Records of the Grand Historian

Wei Ran, the marquis of Rang, was a younger brother of Queen Dowager Xuan, the mother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. The queen’s forbears were men of Chu and belonged to the Mi family. When King Wu of Qin died (307 BC), he left no son and so his younger brother was set up as ruler and became King Zhaoxiang. King Zhaoxiang’s mother was at that time known as Lady Mi Bazi, but when her son became King Zhaoxiang she was given the title Queen Dowager Xuan. Queen Dowager Xuan was not the mother of King Wu; his mother bore the title Queen Huiwen and died before King Wu himself did.¹³⁶

Queen Dowager Xuan had two younger brothers. The older of these, who had a different father from the Queen Dowager, was the marquis of Rang, whose surname was Wei and whose given name was Ran. The younger brother, who had the same father as the Queen Dowager, was named Mi Rong and was enfeoffed as Lord Huayang. King Zhaoxiang also had two younger brothers by the same mother as himself, Lord Gaoling and Lord Jingyang. Among all these, Wei Ran was the most worthy.

Wei Ran was employed in various offices from the time of King Hui and King Wu. And when King Wu died and his younger brothers were vying for succession, it was the power of Wei Ran alone that enabled King Zhaoxiang to ascend the throne.

After King Zhaoxiang became ruler, he appointed Wei Ran a general and ordered him to guard Xianyang and punish those involved in the uprising of Lord Ji.¹³⁷ He expelled the consort of King Wu from the capital and sent her back to her native state of Wei, and also wiped out all the evilly inclined older and younger brothers of King Zhaoxiang, until the whole state of Qin trembled before his authority. King Zhaoxiang was still a boy and the government was in the hands of his mother, Queen Dowager Xuan, who entrusted the administration of affairs to Wei Ran.

In King Zhaoxiang’s seventh year (300 BC) Shuli Zi died and Lord Jingyang was sent to be a hostage in Qi. Lou Huan, a native of the state of Zhao, came to Qin to assume the office of prime minister. But when this proved unbeneficial to Zhao, it sent Qiu Yi to go to Qin and request that Wei Ran be appointed prime minister of Qin.

When Qiu Yi was about to depart on this errand, his retainer Song Gong said to him: “Even if Qin does not heed your request, Lou Huan is certain to be resentful of your interference. You had best say to Lou Huan that out of consideration for him, you do not intend to press your request that Qin appoint Wei Ran as prime minister. If the king of Qin sees that Zhao is not pressing its request to have Wei Ran made prime minister, he will probably not heed your request, and then when the affair comes to nothing, Lou Huan will feel grateful to you. And if your request should be heeded, then it will be Wei Ran’s turn to feel grateful!”

Qiu Yi followed this advice, and Qin in the end did in fact dismiss Lou Huan and appoint Wei Ran to the post of prime minister. Wei Ran was about to punish Lü Li when the latter escaped from Qin and fled to Qi.

In King Zhaoxiang’s fourteenth year (293 BC) Wei Ran promoted Bai Qi and ordered him to replace Xiang Shou as general. He attacked the forces of Hann and Wei and defeated them at Yique, cutting off 240,000 enemy heads and capturing the Wei general Gongsun Xi. The following year he also seized the Chu cities of Wan and She.

Wei Ran asked permission to resign the post of prime minister because of illness and appointed Shou Zhu, a “guest minister” of Qin, as prime minister in his place. The following year Shou Zhu resigned and Wei Ran resumed the position of prime minister. At this time Wei Ran was enfeoffed in Rang, a fief that was later enlarged to include Tao. He was given the title of marquis of Rang.

Four years after he was enfeoffed as marquis of Rang, he led the Qin forces in an attack on Wei. Wei presented an area of 400 square li east of the Yellow River to Qin. Qin invaded the Henei region of Wei, capturing over sixty cities of various sizes.

In the nineteenth year of King Zhaoxiang (288 BC) the Qin ruler took the title of Western Emperor and the Qi ruler took that of Eastern Emperor. A month or so later, Lü Li came to Qin and the Qi and Qin rulers went back to calling themselves kings. Wei Ran became prime minister of Qin once more. After six years he resigned, but two years later again became prime minister.

Four years later (279 BC), he ordered Bai Qi to attack Chu. Bai Qi captured the Chu capital city of Ying. Qin set up Nan Province. Bai Qi was enfeoffed as Lord Wuan. Bai Qi had been promoted to office by the marquis of Rang and the two were close friends. At this time the wealth of the marquis of Rang exceeded that of the Qin ruling house.

King Zhaoxiang, thirty-second year (275 BC): the marquis of Rang, acting as prime minister, led the troops in an attack on Wei, putting the Wei general Mang Mao to flight, advancing into Beizhai, and eventually surrounding the Wei capital city of Daliang.

The Liang (Wei) counsellor Xu Jia spoke to the marquis of Rang regarding this, saying, “I have heard the leading officials of Wei say to the king of Wei: ‘In the past when King Hui of Liang (Wei) attacked Zhao, he won victory at Sanliang and captured the Zhao capital of Handan. But the ruler of Zhao refused to relinquish title to the land, and so eventually it was returned to Zhao. Similarly, when the men of Qi attacked Wey, captured its former capital, and killed Zi Liang, the men of Wey refused to make any territorial concessions, and so they were in time able to get their former lands back. The reason the states of Wey and Zhao could remain intact and keep up their military strength without having their lands annexed by the other feudal rulers was that they were willing to bear up under hardship and were loath to hand over territory. The states of Song and Zhongshan, on the other hand, ceded territory as often as they were attacked, and as a consequence they perished.

“‘In our opinion, therefore, Wey and Zhao should be a model to us, and Song and Zhongshan should be a warning. Qin is a greedy and rapacious state, friendly to no one. In silkworm fashion it eats away at the Wei family, having already devoured what was left of the state of Jin. When it defeated Bao Zi in battle, it demanded that eight districts be ceded to it, and before it had finished annexing those, it sent out its troops once again. When will Qin ever be surfeited?

“‘Now it has routed Mang Mao and advanced into Beizhai. But this does not mean it is going to venture an attack on Wei. It simply intends to intimidate Your Majesty so that it can demand more territorial concessions. Your Majesty must by no means heed its demands!

‘“If Your Majesty turns against Chu and Zhao and makes peace with Qin, then Chu and Zhao in their anger will desert Your Majesty and instead vie with you in playing up to Qin. Qin of course will accept their offer of support. Then when Qin has the forces of Chu and Zhao to support it from either side, it will renew its attacks on Liang (Wei), and there will be no hope of the kingdom’s escaping destruction. Therefore we beg Your Majesty not to make peace with Qin under any circumstances. And if you should consider doing so, then keep concessions of territory to a minimum and insist upon Qin sending a hostage to our state. Otherwise you are certain to be cheated.

“This is the advice that I heard the Wei officials give to the king of Wei. I hope you will give careful thought to it. The Book of Zhou says: ‘The mandate is never constant’.¹³⁸ Which means you cannot count on good fortune time and again. Defeating Bao Zi in battle and winning the concession of eight districts was not the result of superlative military strength, nor was it the fruit of careful planning. It was in large part a stroke of luck from Heaven. And to go on to rout Mang Mao, advance into Beizhai, and launch an attack on Daliang is to assume that this sort of luck from Heaven is a constant occurrence. No wise man, however, would make such an assumption.

“I have heard that the ruler of Wei has called up those who are capable of bearing arms from every one of his hundred districts and set them to guarding Daliang. I would guess he cannot have less than 300,000 men. With a force of 300,000 defending the hundred-yard high walls of Daliang, even King Tang or King Wu come to life again would find it hard to attack, I believe. To make light of the forces of Chu and Zhao menacing you from behind, to scale these hundred-yard walls, fight against a force of 300,000, and expect to gain victory is something that in my opinion has never been heard of since heaven and earth first parted ways! And if you attack the city but fail to capture it, then the Qin forces will be worn out, your fief of Tao will be lost, and all your former achievements will count for nothing!

“At the moment the ruler of Wei is in doubt as to how to proceed. Now is the time to settle for a small concession of territory. Before the troops of Chu and Zhao arrive here at Daliang, I urge you to accept a small concession of land in exchange for a settlement with Wei. The ruler of Wei is doubtful as to how to proceed, and if he finds he can gain a profitable settlement through a small concession of land, he will be anxious to do so. Then you will have got what you wanted. Chu and Zhao meanwhile will be angry at Wei for having settled things without waiting for them, and in their haste to curry favour with Qin will disperse their troops. After that, you can decide what policy to follow.

“If you are interested in gaining territory, why must it be through the use of arms? When the area of the old state of Jin was being carved up, the Qin forces did not even have to attack and Wei handed over the cities of Jiang and Anyi. And if you open two new roads to Tao, you will have control of almost all the old area of Song, and in that case Wey will surely hand over Danfu. The Qin forces will have suffered no loss, and you will be in control. What could you ask for that would not be given you, what could you undertake that would not succeed? I hope you will consider the matter carefully and not proceed on the path to danger!”

“Very good,” said the marquis of Rang, and he abandoned the siege of Daliang.

The following year (274 BC) Wei turned its back on Qin and joined in an alliance with Qi. Qin ordered the marquis of Rang to attack Wei. He cut off 40,000 enemy heads, routed the Wei general Bao Yuan, and seized three of Wei’s districts. The marquis of Rang’s fief was increased.

The next year (273 BC) the marquis of Rang joined with Bai Qi and Hu Yang, a Qin official from another state, in once more attacking Zhao, Hann, and Wei. They defeated Mang Mao at Huayang, cut off 100,000 enemy heads, and seized the Wei cities of Juan, Caiyang, and Changshe, and Zhao’s city Guanjin. They returned Guanjin to Zhao and joined their forces with those of Zhao in preparation for an attack on Qi.

King Xiang of Qi, alarmed, engaged Su Dai to send a letter to the marquis of Rang in secret pleading on Qi’s behalf. It read: “I have heard passersby say that Qin is about to lend Zhao an additional 40,000 armed men to conduct an attack on Qi. I have privately informed the ruler of our humble state of this, saying, ‘The king of Qin is intelligent and astute in planning and the marquis of Rang is wise and experienced in affairs. They would certainly not lend Zhao 40,000 armed men for an attack on Qi!’ Why did I say this? The alliance formed by the Three Jin constitutes a deadly enemy to Qin.¹³⁹ A hundred times it has betrayed Qin, a hundred times it has cheated Qin, yet it does not look on itself as faithless or believe that it has acted wrongly. Now to inflict defeat on Qi would be to fatten Zhao, and as Zhao and Qin are bitter enemies, that would not be to the profit of Qin. This is the first reason.

“Qin’s strategists are no doubt assuming that in defeating Qi, they will be wearing out Qin’s allies, the Three Jin and Chu, and that later they will be able to gain victory over the latter. But Qi is a state whose power is exhausted. For the world to unite in attacking Qi is like using a thousand-pound crossbow to puncture a suppurating boil. Of course Qi is doomed, but how will that wear out Jin and Chu? This is the second reason.

“If Qin contributes only a few troops to the undertaking, then Jin and Chu will not trust it. And if it contributes a large number of troops, then Jin and Chu will be overshadowed by Qin. In that case Qi in its alarm will not look to Qin for mercy but will invariably turn to Jin and Chu. This is the third reason.

“If Qin carves up Qi and feeds the pieces to Jin and Chu, and Jin and Chu have to station troops to secure the areas, then Qin will appear to be an enemy rather than an ally. This is the fourth reason. And in the end it will seem as though Jin and Chu have been using Qin to undo Qi, and using Qi to undo Qin, and people will think, how wise of Jin and Chu, and how stupid of Qin and Qi! This is the fifth reason.

“Therefore if Qin should acquire Anyi and treat it well, then it would surely have nothing to worry about. And if Qin acquires Anyi, then Hann will surely lose possession of Shangdang. Which would be more profitable, to seize on the very vitals of the empire, or to send out troops and fear they may never return again? That is why I said to my ruler, ‘The king of Qin is intelligent and astute in planning, and the marquis of Rang is wise and experienced in affairs. They would certainly never lend Zhao 40,000 armed men for an attack on Qi,!’”¹⁴⁰

The marquis of Rang accordingly abandoned the plan and returned with his troops to Qin.

King Zhaoxiang, thirty-sixth year (271 BC): the prime minister of Qin, the marquis of Rang, consulted with Zao, a “guest minister” of Qin, hoping to attack Qi and seize Gangshou so that he could enlarge his fief at the city of Tao. At this time Fan Ju, a native of Wei who went by the alias of Master Zhang Lu, criticized the marquis of Rang’s plan to attack Qi, since it involved passing through the Three Jin in order to carry out the attack. He managed to gain a hearing with King Zhaoxiang of Qin, who appointed him to office. Fan Ju warned that Queen Dowager Xuan was conducting affairs in a dictatorial manner, that the marquis of Rang had complete control of relations with the other feudal lords, and that lords Jingyang and Gaoling and their followers were enjoying excessive luxury, their wealth surpassing that of the royal house. King Zhaoxiang, awaking to the situation, finally dismissed the marquis of Rang from the post of prime minister and ordered Lord Jingyang and all the others to quit the capital area and proceed to their respective fiefs in the area beyond the Hangu Pass. When the marquis of Rang went out of the pass, he was accompanied by over 1,000 wagons loaded with his belongings. He died in his fief in Tao and was buried there. Qin then took over the region of Tao once more and made it into a province.

The Grand Historian remarks: The marquis of Rang was an uncle and blood relative of King Zhaoxiang. The fact that Qin was able to expand its lands in the east, weaken the other feudal rulers, and for a time call itself emperor of the world, so that all the world turned west and bowed their heads before it, was thanks to the marquis of Rang. But when his wealth and eminence became excessive, one man spoke out against him and he was stripped of power, forced to humble himself, and died in despondency, almost worse than if he had been an alien from another state!