1 Jump to dictionary魏太子在... :
魏太子在楚。谓楼子于鄢陵曰：“公必且待齐、楚之合也，以救皮氏。今齐、楚之理，必不合矣。彼翟子之所恶于国者，无公矣。其人皆欲合齐、秦握楚以轻公，公必谓齐王曰：‘魏之受兵，非秦实首伐之也，楚恶魏之事王也，故劝秦攻魏。’齐王故欲伐处，而又怒其不己善也，必令魏以地听秦而委。以张子之强，有秦、韩之重，齐王恶之，而魏王不敢据也。今以齐秦之重，外楚以轻公，臣为公患之。钧之出地，以为和于秦也，岂若由楚乎？秦疾攻楚，楚还兵，魏王必惧，公因寄汾北以予秦而为和，合亲以孤齐，秦、楚重公，公必为相矣。臣意秦王与樗里疾之欲之也，臣请为公说之。”The Wei crown prince was in Chu. He said to Louzi at Yanling, "You must wait for the alliance of Qi and Chu before you can rescue Pishi. Now that the relations between Qi and Chu have definitely broken down, they will certainly not form an alliance anymore. The person whom Dizi dislikes most in the state is none other than you, sir. They all want to ally Qi and Qin while holding onto Chu in order to belittle you. You must tell King Qi, "The reason Wei is suffering military attacks is not because Qin was the first to attack it; rather, Chu dislikes Wei's dealings with Your Majesty, so they advised Qin to attack Wei." King Qi originally wanted to attack Chu but was also angry that Chu did not treat him kindly, so he will certainly order Wei to cede territory to Qin in exchange for submission. With Zhangzi's strength and the weight of Qin and Han behind him, King Qi dislikes this situation, yet King Wei dares not to resist. Now that Qi and Qin are so powerful, they are using Chu from the outside to belittle you; I am worried for your sake. If Duke Jun cedes territory in order to make peace with Qin, how is that better than going through Chu? If Qin attacks Chu fiercely, and Chu sends troops back to defend itself, King Wei will certainly be afraid. You can then hand over the area north of Fen River to Qin as a gesture for peace, thereby uniting with Qin and isolating Qi. With Qin and Chu valuing you highly, you are sure to become prime minister. I believe that King Qin and Chuli Ji desire this outcome as well; I shall go ahead and speak on your behalf to them."
2 Jump to dictionary魏太子在... :
乃请樗里子叶：“攻皮氏，此王之首事也，而不能拔，天下且以此轻秦。且有皮氏，于以攻韩、魏，利也。”樗里子曰：“吾已合魏矣，无所用之。”对曰：“臣愿以鄙心意公，公无以为罪。有皮氏，国之大利也，而以与魏，公终自以为不能守也，故以与魏。今公之力有馀守之，何故而弗有也？”樗里子曰：“奈何？”曰：“魏王之所恃者，齐、楚也；所用者，楼𢋛、翟强也。今齐王谓魏王曰：‘欲诞攻于齐王兵之辞也，是弗救矣。’楚王怒于魏之不用楼子，而使翟强为和也，怨颜已绝之矣。魏王之惧也见亡，翟强欲合齐、秦外楚，以轻楼𢋛；楼𢋛欲合秦、楚外齐，以轻翟强。公不如按魏之和，使人谓楼子也：‘子能以汾北与我乎？请合于楚外齐，以重共也，此吾事也。’楼子与楚王必疾矣。又谓翟子：‘子能以汾北与我乎？必为合于齐外于楚，以重公也。’翟强与齐王必疾矣。是公外得齐、楚以为用，内得楼𢋛、翟强以为佐，何故不能有地于河东乎？”He then approached Chuli Zi Ye and said, "Attacking Pishi is the king's top priority, yet we have been unable to capture it; the world will therefore look down upon Qin. Moreover, holding onto Pishi would be advantageous for attacking Han and Wei." Chuli Zi said, "I have already allied with Wei; there is no need to use it [Pishi]." He replied, "I would like to express my humble thoughts to you, Lord. Please do not consider this an offense. Possessing Pishi is a great advantage for the state, yet you gave it to Wei. You must have thought in your heart that you could not hold onto it yourself, so you gave it to Wei instead. Now that your strength is more than sufficient to defend it, why do you not take possession of it?" Chuli Zi asked, "What should I do?" He said, "King Wei relies on Qi and Chu; the people he trusts are Louzi and Dizhang. Now King Qi told King Wei, "If you wish to launch a sudden attack on me with your troops, then I will not come to your rescue." King Chu was angry that Wei did not use Louzi but instead sent Dizhang as an envoy for peace; thus, King Chu has already cut off relations with him. King Wei's fear of impending defeat is evident; Dizhang wants to ally Qi and Qin against Chu in order to undermine Louzi; Louzi, on the other hand, wishes to ally Qin and Chu against Qi in order to weaken Dizhang. You would be better off holding back Wei's peace overtures and sending someone to tell Louzi, "Can you give me the area north of Fen River? I will ally with Chu against Qi in order to strengthen our position; this is my responsibility." Louzi and King Chu must act quickly. He also told Dizi, "Can you give me the territory north of Fen River? I will certainly ally with Qi against Chu in order to strengthen your position." Dizhang and King Qi must act quickly. In this way, you will gain the support of Qi and Chu from outside, and have Louzi and Dizhang as your assistants within. Why then would you not be able to hold territory in Hedong?"