The State of Qin attacked the State of Zhao, and the King of Zhao sent Lian Po to lead the army in resistance. The Qin forces repeatedly defeated the Zhao troops, whereupon the Zhao army held fast within their fortifications and would not give battle. The Qin army challenged them many times, but Lian Po refused to respond. The King of Zhao, heeding the disinformation sown by Qin, fell for their stratagem. Spies of Qin spread rumors, saying: "What Qin most dreads and fears above all is only Ma Fu Jun Zhao She's son, Zhao Kuo, taking command." The King of Zhao thereupon appointed Zhao Kuo as general, replacing Lian Po. Lin Xiangru admonished, saying: "Your Majesty appoints Zhao Kuo by reputation alone—this is like gluing the tuning pegs of a zither and then trying to play it! Zhao Kuo can only recite the military manuals left by his father; he knows nothing of adapting to circumstances." The King of Zhao paid no heed, and still appointed Zhao Kuo.
From his youth, Zhao Kuo had studied the art of war and discoursed on military matters, believing that no one under heaven could match him. He had once debated strategy with his father, Zhao She, who could not refute him, yet did not regard him as truly capable. Zhao Kuo's mother asked Zhao She the reason, and he said: "War is a matter of life and death, yet Zhao Kuo speaks of it with careless ease. If Zhao does not make him a general, that is well enough; but if he must be made one, then it will surely be Zhao Kuo who brings ruin upon the Zhao army."
When Zhao Kuo was about to set forth on campaign, his mother submitted a letter to the King of Zhao, saying: "Zhao Kuo cannot serve as general." The King asked: "Why?" She replied: "When I first served his father, he, as a great general, personally offered food to a dozen or more of those who dined with him, and counted among his friends several hundred men. The gifts bestowed by Your Majesty and the royal clan—he distributed them all among his officers and men. From the day he received his commission, he never again concerned himself with affairs of his own household. Now, the moment Zhao Kuo became general, he faced east to receive the salutes of his subordinates, and no officer dared look him in the eye. The gold, silk, and rewards given by Your Majesty—he has taken them all home and stored them away, and daily he scans the land for cheap fields and estates, buying whatever he can. In what way does Your Majesty find him the equal of his father? Father and son are wholly different in mind and heart. I beg that Your Majesty not send him." The King of Zhao said: "Do not interfere further—my decision is made." Zhao Kuo's mother then said: "Since Your Majesty insists on sending him, if he proves unequal to his task, I pray that I may not be held accountable in his stead." The King agreed.
After Zhao Kuo replaced Lian Po, he altered every existing regulation and replaced many of the officers. When the Qin general Bai Qi learned of this, he dispatched elite troops in a feigned retreat, then cut off the Zhao army's supply routes, splitting the force in two, and the soldiers' morale dissolved. After more than forty days, the Zhao troops were ravaged by hunger. Zhao Kuo personally led his finest soldiers in a desperate charge, and the Qin forces shot him dead with arrows. The Zhao army suffered a catastrophic defeat, and several hundred thousand soldiers surrendered to Qin, who buried them all alive. In total, Zhao lost four hundred and fifty thousand men. The following year, Qin forces besieged Handan, and for more than a year, Zhao could scarcely extricate itself. Only through the relief armies of Chu and Wei did the siege of Handan come to an end. And because Zhao Kuo's mother had spoken beforehand, the King of Zhao ultimately did not put her to death.
💡 商战启示录
Zhao Kuo's failure is, in essence, a classic case of "armchair strategy"—a crisis of managers whose theory is divorced from practice, mirrored in the modern business world. Zhao Kuo was well-versed in military texts yet lacked real combat experience; more critically, he lacked reverence for the fluid dynamics of the battlefield and the capacity to adapt. Upon assuming command, he "altered all established protocols and replaced the officers," blindly imposing idealized systems while disregarding the organizational foundation, thereby alienating his troops. This parallels many parachuted executives who, armed with MBA theories or industry reports, launch sweeping reforms without ever setting foot on the front lines—only to find themselves ill-suited to the terrain, leading to corporate collapse. Conversely, Lian Po's strategy of "fortifying walls and refusing battle" may appear conservative, but it was in fact a strategic endurance grounded in resource assessment and enemy intelligence—akin to commercial competition where, when rivals are formidable, one does not recklessly engage in attrition but instead fortifies defenses to consolidate strength, biding time for the opportune moment. In modern business warfare, as exemplified by Huawei's early encounters with international giants, the company avoided head-on confrontation, instead delving deep into niche markets, accumulating technology, and ultimately overtaking its competitors. The lesson of Zhao Kuo serves as a warning: business decisions must be grounded in real-time data and frontline feedback, not dogmatic models. Managers should respect the laws of the battlefield like Lian Po, or embrace "adaptive transformation" like Zhao She, adjusting strategies amid dynamic circumstances. Meanwhile, King Zhao's heed of divisive rumors also reminds corporate leaders that decision-making must not be swayed by external opinion or transient noise; they must discern truth from falsehood, lest a single error in personnel selection unravel the entire enterprise. Finally, the clause of Zhao Kuo's mother—"not to be implicated in his punishment"—offers insight for modern organizations to establish mechanisms of fault tolerance and risk isolation, preventing individual mistakes from dragging down the whole.