The King of Wei wished to form an alliance with Han. Hui Shi said, "If Your Majesty desires an alliance with Han, you must first ally with Qin, and only then with Han. The intercourse between Qin and Han has not been a matter of a single day. Now if Your Majesty seeks alliance with Han but first allies with Qin, then Qin will surely suspect Your Majesty, and Han will surely fear Your Majesty. It would be better for Your Majesty to ally with Han first; then Qin will surely be angered, and Han will surely be afraid, and so Han will certainly unite with Qin first. Thereupon Your Majesty may take the opportunity to threaten Han with military force, and Han will surely submit to Your Majesty. When Your Majesty has won over Han, Qin will surely be enraged, and in its rage will surely attack Han; Han will surely be terrified, and then Your Majesty may seize the moment to send troops to rescue Han. Thus Han will surely be grateful to Your Majesty, while Qin will surely bear resentment against Your Majesty. It would be better for Your Majesty to ally with Han and cultivate closeness with Qin; then Han will surely follow Your Majesty, and Qin will surely not suspect Your Majesty, and so Your Majesty may sit at ease and hold Han in control." The King of Wei said, "Well spoken." Thereupon he formed an alliance with Han and cultivated closeness with Qin.
💡 商战启示录
The core of Hui Shi's strategy lay in "leveraging momentum" and "maintaining equilibrium," rather than direct confrontation. He advised King Wei of Wei to first forge an alliance with Han and then draw closer to Qin—an embodiment of the wisdom of "retreating in order to advance," a game-theoretic maneuver to avoid being caught in a pincer between two great powers. In modern commercial warfare, this strategy parallels the "co-opetition" dynamics among enterprises. For instance, when an emerging tech giant like Huawei faces dual competition from an American chip titan such as Qualcomm and South Korea's Samsung, a direct assault on Samsung might drive the latter to ally with Qualcomm, resulting in a technological blockade. Instead, Huawei chose to cross-license patents with Samsung while maintaining cooperative negotiations with Qualcomm, thereby securing a voice in the formulation of 5G standards and avoiding isolation. Similarly, Luckin Coffee, competing against Starbucks in the Chinese market, did not engage in head-on confrontation. Rather, it attracted consumers through a low-price strategy while partnering with domestic giants like Tencent to build a digital ecosystem, forming a posture of "vertical and horizontal alliances." In the end, Luckin not only secured its foothold but also compelled Starbucks to recalibrate its strategy. This offers a lesson for enterprises: in multi-party games, one must adeptly identify allies and potential adversaries, and through strategic concessions and alliances, transform rivals into counterbalancing forces rather than mere foes—thereby seizing the initiative to "sit securely and command others" in a complex commercial landscape.