楚策三

Su Qin said to the King of Chu: "A benevolent man loves the people with his heart and serves them with good words. A filial son loves his parents with his heart and serves them with his wealth. A loyal minister must recommend worthy men to assist his lord.

"Now Your Majesty's senior ministers and kinsmen love to injure the worthy as a way of building their own positions. They impose heavy taxes on ministers and common people alike, causing Your Majesty to be hated by the people. These are not loyal ministers. Senior ministers who broadcast Your Majesty's faults to the people and bribe the feudal lords with Your Majesty's territory, who drive away those Your Majesty favors — these too are not loyal ministers. This is why the state is in danger.

"I urge Your Majesty not to listen when ministers slander each other. Be watchful of your senior ministers and kinsmen. Employ those the people consider good. Restrain your personal desires for the people's sake.

"Nothing is harder for a minister than to recommend the worthy without jealousy. Dying for one's lord is easy — at the battle of Chuisha, the dead numbered in the thousands. Suffering humiliation for one's lord is easy — from the Prime Minister on down, those who serve Your Majesty number in the thousands. But to recommend the worthy without jealousy — I have not seen a single one. Therefore, a wise ruler evaluating his ministers must identify those who recommend the worthy without jealousy. And a worthy minister serving his lord must likewise recommend the worthy without jealousy. The reason recommending the worthy is so difficult is that the worthy, once employed, will make oneself obsolete; once honored, will make oneself diminished. That is why people find it hard."

Su Qin went to Chu. After three days he finally obtained an audience with the king. When the conversation ended, he took his leave and prepared to depart.

The King of Chu said: "I have heard of you, sir, as one hears of the ancients. Now you have come a thousand li to visit me, yet you will not stay. I wish to hear your counsel."

Su Qin replied: "In Chu, food costs more than jade and firewood costs more than cassia. Your gatekeepers are as hard to find as ghosts, and Your Majesty is as hard to see as the Lord of Heaven. You now ask me to eat jade, cook with cassia, seek out ghosts, and petition the Lord of Heaven."

The king said: "Please go to your lodgings, sir. I have received the message."

The King of Chu demanded that Wei expel Zhang Yi. Chen Zhen said: "Why does Your Majesty want Zhang Yi expelled?"

"Because he is a disloyal and untrustworthy minister."

"If he is disloyal, Your Majesty has no reason to employ him. If he is untrustworthy, Your Majesty need not make treaties with him. Besides, if a Wei minister is disloyal and untrustworthy, what harm is that to Your Majesty? If he were loyal and trustworthy, what benefit to Your Majesty? If Wei complies with the expulsion, fine. But if it does not, Your Majesty's authority is humiliated. To make a state of ten thousand chariots dismiss its own prime minister — that is the demand of a besieging army, not a diplomatic request."

Zhang Yi went to Chu, but was poor. His attendant was angry and wanted to leave. Zhang Yi said: "You want to leave because of your shabby clothes. Wait for me — I will get you an audience with the King of Chu."

At that time, the Southern Queen and Zheng Xiu held the most influence in Chu.

Zhang Yi met the King of Chu, but the king was not pleased. Zhang Yi said: "Your Majesty has no use for me. Allow me to go north and visit the lord of Jin."

The king said: "Very well."

Zhang Yi said: "Does Your Majesty have no requests for the state of Jin?"

The king said: "Gold, pearls, rhinoceros horn, and ivory all come from Chu. I have no need of anything from Jin."

Zhang Yi said: "Your Majesty simply does not care for beautiful women?"

"Why do you say that?"

"The women of Zheng and Zhou — powdered white, painted black, standing at the crossroads — those who see them without knowing who they are take them for goddesses."

The King of Chu said: "Chu is a remote and rustic state. I have never seen women of the Central States so beautiful. How could I not desire them?" He furnished Zhang Yi with pearls and jade for the journey.

The Southern Queen and Zheng Xiu heard of this and were terrified. They sent someone to tell Zhang Yi: "We have heard you are going to Jin. We happen to have a thousand catties of gold, which we offer to your retinue for provisions." Zheng Xiu also sent five hundred catties of gold.

Zhang Yi took leave of the King of Chu: "The world's roads are closed and impassable — I do not know when I will see the sun again. I beg Your Majesty to grant me a farewell banquet."

The king agreed and held a banquet. Midway through the drinking, Zhang Yi bowed twice and said: "There is no one else here. I wish Your Majesty would summon those he is most intimate with to share the banquet."

The king agreed and summoned the Southern Queen and Zheng Xiu. Zhang Yi bowed twice and said: "I have committed a capital offense against Your Majesty."

"What offense?"

"I have traveled the entire world and never seen anyone as beautiful as these two. Yet I told Your Majesty I could find beautiful women — that was deceiving Your Majesty."

The king said: "Think nothing of it. I have always believed there are no two people in All-Under-Heaven to match them."

The King of Chu sent Zhao Sui to Qin to bolster Zhang Yi's position. Before Zhao Sui arrived, King Hui of Qin died and King Wu expelled Zhang Yi. The King of Chu then recalled Zhao Sui to pursue an alliance with Qi instead.

Huan Zang, speaking for Zhao Sui, said to the King of Chu: "The Horizontal alignment has collapsed. Zhang Yi rose under King Hui and was close to Zhao Sui. Now King Hui is dead and King Wu has taken the throne. Zhang Yi has fled; Gongsun Hao and Gan Mao are now in power. Gan Mao is allied with Wei, Gongsun Hao with Han. Neither is friendly to Zhao Sui. They will certainly use Qin to align with Han and Wei.

"Han and Wei valued Zhang Yi because he had Qin; Zhao Sui was valued because he had Chu. Now Zhang Yi has lost Qin and Zhao Sui has lost Chu's favor. Han and Wei, wanting Qin's support, will court Gongsun Hao and Gan Mao. They will draw in Han and Wei, sideline Zhang Yi, and attack Chu — putting Fangcheng in danger.

"Your Majesty should instead restore Zhao Sui to favor and elevate Zhang Yi's standing in Han and Wei. Zhang Yi, backed by Chu's power and wielding Wei's influence, can contest with Qin. If Wei does not align with Qin, Han will not follow either, and Fangcheng will be safe."

Zhang Yi expelled Hui Shi from Wei. Hui Shi fled to Chu, and the King of Chu received him.

Feng Hao said to the King of Chu: "The one who expelled Hui Shi was Zhang Yi. For Your Majesty to now embrace Hui Shi is to deceive Zhang Yi — I would advise against it. Hui Shi came here because of Zhang Yi, and he will resent Your Majesty's friendship with Zhang Yi. His heart will not be committed. Moreover, the King of Song's admiration for Hui Shi is known throughout All-Under-Heaven, and Hui Shi's hostility toward Zhang Yi is equally well known.

"To abandon someone you value to an enemy for the sake of expediency — I consider this beneath Your Majesty. Instead, why not escort Hui Shi and present him to Song? Then tell Zhang Yi: 'I refused to shelter him on your behalf.' Zhang Yi will be grateful. And Hui Shi, a man in desperate straits whom Your Majesty has honored with an escort, will also be grateful. This way you do Zhang Yi's bidding in substance while earning Hui Shi's gratitude."

The King of Chu said: "Excellent." He accordingly escorted Hui Shi and presented him to Song.

Five states attacked Qin. Wei wanted peace and sent Hui Shi to Chu. Chu intended to pass him through to Qin to broker a settlement. Du He said to Zhao Yang: "The driving force behind the attack on Qin was Chu. Now Hui Shi comes from Wei, and you forward him to Qin — this exposes Chu as the aggressor while crediting Wei with the peace effort. Better not to receive Hui Shi, and instead secretly send your own envoy to negotiate with Qin."

Zhao Yang said: "Excellent." He then told Hui Shi: "The driving force behind the attack on Qin was actually Wei. Now you come from Chu to make peace — Chu gets the benefit, Wei takes the blame. Go home. I will send someone to make peace through Wei."

Hui Shi returned, and the King of Wei was not pleased.

Du He then said to Zhao Yang: "Wei fought on your front line, lost half its army, pleaded illness, was not heeded, sought peace and was denied. Wei will break away and turn to Qi and Qin. How will you cope? To the east you have the burden of Yue, to the north you have no Jin ally, and your relations with Qi and Qin are unsettled — Chu is isolated. Better to make peace quickly."

Zhao Yang said: "Excellent." He then sent an envoy to negotiate peace through Wei.

Chen Zhen left Chu for Wei. Zhang Yi slandered him before the King of Wei: "Chen Zhen still favors Chu and works hard to obtain territory for it."

Zuo Shuang said to Chen Zhen: "Zhang Yi is close to the King of Wei, and the king trusts him completely. Even if you argued a hundred times, the king would not listen. You should instead use Zhang Yi's slander as leverage to return to Chu."

Chen Zhen said: "Excellent." He had someone relay Zhang Yi's words to Chu. The King of Chu was pleased and wanted to recall him.

Qin attacked Yiyang. The King of Chu said to Chen Zhen: "I hear Han Shi is a clever man, versed in the affairs of the feudal lords, and will probably be able to save himself. Since he will certainly escape, I want to preemptively offer support to gain his gratitude."

Chen Zhen replied: "Leave it alone. Your Majesty should not intervene. Despite Han Shi's cleverness, in this situation he is stuck. Consider the animals of the mountains and marshes — none is craftier than the elk. The elk, knowing the hunter has spread nets ahead to drive it forward, turns around and charges back through the beaters. But after several times, the hunters learn its trick: they pretend to raise the nets and advance, and the elk is caught.

"Now the feudal lords well know that such tricks are common. Those who pretend to raise their nets and advance will be many. Leave it alone, Your Majesty. Han Shi's cleverness is trapped here."

The King of Chu followed this advice. Yiyang did indeed fall, and Chen Zhen's foresight was proven right.

Tang Ju met Lord Chunshen and said: "The people of Qi cultivate their appearance and refine their conduct to win advancement. I am too proud for that. I have crossed great rivers and traveled over a thousand li, privately admiring Your Lordship's righteousness and wishing to serve your enterprise.

"I have heard that Zhuan Zhu and Zhu Hai carried blades in their bosoms, and All-Under-Heaven called them brave. Xi Shi wore coarse cloth, and All-Under-Heaven called her beautiful. Now Your Lordship serves as prime minister of Chu, a state of ten thousand chariots, managing the crises of the Central States. Yet what you desire, you cannot achieve; what you seek, you cannot obtain. It is because men like me are too few.

"The reason the king piece in chess is powerful is that the common pieces support it. A single king piece that does not deploy its five common pieces will surely lose. Why does Your Lordship not become the king piece of All-Under-Heaven and let men like me serve as your common pieces?"