable; this is inherent. Let me illustrate with the marketplace. In the morning it is full; by evening it is empty. This is not because people love the market in the morning and hate it in the evening — what they want is there, so they come; when it is gone, they leave. I beg my lord not to bear a grudge."

Lord Mengchang takes the list of five hundred names he had written for revenge, crosses them all out, and never speaks of the matter again.

King Xuan of Qi receives Yan Chu. The king says: "Chu, come forward!" Yan Chu also says: "King, come forward!"

The king is displeased. His attendants say: "The king is a ruler; Chu is a subject. The king says 'Chu, come forward' and Chu also says 'King, come forward' — is this acceptable?"

Yan Chu replies: "If Chu goes forward, that is courting power. If the king goes forward, that is honoring talent. Rather than make Chu court power, it would be better to have the king honor talent."

The king flushes with anger: "Is kingship more precious, or is scholarship?"

"Scholarship is precious. Kingship is not."

"Can you justify that?"

Yan Chu says: "I can. In the past, when Qin attacked Qi, it issued this order: 'Anyone who dares gather firewood within fifty paces of the tomb of Liu Xia Ji shall be executed without pardon.' It also issued this order: 'Anyone who can bring me the head of the King of Qi shall be enfeoffed as a lord of ten thousand households and given a thousand yi of gold.' Judging from this, the head of a living king is worth less than the tomb mound of a dead scholar."

King Xuan falls silent, displeased.

His attendants all say: "Chu, come! Come! The great king holds a domain of a thousand chariots, with bells weighing a thousand shi and bell-stands weighing ten thousand shi. All the world's men of talent — the humane and righteous all come to serve; the eloquent and wise all come to speak; from every direction, none dare refuse obedience. Every object is available, and all the hundred clans gladly submit. Yet the highest of scholars merely calls himself a commoner, walks on foot, and lives among farmers. At worst, they are rustics, gatekeepers, village dwellers. Is scholarship not utterly base?"

Yan Chu replies: "Not so. I have heard that in the time of Great Yu, there were ten thousand feudal states. Why? Because the way of thick virtue worked through the power of honoring scholars. So Shun rose from the fields, came from the wilderness, and became Son of Heaven. By the time of Tang, the feudal states numbered three thousand. In the present age, those who face south and call themselves 'We' number only twenty-four. Observe this trajectory — is it not a record of gain and loss? As states are gradually destroyed and annihilated, their clans exterminated, those rulers would be glad to become gatekeepers and village dwellers, but can they? The Commentary on the Changes says: 'To occupy high position without possessing its substance, delighting in the title alone, is to ensure arrogant and extravagant conduct. Arrogance and extravagance bring misfortune. Those who lack substance but delight in the name are diminished. Those without virtue who hope for blessings are impoverished. Those without merit who receive salary are disgraced — disaster will surely follow.' Therefore it is said: 'Pride in accomplishments achieves nothing; empty wishes go unfulfilled.' These are all those who rejoice in empty glory and adornment without the substance of real virtue.

"Thus Yao had nine assistants, Shun had seven friends, Yu had five ministers, and Tang had three counselors. From ancient times to the present, no one has achieved empty fame in All-Under-Heaven without such men. This is why a true king is never ashamed to ask frequently and never disdains to learn from those below. Those who perfected their virtue and spread their fame to later generations — Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and King Wen of Zhou are such men. Therefore it is said: 'The formless is the lord of form; the originless is the root of all affairs.' One who sees the source above and understands the flow below — a sage illuminated by learning — how could ill fortune touch him? Laozi said: 'Though noble, one must take humility as the root; though lofty, one must take lowliness as the foundation.' This is why kings and lords call themselves 'the orphaned,' 'the solitary,' 'the unworthy.' Is this not taking the base as one's root? The orphaned and solitary are terms for the most wretched and humble of people, yet kings and lords apply them to themselves — is this not humbling themselves to exalt the worthy? Yao passed the throne to Shun, Shun passed it to Yu, King Cheng of Zhou entrusted power to the Duke of Zhou — and every generation calls them enlightened rulers. This is how clear it is that scholars are the more precious."

King Xuan says: "Alas! How can a gentleman be demeaned? I have only brought illness upon myself! Now that I hear the words of a gentleman, I understand the conduct of petty men. I wish to be accepted as your student. Let Yan Chu remain with me — he shall eat from the great sacrificial offerings, ride in a carriage whenever he goes out, and his wife and children shall be dressed in splendid clothes."

Yan Chu declines and takes his leave: "Jade grows in the mountain; when it is carved, it is broken — not that it is not still precious, but the uncut stone is no longer whole. A scholar is born in the wilderness; when he is selected and given a salary, not that he does not gain honor and success, but his body and spirit are no longer intact. I, Chu, wish to return home. I will eat late so that food tastes like meat. I will walk peacefully so that walking serves as a carriage. I will live without offense so that innocence serves as rank. I will keep myself clear, still, upright, and correct.

"The one who dictates words is the king. The one who speaks with full honesty is Chu. The essential Way has been fully stated. I beg leave to return and walk at ease back to my village home." He bows twice and departs.

The narrator comments: Yan Chu understood contentment. By returning to simplicity, he avoided disgrace for the rest of his life.

Master Wang Dou arrives at the palace gate seeking an audience with King Xuan of Qi. The king sends a chamberlain to usher him in. Wang Dou says: "If I hurry to see the king, I am courting power. If the king hurries to see me, he is honoring talent. Which would the king prefer?"

The messenger returns with this. The king says: "Ask the gentleman to wait — I will come."

King Xuan hurries out to welcome him at the gate, and they enter together. The king says: "I, who maintain the ancestral temple and guard the state, have heard that you, sir, speak frankly and remonstrate without holding back."

Wang Dou replies: "Your Majesty has heard wrongly. I, Dou, was born in a disordered age and serve a disordered ruler — how would I dare speak frankly and remonstrate?"

King Xuan flushes with anger, displeased.

After a pause, Wang Dou says: "In the past, your ancestor Duke Huan had certain preferences — and he united the feudal lords nine times, straightened All-Under-Heaven, received tribute from the Son of Heaven, and was established as the great hegemon. Your Majesty shares four of his preferences."

The king is pleased: "I am an ignorant and rustic man, merely guarding the state of Qi and constantly fearing I will lose it. How could I share four of his qualities?"

Wang Dou says: "No. Your ancestor loved horses — and so does Your Majesty. Your ancestor loved hounds — and so does Your Majesty. Your ancestor loved wine — and so does Your Majesty. Your ancestor loved women — and so does Your Majesty. Your ancestor loved talent. Your Majesty does not."

The king says: "There are no men of talent in the present age. What is there for me to love?"

Wang Dou says: "The world has no legendary thoroughbreds, yet Your Majesty's stables are full. The world has no famed hounds like Dongguo Jun or the Lu clan's dog, yet Your Majesty's kennels are fully stocked. The world has no Mao Qiang or Xi Shi, yet your harem is overflowing. Your Majesty simply does not value talent — why complain of its absence?"

The king says: "I worry about the state and love the people. I sincerely wish to obtain worthy men to govern."

Wang Dou says: "Your Majesty's concern for the state and love for the people does not match your love for a foot of silk gauze."

"What do you mean?"

"When Your Majesty commissions a cap, you do not hand it to your favorites and flatterers — you give it to a skilled craftsman. Why? Because he is capable. Yet when Your Majesty governs Qi, you use no one except your favorites and flatterers. This is why I say your concern falls short of your love for a foot of silk."

King Xuan apologizes: "I stand guilty before the state." He then promotes five worthy men to office, and Qi is well governed.

The King of Qi sends an envoy to call upon Queen Dowager Wei of Zhao. Before the letter is even opened, the Queen Dowager asks the envoy: "Is the harvest well? Are the people well? Is the king well?"

The envoy is displeased: "I have been sent to call upon Your Majesty. Yet you do not first ask after the king, but ask about the harvest and the people first. Is this not placing the base before the noble?"

The Queen Dowager says: "Not so. Without a harvest, how can there be a people? Without a people, how can there be a ruler? Who would abandon the root to ask about the branch?"

She then presses further: "There is a recluse in Qi named Zhongli Zi — is he well? He is the sort of man who feeds both those who have grain and those who do not, clothes both those who have clothes and those who do not. He helps the king nourish his people. Why has he not been given office? Is Ye Yangzi well? He is the sort of man who pities widowers and widows, cares for orphans and the solitary, relieves the impoverished, and supplements the lacking. He helps the king sustain his people. Why has he not been given office? Is Yinger Zi, the woman of the Northern Palace, well? She removed her earrings and finery and refused to marry to the end of her life, in order to support her parents. She leads the people toward filial devotion. Why has she not been honored at court?

"Two worthy men are not given office, one filial woman is not honored — how can you rule the state of Qi and be father to ten thousand people?

"Is Yuling Zizhong still alive? He is a man who above refuses to serve the king, below neglects his own household, and in between declines relations with the feudal lords. He leads the people toward uselessness. Why has he not been executed?"

A man of Qi visits Tian Pian and says: "I have heard of your lofty views, sir, and that you have resolved not to take office. I wish to serve you."

Tian Pian asks: "Where did you hear this?"

"I heard it from my neighbor's daughter."

"What do you mean?"

"My neighbor's daughter resolved never to marry. She is now thirty years old and has seven children. She may not have married, but she has exceeded all the married women in output. Now you, sir, have resolved not to take office, yet you receive a stipend of a thousand zhong of grain and maintain a hundred followers. You may not hold office, but you have exceeded all the officeholders in wealth."

Master Tian is left without a reply.

Guan Yan has given offense to the King of Qi. He says to his attendants: "Which of you will go into exile with me to another state?"

His attendants are silent. No one answers.

Guan Yan weeps freely: "How sad! Scholars are easy to acquire but impossible to use!"

Tian Xu responds: "Your scholars cannot get enough to eat at three meals a day, while your geese and ducks have food left over. Your women in the inner chambers trail silks and gauzes, while your scholars cannot even afford hem-lining. Wealth is what you treat lightly; death is what scholars treat heavily. You refuse to give scholars what costs you little, yet you demand from scholars what costs them everything. It is not that scholars are easy to acquire and hard to use — it is that you have never actually tried using them."

Su Qin travels from Yan to Qi and is received at the Huazhang South Gate. The King of Qi says: "Ah! You have come. Qin has sent Wei Ran to confer the imperial title on us. What do you think?"

Su Qin replies: "Your Majesty's question comes abruptly, but the source of the danger is subtle. If you refuse, you offend Qin. If you accept, you offend All-Under-Heaven. Better to accept it to satisfy Qin, but refrain from actually using the title — for the sake of All-Under-Heaven. If Qin uses the title and the world accepts it, Your Majesty can use it too — the sequence does no harm, and the imperial title costs you nothing. But if Qin uses the title and the world rejects it, Your Majesty simply does not use it. The opportunity to rally All-Under-Heaven against Qin — this is a great asset."

Su Qin says to the King of Qi: "Qi and Qin have both assumed the imperial title. Does Your Majesty believe All-Under-Heaven respects Qin more, or Qi more?"

The king says: "Qin."

"If you renounce the title, will All-Under-Heaven love Qi or Qin?"

"Love Qi and despise Qin."

"If both emperors stand together and agree to attack Zhao, is that more profitable than attacking Song?"

Su Qin answers his own question: "If you accept the joint imperial title with Qin, All-Under-Heaven will respect only Qin and dismiss Qi. If Qi renounces the title, All-Under-Heaven will love Qi and despise Qin. Attacking Zhao is less profitable than attacking Song.

"Therefore I advise Your Majesty to publicly renounce the imperial title, thereby winning All-Under-Heaven's support. Abandon the pact with Qin, deny it any leverage, and in the interval — take Song. If you hold Song, Wei's Yangcheng is threatened. If you hold the Huai River's north bank, Chu's eastern territories are threatened. If you hold the area west of the Ji River, Zhao's lands east of the Yellow River are threatened. If you hold Yin and Pinglu, the gates of Liang cannot open.

"Renounce the title and replace it with the conquest of Song — your state grows powerful and your reputation rises. Yan and Chu will submit to the strategic reality. All-Under-Heaven will not dare refuse obedience. This is a campaign worthy of Tang and Wu.

"Show deference to Qin in name, then maneuver All-Under-Heaven into despising it. This is what is called exchanging the low position for the high. I beg Your Majesty to consider carefully!"