The State of Qi wnt on a punitive expedition against the State of Yan and triumphed over
it.
King Xuan of the
State of Qi
asked Mencius, “ Some have advised me not to annex yan while others have
insisted that I should. Consider now, it took a state with 10,000 chariots like
ours only 50 days to beat another with the same number of chariots. This was
something that could never have been achieved by human strength, it must have
been the divine will. If I don’t annihilate Yan this time there will certainly
be punishment from Heaver. What is your opinion?”
“If you carry out
the annexation and the people of Yan are glad of it, then proceed,” replied
Mencius. “There was one among the ancients who did the same thing and that was
Emperor Wu. On the other hand, if you carry it out and they are not happy about
it, then you’d better not. There was a similar case in ancient times and that
was in Emperor Wen. When a powerful state has overwhelmed people come out to
welcome the conquering army with food baskets and wine pots, it shows nothing
but their eagerness to be relieved of the miseries they have long suffered
under their own ruler. But, if stead you are going to plunge them deeper into
the water and scorch them in a yet fiercer fire, it will only make the people
turn away from you and look for help elsewhere.”
中国成语故事——水深火热
齐宣王问孟子道：“有的人劝我不要吞并燕国，有的人劝我吞并它，一个拥有万乘的大国去攻打另一个拥有万乘的大国，只五十天就攻打下了它，人力是做不到这样的。看来不吞并它，一定会遭受上天的祸殃。您认为吞并它，怎么样呢？”
孟子回答说：“如果吞并燕国，当地百姓反而很高兴，那就吞并它。古人有这样做的。周武王便
是。如果吞并燕国，当地百姓并不高兴，那就不要吞并它。古人也有先例，周文王便是。一个拥有万乘的大国去攻打另一个拥有万乘的大国，老百姓拿着饭筐和酒壶
来迎接大王的军队，难道有别的用意吗？不过是想摆脱原先那种如在水火中一样的痛苦胜过。如果齐国进而吞并燕国，燕国百姓要蒙受比原来的水更深，比原来的火更热的灾难，那他们的情感必然会转向别的国家了。”
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