Zheng Tong Went to the North to See Zhao's King
郑同北见赵王
Zheng Tong went to the north to see the king of the state of Zhao. The king said, “You are a knowledgeable person from the south. Do you have- any advice for me?” Zheng Tong said, “I am a menial person from the south. How can a person like me be qualified to answer this question? Nevertheless, since Your Majesty has put this question to me，how dare I refuse to answer it? When I was young，my father taught me tactics"，The king of Zhao said, “I don’t like tactics. ” Zheng Tong clapped his hands，looked up towards the sky and laughed. Then he said, “Certainly military action is the biggest threat in the world. Of course I know that Your Majesty doesn’t like it. I once talked about tactics with King Zhao of the state of Wei, and King Zhao also declared that he didn’t like tactics. I said，‘Can Your Majesty behave like Xu You (did)? Xu You didn’t want to
burden himself with governing the world, so he refused to accept the world. Now Your Majesty has accepted the throne from the deceased sovereign, Don’ t you hope that the ancestral temple will be safeguarded, the territory won71 be ceded，and deities both of the crops and of the Earth can be sacrificed to with freshly killed animals?? King Zhao said, ‘Yes，I do, 7 Suppose there was a person carrying Marquis Sui’s Pearl and the Jade Ring of Baiqiu, along with ten thousand yi of gold staying in the wild. If he was not as formidable as Meng Ben，or as determined as Jing Qing, nor could he carry a bow and arrows to defend himself, others would pose a severe threat to him the same night. If the troops of a powerful and covetous state were approaching Your Majesty’s border and demanding land from you，they wouldn’t stop their aggression even though you might try to reason with them. Nor would they listen to you if you exerted yourself to teach them the rules of righteousness. In this case，how could you confront them if you had no means of counterattacking them and defending your own state? If you don’t take military action, neighbouring states will do whatever they like to your state. ” The king of Zhao said, “I will carefully follow your instructions. ”
【原文】
郑同北见赵王.赵王曰。”子南方之传士也，何以教之？”郑同曰： “臣南方草鄙之人也，何足问？虽然，王致之于前，安敢不对乎？臣少之 时，亲尝教以兵。”赵王曰寡人不好兵。”郑同因抚手仰天而笑之，曰： “兵固天下之狙喜也，臣故意大王不好也。臣亦尝以兵说魏昭王，昭王 亦曰寡人不喜夕臣曰：‘王之行能如许由乎？许由无天下之累，故不受也。今王既受先王之传，欲宗庙之安、壤地不削、社稷之血食乎？’王 曰：‘然。’今有人操随侯之珠、持丘之环、万金之财，时宿于野，内无孟贲 之威、荆庆之断，外无弓弩之御，不出宿夕，人必危之矣。今有强贪之国 临王之境，索王之地，告以理则不可，说以义则不听。王非战国守圉之 具，其将何以当之？王若无兵，邻国得志矣。”赵王曰；“寡人请奉教。”
【今译】
郑同北上拜见赵王。赵王说：“您是南方博学多才的士人，对我有 什么教导吗？”郑同说：“我是南方卑微的人，有什么值得问我？尽管如 此，大王已经表达了这个意思，我怎敢不予回答呢？我小的时候，父亲 曾经教我如何用兵赵王说广我不喜欢用兵。”于是郑同拍着手仰起头 笑了，说用兵固然是天下的大害，我本来就料想到大王不喜欢用兵 了。我也曾经用用兵游说魏昭王，昭王也说：‘我不喜欢用兵。’我说： ‘大王的品行能够跟许由一样吗？许由不想治理天下来拖累自己，所以不接受天下.如今大王既然接受了先王传下来的王位，希望宗庙平安、 国土不被侵削并能供奉对社稷之神的祭祀吗？’昭王说：‘是这样的。’现 在假设有人拿着随侯的珍珠、持丘的玉环、上万镒的黄金，霖宿荒野，本 身没有孟贲的威猛和荆庆的果敢，又没有弓弩防身，不出一个晚上，必 定会有人危害他了。如今假设有强大贪婪的国家的军队逼近大王的边 境，索要大王的土地，跟他们讲道理，却讲不通；用道义劝说，他们却不 听。大王如果没有攻守防御的措施，将如何抵挡敌军呢？大王如果不 采取军事行动，邻国就会为所欲为了 Z赵王说我接受您的教导。”