The state of Qin attacked Zhao, and the King of Zhao appointed Zhao Kuo as the supreme commander. Zhao Kuo's mother said to the King, "Zhao Kuo is not fit to be the supreme commander." The King asked, "Why?" She replied, "When I served his father in the past, his father, as commander, personally offered food to dozens of soldiers and befriended hundreds of retainers. Whatever the King and the royal clan bestowed upon him, he distributed entirely among his officers and men. From the day he received his appointment, he never concerned himself with household affairs. Now Zhao Kuo, upon becoming commander, faces east to receive homage, and no officer dares to look him in the eye. The gold and silk bestowed by the King, he hoards all at home, and daily he inquires about cheap and suitable fields and estates to purchase. Does Your Majesty think he resembles his father? Father and son are utterly different in heart and mind. I beg that Your Majesty not send him." The King said, "Do not interfere; my decision is made." Zhao Kuo's mother then said, "If Your Majesty insists on sending him, and he proves unworthy, may I be spared from punishment by association?" The King consented. After Zhao Kuo replaced Lian Po, he altered all the established military regulations and dismissed many officers. When the Qin general Bai Qi heard of this, he dispatched elite troops, feigned retreat, and simultaneously cut off the Zhao army's supply routes, splitting the army in two. The soldiers' morale crumbled. After more than forty days, the Zhao troops were starving. Zhao Kuo personally led his finest soldiers in a sortie, and the Qin forces shot him dead with arrows. The Zhao army suffered a great defeat, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers surrendered to Qin, who buried them all alive. In total, Zhao lost four hundred and fifty thousand men.
💡 商战启示录
Zhao Kuo's defeat lay in his armchair strategizing—rich in theory but devoid of battlefield experience, compounded by his obstinate self-reliance and disregard for his subordinates. In modern business, many enterprises parachute in "elite MBA graduates" or "star managers" who boast abundant theoretical knowledge yet lack command of operational details. Their hasty overhaul of established processes breeds team alienation and precipitates performance collapse. For instance, a renowned technology company once recruited a foreign executive who, upon assuming office, launched sweeping "reforms," dismissed veteran employees, and ignored corporate culture—resulting in chaos across core product lines and the erosion of market share by competitors. Conversely, exemplary leaders like Ren Zhengfei of Huawei champion the principle of "letting those who hear the cannon fire call for the artillery," respecting frontline experience and advancing with steady, deliberate steps. Zhao Kuo's mother's admonition serves as a cautionary tale for enterprises: when appointing talent, one must assess their practical operational acumen and values, not merely their credentials or eloquence. Likewise, managers should emulate Zhao She—sharing benefits equitably and caring for subordinates, rather than monopolizing credit or coveting personal gain. Commerce is warfare; strategy must be fused with tactical execution, and implementation depends on team cohesion. Should a leader remain self-righteous and deaf to grassroots feedback, the market will inevitably deliver a devastating "burial." Therefore, modern enterprises must institute mechanisms of "trial-and-error plus retrospective review," lest a single leader's misjudgment spell ruin for the entire endeavor.