Zhanguoce

戰國策 (Strategies of the Warring States)

anecdotes from Warring States sources, edited by Liu Xiang · c. 350-26 BC (Warring States material; edited into its current form by Liu Xiang) · Chang'an (China) · history

Persuasion, not virtue or force, wins and loses states, so a diplomat's cleverest speech to a threatened king matters more to this history than any account of the battle that speech was meant to avert.