When Yue Yi attacked and broke through the State of Qi for the State of Yan, he avenged the wrongs inflicted by the powerful Qi and washed away the humiliation of the former king, causing all the feudal lords to tremble with fear. King Zhao of Yan appointed Yue Yi as Supreme General and joined forces with the armies of Qin, Chu, and the Three Jin states to jointly campaign against Qi. King Min of Qi mobilized the entire nation's forces to resist, and they clashed at the western bank of the Ji River, where the Qi army suffered a crushing defeat. Yue Yi then pursued the remnants alone, pressing all the way to Linzi, seizing all of Qi's treasures and burning its palaces and ancestral temples. Of the cities that remained unconquered in Qi, only Ju and Jimo were left. Yue Yi besieged them for over a year without success. Someone slandered him to King Zhao, saying: "Yue Yi's cunning surpasses that of ordinary men. The reason he has not taken the cities in three years is that he wishes to prolong his military dominance to subjugate the people of Qi, and then proclaim himself king in the south." King Zhao then held a grand banquet for all his ministers, summoned the slanderer, and rebuked him, saying: "The former king entrusted the entire state to a worthy man, not out of greed for territory to leave to his descendants. Now Lord Yue has personally broken Qi for me, razed their ancestral temples, and avenged the former king's grievance. If the altars of Qi have not yet fallen, who but Lord Yue could accomplish this mission? If he truly harbors thoughts of betrayal, then the fault is mine." Thereupon, he executed the slanderer and established Yue Yi as the King of Qi. Yue Yi, struck with fear, refused the title and submitted a memorial swearing his loyalty unto death. From then on, the people of Qi admired his righteousness, and the feudal lords stood in awe of his integrity, so that none dared to scheme against the State of Yan again.
💡 商战启示录
King Zhao of Yan's absolute trust in Yue Yi serves as a paradigm of the "psychological contract" between modern corporate leaders and their core executives. In the arena of commercial warfare, leaders often face trials of external pressure and internal suspicion; if they heed rumors lightly and sever their own arms, strategic collapse frequently ensues. For instance, a certain tech giant once saw its CEO doubt the CTO, leading to reckless intervention in technical roadmap disputes—resulting in the departure of the core team, delayed product iterations, and market share eroded by competitors. Conversely, when Yue Yi's prolonged siege met with failure and slander proliferated, King Zhao not only dismissed all dissenting voices but went so far as to execute the slanderers and enfeoff Yue Yi as the King of Qi—transmitting trust through extreme measures that moved Yue Yi to "swear loyalty unto death," culminating in peak team cohesion. This illuminates for modern managers: during long-term strategic execution, clear boundaries of delegation and regular communication mechanisms should be established, avoiding the erosion of trust in key talent due to short-term performance fluctuations. Simultaneously, leaders must cultivate the fortitude to "resist slander," filtering noise through institutionalized information channels to ensure strategic decisions rest on facts rather than rumors. Yue Yi's strategy of "slow siege" likewise corresponds to "long-termism" in business—in M&A integration or market penetration, eschewing haste in favor of cultural fusion and resource accumulation to achieve enduring victory. Only when trust and patience coexist can commercial legends on the scale of "conquering Qi" be realized.