When Lord Mengchang was banished from Qi and later returned, Tan Shizi went to the border to receive him. Tan Shizi said to him, "My Lord, do you bear resentment against the scholars and officials of Qi?" Lord Mengchang replied, "I do." Tan Shizi asked, "Do you wish to have them killed before you are satisfied?" Lord Mengchang said, "Yes." Tan Shizi said, "There are things that are bound to happen, and there are principles that are naturally so. Does my Lord know this?" Lord Mengchang said, "I do not." Tan Shizi said, "What is bound to happen is death; what is naturally so is that people draw near to the wealthy and noble, and distance themselves from the poor and lowly. This is what is bound to happen and what is naturally so. Allow me to use the marketplace as an analogy: in the morning, the market is crowded with people; by evening, it is empty. This is not because people love the market in the morning and hate it in the evening—it is because in the morning there is something they desire, so they go; in the evening there is nothing they desire, so they leave. I hope you will not bear resentment." Lord Mengchang then brought out the bamboo slips on which the names of five hundred resentful persons were recorded, and erased every one of the names, never daring to mention the matter again.
💡 商战启示录
After Mengchang Jun was exiled and later reinstated, Tan Shizi used the ebb and flow of the market tide as a metaphor for the fickleness of human sentiment, illuminating the worldly norm that "prosperity draws people near, adversity drives them away," and urged him to let go of resentment. In modern business, this wisdom corresponds to a clear-eyed recognition of "interest-driven relationships." For instance, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was once ousted from the company he created, yet upon his return, he did not seek revenge against the former board or executives, but instead focused on product innovation, ultimately leading Apple to its zenith. In commercial partnerships, clients, partners, and even employees often gather and disperse based on interests—this is a market law, not a personal grievance. If entrepreneurs wallow in resentment over "betrayal," they risk falling into internal strife and missing the window to rebuild trust. Instead, they should, like Mengchang Jun erasing the registry, decisively release negative emotions and pivot toward forging a more resilient community of shared interests. Modern enterprises such as Huawei, when faced with supplier supply cuts, did not dwell on "betrayal" but swiftly activated contingency plans, winning back the market through strength. True business leaders understand the impermanence of interpersonal ties as the norm, responding to upheaval with strategic composure, channeling resources into value creation rather than emotional depletion. This magnanimity of "blaming not others, but demanding of oneself" is the core lesson that ancient wisdom imparts to modern commercial warfare.