楚策二

The Wei minister Zhai Qiang died. Someone, speaking on behalf of Gan Mao, said to the King of Chu: "The man most likely to become Wei's next minister is Prince Jin. If Jin becomes Wei's minister, the Wei-Qin alliance will be strengthened. If the Qin-Wei alliance is complete, Chu's weight diminishes. Your Majesty should instead join with Qi to install Gan Mao as Wei's minister.

"The King of Qi loves to enhance his reputation by elevating others. If you ask Qi's envoy to request the Wei ministerial post, Qi will be pleased. If Wei refuses, it sours relations with Qi. When Qi-Wei relations sour, both will compete to court Chu. If Wei accepts, Gan Mao and Quli Ji are mortal enemies — so the Wei-Qin alliance will collapse, and both will again compete to court Chu."

Qi and Qin agreed to attack Chu. Chu ordered Jing Cui to offer six cities as a bribe to Qi, with the Crown Prince as hostage. Zhao Sui said to Jing Cui: "Qin may soon use Jing Li and Su Li as intermediaries to offer territory to Chu for peace. If you give away territory to win over Qi, while Jing Li and Su Li recover territory from Qin, your mission will be undermined. You should instead have the king richly bribe Jing Li and Su Li and send them into Qin. Qin, alarmed, will refrain from demanding territory and align with Chu instead. If Qi also drops its demands, you will have achieved the alliance on your own terms."

Shu Shi attacked Chu. Chu ordered Zhao Shu to garrison Hanzhong with a hundred thousand troops. Zhao Sui defeated Qin at Chongqiu. Su Li said to the Duke of Wan, Zhao Shu: "The king wants Zhao Sui to press his advantage against Qin, and will surely split your forces to reinforce him. Once Qin learns your army has been divided, it will strike out of Hanzhong. Let me have Xin Rong tell the king: 'Qin's forces have already left Hanzhong.' Then your army will remain intact."

Four states attacked Chu. Chu ordered Zhao Sui to command the defense against Qin. The King of Chu wanted to engage Qin; the Marquis of Zhao did not. Huan Zang, speaking for Zhao Sui, said to the King of Chu:

"If Zhao Sui wins, the three other states, fearing Chu's strength and worrying that Qin might change sides to appease Chu, will attack Chu more fiercely to bolster Qin. If the King of Qin, enraged by defeat, throws in his full force against Chu, then Your Majesty and Qin exhaust each other while the other two states profit.

"If we lose to Qin, Qin advances and attacks further. Better to reinforce Zhao Sui and signal to Qin that we will fight to the end. The King of Qin, loath to exhaust himself against Chu while the rest of the world watches, can be induced to accept minor territorial concessions and withdraw. Once Qin and Chu align, Yan, Zhao, and Wei will not dare resist. The three states can be brought to heel."

King Huai of Chu imprisoned Zhang Yi and intended to execute him. Jin Shang, speaking on Zhang Yi's behalf, said to the King of Chu: "If you imprison Zhang Yi, the King of Qin will be furious. When All-Under-Heaven sees that Chu has broken with Qin, Chu's standing will diminish."

He then said to the king's favored consort, Lady Zheng Xiu: "Are you aware that you are about to fall from grace?"

Zheng Xiu said: "What do you mean?"

Jin Shang said: "Zhang Yi is the King of Qin's most trusted and meritorious minister. Chu has imprisoned him, and the King of Qin wants him freed. The King of Qin has a beloved daughter, beautiful, accompanied by a handpicked retinue of fine playthings, lovely attendants, and skilled musicians, outfitted with gold, jade, and precious vessels, and endowed with the six counties of Shangyong as her personal estate. He intends to send her through Zhang Yi into the King of Chu's court. The king will certainly love her. A Qin princess backed by mighty Qin's power, armed with rich territory — she will become the king's chief wife and dominate Chu. The king, lost in pleasure, will lavish honor and affection on her and forget you. You will sink lower and grow more distant by the day."

Zheng Xiu said: "I place myself in your hands. What should I do?"

"Why not urgently persuade the king to release Zhang Yi? Once Zhang Yi is free, he will be grateful to you without end. The Qin princess will certainly not come, and Qin will treat you with respect. Internally you will monopolize Chu's highest position; externally you will command Qin's friendship. Keep Zhang Yi as your asset, and your sons and grandsons will become Crown Princes of Chu. This is no commoner's advantage."

Zheng Xiu immediately persuaded the King of Chu to release Zhang Yi.

The King of Chu was about to release Zhang Yi but feared Zhang Yi would work against him. Jin Shang said to the king: "Allow me to follow him. If Zhang Yi acts against Your Majesty, I will kill him."

A minor Chu official, an enemy of Jin Shang, said to Zhang Mao: "Given Zhang Yi's intelligence and his usefulness to both Qin and Chu, you will certainly be marginalized. You should have someone secretly intercept and assassinate Jin Shang. The King of Chu will be furious at Zhang Yi. With Zhang Yi in disgrace, your own importance rises. When Chu and Qin clash, Wei will have nothing to worry about."

Zhang Mao did send someone to waylay and stab Jin Shang. The King of Chu was enraged. Qin and Chu went to war. Both Qin and Chu competed to court Wei, and Zhang Mao's influence indeed grew greatly.

Qin defeated Chu at Hanzhong. The King of Chu entered Qin and the King of Qin detained him. You Teng, speaking for Chu, said to the King of Qin: "If Your Majesty holds the King of Chu hostage and attacks Chu together with All-Under-Heaven, it will damage your reputation. If you do not join the other states in attacking, you lose the advantage. Better to make a covenant with him and send him home. The King of Chu, intimidated, will certainly not dare violate the covenant. Then Your Majesty can join the three states in attacking Chu — and it will be righteous."

King Xiang of Chu, when he was Crown Prince, was held as a hostage in Qi. When King Huai died, the Crown Prince asked leave of the King of Qi to return home. The King of Qi blocked him: "Give me five hundred li of eastern territory, and I will let you go. If you refuse, you cannot leave."

The Crown Prince said: "I have a tutor. Allow me to consult him." His tutor Shenzi said: "Offer the territory. It is for the sake of your person. To love territory and refuse to attend your dead father's funeral is unjust. I therefore say: offer it."

The Crown Prince entered and told the King of Qi: "I respectfully offer five hundred li of territory." The King of Qi released him.

The Crown Prince returned home and was enthroned as king. Qi sent fifty chariots to collect the eastern territory from Chu. The King of Chu said to Shenzi: "Qi's envoys have come to demand the eastern territory. What should I do?"

Shenzi said: "Tomorrow at court, have all your ministers present their plans."

The Pillar of the State, Ziliang, entered and was received. The king said: "When I was permitted to return, to visit the royal tombs, rejoin my ministers, and recover the state, I promised Qi five hundred li of eastern territory. Now Qi sends envoys to demand it. What should I do?"

Ziliang said: "Your Majesty must give it. You personally gave your royal word, promising mighty Qi of ten thousand chariots. To refuse is to break faith. You will never again be able to make treaties with the feudal lords. Give the land, then attack to take it back. Giving shows good faith; attacking shows martial strength. I say: give it."

Ziliang departed. Zhao Chang entered. The king said: "Qi's envoys demand five hundred li of eastern territory. What should I do?"

Zhao Chang said: "You must not give it. A state of ten thousand chariots depends on the extent of its territory. To give up five hundred li of eastern land is to give up half of a warring state's resources — to have the title of ten thousand chariots without even a thousand chariots' substance. It is impossible. I say: refuse. I will defend the territory."

Zhao Chang departed. Jing Li entered. The king said: "Qi's envoys demand five hundred li of eastern territory. What should I do?"

Jing Li said: "You must not give it. However, Chu cannot defend alone. Your Majesty gave your royal word to mighty Qi and now refuses — bearing the charge of injustice before All-Under-Heaven, Chu cannot hold out alone. I will go west to seek rescue from Qin."

Jing Li departed. Shenzi entered. The king reported the three ministers' plans and said: "Ziliang says I must give the land and then attack. Zhao Chang says I must not give it and will defend. Jing Li says I must not give it but Chu cannot stand alone and he will seek Qin's aid. Which of the three plans should I follow?"

Shenzi replied: "Use all three!"

The king flushed with anger: "What do you mean?"

Shenzi said: "Allow me to explain, and Your Majesty will see the sense of it. Send the Pillar of the State Ziliang with fifty chariots north to offer Qi five hundred li of territory. The day after Ziliang departs, appoint Zhao Chang as Grand Marshal and order him to defend the eastern territory. The day after Zhao Chang departs, send Jing Li with fifty chariots west to seek rescue from Qin."

The king said: "Excellent." He sent Ziliang north to offer the territory to Qi. The day after Ziliang's departure, he appointed Zhao Chang as Grand Marshal to defend the eastern territory. He then sent Jing Li west to seek Qin's aid.

When Ziliang reached Qi, Qi sent armed troops to accept the eastern territory. Zhao Chang replied to Qi's envoys: "I am the governor of the eastern territory and will live or die with it. I have mustered everyone from fifteen to sixty — over three hundred thousand — with battered armor and dull weapons, and await your arrival."

The King of Qi said to Ziliang: "You came to offer the territory, but now Zhao Chang defends it. What is this?"

Ziliang said: "I personally received my king's commission. Zhao Chang is acting without authorization. Attack him."

So the King of Qi raised a great army to attack the eastern territory and assault Zhao Chang. Before they crossed the border, Qin advanced five hundred thousand troops to Qi's western flank, declaring: "To blockade Chu's Crown Prince and refuse to release him was inhumane. To now seize five hundred li of his eastern territory is unjust. Withdraw your armor, or we await battle."

The King of Qi was frightened. He asked Ziliang to travel south through Chu and west to Qin to resolve the crisis. Not a single soldier was lost, and the eastern territory was preserved intact.

Lady A said to Su Qin: "It was you who caused the King of Chu to be trapped in Qin and endangered the Crown Prince. Now the King of Chu has returned and the Crown Prince is heading south — you will certainly be in danger."

"You should send someone to tell the Crown Prince: 'Su Qin knows that the Crown Prince resents him and will inevitably work against the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince would do better to reconcile with Su Qin, and Su Qin will then work on the Crown Prince's behalf.'"

Su Qin sent someone to relay this to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince agreed to make peace with Su Qin.