Shu Shi attacked the state of Chu, and Chu ordered Zhao Shu to lead a hundred thousand troops to garrison Hanzhong. Zhao Ju defeated the Qin forces at Chongqiu. Su Li said to Wan Gong Zhao Shu: "The King of Chu wishes Zhao Ju to press on and pursue the Qin forces, and he will surely have you and Zhao Ju each divide and occupy the lands of Qin. If you follow my counsel, your troops must not venture forth; the King of Chu will deem you loyal and trustworthy, while Zhao Ju will gain favor. It would be better to secretly forge amity with Qin, and refrain from engaging them in battle, thereby consolidating your bond with Qin. Thus the King of Chu will surely heed your advice, and Zhao Ju will meet with failure."
💡 商战启示录
Su Li's counsel reveals a profound wisdom in multi-party games: avoiding frontal attrition while preserving oneself and weakening rivals through strategic alliances and diplomatic maneuvering. In modern business, enterprises often face complex situations involving competition with peers and negotiations with upstream and downstream partners. For instance, in the ride-hailing sector, Didi and Kuaidi once engaged in fierce subsidy wars, draining enormous resources on both sides. At such moments, if one party chooses to reach an unspoken understanding with the other—or with a third party such as capital providers—to avoid wasteful confrontation and instead consolidate its own strengths, it often proves more sustainable in the long run. Similarly, when facing international competition, Huawei has sometimes opted to collaborate with rivals in developing standards, thereby averting mutually destructive outcomes while securing long-term advantages through technological accumulation and patent portfolios. The core insight lies in this: not all competition demands head-on confrontation. Sometimes, "secretly aligning with Qin"—that is, forging covert alliances with potential adversaries or complementary players—can allow one's opponents (such as Zhao Ju) to exhaust themselves in the open, while one conserves strength and ultimately appears more stable and trustworthy in the eyes of the decision-makers (the King of Chu, or the board of directors). This demands that leaders possess a panoramic vision, discern the true strategic threats, and resist being misled by short-term victories or defeats—thereby making optimal choices between "war" and "peace" to maximize their own interests.