卷四十八·陈涉世家第十八
卷四十八·陈涉世家第十八
司马迁
陈胜者，阳城人也，字涉。吴广者，阳夏人也，字叔。陈涉少时，尝与人佣耕，辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之，曰：“苟富贵，无相忘。”庸者笑而应曰：“若为庸耕，何富贵也？”陈涉太息曰：“嗟乎，燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！”
二世元年七月，发闾左適戍渔阳，九百人屯大泽乡。陈胜、吴广皆次当行，为屯长。会天大雨，道不通，度已失期。失期，法皆斩。陈胜、吴广乃谋曰：“今亡亦死，举大计亦死，等死，死国可乎？”陈胜曰：“天下苦秦久矣。吾闻二世少子也，不当立，当立者乃公子扶苏。扶苏以数谏故，上使外将兵。今或闻无罪，二世杀之。百姓多闻其贤，未知其死也。项燕为楚将，数有功，爱士卒，楚人怜之。或以为死，或以为亡。今诚以吾众诈自称公子扶苏、项燕，为天下唱，宜多应者。”吴广以为然。乃行卜。卜者知其指意，曰：“足下事皆成，有功。然足下卜之鬼乎！”陈胜、吴广喜，念鬼，曰：“此教我先威众耳。”乃丹书帛曰“陈胜王”，置人所罾鱼腹中。卒买鱼烹食，得鱼腹中书，固以怪之矣。又间令吴广之次所旁丛祠中，夜篝火，狐鸣呼曰“大楚兴，陈胜王”。卒皆夜惊恐。旦日，卒中往往语，皆指目陈胜。
吴广素爱人，士卒多为用者。将尉醉，广故数言欲亡，忿恚尉，令辱之，以激怒其众。尉果笞广。尉剑挺，广起，夺而杀尉。陈胜佐之，并杀两尉。召令徒属曰：“公等遇雨，皆已失期，失期当斩。藉弟令毋斩，而戍死者固十六七。且壮士不死即已，死即举大名耳，王侯将相宁有种乎！”徒属皆曰：“敬受命。”乃诈称公子扶苏、项燕，从民欲也。袒右，称大楚。为坛而盟，祭以尉首。陈胜自立为将军，吴广为都尉。攻大泽乡，收而攻蕲。蕲下，乃令符离人葛婴将兵徇蕲以东。攻铚、酂、苦、柘、谯皆下之。行收兵。比至陈，车六七百乘，骑千余，卒数万人。攻陈，陈守令皆不在，独守丞与战谯门中。弗胜，守丞死，乃入据陈。数日，号令召三老、豪杰与皆来会计事。三老、豪杰皆曰：“将军身被坚执锐，伐无道，诛暴秦，复立楚国之社稷，功宜为王。”陈涉乃立为王，号为张楚。
当此时，诸郡县苦秦吏者，皆刑其长吏，杀之以应陈涉。乃以吴叔为假王，监诸将以西击荥阳。令陈人武臣、张耳、陈余徇赵地，令汝阴人邓宗徇九江郡。当此时，楚兵数千人为聚者，不可胜数。
葛婴至东城，立襄强为楚王。婴后闻陈王已立，因杀襄强，还报。至陈，陈王诛杀葛婴。陈王令魏人周巿北徇魏地。吴广围荥阳。李由为三川守，守荥阳，吴叔弗能下。陈王徵国之豪杰与计，以上蔡人房君蔡赐为上柱国。
周文，陈之贤人也，尝为项燕军视日，事春申君，自言习兵，陈王与之将军印，西击秦。行收兵至关，车千乘，卒数十万，至戏，军焉。秦令少府章邯免郦山徒、人奴产子生，悉发以击楚大军，尽败之。周文败，走出关，止次曹阳二三月。章邯追败之，复走次渑池十余日。章邯击，大破之。周文自刭，军遂不战。
武臣到邯郸，自立为赵王，陈余为大将军，张耳、召骚为左右丞相。陈王怒，捕系武臣等家室，欲诛之。柱国曰：“秦未亡而诛赵王将相家属，此生一秦也。不如因而立之。”陈王乃遣使者贺赵，而徙系武臣等家属宫中，而封耳子张敖为成都君，趣赵兵亟入关。赵王将相相与谋曰：“王王赵，非楚意也。楚已诛秦，必加兵于赵。计莫如毋西兵，使使北徇燕地以自广也。赵南据大河，北有燕、代，楚虽胜秦，不敢制赵。若楚不胜秦，必重赵。赵乘秦之弊，可以得志于天下。”赵王以为然，因不西兵，而遣故上谷卒史韩广将兵北徇燕地。
燕故贵人豪杰谓韩广曰：“楚已立王，赵又已立王。燕虽小，亦万乘之国也，愿将军立为燕王。”韩广曰：“广母在赵，不可。”燕人曰：“赵方西忧秦，南忧楚，其力不能禁我。且以楚之强，不敢害赵王将相之家，赵独安敢害将军之家！”韩广以为然，乃自立为燕王。居数月，赵奉燕王母及家属归之燕。
当此之时，诸将之徇地者，不可胜数。周巿北徇地至狄，狄人田儋杀狄令，自立为齐王，以齐反，击周巿。巿军散，还至魏地，欲立魏后故宁陵君咎为魏王。时咎在陈王所，不得之魏。魏地已定，欲相与立周巿为魏王，周巿不肯。使者五反，陈王乃立宁陵君咎为魏王，遣之国。周巿卒为相。
将军田臧等相与谋曰：“周章军已破矣，秦兵旦暮至，我围荥阳城弗能下，秦军至，必大败。不如少遗兵，足以守荥阳，悉精兵迎秦军。今假王骄，不知兵权，不可与计，非诛之，事恐败。”因相与矫王令以诛吴叔，献其首于陈王。陈王使使赐田臧楚令尹印，使为上将。田臧乃使诸将李归等守荥阳城，自以精兵西迎秦军于敖仓。与战，田臧死，军破。章邯进兵击李归等荥阳下，破之，李归等死。
阳城人邓说将兵居郯，章邯别将击破之，邓说军散走陈。铚人伍徐将兵居许，章邯击破之，伍徐军皆散走陈。陈王诛邓说。
陈王初立时，陵人秦嘉、铚人董緤、符离人朱鸡石、取虑人郑布、徐人丁疾等皆特起，将兵围东海守庆于郯。陈王闻，乃使武平君畔为将军，监郯下军。秦嘉不受命，嘉自立为大司马，恶属武平君。告军吏曰：“武平君年少，不知兵事，勿听！”因矫以王命杀武平君畔。
章邯已破伍徐，击陈，柱国房君死。章邯又进兵击陈西张贺军。陈王出监战，军破，张贺死。
腊月，陈王之汝阴，还至下城父，其御庄贾杀以降秦。陈胜葬砀，谥曰隐王。
陈王故涓人将军吕臣为仓头军，起新阳，攻陈下之，杀庄贾，复以陈为楚。
初，陈王至陈，令铚人宋留将兵定南阳，入武关。留已徇南阳，闻陈王死，南阳复为秦。宋留不能入武关，乃东至新蔡，遇秦军，宋留以军降秦。秦传留至咸阳，车裂留以徇。
秦嘉等闻陈王军破出走，乃立景驹为楚王，引兵之方与，欲击秦军定陶下。使公孙庆使齐王，欲与并力俱进。齐王曰：“闻陈王战败，不知其死生，楚安得不请而立王！”公孙庆曰：“齐不请楚而立王，楚何故请齐而立王！且楚首事，当令于天下。”田儋诛杀公孙庆。
秦左右校复攻陈，下之。吕将军走，收兵复聚。鄱盗当阳君黥布之兵相收，复击秦左右校，破之青波，复以陈为楚。会项梁立怀王孙心为楚王。
陈胜王凡六月。已为王，王陈。其故人尝与庸耕者闻之，之陈，扣宫门曰：“吾欲见涉。”宫门令欲缚之。自辩数，乃置，不肯为通。陈王出，遮道而呼涉。陈王闻之，乃召见，载与俱归。入宫，见殿屋帷帐，客曰：“夥颐！涉之为王沈沈者！”楚人谓多为夥，故天下传之，夥涉为王，由陈涉始。客出入愈益发舒，言陈王故情。或说陈王曰：“客愚无知，颛妄言，轻威。”陈王斩之。诸陈王故人皆自引去，由是无亲陈王者。陈王以朱房为中正，胡武为司过，主司群臣。诸将徇地，至，令之不是者，系而罪之，以苛察为忠。其所不善者，弗下吏，辄自治之。陈王信用之。诸将以其故不亲附，此其所以败也。
陈胜虽已死，其所置遣侯王将相竟亡秦，由涉首事也。高祖时为陈涉置守冢三十家砀，至今血食。
褚先生曰：地形险阻，所以为固也；兵革刑法，所以为治也。犹未足恃也。夫先王以仁义为本，而以固塞文法为枝叶，岂不然哉！吾闻贾生之称曰：
“秦孝公据殽函之固，拥雍州之地，君臣固守，以窥周室。有席卷天下，包举宇内，囊括四海之意，并吞八荒之心。当是时也，商君佐之，内立法度，务耕织，修守战之备；外连衡而斗诸侯。于是秦人拱手而取西河之外。
孝公既没，惠文王、武王、昭王蒙故业，因遗策，南取汉中，西举巴蜀，东割膏腴之地，收要害之郡。诸侯恐惧，会盟而谋弱秦。不爱珍器重宝肥饶之地，以致天下之士。合从缔交，相与为一。当此之时，齐有孟尝，赵有平原，楚有春申，魏有信陵：此四君者，皆明知而忠信，宽厚而爱人，尊贤而重士。约从连衡，兼韩、魏、燕、赵、宋、卫、中山之众。于是六国之士有宁越、徐尚、苏秦、杜赫之属为之谋，齐明、周最、陈轸、邵滑、楼缓、翟景、苏厉、乐毅之徒通其意，吴起、孙膑、带佗、兒良、王廖、田忌、廉颇、赵奢之伦制其兵。尝以什倍之地，百万之师，仰关而攻秦。秦人开关而延敌，九国之师遁逃而不敢进。秦无亡矢遗镞之费，而天下固已困矣。于是从散约败，争割地而赂秦。秦有余力而制其弊，追亡逐北，伏尸百万，流血漂橹，因利乘便，宰割天下，分裂山河，强国请服，弱国入朝。
施及孝文王、庄襄王，享国之日浅，国家无事。
及至始皇，奋六世之余烈，振长策而御宇内，吞二周而亡诸侯，履至尊而制六合，执敲朴以鞭笞天下，威振四海。南取百越之地，以为桂林、象郡，百越之君俯首系颈，委命下吏。乃使蒙恬北筑长城而守藩篱，卻匈奴七百余里，胡人不敢南下而牧马，士亦不敢贯弓而报怨。于是废先王之道，燔百家之言，以愚黔首。堕名城，杀豪俊，收天下之兵聚之咸阳，销锋鍉，铸以为金人十二，以弱天下之民。然后践华为城，因河为池，据亿丈之城，临不测之溪以为固。良将劲弩，守要害之处，信臣精卒，陈利兵而谁何。天下已定，始皇之心，自以为关中之固，金城千里，子孙帝王万世之业也。
始皇既没，余威振于殊俗。然而陈涉瓮牖绳枢之子，甿隶之人，而迁徙之徒也。材能不及中人，非有仲尼、墨翟之贤，陶朱、猗顿之富也。蹑足行伍之间，俯仰仟佰之中，率罢散之卒，将数百之众，转而攻秦。斩木为兵，揭竿为旗，天下云会响应，赢粮而景从，山东豪俊遂并起而亡秦族矣。
且天下非小弱也；雍州之地，殽函之固自若也。陈涉之位，非尊于齐、楚、燕、赵、韩、魏、宋、卫、中山之君也；鉏耰棘矜，非铦于句戟长铩也；適戍之众，非俦于九国之师也；深谋远虑，行军用兵之道，非及乡时之士也。然而成败异变，功业相反也。尝试使山东之国与陈涉度长絜大，比权量力，则不可同年而语矣。然而秦以区区之地。致万乘之权，抑八州而朝同列，百有余年矣。然后以六合为家，殽函为宫。一夫作难而七庙堕，身死人手，为天下笑者，何也？仁义不施，而攻守之势异也。”
Volume 48 · The Hereditary House of Chen She, Eighteenth
司马迁
Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng, styled She. Wu Guang was a man of Yangxia, styled Shu. When Chen She was young he once ploughed for hire with others, and he stopped his ploughing and went up on the bank and stood a long while in bitter discontent, and said: "If I should come to wealth and honour, let us not forget one another." The hired men laughed and answered: "You plough for hire; where is your wealth and honour to come from?" Chen She sighed deeply and said: "Alas, how should the swallow and the sparrow know the purpose of the great goose!"
In the seventh month of the Second Emperor's first year there was a levy of the men of the left quarters to go on garrison duty at Yuyang, and nine hundred men encamped at the village of Daze. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were both in the order of those due to march, and were squad leaders. It happened that there was heavy rain from Heaven and the roads were impassable, and they reckoned they had already missed their term. Having missed the term, by the law they were all to be beheaded. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang then took counsel: "Now to flee is death, and to raise a great undertaking is death too; death being equal, may we die for a state?" Chen Sheng said: "The empire has suffered under Qin a long while. I have heard that the Second Emperor is a younger son and should not have been set up, and that the one who should have been set up was Prince Fusu. Fusu, on account of having repeatedly remonstrated, was sent by His Majesty to command troops abroad. Now it is heard somewhere that he was without guilt and the Second Emperor killed him. The hundred families have heard much of his worth and do not know that he is dead. Xiang Yan was a general of Chu, had merit repeatedly, loved his officers and men, and the men of Chu pitied him. Some think he is dead and some that he is a fugitive. Now if with our multitude we truly give ourselves out falsely as Prince Fusu and Xiang Yan, and lead the empire's call, there should be many who answer." Wu Guang thought it right. So they went and divined. The diviner knew what they were pointing at, and said: "Your business, sirs, will all succeed, and you will have merit. But you, sirs, should divine it by the ghosts!" Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were glad, and thinking over the ghosts, said: "This is teaching us first to overawe the multitude." So they wrote in vermilion on silk "Chen Sheng shall be king," and put it in the belly of a fish that men had netted. A soldier bought the fish and cooked and ate it, and got the writing in the fish's belly, and was certainly struck by it as strange. And they also secretly had Wu Guang go into the shrine in the grove beside the encampment and by night set a fire in a basket, and in a fox's cry call out: "Great Chu shall rise; Chen Sheng shall be king." The soldiers were all frightened in the night. Next morning the soldiers talked of it here and there, and all pointed and looked at Chen Sheng.
Wu Guang had always loved men, and many of the officers and men let themselves be used by him. The commanding officer being drunk, Guang deliberately spoke several times of wishing to flee, so as to rile the officer and make him disgrace him, and thereby stir up the multitude's anger. The officer did indeed flog Guang. The officer's sword came out, and Guang rose, snatched it and killed the officer. Chen Sheng helped him, and they killed both officers together. They summoned the company under them and said: "You gentlemen have met with rain and have all missed the term, and missing the term means beheading. And suppose we were not beheaded — of those who die on garrison duty, six or seven in ten do die anyway. Besides, if a stout man is not to die, then let it be; but if he is to die, then let him win a great name! Kings, marquises, generals and chancellors — are they a breed apart!" The company all said: "We receive your command respectfully." So they gave themselves out falsely as Prince Fusu and Xiang Yan, following what the people wished. They bared the right shoulder and called themselves Great Chu. They made an altar and covenanted, sacrificing with the officers' heads. Chen Sheng set himself up as General and Wu Guang as Chief Commandant. They attacked the village of Daze, and gathering it in, attacked Qi. Qi being taken, he ordered Ge Ying, a man of Fuli, to lead troops and win over the country east of Qi. They attacked Zhi, Zan, Ku, Zhe and Qiao, and took them all. As they went they gathered troops. By the time they reached Chen they had six or seven hundred chariots, more than a thousand horsemen, and several tens of thousands of foot. They attacked Chen; the governor and the magistrate of Chen were both away, and only the deputy governor fought them in the watchtower gate. He did not prevail; the deputy governor died, and so they went in and held Chen. Some days later he gave orders summoning the Three Elders and the men of standing to come and take counsel together. The Three Elders and the men of standing all said: "The General has borne hard armour on his body and taken up sharp weapons, has attacked the lawless and put down the violent Qin, and has set up again the altars of soil and grain of the state of Chu; for such merit he ought to be king." Chen She was thereupon set up as king, styled Zhangchu, "Chu Enlarged."
At this time all those in the several commanderies and counties who had suffered under Qin's officials punished their senior officers and killed them in answer to Chen She. He then made Wu Shu acting king, to oversee the several generals in striking westward at Xingyang. He ordered Wu Chen, Zhang Er and Chen Yu, men of Chen, to win over the land of Zhao, and ordered Deng Zong, a man of Ruyin, to win over the commandery of Jiujiang. At this time the Chu troops gathering in bands of several thousand men were beyond counting.
Ge Ying reached Dongcheng and set up Xiang Qiang as King of Chu. Ying afterwards heard that the King of Chen had already been set up, and so killed Xiang Qiang and went back to report. Reaching Chen, the King of Chen put Ge Ying to death. The King of Chen ordered Zhou Shi, a man of Wei, to go north and win over the land of Wei. Wu Guang besieged Xingyang. Li You was governor of the Three Chuan and held Xingyang, and Wu Shu could not take it. The King of Chen called up the state's men of standing to take counsel with him, and made Cai Ci, the Lord of Fang, a man of Shangcai, Supreme Pillar of the State.
Zhou Wen was a worthy man of Chen. He had once been diviner of days in Xiang Yan's army and had served the Lord of Chunshen, and said of himself that he was practised in arms; and the King of Chen gave him a general's seal to strike westward at Qin. As he went he gathered troops, and by the Pass he had a thousand chariots and several hundred thousand foot, and reaching Xi he encamped. Qin ordered the Privy Treasurer Zhang Han to release the convicts of Mount Li and the slaves' sons born in service, and sent them all out to strike at the great host of Chu, and utterly defeated them. Zhou Wen was defeated and ran out through the Pass, and halted and camped at Caoyang two or three months. Zhang Han pursued and defeated him, and he ran again and camped at Mianchi ten days and more. Zhang Han struck and greatly broke him. Zhou Wen cut his own throat, and the army thereupon did not fight.
Wu Chen reached Handan and set himself up as King of Zhao, with Chen Yu as Grand General and Zhang Er and Shao Sao as chancellors of the left and right. The King of Chen was angry and arrested and bound the households of Wu Chen and the rest, meaning to put them to death. The Pillar of the State said: "Qin has not yet perished, and to put the King of Zhao's and his generals' and chancellors' households to death is to beget one more Qin. Better to take the occasion and set him up." The King of Chen then sent an envoy to congratulate Zhao, and moved Wu Chen's and the others' households, still bound, into the palace, and enfeoffed Er's son Zhang Ao as Lord of Chengdu, and urged the Zhao troops to enter the Pass at once. The King of Zhao and his generals and chancellors took counsel together: "For the king to be king in Zhao is not Chu's intent. When Chu has put down Qin it will surely bring arms against Zhao. There is no plan like not sending troops west, but sending envoys north to win over the land of Yan and so enlarge ourselves. Zhao holds the great He on the south and has Yan and Dai on the north; and though Chu conquer Qin it will not dare to control Zhao. And if Chu does not conquer Qin, it must give Zhao weight. Zhao, taking advantage of Qin's exhaustion, may get its will in the empire." The King of Zhao thought it right, and accordingly did not send troops west, but sent Han Guang, a former clerk of Shanggu, to lead troops north and win over the land of Yan.
The former nobles and men of standing of Yan said to Han Guang: "Chu has already set up a king and Zhao too has already set up a king. Yan, though small, is likewise a state of ten thousand chariots; we should like the General to be set up as King of Yan." Han Guang said: "Guang's mother is in Zhao; it cannot be." The men of Yan said: "Zhao is just now troubled about Qin in the west and about Chu in the south, and its strength cannot restrain us. And with Chu's strength it did not dare harm the households of the King of Zhao and his generals and chancellors — how should Zhao alone dare harm the General's household!" Han Guang thought it right, and so set himself up as King of Yan. Some months later Zhao escorted the King of Yan's mother and household home to Yan.
At this time those among the generals who were winning over territory were beyond counting. Zhou Shi went north winning over territory as far as Di, and Tian Dan (田儋), a man of Di, killed the magistrate of Di and set himself up as King of Qi, and with Qi turned against them and struck at Zhou Shi. Shi's army scattered, and he went back to the land of Wei, wishing to set up the posterity of Wei, Jiu, the former Lord of Ningling, as King of Wei. At the time Jiu was at the King of Chen's place and could not get to Wei. The land of Wei being settled, they wished to join in setting up Zhou Shi as King of Wei, and Zhou Shi would not have it. After five journeys of the envoys, the King of Chen at last set up Jiu, the Lord of Ningling, as King of Wei and sent him to his state. Zhou Shi in the end was his chancellor.
The general Tian Zang and others took counsel together: "Zhou Zhang's army is broken already, and the Qin troops will be here morning or evening; we besiege the city of Xingyang and cannot take it, and when the Qin army comes we shall surely be greatly defeated. It would be better to leave a few troops, enough to hold Xingyang, and with all our picked troops meet the Qin army. Now the acting king is arrogant and does not understand the handling of arms; he cannot be taken counsel with, and unless he is put to death the business will, I fear, be ruined." Accordingly they joined in forging the king's command to put Wu Shu to death, and presented his head to the King of Chen. The King of Chen sent an envoy to bestow on Tian Zang the seal of Chief Minister of Chu, and made him Supreme General. Tian Zang then had the several generals Li Gui and the rest hold the city of Xingyang, and himself with picked troops went west to meet the Qin army at the Ao Granary. They fought, and Tian Zang died and the army was broken. Zhang Han advanced his troops and struck at Li Gui and the others below Xingyang, and broke them, and Li Gui and the others died.
Deng Yue, a man of Yangcheng, held Tan with troops, and a detached general of Zhang Han's struck and broke him, and Deng Yue's army scattered and ran to Chen. Wu Xu, a man of Zhi, held Xu with troops, and Zhang Han struck and broke him, and Wu Xu's army all scattered and ran to Chen. The King of Chen put Deng Yue to death.
When the King of Chen was first set up, Qin Jia, a man of Ling, Dong Xie, a man of Zhi, Zhu Jishi, a man of Fuli, Zheng Bu, a man of Qulü, and Ding Ji, a man of Xu, all rose on their own and led troops to besiege Qing, the governor of Donghai, at Tan. The King of Chen heard of it, and so sent Pan, the Lord of Wuping, as General to oversee the armies below Tan. Qin Jia would not receive the command, but set himself up as Grand Marshal, disliking to be subordinate to the Lord of Wuping. He told the army's officers: "The Lord of Wuping is young in years and does not understand the business of arms; do not obey him!" And accordingly he forged the king's command and killed Pan, the Lord of Wuping.
Zhang Han, having broken Wu Xu, struck at Chen, and the Pillar of the State, the Lord of Fang, died. Zhang Han further advanced his troops and struck at Zhang He's army west of Chen. The King of Chen went out to oversee the fighting; the army was broken and Zhang He died.
In the twelfth month the King of Chen went to Ruyin, and coming back as far as Xia Chengfu, his charioteer Zhuang Jia killed him and surrendered to Qin. Chen Sheng was buried at Dang, with the posthumous title King Yin.
The King of Chen's former privy attendant, the general Lü Chen, made the Blue-cap army and rose at Xinyang, attacked Chen and took it, killed Zhuang Jia, and made Chen Chu's again.
Earlier, when the King of Chen reached Chen, he had ordered Song Liu, a man of Zhi, to lead troops and settle Nanyang and enter the Wu Pass. Liu had won over Nanyang when he heard that the King of Chen was dead, and Nanyang became Qin's again. Song Liu could not enter the Wu Pass, and so went east to Xincai, met the Qin army, and Song Liu surrendered with his army to Qin. Qin sent Liu on to Xianyang and had him torn apart by carriages to make an example of him.
Qin Jia and the others heard that the King of Chen's army was broken and he had fled, and so set up Jing Ju as King of Chu, and led troops to Fangyu, meaning to strike at the Qin army below Dingtao. They sent Gongsun Qing as envoy to the King of Qi, wishing to join strength and advance together. The King of Qi said: "I hear that the King of Chen has been defeated in battle, and I do not know whether he is alive or dead; how can Chu set up a king without asking!" Gongsun Qing said: "Qi did not ask Chu before setting up a king; why then should Chu ask Qi before setting up a king! And Chu began the undertaking, and should give commands to the empire." Tian Dan (田儋) put Gongsun Qing to death.
The Left and Right Colonels of Qin attacked Chen again and took it. General Lü ran, gathered troops and assembled again. The brigand of Poyang, Qing Bu, the Lord of Dangyang, had his troops gathered in with his, and they struck again at the Left and Right Colonels of Qin and broke them at Qingbo, and made Chen Chu's again. It happened that Xiang Liang set up Xin, the grandson of King Huai, as King of Chu.
Chen Sheng was king six months in all. Having become king, he was king in Chen. An old acquaintance of his who had once ploughed for hire with him heard of it and went to Chen, and knocked at the palace gate saying: "I wish to see She." The officer of the palace gate meant to bind him. When he had argued his case at length, they let him be, but would not announce him. The King of Chen came out, and he blocked the road and called out "She!" The King of Chen heard him, and so summoned and received him, and took him up in his carriage and went home with him. Going into the palace and seeing the halls and chambers and the hangings, the guest said: "Goodness me! She's kingship is a grand deep business!" The men of Chu call "many" huo, and so the empire passed on the saying, "huo, She's kingship!" — and it began with Chen She. The guest, coming and going, grew ever freer and easier, and told of the King of Chen's old circumstances. Someone said to the King of Chen: "Your guest is foolish and without understanding, and talks recklessly at random, making light of your authority." The King of Chen had him beheaded. All the King of Chen's old acquaintances took themselves off, and from this there was none who was close to the King of Chen. The King of Chen made Zhu Fang Rectifier and Hu Wu Inspector of Faults, to have charge of overseeing the body of ministers. When the several generals who were winning over territory arrived, any whose carrying out of orders was not right they bound and held to blame, taking harshness of scrutiny for loyalty. Those they did not favour they did not send down to the officers, but forthwith dealt with themselves. The King of Chen trusted and employed them. The several generals for this reason were not close or attached to him, and this was why he was defeated.
Though Chen Sheng was dead already, the marquises and kings, generals and chancellors whom he had placed and sent out in the end destroyed Qin, and it was by She's beginning the undertaking. In Gaozu's time thirty households were placed at Dang to keep Chen She's tomb, and to this day it receives the blood offerings.
Master Chu says: Forms of the ground, steep and barred, are what makes a place firm; arms and armour, punishments and laws, are what makes order. And yet they are not enough to rely on. The former kings took humaneness and righteousness for the root, and firm passes and written statutes for the branches and leaves — is it not so! I have heard the saying of Master Jia:
"Duke Xiao of Qin held the fastness of Xiao and Han and hugged the land of Yongzhou; lord and subjects held it firmly and looked out for their chance at the house of Zhou. He had the intent of rolling up the empire like a mat, of binding up all within the compass of the world, of bagging the four seas, and the heart to swallow the eight wildernesses. At that time the Lord of Shang assisted him; within he set up laws and measures, put men to ploughing and weaving, and made ready for defence and war; without he joined the Horizontal League and set the feudal lords fighting. Thereupon the men of Qin folded their hands and took the lands beyond the Western He.
Duke Xiao being gone, Kings Huiwen, Wu and Zhao took up the old work and followed the bequeathed plans; in the south they took Hanzhong, in the west they seized Ba and Shu, in the east they carved off rich and fat lands and gathered in the commanderies that were the keys of the country. The feudal lords were in dread, and met and covenanted and plotted to weaken Qin. They did not begrudge precious vessels, weighty treasures and fertile lands, so as to draw in the empire's men of station. They bound the Alliance and knit their ties and made themselves one. At that time Qi had Mengchang, Zhao had Pingyuan, Chu had Chunshen, Wei had Xinling: these four lords were all of bright understanding and loyal and trustworthy, generous and loving toward men, honouring the worthy and giving weight to men of station. They made pacts of Alliance against the Horizontal League, and joined the multitudes of Han, Wei, Yan, Zhao, Song, Wei and Zhongshan. Thereupon among the men of station of the six states there were such as Ning Yue, Xu Shang, Su Qin and Du He to plan for them; such as Qi Ming, Zhou Zui, Chen Zhen, Shao Hua, Lou Huan, Zhai Jing, Su Li and Yue Yi to carry their meaning through; such as Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Dai Tuo, Er Liang, Wang Liao, Tian Ji, Lian Po and Zhao She to handle their arms. They once with tenfold the land and a host of a million looked up at the Pass and attacked Qin. The men of Qin opened the Pass and let the enemy in, and the host of nine states fled away and dared not advance. Qin had not the cost of one lost arrow or one dropped arrowhead, and the empire was already in straits. Thereupon the Alliance scattered and the pact failed, and they contended in carving off land to bribe Qin. Qin had strength to spare and made use of their exhaustion, chasing the fleeing and pursuing the routed; corpses lay in their hundreds of thousands and the flowing blood floated the shields; and taking the advantage and riding the convenience, Qin butchered the empire and split its mountains and rivers, and the strong states asked to submit and the weak states came to court.
It was handed on to King Xiaowen and King Zhuangxiang, whose days of enjoying the state were few, and the state had no great affairs.
And when it came to the First Emperor, he raised up the remaining fire of six generations, shook the long whip and drove all within the compass of the world, swallowed the two Zhous and destroyed the feudal lords, trod the utmost height and ruled the six directions, took up the rod and the cudgel to flog the empire, and his awe shook the four seas. In the south he took the land of the Hundred Yue and made of it the commanderies of Guilin and Xiang, and the lords of the Hundred Yue bowed their heads and put their necks in the halter and committed their fate to his lesser officers. Then he had Meng Tian build the Long Wall in the north and hold the outer fence, and drove the Xiongnu back seven hundred li and more, and the Hu men dared not come south to pasture their horses, nor did their warriors dare string a bow to avenge a grudge. Thereupon he cast aside the way of the former kings and burned the words of the hundred schools, so as to make the black-headed people stupid. He threw down the famous city walls, killed the bold and outstanding, gathered the empire's weapons and heaped them at Xianyang, melted down the blades and arrowheads and cast them into twelve metal men, so as to weaken the people of the empire. And after that he trod on Hua for a wall and took the He for a moat, held a wall of a hundred million cubits and looked down on an unfathomable ravine, and took these for his fastness. Good generals and stiff crossbows held the keys of the country; trusted subjects and picked soldiers drew up their sharp weapons and challenged all comers. The empire being settled, the First Emperor's heart took the fastness of Guanzhong, a metal wall a thousand li long, for the work of his sons and grandsons as emperors and kings for ten thousand generations.
The First Emperor being gone, his remaining awe shook the alien regions. And yet Chen She was the son of a house with a jar for a window and a rope for a door-pivot, a field hand and a bondsman, and one of the transported. His talent and ability did not come up to the middling man; he had not the worth of Zhongni or Mo Di, nor the wealth of the Lord Zhu of Tao or Yi Dun. He set foot among the ranks and rose and bent among the files of a hundred and a thousand, led on worn-out and scattered soldiers, commanded a multitude of a few hundred, and turned about and attacked Qin. They cut wood for weapons and raised poles for banners, and the empire gathered like clouds and answered like echoes, carrying their own grain and following like a shadow, and the bold and outstanding east of the mountains thereupon rose together and destroyed the house of Qin.
And the empire was not small and weak; the land of Yongzhou and the fastness of Xiao and Han were as they had been. Chen She's station was not more honoured than the lords of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Song, Wei and Zhongshan; hoes and harrow-handles and thorn-stakes were not sharper than hooked halberds and long lances; a multitude sent on garrison duty was no match for the host of nine states; in deep planning and far-reaching thought, and in the way of marching and using troops, they did not come up to the men of that former time. And yet success and failure came out contrary, and the achievements were the reverse of each other. Let one try setting the states east of the mountains beside Chen She, measuring their length and comparing their size, weighing their power and reckoning their strength, and they cannot be spoken of in the same breath. And yet Qin, from its narrow patch of land, reached to the power of ten thousand chariots, held down the eight provinces and had those of its own rank come to court, for a hundred years and more. Afterwards it made the six directions its household and Xiao and Han its palace. One man raised trouble and the seven temples fell; the ruler died at another's hand and was the laughing-stock of the empire. Why? Because humaneness and righteousness were not practised, and the situation of attacking and of holding are different."