Lao Tzŭ's tutor.
said, "Take away days, and there would be no years. No inside, no outside."
Prince Hui of Wei had made a treaty with prince Wei of Ch'i, which the latter broke.
Thereupon prince Hui was wroth, and was about to send a man to assassinate him. But the Captain-General heard of this, and cried out in shame, "Sire, you are ruler over a mighty State, yet you would seek the vengeance of a common man. Give me two hundred thousand warriors, and I will do the work for you. I will take his people prisoners, and carry off their oxen and horses. I will make the heat of the prince's mind break out on his back. Then I will seize his country, and he will flee. Then you can wring his neck as you please."
When Chi Tzŭ heard this, he cried out in shame and said, "If you are building a ten-perch wall, and when the wall is near completion, destroy it, you inflict great hardship on the workmen.
Alluding to the corvée system of public works. The speaker was an official of Wei.
Now for seven years the troops have not been called out. That is, as it were, your Highness' foundation work. Listen not to the Captain-General. He is a mischievous fellow."
When Hua Tzŭ
Also an official of Wei.