Someone once said to Lord Xue, Tian Wen: "Zhou Zui is deeply loyal to the King of Qi, yet he has been driven away by the king, because the king heeded Zhu Fu's counsel and appointed Lü Li as chancellor, intending to ally with Qin. If Qin and Qi join forces, then Zhu Fu and Lü Li will rise even higher in favor. If you remain close to Zhou Zui and Qi, Qin is sure to hold you in contempt. Your best course is to press northward without delay, exerting pressure on Zhao, forging ties with Qin and Wei, while drawing Zhou Zui in as your support—this will both restore the King of Qi's trust and check the confederacy of the other states. Should you succeed in elevating Zhou Zui, sending him to chastise Qi, and then restoring the Qi ruler, the lords of the realm will surely be grateful to you. Once Qi is won over by you, Qin and Wei will inevitably vie to seek alliance with you." Lord Xue said, "Well said." Thereupon Lord Xue went to Qi, and had Zhou Zui, Zhu Fu, and Lü Li all reinstated to their former positions. Later, when Qi and Qin indeed formed an alliance, Lord Xue dispatched Zhou Zui to persuade the King of Qi, who then sent Zhou Zui to Qin; Qin sent him to Wei; Wei sent him to Chu; and Chu sent him to Han. Zhou Zui then traveled among the five states, persuading them to hold a meeting between Qin and Wei in the Zhou domain, and Qin and Wei did indeed convene there.
💡 商战启示录
This strategy exemplifies the diplomatic artistry of Warring States strategists, with its essence lying in "leveraging momentum" and "strategic positioning." Lord Xue heeded counsel and refrained from direct confrontation with King Qi; instead, by restoring the positions of Zhou Zui and others, he appeared to yield while subtly reconfiguring the network of international relations. This ultimately culminated in the alliance of five states, positioning himself as the pivotal linchpin. In modern business, this offers a profound lesson for corporate leaders: when confronted with adverse circumstances, one should not remain fixated on immediate confrontation, but rather transcend the immediate fray, reconsolidate resources, and even transform adversaries into allies. For instance, in the technology sector, Apple once competed fiercely with Microsoft in its early years; yet upon Jobs's return, he accepted Microsoft's investment—a seeming concession that in truth leveraged external force to fortify Apple's own ecosystem, ultimately enabling its resurgence. Similarly, when Huawei faced international sanctions, it refrained from head-on collision, instead accelerating the development of its proprietary chips and HarmonyOS while actively expanding into non-U.S. markets and restructuring its supply chain—a strategy precisely mirroring the principle of "retaining Zhou Zui to pave the way forward." True masters of commercial warfare understand how to convert competitors or adverse factors into fulcrums for their own strategic advantage, constructing multilateral cooperative networks to render themselves indispensable—the modern-day "Lord Xue"—thereby seizing the initiative in dynamic games of strategy.