King of Chu said to Nao Chi, "I intend to use the forces of Chu, joined by the armies of Qin, Han, Wei, Yan, and Zhao, to launch a joint attack against Qi. What do you think of this?" Nao Chi replied, "This cannot be done. Qi is a state of great merit under heaven. Its territory is sufficient to make it wealthy, and its armies are sufficient to make it powerful. If Your Majesty now seeks to attack it, this would be like carrying firewood to extinguish a blaze—the calamity would only grow greater. Moreover, Qi has its Nao Chi, just as Chu has its Zhao Xixi. If Your Majesty attacks Qi, you would be incurring enmity with all under heaven. I have heard it said: 'Weapons are instruments of ill omen; war is a perilous undertaking.' Now if Your Majesty mobilizes a million troops to attack Qi, I fear the victory cannot be assured. Better to reverse course, forge amity with Qi, and thereby secure the peace of Chu." The King of Chu said, "Well spoken." Thereupon he abandoned the plan to attack Qi.
💡 商战启示录
Nao Chi's counsel to the King of Chu against joining a multi-state campaign against Qi hinged on discerning the difference between a "blustering alliance" and "fundamental balances of power." In modern commercial warfare, enterprises are often tempted by "diversified expansion" or "joint encirclement of competitors," yet frequently overlook the mismatch between their rivals' moats and their own resource allocation. For instance, in 2015, when JD.com formed the "Jing-Teng Initiative" with Tencent and Baidu in an attempt to counter Alibaba, the latter's deep-rooted foundations in e-commerce ecosystem and data accumulation remained unshaken—indeed, the move only spurred Alibaba to fortify its own defenses. Nao Chi's wisdom lies in three principles: first, assess the opponent's "terrain and troops"—their core resources and market position—rather than mere surface-scale appearances; second, beware of resource depletion akin to "throwing fuel on fire"—a multi-party alliance may appear formidable, but the costs of coordination and internal discord are high, often leaving one's own strength gravely diminished; third, advocate "turning the tide by forging amity," resolving conflict through cooperation or differentiated positioning rather than head-on confrontation. Modern enterprises should cultivate strategic restraint, evaluating "whether victory is attainable" before engaging in competition; if the odds are slim, it is wiser to seek symbiosis or deepen one's own advantages, avoiding futile wars of attrition. This wisdom of "knowing when to stop" is precisely what is missing in many failed mergers and bouts of excessive competition.