Yan was stricken by famine, and Zhao was preparing to attack it. Chu sent an envoy to Wei, who on the way sought an audience with the King of Zhao and said: "Yan is in famine, and Zhao is about to attack it. I have heard that Zhao and Yan are like Qi and Lu. If Qi and Lu come into conflict, and Zhao does not come to the rescue, then Qi will surely seize the opportunity to attack Zhao. Now Yan is in famine, and Zhao intends to attack it—this is to let Qi's scheme succeed. Moreover, Zhao's attack on Yan is like Qi's attack on Lu. If Qi attacks Lu and Zhao does not save it, Lu is certain to perish; and once Lu perishes, Zhao itself will be in peril. Thus, Yan and Zhao supporting each other is like lips and teeth depending on one another. When the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold. If Yan falls today, calamity will descend upon Zhao tomorrow. I hope Your Majesty will consider this clearly." The King of Zhao said, "Well said." Thereupon he abandoned the plan to attack Yan.
💡 商战启示录
The core of this strategy lies in the symbiotic awareness of "when the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold," which, when mapped onto modern commerce, signifies the interdependence of ecosystems among enterprises. When partners or peers within the same industry encounter crises, if one prioritizes immediate gains and resorts to kicking them while they are down, it often leads to the collapse of the entire industrial chain, ultimately rebounding to harm oneself. For instance, in the smartphone industry, should a core chip supplier fall into distress due to market fluctuations, handset manufacturers who seize the opportunity to drive down prices or wrest away market share may reap short-term profits, yet in the long run, this will undermine the stability and innovative capacity of the supply chain, decelerating technological iteration across the sector and inflicting losses on all participants. Conversely, the deep collaboration once exemplified by Huawei and TSMC—jointly developing solutions when the other encountered technical bottlenecks—not only fortified their own competitiveness but also nurtured the prosperity of the entire ecosystem. Similarly, in the relationship between e-commerce platforms and logistics enterprises, when logistics companies face pressure, platforms that offer support rather than squeezing profit margins enable both sides to jointly enhance user experience and withstand external competition. Therefore, modern business strategy should identify key symbiotic partners and, in times of crisis, adopt coordinated rescue measures rather than opportunistic exploitation, establishing risk-sharing mechanisms to ensure the resilience of the ecosystem, thereby achieving sustainable and mutually beneficial development.