秦召魏相信安君
Qin Called In Lord Xin’an，the Prime Minister of Wei
【原文】
秦召魏相信安君，信安君不欲往。苏代为说秦王曰臣闻之，忠不 必当，当（必不i [不必]忠。今臣愿大王陈臣之愚意，恐其不忠于下吏， 自使有要领之罪，愿大王察之。今大王令人执事于魏，以完其交，臣恐 魏交之益疑也。将以塞赵也，臣又恐赵之益劲也。夫魏王之爱习魏信 也甚矣，其智能而任用之也厚矣，其畏恶严尊秦也明矣。今王之使人人 魏而不用，则王之使人人魏无益也。若用，魏必舍所爱习而用所畏恶，此魏王之所以不安也。夫舍万乘之事而退，此魏信之所难行也。夫令 人之君处所不安，令人之相行所不能，以此为亲则难久矣。臣故恐魏交 之益疑也。且魏信舍事，则赵之谋者必曰：‘（舍）[合]于秦，秦必令其所 爱信者用赵。是赵存而我亡也，赵安而我危也。’则上有野战之气，下有 坚守之心，臣故恐赵之益劲也。
【今译】
秦国召见魏国相国信安君，信安君不想去。苏代为他劝说秦王说: “我听说，忠心的人一定不会结党，结党的人一定不会忠心。今天我愿 意谒见大王，陈述我愚蠢的见解，唯恐自己不忠于大王，使自己犯下被 腰斩或砍头的罪行，希望大王明察。如今大王派人到魏国执掌政事，来 巩固跟魏国的交情，我担心跟魏国的交情会更增疑虑。想要阻塞赵国， 我又担心赵国会更加强劲.魏王十分定爱信任信安君，他认为信安君 机智能干，才任用他担当重要的职位，他畏惧尊敬秦国也是很明显的^ 如今大王安排人到魏国去的人如果不被任用，那大王派人到魏国就没 有任何用处。如果被任用了，魏王必定要舍弃自己喜爱的人而任用自己畏惧讨厌的人，这就会让魏王感到不安。舍弃一个拥有一万辆战车 的国家的政事而退位，这是信安君难以做到的。让别国君主处在不安 之中，让别国相国做不愿做的事情，用这种方式来结交，就难以长久了。 所以我担心跟魏国的交情会让魏国更加产生疑虑。再说魏国信安君舍 弃了政事，那赵国的谋士必定会说：‘如果跟秦国交好，秦王就一定会安 排自己的亲信到赵国执政。这样一来，赵国保存下来，我们就完了；赵 国安全，我们就危险了。’那样，居于上位的人就有野战的志气，居于下 位的人就有坚守的决心，所以我担心赵国会更加强劲啊。
The state of Qin wanted to invite Lord Xinan, the prime minister of the state of Wei, but Lord Xin’an didn’t want to go. On the lord’s behalf, Su Dai went to consult with the king of Qin and said，“I heard that loyal people don’t build cliques，and that peoplewhobuildup cliques mustbe disloyal. Now I want youto giveme achance to tell youmy thoughts. Anyway, I don71 want to be sentenced to death because of disloyalty so please consider it carefully. You are going to send someone to the state of Wei to administer government affairs and thus consolidate ties with it. But I am afraid that your relations with Wei will deteriorate further. By doing so, you want to put the state of Zhao under threat. But I am afraid that Zhao will become more powerful instead. The king of Wei cherishes Lord Xin’an very much. He considers him both intelligent and capable and therefore has appointed him to a very important position. Obviously he fears the powerful Qin. Now if Wei refuses to appoint any important position to a person you recommend t it is of no use your sending anybody there .If Wei agrees to employ him, the king of Wei must dismiss a beloved one from office and be forced to use someone he fears and hates. This will make him very nervous. And it is also difficult for Lord Xin’an to quit this powerful position of a state with ten thousand chariots. If you make a sovereign feel uneasy and a prime minister be forced to do unacceptable things，it is very difficult to maintain good relations. That’s why I worry that your relations with Wei will deteriorate further. Moreover, if Lord Xin’an is dismissed from office, the advisors of the state of Zhao will certainly say? ‘If we establish good relations with Qin, the king of Qin will definitely send his beloved ones here to govern our state. In this case, if the state of Zhao survives, we will come to a sticky end. And if the state of Zhao is safe, we will be in danger. ’ Therefore, the leaders will decide to fight a bloody war，and the subjects will defend them bitterly. That’s why I worry that the state of Zhao will become more powerful.
【原文】
“大王欲完魏之交而使赵小心乎？不如用魏信而尊之以名。魏信 事王，国安而名尊；离王，国危而权轻。然则魏信之事（主）[王]也，上所 以为其主者忠矣，下所以自为者厚矣，彼其事王必完矣。赵之用事者必 曰：‘魏氏之名族不高于我，土地之实不厚于我。魏信以韩、魏事秦，秦甚善之，国得安焉，身取尊焉。今我讲难于秦，兵为招质，国处削危之 形，非得计也。结怨于外，主患于中，身处死亡之地，非完事也。’彼将伤 其前事而悔其过行，冀其利，必多割地以深下王。则是大王垂拱之割地 以为利重，尧、舜之所求而不能得也。臣愿大王察之。”
【今译】
‘‘大王想巩固跟魏国的交情并且让赵国小心翼翼吗？不如任用信 安君并且给他尊名。信安君侍奉大王，国家安定而且名声尊显；违逆大 王，国家危险而且权势减轻。那么信安君侍奉大王，上可以为他的君主 尽忠，下可以为自己博得丰厚利益，他一定会尽心侍奉大王。赵国执政 的人一定会说：‘信安君的门第出身不比我们高，土地不比我们多，他用韩国和魏国来侍奉秦国，秦国对他非常好，国家得到安宁，自身博得尊 贵。现在如果我们跟秦国作对，我们的军队就会成为秦军进攻的目标， 国家就会处于被削弱的危险形势中，这不是个办法.在国外结怨，在国 内发生祸患，自己处于死亡境地，不是件好事。’他们将为以前所做的事 而伤心，为错误的行为而后悔；希望得到好处，一定会多多割让土地来 努力侍奉大王。那样大王不费吹灰之力就能割取土地、获得巨大利益。 尧、舜也不能得到这样的好事。我希望大王明察此事
“Do you really want to consolidate the relations with Wei and put Zhao under threat? Then you’d better let Lord Xiny an maintain his post as well as confer an honourable title on him. Thus, if Lord Xiny an submits to you, his state will be safe and he himself can also be held in high repute. If he turns against you，his state will be in danger and he himself will lose power too. Therefore, by submitting to you, not only can Lord Xin’an serve his own sovereign loyally, but he can also benefit tremendously. So he will do his best to serve you. And court officials administering the state of Zhao will certainly say，‘Look，Lord Xin’an’s family background is not as influential as ours, and his fief is not as large as ours. However, he leads Han and Wei to serve the state of Qin， and Qin cherishes him very much. By doing so, he has not only safeguarded his state，but also gained a high reputation. Now if we confront the state of Qin, our military forces will become Qin’ s target，and our state will be weakened and under severe threat. This is not a correct policy. Being at enmity with other states and causing damage within our state is not a good thing. “They will feel sorry for their previous conduct and also regret their mistakes. In the hope of gaining more benefit, they will definitely cede a lot of land to win you over. Thus without exerting any effort, you can gain territory and benefit yourself. Even Yao and Shun could not achieve this. I hope you will consider it, ”