King Zhao of Yan asked Yue Yi, "I wish to attack Qi, but Qi is powerful and its territory vast, its people wealthy and its troops formidable—what shall I do?" Yue Yi replied, "To attack a great state, one must first submit to it. By submitting, you make it arrogant, and then your plan can succeed. In former times, King Goujian of Yue served the state of Wu, and King Fuchai of Wu grew arrogant because of it; whereupon Goujian attacked Wu and ultimately dominated the feudal lords. Now, if Your Majesty wishes to attack Qi, I beg you first to serve Qi, bribing the close ministers about the King of Qi with lavish gifts, so as to make his heart proud. Moreover, the strength of Qi was not built in a single day; its people are accustomed to warfare and cannot be subdued in haste. I have heard that one skilled in the use of troops does not employ his own weakness to strike at another's strength, but employs his own strength to strike at another's weakness. Qi's strength lies in its vast territory and numerous people; its weakness lies in its inconstant governance and the estrangement between ruler and subjects. If Your Majesty can serve Qi with humble words and generous gifts, while secretly forging alliances with the feudal lords, nurturing men of talent, and sharpening weapons, then when Qi presents an opening, you may dispatch your troops, and Qi can be plotted against." King Zhao of Yan said, "Excellent." He then sent Yue Yi to unite with Zhao, Chu, Wei, and Han in a joint attack on Qi. King Min of Qi indeed grew arrogant and made no preparations; when the allied armies arrived, the Qi forces suffered a great defeat, and the Yan army thereupon entered Qi's capital, Linzi.
💡 商战启示录
Yue Yi's strategy reveals the wisdom of "feigning weakness to lure the enemy" and "asymmetric positioning" in modern business warfare. When facing a formidable opponent, one should not meet force with force, but rather induce a sense of complacency in the adversary through "humble words and lavish gifts"—this resembles "strategic feigning of weakness" in business, such as Huawei's low-profile expansion in overseas markets in its early days, avoiding direct confrontation with Cisco while quietly accumulating patents and distribution channels, ultimately overtaking its rival in the field of 5G. Yue Yi emphasized "striking the enemy's weakness with one's own strength," which corresponds to the modern enterprise's imperative to focus on its core competitive advantages and attack the opponent's vulnerable points. For instance, Pinduoduo avoided the dominance of Alibaba and JD.com in first- and second-tier cities, delved deep into the lower-tier market, and rose rapidly through social fission and low-price strategies. Meanwhile, Yue Yi advocated "secretly forging alliances with other states," that is, building an ecosystem of partnerships—much like today's enterprises forming industrial chain synergies through cross-industry collaboration, investment, and mergers, as exemplified by Tencent allying with JD.com and Meituan to counter Alibaba and disperse competitive pressure. And "waiting for the enemy's fissures" reminds entrepreneurs to exercise patience, biding their time for a rival's strategic misstep or a market window, such as ByteDance accelerating its global expansion while Facebook underestimated TikTok. This case demonstrates that the ancient military maxim "the arrogant army is doomed to defeat" remains potent in modern business, and enterprises must guard against complacency after success while skillfully exploiting the hubris of their competitors to create opportunities.