King Zhao of Yan ascended the throne after the state of Yan had been shattered by Qi. He humbled himself and offered lavish gifts to attract worthy talents, vowing vengeance. He went to see Master Guo Wei and said, "Qi took advantage of our internal turmoil to strike and break Yan. I know well that Yan is too weak to avenge this wrong. Yet if I could obtain wise men to govern the state with me, and thereby wash away the shame of my late father, that is my deepest wish. Pray tell me, how may I accomplish this?" Guo Wei replied, "He who would found an empire treats the worthy as his teachers; he who would establish a kingship treats them as his friends; he who would achieve hegemony treats them as his ministers; but the sovereign who courts ruin treats them as his menials. If you bend your dignity to serve them, face north and receive their instruction, then men whose abilities surpass yours a hundredfold will come. If you bestir yourself before others and rest after them, seek counsel before they speak and remain silent after they have spoken, then men who excel you tenfold will arrive. If you merely follow what others do, then those of like capacity to yourself will draw near. If you lean upon your armrest, grasp your staff, and glance askance while issuing commands, then only servitors will come. And if you give way to violence and wrath, shouting and berating aloud, then naught but slaves will answer. Such is the ancient way of kingship in summoning the worthy. If Your Majesty will broadly select the wise within your realm and personally call upon their doors, when all under heaven hear that you have visited your worthy ministers, the sages of the world will hasten to Yan."
King Zhao asked, "Whom should I call upon first?" Guo Wei said, "I have heard that in ancient times a sovereign offered a thousand pieces of gold for a thousand-li steed, yet three years passed without success. A retainer said, 'Let me go seek it.' The sovereign dispatched him. In three months the man found such a horse, but it was already dead, so he bought its bones for five hundred pieces of gold and returned to report. The sovereign flew into a rage, saying, 'I wanted a living horse—why did you spend five hundred gold on a dead one?' The retainer answered, 'If a dead horse still commands five hundred gold, how much more a living one? All under heaven will surely deem Your Majesty sincere in seeking horses, and soon they will come.' And indeed, within a single year, three thousand-li steeds arrived. Now if Your Majesty truly desires to gather worthy men, begin with me, Guo Wei. If even I am honored, how much more those more worthy than I? Would they begrudge a journey of a thousand li and fail to come?"
Thereupon King Zhao built a palace for Guo Wei and treated him with the rites of a teacher. Yue Yi came from Wei, Zou Yan from Qi, and Ju Xin from Zhao—worthy men vying with one another to reach Yan. King Zhao mourned the dead, comforted the living, and shared hardship and ease with the common folk. After twenty-eight years, Yan grew prosperous, and its soldiers delighted in battle and feared no foe. Then he appointed Yue Yi supreme general, and joined with Qin, Chu, and the Three Jin states in attacking Qi. The Qi army was utterly routed, and King Min of Qi fled in chaos. The Yan forces pursued alone, stormed into Linzi, seized all of Qi's treasures, and burned its palaces and ancestral temples. Of Qi's cities, only Ju and Jimo remained unconquered.
💡 商战启示录
King Zhaoxiang of Yan's core strategy in attacking Qi was "buying a horse's bones with a thousand gold pieces"—investing in symbolic figureheads to build brand credibility, thereby attracting top-tier talent. In modern business, this strategy is widely applied to talent acquisition and ecosystem building. For instance, Google attracted elite engineers in its early days with perks like "free lunch" and "20% time," which seemed costly but conveyed a clear signal of "valuing talent," ultimately assembling one of the finest teams in the world. Similarly, ByteDance, in its early phase, poached industry veterans with high salaries and granted them immense autonomy. Though short-term profits suffered, it established an image of "hungering for talent," drawing in more brilliant minds and fueling the explosive success of products like Douyin. Another example is Xiaomi: Lei Jun personally visited and persuaded several hardware experts to join during the startup phase, even making "finding people" his foremost priority. This act of "honoring Guo Wei first, then attracting the worthy" enabled Xiaomi to achieve rapid breakthroughs in supply chain and technology, becoming a globally renowned brand. Conversely, if a company begrudges investment and recruits only with meager pay or empty promises, it will attract nothing but "menial servants," incapable of achieving great dominion. The business lesson is this: leaders must, like King Zhaoxiang, humble themselves, invest sincerity and resources in key talent, and publicly honor their value—only then can they create a magnetic pull for talent. At the same time, strategically, one must "share hardships and joys with the people"—internally distributing benefits to strengthen team cohesion—so as to "chase the defeated alone" and stage a comeback against the odds. In today's internet era of frequent talent mobility, brand reputation and employer image have become core competitive advantages. Enterprises should draw on the wisdom of "buying bones," first paying a premium to earn trust, then gradually converting it into long-term strength.