112 Qin’s Expedition to Zheng

A5.29 

Someone from Zheng betrayed Zheng to Qin, saying, "I am in charge of the city gates of Zheng. You can send troops to attack Zheng." Duke Mu asked Jian Shu and Bai Li Xi for their opinions, and they replied, "It will be difficult to attack Zheng after passing through several countries and marching a thousand miles. Moreover, if someone in Zheng State betrayed Zheng State, how could we be sure that no one in our country would tell Zheng State our intelligence? Therefore, it is not recommended to attack Zheng State." Duke Mu said, "Something you don't know that I have already made my decision." So he mobilized the troops to prepare for the expedition, and let Baili Xi's son Meng Ming, Jian Shu's son Xiqishu and Bai Yibing lead the troops. On the day the army set out, Baili Xi and Jian Shu cried for the soldiers. When Duke Mu heard this, he said angrily, "I sent the troops to fight, but you are crying and destroying the morale of my army. What's the reason for this?" The two old men said: "We dare not undermine the morale of the army. It’s just that the army is about to leave, and our sons will follow them. We are already old, and we are worried that if they come back too late, they won’t be able to see us, so we are crying bitterly.” The two old men withdrew and said to their son: "Your army will be defeated, it must be in the dangerous area of Mount Yao." In the spring of the thirty-third year (627 BC), the Qin army marched eastward, passing through the territory of Jin and the north gate of the Zhou capital. King’s grandson Man of Zhou said: "The Qin army does not follow the rules of propriety. What else can they wait for but failure?" When the Qin army arrived at Hua, Xian Gao, a merchant from Zheng, was preparing to take twelve cows to Zhou to sell. When he saw the Qin army, he was worried that he would be captured and killed by the Qin army, so he offered his cows to the Qin army and said, "I heard that the army of a great country is going to attack Zheng. The king of Zheng is seriously strengthening his defenses and has sent me twelve cows to reward the soldiers." After hearing this, the three generals of Qin discussed and said, "We were planning to launch a surprise attack on Zheng, but now Zheng has already known about it. It is useless for us to attack now." The Qin army then destroyed Hua State, a small state on the border of Jin State. 

郑人有卖郑于秦曰：“我主其城门，郑可袭也。”缪公问蹇叔、百里傒，对曰：“径数国千里而袭人，希有得利者。且人卖郑，庸知我国人不有以我情告郑者乎？不可。”缪公曰：“子不知也，吾已决矣。”遂发兵，使百里傒子孟明视，蹇叔子西乞术及白乙丙将兵。行日，百里傒、蹇叔二人哭之。缪公闻，怒曰：“孤发兵而子沮哭吾军，何也？”二老曰：“臣非敢沮君军。军行，臣子与往；臣老，迟还恐不相见，故哭耳。”二老退，谓其子曰：“汝军即败，必于殽阨矣。”三十三年春，秦兵遂东，更晋地，过周北门。周王孙满曰：“秦师无礼，不败何待！”兵至滑，郑贩卖贾人弦高，持十二牛将卖之周，见秦兵，恐死虏，因献其牛，曰：“闻大国将诛郑，郑君谨修守御备，使臣以牛十二劳军士。”秦三将军相谓曰：“将袭郑，郑今已觉之，往无及已。”灭滑。滑，晋之边邑也。