五國伐秦，無功而還。其後，齊欲伐宋，而秦禁之。齊令宋郭之秦，請合而以伐宋。秦王許之。魏王畏齊、秦之合也，欲講於秦。
謂魏王曰：「秦王謂宋郭曰：『分宋之城，服宋之強者，六國也。乘宋之敝，而與王爭得者，楚、魏也。請為王毋禁楚之伐魏也，而王獨舉宋。王之伐宋也，請剛柔而皆用之。如宋者，欺之不為逆者，殺之不為仇者也。王無與之講以取地，既已得地矣，又以力攻之，期於啖宋而已矣。』
「臣聞此言，而竊為王悲，秦必且用此於王矣。又必且曰王以求地，既已得地，又且以力攻王。又必謂王曰使王輕齊，齊、魏之交已醜，又且收齊以更索於王。秦嘗用此於楚矣，又嘗用此於韓矣，願王之深計之也。秦善魏不可知也已。故為王計，太上伐秦，其次賓秦，其次堅約而詳講，與國無相離也。秦、齊合，國不可為也已。王其聽臣也，必無與講。
「秦權重魏，魏冉明孰，是故又為足下傷秦者，不敢顯也。天下可令伐秦，則陰勸而弗敢圖也。是天下之傷秦也，則先鬻與國而以自解也。天下可令賓秦，則為劫於與國而不得已者。天下不可，則先去，而以秦為上交以自重也。如是人者，鬻王以為資者也，而焉能免國於患?兔國於患者，必窮三節，而行其上。上不可，則行其中；中不可；則行其下；下不可，則明不與秦。而生以殘秦，使秦皆無百怨百利，唯已之曾安。令足下鬻之以合於秦，是免國於患者之計也。臣何足以當之?雖然，願足下之論臣之計也。
「燕，齊仇國也；秦，兄弟之交也。合仇國以伐婚姻，臣為之苦矣。黃帝戰於涿鹿之野，而西戎之兵不至；禹攻三苗，而東夷之民不起。以燕伐秦，黃帝之所難也，而臣以致燕甲而起齊兵矣。
「臣又偏事三晉之吏，奉陽君、孟嘗君、韓呡、周最、周、韓余為徒從而下之，恐其伐秦之疑也。又身自醜於秦，扮之請焚天下之秦符者，臣也；次傳焚符之約者，臣也；欲使五國約閉秦關者，臣也。奉陽君、韓余為既和矣，蘇修、朱嬰既皆陰在邯鄲，臣又說齊王而往敗之。天下共講，因使蘇修游天下之語，而以齊為上交，兵請伐魏，臣又爭之以死。而果西因蘇修重報。臣非不知秦勸之重也，然而所以為之者，為足下也。」
Five states attack Qin but achieve nothing and withdraw. Afterward, Qi wants to attack Song, and Qin forbids it. Qi sends Song Guo to Qin, requesting an alliance to jointly attack Song. The King of Qin agrees. The King of Wei, fearing the Qi-Qin alliance, wants to make peace with Qin.
Someone says to the King of Wei: "The King of Qin told Song Guo: 'Those who divided Song's cities and subdued Song's strength were the six states. Those who exploited Song's weakness and competed with you for the spoils were Chu and Wei. I propose that I not prevent Chu from attacking Wei, while you alone take Song. In your campaign against Song, use both hard and soft methods. A state like Song — to deceive it is not treachery, to destroy it is not enmity. Do not negotiate with it to take territory; once you have the territory, attack it again by force. The only goal is to devour Song entirely.'
"When I heard these words, I was privately grieved for Your Majesty. Qin will certainly use this same method on you. It will demand territory, and once it has the territory, it will attack you by force. It will also tell you to take Qi lightly; once the Qi-Wei relationship is ruined, it will co-opt Qi to squeeze you further. Qin has already used this on Chu, and already used it on Han. I beg Your Majesty to think deeply.
"Qin's goodwill toward Wei cannot be relied upon. Therefore, my counsel for Your Majesty: the best course is to attack Qin; the next best is to keep Qin at arm's length as a guest; the third is to maintain firm alliances and engage in nominal negotiations without letting your allied states separate from you. If Qin and Qi combine, the state cannot be preserved. I beg Your Majesty to listen to me and make no peace.
"Those who carry Qin's weight in Wei and serve the interests of Wei Ran and his ilk — who dare not openly harm Qin — when All-Under-Heaven can be led to attack Qin, they secretly encourage it while not daring to take the initiative. When All-Under-Heaven turns against Qin, they are the first to sell out their allies to save themselves. When All-Under-Heaven can be led to accommodate Qin, they claim to be coerced by their allies and have no choice. When that fails, they abandon their allies first and use Qin as their premier connection to enhance their own standing. Such people sell out Your Majesty as their capital — how can they save the state from danger?
"One who would truly save the state must exhaust all three strategies, starting with the best. If the best is not possible, pursue the middle; if the middle is not possible, pursue the lowest; if the lowest is not possible, then openly break with Qin and live by weakening Qin, ensuring Qin has neither reason to resent nor ability to profit, and only then will we have lasting security.
"Yan and Qi are enemy states; Qin and Qi are bound by marriage alliance. To unite an enemy state with Qi against Qin's in-laws — I suffered greatly to achieve this. When the Yellow Emperor fought at the Wilds of Zhuolu, the Western Rong did not arrive; when Yu attacked the Three Miao, the Eastern Yi did not rise. Using Yan to attack Qin would have been difficult even for the Yellow Emperor — yet I managed to summon Yan's armored forces and rouse Qi's army.
"I further managed the officials of the Three Jin, working with Lord Fengyang, Lord Mengchang, Han Wen, Zhou Zui, and others, serving under them to dispel their doubts about attacking Qin. I personally made myself odious to Qin: the one who proposed burning All-Under-Heaven's Qin tallies was I; the one who transmitted the pact to burn the tallies was I; the one who wanted the five states to agree to seal Qin's passes was I. When Lord Fengyang and Han Yu had already made peace, when Su Xiu and Zhu Ying were both secretly in Handan, I went and persuaded the King of Qi and then went to disrupt their plans. When All-Under-Heaven was making a general peace and sending Su Xiu to spread diplomatic language with Qi as the premier ally and requesting to attack Wei — I fought against it to the death. And in the end I went west through Su Xiu to deliver a second report. I am well aware of the weight of Qin's inducements — but the reason I did all this was for you, my lord."
