When I heard officials talking about expelling guests, I thought it was too much. In the past, Mu Gong invited scholars, took honor in the west and ten thousand in the east to welcome Uncle Song Jian, and asked Pi Bao and Gong Sun to help Jin. These five sons were not born in the Qin Dynasty, but were jointly owned by Mu and merged with the country for 20 years, thus dominating Xirong. Filial piety, using the method of Shang Yang, changes customs, makes the people rich, makes the country rich and strong, enjoys the people, and the princes serve them personally. They are the teachers of Chu and Wei, who have raised thousands of miles to govern the country so far.

King Hui used Zhang Yi's stratagem to pull out the land of Sanchuan, merge Ba and Shu in the west, take the county in the north, take Hanzhong in the south, build nine cities, control Yan and Ying, rely on danger in the east, cut fertile soil, and then disperse the followers of the six countries. The west is a matter of Qin Dynasty, which has made great achievements so far. Wang Zhao became a fan, abolished Hou, chased Huayang, strengthened public office, encroached on vassals, and made Qin an emperor. These four monarchs all take the guests' contributions.

From this point of view, why did the visiting team lose to Qin Zi! Make the four kings a guest, not a guest, and a scholar without using it, then the country is not rich and beneficial, and the Qin dynasty is nameless and strong. Today, your majesty presents the jade of Kunshan as a treasure of freedom, hangs the pearl of the bright moon, takes the sword of Tai 'a, rides a horse that leaves the fiber, builds the flag of Cuifeng, and makes trees and drums.

This number of rare treasures, Qin is not born, tell your majesty, how can you see it? It was the birth of Qin, and then it was ok, but it was a luminous treasure, not decorated by the court. The rhinoceros device is not used for playing well; If the daughters of Zheng and Wei don't fill the harem, their beards must be false stables. Suk Kim in the south of the Yangtze River doesn't need it, nor do painters in the west of Sichuan.

Therefore, those who decorate the harem with Chen Chongzhi, entertain their hearts and talk about their eyes and ears, must come from Qin, and then they can, but for the hairpin of ten thousand columns, the clothes of Fu Ji, the clothes of Ah Yi, the splendid ornaments do not advance in the front, but follow the customs and be elegant, and Miss Zhao does not stand on the edge.

Vernacular translation:

I heard that officials were discussing the dismissal of Ke Qingshi, but privately they thought it was wrong. Once upon a time, Qin Mugong looked for wise men, the West got Yu Yu from Xirong, and the East got Prissy from Wandi. He also welcomed Jian Shu of Song State and recruited Pi Bao and Gong Sunzhi of Jin State. None of these five sages were from Qin, but Qin Mugong attached great importance to them and annexed more than 20 countries, thus dominating Xirong.

Qin Xiaogong adopted Shang Yang's new law, changing customs, making the people rich and the country prosperous. The people are willing to serve the country, and the princes attach it. They defeated the armies of Chu and Wei and occupied thousands of miles of land. So far, they have achieved political stability and strong national strength. King Hui of Qin adopted Zhang Yi's plan to capture Sanchuan, Bashu in the west, counties in the north, Hanzhong in the south, and swept all the ministries of Jiuyi.

Taking control of the land of Yan State and Ying State, the East occupied the natural barrier of elevation and opened up fertile soil, thus disintegrating the vertical and horizontal alliance of the six countries and allowing them to serve Qin State in the west, which has continued to this day. Got it, deposed Hou, expelled Hua Yangjun, strengthened and consolidated the power of the royal family, blocked the situation of monopoly of politics by powerful people, encroached on the territory of governors, and made Qin achieve the great cause of emperors.

These four monarchs all owe their lives to Ke Qingshi. From this perspective, there is nothing wrong with Qin! If the four monarchs refuse to accept distant guests and alienate the wise men without being appointed, this will make the country have no rich strength and the Qin State have no strong reputation.

The beautiful jade your majesty sent to Kunshan has a pearl in the palace, a jewel in He Shen and a jewel in the bright moon. Artest has a sword, a rare thin horse, a flag decorated with jade feathers and a good drum covered with ghost catfish skin. None of these precious things were made by Qin, but your majesty likes them very much. Why?

If it must be produced in Qin state before it can be used, then this luminous Baoyu will never become the decoration of Qin court; Articles carved with rhinoceros horn and ivory will not become your majesty's playthings; Women who can sing and dance well by Zheng and Wei will not fill your majesty's harem; Famous horses in the north will never enrich your stable.

Suk Kim in the south of the Yangtze River will not be used by your majesty, nor will painters in the west of Sichuan be used as decorations. It is used to decorate the harem and serve concubines widely, which is festive and pleasant. If all this is the growth of Qin, then the hair clasp decorated with jewels, the jade pendant on the ear and the splendid decoration will not be presented to your majesty; Those enchanting beauties who are leisurely and elegant and can do as the Romans do will not stand beside your majesty.

Source: From Li Si's Book of Departure in the 10th year of Qin Dynasty.

Extended data:

Creative background:

South Korea sent Zheng Guo, a water conservancy engineer, to lobby Ying Zheng, the king of Qin (later Qin Shihuang), and advocated digging canals to irrigate fields, in an attempt to consume Qin's manpower and not attack South Korea, so as to implement the "plan of consuming Qin". When it was discovered, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, listened to the advice of the imperial clan minister and thought that the guests who came to Qin wanted to swim in Qin, so he ordered the guests to be expelled.

Reese is also among the deportees. Despite his sincere fears, before he left, he took the initiative to write a letter to persuade the king of Qin not to expel the guests, and wrote a book "Persuading to expel the guests", which has been circulated throughout the ages.

When this article demonstrates the mistakes and harms of Qin's expulsion of guest officials, it does not involve the specific problems of expelling guest officials, nor does it involve the source of their own advance and retreat. Instead, he stood on the height of "crossing the sea to control the princes" to complete the great cause of unifying the world, analyzed and expounded the gains and losses of expelling guests, and embodied Li Si's outstanding knowledge and his progressive political proposition and employment route in line with the historical trend.