"Donate" means to spend; to consume.

The word "north" is translated as the defeated army.

From the anonymous "Strategies of the Warring States" (战国策-燕昭王收破燕).

Excerpts from the original text:

The king was furious and said, "The one I want is a raw horse, so why don't I donate 500 gold for a dead horse?"

Yan soldiers alone chased the north, into Linzi, take all the treasure of Qi, burn its palace and temple. Qi's city is not down, only Ju, Jimo.

Translation:

The king of the country was furious: "I want a live horse, what use is a dead horse, and threw away five hundred gold for nothing?"

The Yan army again attacked the defeated army separately and fought all the way to Linzi, the capital of Qi, plundered all the treasures there, and burned down the Qi palaces and ancestral temples. The only cities of Qi that were not taken were Ju and Jimo.

Expanded Information

King Yan Zhaowang wanted to avenge his death, so he started by recruiting talents, which he was quite wise to do. Guo Kui, a scholar, explains to him how the treatment of talent can lead to different results, and he describes several scenarios in which talent can be treated in an intriguing way.

Talent is very important to a person's success, and those who seek it out and treat it with respect will surely have laid a solid foundation for their own success.

The "Strategies of the Warring States" is a country-specific work of historiography, which records the affairs of the Western Zhou, the Eastern Zhou, and the Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, Yan, Song, Wei, and Zhongshan countries. The history of the book begins in the early years of the Warring States period and ends with the destruction of the six states by Qin, a history of about 240 years.

The whole book is divided into 12 stratagems, 33 volumes, and ****497 articles, mainly describing the political ideas and strategies of lobbyists during the Warring States period, and it can also be said to be a manual of practical exercises for lobbyists.

The "Strategies of the Warring States Period" is good at explaining things in a clear and rational way, and makes a lot of use of fables and metaphors, with vivid language and rich literary style. Although the historical facts and sayings in the book are not trustworthy, it is still an important historical material for the study of the Warring States society.

Baidu Encyclopedia - King Zhao of Yan Collects the Broken Yan