Zhang Yi again spoke ill of Chen Zhen before the King of Chu, saying: "The reason Chen Zhen serves Your Majesty is but a pretense of loyalty. Now, however, Chen Zhen is not content to remain in Chu; instead, he wishes to go to Qin. Allow me to explain his intentions to Your Majesty. He once advised me, saying that it would be better to leave Chu and go to Qin. If Your Majesty deems Chen Zhen untrustworthy, permit me to prove it with facts. In former times, Wu Zixu was loyal to his sovereign, and all under heaven wished to have him as their minister; Xiao Ji loved his parents, and all under heaven wished to have him as their son. Thus, when a servant or concubine is sold and is bought before leaving the lane, that servant or concubine must be a good one; when a divorced woman can remarry within her own village, that woman must be a good one. If a minister is not loyal to Your Majesty, why should Chu still employ Chen Zhen as a minister? Since loyalty is thus cast aside, where else can Chen Zhen go but away from Chu?" The King of Chu then said to Chen Zhen, "I have heard that you wish to leave Chu for Qin—is this true?" Chen Zhen replied, "It is true." The King said, "Zhang Yi's words are indeed credible." Chen Zhen said, "It is not only Zhang Yi who knows this; even travelers on the road know it. For example: Xiao Ji was filial, and Bo Yi was incorruptible, so all under heaven regarded them as models of filial piety and integrity. Now, if I am not loyal to Your Majesty and yet wish to leave Chu for Qin, then why does Your Majesty not let me be a loyal minister? In former times, Wu Zixu was loyal to his sovereign, and all under heaven wished to have him as their minister; Xiao Ji loved his parents, and all under heaven wished to have him as their son. Thus, when a servant or concubine is sold and is bought before leaving the lane, that servant or concubine must be a good one; when a divorced woman can remarry within her own village, that woman must be a good one. If a minister is not loyal to Your Majesty, why should Chu still employ Chen Zhen as a minister? Since loyalty is thus cast aside, where else can Chen Zhen go but away from Chu?" The King of Chu said, "Well spoken." And so he pursued the matter no further.
💡 商战启示录
This episode of history illustrates a familiar game in the workplace: the clash between "adversarial slander" and "self-defense." Zhang Yi employed a strategy of sowing discord, exploiting the King of Chu's inherent suspicion of his ministers' loyalty to twist Chen Zhen's intention to leave Chu into an act of disloyalty, thereby cutting off his retreat. Chen Zhen's response, however, stands as a classic model of crisis communication: rather than outright denying his intentions, he reframed the logical framework—defining "loyalty" as a universal virtue (citing figures like Wu Zixu and Xiao Ji), and arguing that had he truly been disloyal, Chu would never have entrusted him with high office in the first place. At the same time, with the hypothetical "If loyalty is thus cast aside, where else but Chu could I go?" he turned the tables, subtly warning the King that heeding slander would drive away loyal ministers and weaken his own foundation.
In the modern business world, this mirrors the strategy an executive might employ when facing "character assassination" from competitors or internal rivals. For instance, when rumors were spread by rivals that a tech company's core product lead was about to defect, shaking the board's confidence, he did not rush to defend himself. Instead, he publicly emphasized the alignment between his past project achievements and the company's core values, hinting that if the company doubted his loyalty, it would ultimately drive away truly capable talent. This approach of "elevating the issue to the level of organizational interest" echoes Chen Zhen's "doctrine of the loyal minister." The key takeaway is this: when under attack, do not get drawn into the opponent's predetermined debate of "loyal or not." Instead, reframe the issue, bind personal reputation to the broader interests of the organization, and shift the focus with factual logic—not emotion—thereby dismantling the adversary's narrative advantage.