One skilled at employing

Critical Text

Yinqueshan Text

。。。 糧 於　敵。。。 食 可 足 也

Shiyijia zhu Text

善 用 兵 者 役 不 再 籍 糧 不 三 載 取 用 於 國 因 糧 於 敵 故 軍 食 可 足 也

Translation

One skilled at employing the military does not have a second registering of conscripts nor a third loading of grain. One takes equipment from the state and relies on grain from the enemy. Thus the army's food can be made sufficient.

Annotations

"Yin liang yu di" 因糧於敵. The word yin has a number of Chinese usages and English equivalents, several of which are pertinent here. Its base meaning is "to follow, to act in accordance with [someone or something]." We have rendered this phrase "relies on grain from the enemy," but yin also implies the more pointed sense of "to borrow."