至秦，會莊襄王卒，李斯乃求為秦相文信侯呂不韋舍人；不韋賢之，任以為郎。李斯因以得說，說秦王曰：「胥人者，去其幾也。成大功者，在因瑕釁而遂忍之。昔者秦穆公之霸，終不東并六國者，何也？諸侯尚眾，周德未衰，故五伯迭興，更尊周室。自秦孝公以來，周室卑微，諸侯相兼，關東為六國，秦之乘勝役諸侯，蓋六世矣。今諸侯服秦，譬若郡縣。夫以秦之彊，大王之賢，由灶上騷除，足以滅諸侯，成帝業，為天下一統，此萬世之一時也。今怠而不急就，諸侯復彊，相聚約從，雖有黃帝之賢，不能并也。」

​

Happening to arrive in Qin in the wake of the death of King Zhuangxiang[1], Li Si solicited a position in the entourage of Chancellor Lü Buwei, Marquis Wenxin[2].Buwei, finding him a valuable individual, made him one of his attendants. Li Si took advantage of this to exercise his persuasions, speaking thus to the King of Qin[3]: "Those who wait upon others to act see opportunities flee before them; those who achieve great things are the ones who take advantage of any opening and exploit it ruthlessly. If, in the past, Duke Mu of Qin[4] attained hegemony but in the end did not annex the six eastern states[5], why was this? Zhou's vassals were still multitudinous then, and the prestige of the Zhou had yet to decline. Thus the five hegemons[6] arising one after the other, only served to perpetuate the honour paid to the House of Zhou. From Duke Xiao[7] onwards, however, the House of Zhou grew ever more nugatory, the sovereign lords absorbed one another's lands until only six states remained East of the Mountains[8]. For six generations already, Qin, riding high upon its victories, has been enlisting the sovereign lords within its ranks. Now the states submit to Qin such that they may as well be your own commanderies. With Qin's strength and your intelligence, wiping out the sovereign lords will be as easy as sweeping out the stove, thus you will complete your imperial mission and unite All-Under-Heaven. This is a once-in-ten-thousand-generations opportunity. If you are lax and do not make haste, the sovereign lords will recoup their strength, coming together to sign treaties and form an alliance. Then even with the sagacity of the Yellow Emperor[9] you would not be able to annex them."

​

[1] King Zhuangxiang of Qin (250-247 BCE) was the father of King Zheng, who would later unite the empire under the name Qin Shihuang.

[2] Lü Buwei was a merchant and scholar who had been instrumental in ensuring the succession of King Zhuangxiang and thus of Qin Shihuang.

[3] King Zheng of Qin (247-210 BCE), the future Qin Shihuang. At the time he would presumably have been around 13 or 14 years old.

[4] Duke Mu of Qin (659–621 BCE) greatly expanded Qin territory.

[5] This is more likely a conventional idiom referring to all the non-Qin states than a reference to actual principalities. At the time of Duke Mu Han, Wei and Zhao did not yet exist.

[6] Duke Huan of Qi (685–643 BCE), Duke Xiang of Song (650–637 BCE), Duke Wen of Jin (636–628 BCE), Duke Mu of Qin (659–621 BCE)     and King Zhuang of Chu (613–591 BCE).

[7] Duke Xiao of Qin (361-338 BCE) worked with his Chancellor, Shang Yang, to reform Qin's laws and strengthen the administrative state.

[8] Mount Hua marked the traditional eastern border of Qin.

[9] The Yellow Emperor (traditional dates c. 2700-2600 BCE) was a semi-legendary founding sovereign.