軍吏曰：「師徒不勤而可得城，奚故不受？
Some members of his staff remonstrated with him: “Our men will be able to take the city without the slightest expenditure of effort—why don’t you accept?” “If a man used one of our own cities to turn against us,” replied Muzi, “we would utterly detest such behavior, so why should we make an exception and be delighted when a person comes to us with the offer of a city?
」曰：「有以吾城反者，吾所甚惡也，人以城來，我獨奚好焉？
To reward a person for behavior that you particularly detest is to commit a blunder in the issuing of rewards—how should we then deal with behavior that we particularly admire?
賞其所甚惡，是失賞也，若所好何？
And, if we did not reward him, we would then be guilty of bad faith.
若不賞，是失信也，奚以示民？
What could we then do to set an example for the people at large?” Then some people of Gu came again and asked to surrender.
」鼓人又請降，使人視之，其民尚有食也，不聽。
Zhonghang Muzi sent a man to observe the situation and found that the people of Gu still had food, so he denied the petition. Only when the people of Gu announced that they had no food left and that their strength was exhausted did he take the city.
鼓人告食盡力竭，而後取之。
克鼓而反，不戮一人。
Having conquered Gu, he returned without putting a single person to death.