90 Su Dai Persuasion

A4.70|71

Prince Gong of Duke Wu of the Western Zhou died. He had five illegitimate sons and no legitimate son to serve as heir. Sima Jian said to the King of Chu: "Why not use the land to support Prince Ju and ask for the position of Crown Prince for him?" Zuo Cheng said: “No. If the Zhou disagrees, not only will your plan fail, but it will also alienate the relationship between Chu and Zhou. It would be better to ask Lord Zhou to secretly tell Sima Jian who he has in mind for the crown prince. Then let Sima Jian ask for permission for Chu to support him with land." As expected, the Zhou appointed Prince Ju as the crown prince.

In the eighth year (307 BC), Qin attacked Yiyang, and Chu came to rescue. Chu suspected that Zhou had helped Qin, so was preparing to attack Zhou. Su Dai persuaded the King of Chu on behalf of Zhou: "Why do you think Zhou is helping Qin? Those who said that Zhou helped Qin more than Chu wanted Zhou to completely ally with Qin, so there is a saying that "Zhou State helped Qin State." The State of Zhou knew that there was no escape, so it would definitely surrender to the State of Qin. This was a clever plan to help the State of Qin conquer the State of Zhou. I am just thinking for the king. If Zhou State leans towards Qin State, Chu State should treat Zhou State nice. If Zhou State does not lean towards Qin State, Chu State should also treat Zhou State nice. Only in this way can Zhou State and Qin State be alienated. If Zhou cuts off ties with Qin, it will certainly turn to Chu."

西周武公之共太子死，有五庶子，毋適立。司马翦谓楚王曰：“不如以地资公子咎，为请太子。” 左成曰：“不可。周不听，是公之知困而交疏於周也。不如请周君孰欲立，以微告翦，翦请令楚贺资之以地。”果立公子咎为太子。

八年，秦攻宜阳，楚救之。而楚以周为秦故，将伐之。苏代为周说楚王曰：“何以周为秦之祸也？言周之为秦甚于楚者，欲令周入秦也，故谓‘周秦’也。周知其不可解，必入于秦，此为秦取周之精者也。为王计者，周于秦因善之，不于秦亦言善之，以疏之于秦。周绝于秦，必入于郢矣。”