楚圍雍氏，韓令冷向借救於秦，秦為發使公孫昧入韓。公仲曰：「子以秦為將救韓乎？其不乎？」對曰：「秦王之言曰，請道於南鄭、藍田以入攻楚，出兵於三川以待公，殆不合，軍於南鄭矣。」公仲曰：「柰何？」對曰：「秦王必祖張儀之故謀。楚威王攻梁，張儀謂秦王曰：『與楚攻梁，魏折而入於楚。韓固其與國也，是秦孤也。故不如出兵以勁魏。』於是攻皮氏。魏氏勁，威王怒，楚與魏大戰，秦取西河之外以歸。今也其將揚言救韓，而陰善楚，公恃秦而勁，必輕與楚戰。楚陰得秦之不用也，必易與公相支也。公戰勝楚，逐與公乘楚，易三川而歸。公戰不勝楚，塞三川而守之，公不能救也。臣甚惡其事。司馬康三反之郢矣，甘茂與昭獻遇於境，其言曰收璽，其實猶有約也。」公仲恐曰：「然則柰何？」對曰：「公必先韓而後秦，先身而後張儀，以公不如亟以國合於齊、楚，秦必委國於公以解伐。是公之所以外者儀而已，其實猶之不失秦也。」

 

When Chu was beseiging the House of Yong[1] Han sent Leng Xiang[2] to go and beg aid from Qin. In response, Qin sent Gongsun Mei[3] to Han. Gongzhong[4] said to him, "Do you think that Qin will help us or not?"

He replied, "The King of Qin[5] told me to say the following: 'Please take the road through Nanzheng[6] and Lantian[7], enter Chu and launch an attack. We will send our troops into Sanchuan[8] to wait for you.' It seems that he does not intend to join up with your army at Nanzheng[9]."

Gongzhong said, "How should we manage this?"

He replied, "The King of Qin will certainly follow Zhang Yi's[10] old strategy. When King Wei of Chu[11] attacked Liang, Zhang Yi spoke to the King of Qin[12], saying, 'If we join Chu's attack on Liang, Wei will sever its relations with us and go to pay homage in Chu[13]. Han will back them up, and Qin will be left isolated[14]. Therefore you had better send your troops to reinforce Wei.' Thus when Chu attacked Pishi[15], the House of Wei received reinforcements from Qin, which frightened King Wei. In the conflagration between Chu and Wei, Qin seized the lands west of the Yellow River and incorporated them within its own state. Qin is saying publicly[16] that it will help Han, but secretly it has been ingratiating itself with Chu. If you intend to wait upon Qin's reinforcements then you will have to be in a position to shrug off Chu's attacks - if Chu learns in secret that Qin will not deploy its forces, it will regard you as an easy target. If you fight and defeat Chu, Qin will follow your advance and overrun Chu, from which it will easily annex Sanchuan. If you fight and do not defeat Chu, Chu[17] will cut off your access to Sanchuan and fortify it, and there will be nothing you can do. I despise such affairs. Sima Kang[18] has returned three times to Ying[19], and Gan Mao[20] met Zhao Xian[21] at the border. He said that he has already received the military seals[22]. It really seems like they have an agreement[23]."

Gongzhong said, "If this is true, how should we handle it?"

He replied, "You must rely upon Han first and Qin second. Yourself first and Zhang Yi second. You could do no better than to seek an alliance with Qi and Chu[24] immediately. Qin will put its state at your disposal avoid being attacked itself. In this way the only one you alienate will be Yi; you will not lose Qin's support."

​

[1] The Yong clan had had a state of their own up to the middle of the Spring and Autumn period, when it was annexed by Jin. 

[2] Leng Xiang was a politician in Han.

[3] Gongsun Mei was a politician in Qin. 

[4] Gongzhong Chi, also known as Han Gongzhong, Gongzhong Peng and Han Chi served as Chancellor and supported Han Jise in his struggle for power. He had ties with Qin.

[5] King Zhaoxiang of Qin (306–251 BCE) began life as a relatively minor prince, and served as a child hostage in Zhao before being sneaked out by Queen Xuan (his mother), her brother Wei Ran, and King Wuling of Zhao to assume the throne following the premature death of his brother, King Wu. Upon coming of age, he exiled Queen Xuan and Wei Ran, and worked with a succession of important figures of the age (Gan Mao, Fan Ju, Bai Qi...) to expand Qin's territory during the course of a long and successful reign. 

[6] Nanzheng is still called Nanzheng and is in Shaanxi.

[7] Lantian is now a district of Xi'an in Shaanxi.

[8] Sanchuan Commandery was near modern Luoyang in Henan.

[9] I.e. Qin intends to deploy troops in the general vicinity and see how Han's attack progresses before deciding whether to offer support. According to the commentaries, the part about Nanzheng may be superfluous here. 

[10] Zhang Yi was a politician and general in Qin, and the principal proponent of Qin's Horizontal Alliance, the aim of which was to prevent the other states from unifying against Qin.

[11] King Wei of Chu (339–329 BCE).

[12] King Huiwen of Qin (338–311 BCE) began his reign by killing Shang Yang, but maintained his legal and military reforms, using his strengthened state to acquire large tracts of additional land.

[13] In the hope of forming an alliance with Chu in order to turn on Qin.

[14] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[15] Pishi is now Hejin in Shanxi. 

[16] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[17] The commentaries suggest  楚 ，楚 for 楚 here. The modern translations suggest that it is actually Qin cutting off access to Sanchuan. 

[18] This person's first name may have been Geng (庚) or Tang (唐). He was a politician in Qin.

[19] Ying was one of the capitals of Chu. It was in modern Jingzhou, Hubei.

[20] Gan Mao was a successful politician and General in Qin, but later defected to Qi. 

[21] Zhao Xian was also known as Zhao Yu, and was a politician in Chu, serving as Prime Minister for a time. 

[22] These were given to generals to prove their authority, and without them they could not deploy troops. When the Prime Minister took them back, his generals would not be able to act. Thus, Chu would not be able to attack Han.

[23] It is not clear who is doing what in this sentence, and the translations and commentaries disagree on how it should be read. This version aims to preserve the ambiguity of the original.

[24] The commentaries suggest that 以 here may be superfluous.