In the final years of the Warring States period, the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei. The King of the State of Wei summoned his officials, and asked if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army. Most of the officials wanted the king to cede land to the State of Qin in order to preserve peace.
However, one advisor did not agree. He rushed to the king's side and said, "Your Majesty, it is just because they are cowardly and afraid of death that they ask you to cede for peace and betray our country. Of course, you can temporarily satisfy the ambition of the king of the State of Qin, but he is insatiably greedy. He will only stop attacking us when all of our land has been given away."
The advisor then told a story, "Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water, but he would not listen. Instead, he carried kindling to put out the fire, only to make it worse. That was because he didn't understand that instead of putting out the fire, kindling only makes it burn harder. If you agree to cede to preserve the peace isn't it the same as using kindling to put out a fire?"