The Chu army was stationed south of the mountain. Qin attacked Chu, and the Chu forces held the southern side. The Qin general Bai Qi defeated the Chu army; the King of Chu fled, yet the troops remained south of the mountain. When the people of Chu heard this, they all wished to fight a decisive battle against Qin. The King of Chu asked Zi Fa, saying: "The Qin forces are mighty, while ours are weak—what shall be done?" Zi Fa replied: "I have heard that weapons are inauspicious tools, and war is an act contrary to virtue. Now that Qin is strong and Chu is weak, I deem it better not to engage in battle, but rather to bribe Qin with lavish gifts, so as to delay their advance. Qin is greedy and will surely accept our offerings; thus, Chu may find peace." The King of Chu said: "Well spoken." He then sent Zi Fa to present rich tributes to Qin, which were indeed accepted, and thereby Chu secured its tranquility.
💡 商战启示录
This strategy exemplifies the wisdom of retreating in order to advance and appeasing adversaries with concessions when confronted by overwhelming disparity in strength. In modern commerce, when smaller enterprises face the crushing might of industry giants, head-on confrontation often leads to annihilation. For instance, Didi and Kuaidi, after their early-stage subsidy wars, chose to merge, trading capital for market share and averting endless internal attrition. A more illustrative case is that of numerous startups confronting patent litigation or price wars waged by industry behemoths—they secure room for survival through cross-licensing, equity partnerships, or yielding partial interests. ByteDance, in its early days, opted to cooperate with Tencent over copyright matters rather than engage in direct confrontation. The essence of Zifa's strategy lies in discerning the situation clearly, refraining from impulsive valor, and leveraging short-term gains to purchase time for strategic realignment. In business, this manifests as "strategic compromise"—ceding a portion of profits or market access to gain a window for technological upgrades, product iteration, or entry into new markets. However, caution must be exercised: bribery or concessions must observe certain limits, lest they cultivate the adversary's avarice and ultimately lead to one's own absorption. Therefore, the modern application of this strategy should evolve into a "co-opetition" approach—collaborating in non-core domains while marshaling strength in core areas, awaiting the opportune moment to launch an offensive. This mirrors how Huawei, during the 3G era, paid patent royalties to Qualcomm while vigorously developing 5G, ultimately achieving ascendancy.