After King Hui of Qin passed away, Gongsun Yan sought to oust Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi said, "The king is dead—what is there for me to cling to? I hear that Gongsun Yan, in his scheme to remove me, means to use my carriages and retinue, sending them through many places and draining much wealth, to trap me in distress. I intend to strike first." He then sent word to King Wu of Qin, saying, "I have heard that Gongsun Yan wishes to oust me, and I beg to preempt him." King Wu asked, "How shall you proceed?" Zhang Yi replied, "I request to go and pay homage to the King of Wei, who will surely hold me in high regard. Meanwhile, I shall use my carriages and retinue to pass through Wei, letting him squander much wealth to ensnare me. I ask to bring many carriages but little money, to counter his design." King Wu consented. Zhang Yi then journeyed to Wei, where the King of Wei received him with great reverence. Zhang Yi said, "The reason I have come is to serve Your Majesty. Now that you treat me as a mere guest, I beg to take my leave." The King of Wei replied, "I wish you would stay and serve me—pray, what counsel do you offer?" Zhang Yi said, "I have heard that Gongsun Yan seeks to oust me by using my carriages and retinue, passing repeatedly through Wei and expending vast sums, to bring me to ruin. I request to traverse Wei with my carriages and retinue, and if Your Majesty grants me ample wealth to entrap me, then I shall indeed fall into distress. I planned to strike first, and so I have come to see you. If Your Majesty wishes to ruin me, I shall pass through with my equipage, spending freely." The King of Wei laughed and said, "Say no more—I shall let your carriages and retinue pass, and give you abundant wealth, to counter Gongsun Yan." Zhang Yi replied, "Excellent." Thus Zhang Yi traveled through Wei with his carriages and retinue, and the King of Wei bestowed upon him great riches. When Zhang Yi returned to Qin, King Wu, upon hearing of this, remarked, "Does Gongsun Yan truly intend to oust Zhang Yi?" He then summoned Gongsun Yan and stripped him of his position as prime minister. And so Zhang Yi was able to carry out his stratagem.
💡 商战启示录
In this stratagem, Zhang Yi exemplifies the classic arts of the "counter-espionage scheme" and "information manipulation." By proactively bringing his adversary's intentions into the open and exploiting information asymmetry, he led the King of Wei to believe he was cooperating with Gongsun Yan, when in truth he was using the king's hand to deplete Gongsun Yan's political capital. In modern business, this parallels "strategic misdirection" and "resource attrition warfare" between corporations. For instance, when tech company A learns that competitor B plans to suppress it through a price war, A refrains from a direct confrontation. Instead, it deliberately leaks word that it will launch a low-cost product, inducing B to pour massive funds into expanding capacity and cutting prices. A then pivots to the high-end market, leaving B ensnared in cost distress from its overinvestment. Zhang Yi's brilliance lies not only in defusing his own crisis but in turning the tables so that his adversary pays the price. This teaches enterprises that, when facing hostile competition, rather than meeting force with force, one should guide the opponent onto a battlefield of one's own choosing, using their overreaction to drain their resources while preserving one's own strategic flexibility and informational edge. The key lies in the decision-maker's keen insight—anticipating the rival's moves and skillfully employing third parties, such as the King of Wei, as pawns to achieve a commercial victory "without battle, subduing the enemy's will."