A4.77|78
In the 42nd year (273 BC), Qin broke the Huayang agreement with Wei (Liang). Ma Fan said to the King of Zhou: "Please send me to persuade Liang to build a city wall for Zhou." He said to the King Liang: "The King of Zhou is afraid that Qin will attack Zhou. If he dies of the fear, then I will also die. I am requesting to present the Nine Tripod Cauldrons of Zhou to you. You are going to look after me when you get them." King Liang said, "Okay." Later, he gave Ma Fan some soldiers, saying that they were going to guard the State of Zhou. Ma Fan then said to the King of Qin, that "Liang is not going to defend Zhou, but is preparing to attack Zhou. You can test it out by sending some troops to the border." So the Qin State indeed sent out its troops. Ma Fan said to King Liang: "The King of Zhou is very ill. Please allow me to report the matter of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to him later. Now that you have sent soldiers to the State of Zhou, the princes have become suspicious, and you will not be able to convince them when you do things in the future. It would be better to let the soldiers build a city wall for the Zhou State as a cover-up." King Liang said, "Okay." He ordered his soldiers to build a city wall for the Zhou State.
In the forty-fifth year (270 BC), the King of Zhou went to the State of Qin. Someone said to Zhou Zui, "Why don't you praise the King of Qin for his filial piety and give him the land of Ying to the Queen Mother as her burial land. The King of Qin will be very happy and you will have a good relationship with Qin. If the two countries become friends, the King of Zhou will definitely credit it to you. If the two countries become enemies, the one who gets the blame will be the one persuaded the King of Zhou to enter Qin." When Qin was to attack Zhou, Zhou Zui said to the King of Qin: “For your sake, I suggest that you do not attack Zhou. Attacking Zhou will not gain much benefits, but it will give Qin a bad reputation for the world to fear. The whole world will be afraid of Qin moving east to be united with Qi. Once Qin's military strength was damaged in the process of attacking Zhou and the rest of the world would be united with Qi, Qin would not be the king unifying the world. The world wants to weaken and exhaust Qin, so they advise you to attack Zhou. If weakened and exhausted, the Qin State will no longer be able to command the world."
四十二年，秦破华阳约。马犯谓周君曰：“请令梁城周。”乃谓梁王曰：“周王病若死，则犯必死矣。犯请以九鼎自入于王，王受九鼎而图犯。”梁王曰：“善。”遂与之卒，言戍周。因谓秦王曰：“梁非戍周也，将伐周也。王试出兵境以观之。”秦果出兵。又谓梁王曰：“周王病甚矣，犯请后可而复之。今王使卒之周，诸侯皆生心，后举事且不信。不若令卒为周城，以匿事端。”梁王曰：“善。”遂使城周。
四十五年，周君之秦客谓周曰：“公不若誉秦王之孝，因以应为太后养地，秦王必喜，是公有秦交。交善，周君必以为公功。交恶，劝周君入秦者必有罪矣。”秦攻周，而周冣谓秦王曰：“为王计者不攻周。攻周，实不足以利，声畏天下。天下以声畏秦，必东合于齐。兵弊于周。合天下于齐，则秦不王矣。天下欲弊秦，劝王攻周。秦与天下弊，则令不行矣。”
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