Lord Mengchang requested the King of Qi to relieve him of his ministerial post. The King said, "I am most reluctant to let you go, yet you insist on leaving—why is this?" Lord Mengchang replied, "I have heard that when Grand Duke Jiang was enfeoffed in Qi, to the south lay Mount Tai, to the north the Bohai Sea, to the east Langya, and to the west the Qing River—a territory a thousand li square, with a million armored soldiers. Yet even the Grand Duke found this insufficient, and so he sought the wise men of the realm to broaden his strategies. Now I, with my meager talents, privately wish to serve with the devotion of a dog or horse, but I fear Your Majesty cannot employ me. Moreover, I have heard that a cunning hare keeps three burrows, and only thus may it escape death. At present, you possess but a single burrow, and cannot yet rest with ease upon a high pillow. Allow me to dig two more burrows for you." The King said, "Very well." Thereupon Lord Mengchang pleaded illness and resigned his office, and so he departed.
💡 商战启示录
Lord Mengchang invoked the example of Grand Duke Jiang to subtly suggest that the King of Qi could not rely solely on the strength of a single state—he must broadly attract talent and expand external resources. This mirrors how a modern enterprise cannot depend on a single market or a single client, but must diversify its portfolio. Using the metaphor of "a cunning hare keeping three burrows," he illuminated the fragility of both the King of Qi and himself—with only one stronghold, their capacity to withstand risk was insufficient. This offers a profound lesson for business leaders: one must build a "second growth curve" or strategic reserves during times of prosperity. For instance, Huawei, beyond its telecommunications equipment, developed smartphones and cloud services—carving out a "second burrow." ByteDance, beyond Douyin, incubated TikTok to open overseas markets—digging a "third burrow." Lord Mengchang's resignation was not a failure, but a proactive rupture from comfort to lay groundwork for the future. Modern enterprises, too, should cultivate this crisis-awareness of "preparing for a rainy day," exploring new paths at the peak of their core business to avoid a total collapse from "single-point dependence." Moreover, by drawing on history to illuminate the present, he persuaded the King of Qi to grant his departure—demonstrating a communication strategy of framing one's appeals within a framework the other party understands (the governing logic of Grand Duke Jiang). This is of immense value in business negotiation: using industry benchmarks or historical precedents to justify one's decisions, thereby strengthening persuasion.