Speaking to the King of Qi, Su Qin said: "To rescue a state on the brink of ruin is to win a fair name; to obtain the Nine Tripods is to possess a treasure of supreme weight. I pray Your Majesty will join the allied lords in plotting an expedition against Chu—then the lands of both our states may be gained by morning, and the armies of both may arrive by evening. I have heard it said that one contends for renown in the court, and for profit in the marketplace. Now the region of Sanchuan and the royal house of Zhou are precisely the marketplace and the court of all under Heaven, yet Your Majesty does not contend for them, but instead strives after the lands of the Rong and Di barbarians—how far this is from the great enterprise of ruling as king! Moreover, Qin does not truly seek to attack Qi; its position compels it to attack Chu. Chu faces the peril of imminent ruin, while Qin has not a single day's opportunity to exploit. If Your Majesty does not now rescue Chu, then once Chu is destroyed, Qin will surely seize its western territories and thereafter press eastward against Qi—then Qi will indeed be in danger. If Your Majesty can truly heed my counsel, I beg to have Qin turn westward in service, and Chu bow southward in homage to Qi. Then what Your Majesty seeks to obtain from all under Heaven may be achieved by morning and arrive by evening."
💡 商战启示录
This strategy reveals the core wisdom of "borrowing momentum and leverage" in modern commercial warfare. Su Qin advised King of Qi not to contend for petty gains among the Rong and Di tribes, but to focus on "the marketplace of the realm" (the pivotal strategic ground), and to exploit the inevitable conflict between Qin and Chu, using "preserving Chu" as a bargaining chip—thereby allowing Qi to win both renown and tangible benefit without deploying a single soldier. In modern business, this is tantamount to reminding enterprises not to indulge in marginal markets (such as low-margin businesses or non-core regions), but rather to seize the commanding heights of their industry (such as standard-setting, core technology, or premier distribution channels). A classic example: when Didi and Kuaidi merged, they discerned the unavoidable struggle between Tencent and Alibaba over the payments domain, and leveraged both parties' "cannot afford to lose" mentality to secure enormous subsidy resources, ultimately becoming the dominant force in ride-hailing. Likewise, Huawei's strategic deployment in 5G patents did not involve direct combat with rivals in the terminal market; instead, by seizing the "marketplace of the realm"—the technical standard—it compelled giants like Qualcomm to enter cross-licensing arrangements, thereby winning the global initiative in competition. Su Qin's logic that "if Chu is not saved, Qin will inevitably march east toward Qi" corresponds to "geopolitical risk anticipation" in commercial warfare—when a competitor is bound to seize a certain critical resource (such as the core of a supply chain), an enterprise should intervene early to bolster the holder of that resource, forming a pattern of "you fight your war; I fight mine," thereby avoiding a passive war of attrition. This strategy emphasizes: the true strategist does not contest the gain or loss of a single city or territory, but seeks victory at the pivotal point of the entire board, leveraging minimal cost to move maximum value—this is the supreme realm where "fair renown" and "rich treasure" are both attained.