Zhang Yi, promoting the strategy of horizontal alliance for the state of Qin, went to persuade King Xuan of Qi, saying: “No state under heaven is more powerful than Qi; no courtiers or kinsmen of the ruling house are more wealthy and content than those of Qi. Yet among those about Your Majesty there are those who bear me ill will—for no other reason than that they wish to cede Qi’s territory to curry favor with Qin. This is what I privately doubt. Qi has defeated Chu in the south, broken Song in the east, bent Qin to its will in the west, and crushed Yan in the north; in between, it has driven the rulers of Han and Wei before it. Its territory is vast, its troops mighty—in battle it is sure to win, in attack sure to take. It issues commands to all under heaven. The Ji River runs clear, the Yellow River runs turbid—enough to serve as a bulwark; the Great Wall and the Ju Defense are enough to serve as a fortress. Qi is a state that has fought five great wars, yet should it suffer one defeat, Qi would cease to exist. Thus it is clear: war is the great matter upon which the survival of a state of ten thousand chariots hangs. Moreover, I have heard: ‘To fell a tree, one must cut at the root; one does not neighbor calamity, and so calamity does not arise.’ When Qin and Chu went to war, Qin utterly routed Chu’s army, struck at Ying, and seized Dongting, Wudu, and Jiangnan. The King of Chu fled east and hid himself in Chen. At that time, had Qin pressed its victory and pursued Chu, then Chu could have been extinguished. Had Chu been extinguished, its people would have sufficed for our plunder, its land for our gain; to the east one could have weakened Qi and Yan, and in the central plains bullied Han, Zhao, and Wei. Thus in a single stroke one could achieve the fame of a hegemon and king, and the four neighboring lords would all come to court. But the counselors of Qin did not do this; instead they withdrew their troops and made peace with Chu. Now the men of Chu have gathered their remnants, collected their scattered people, rebuilt their altars of state, and set up their ancestral temples, leading the lords of the world westward to oppose Qin. This I have already grieved over on Your Majesty’s behalf. Moreover, mighty Qin is the sovereign of all under heaven—why should Your Majesty alone choose to serve it? If Your Majesty serves Qin, Qin will surely deem you loyal, and the state will enjoy long peace; if you do not serve Qin, then Qin will surely deem you rebellious, and the state will be imperiled. This is why I have made plans for Your Majesty. If Your Majesty heeds my counsel, I beg to make Qin and Qi brother states, neither attacking the other, never harming each other forever. I beg that Qin’s wealth be made heavy, and Qi’s territory broad. If Qin’s wealth is heavy, it benefits Qi; if Qi’s territory is broad, it also benefits Qin. Therefore I hope Your Majesty will give some consideration to my proposal.” King Xuan of Qi said: “I respectfully heed your instruction.” Thereupon he made peace with Qin and sent Su Dai to report back to Qin.
💡 商战启示录
Zhang Yi's core strategy in forging a horizontal alliance with the King of Qi lay in precisely identifying the adversary's "critical pain points" and "long-term interests," reshaping the competitive landscape through a combination of coercion and inducement. In modern business, this parallels "co-opetition strategy" and "niche game theory." For instance, the historic "Wintel alliance" between Intel and Microsoft dominated the PC market through complementary cooperation rather than confrontation, with both parties achieving exponential growth—much like the Qin-Qi alliance, where each ceded short-term gains (such as technology standard licensing) in exchange for long-term market synergy. Zhang Yi's admonition to "uproot the tree and sever the roots, and keep no company with calamity" reminds enterprises to avoid zero-sum attritional warfare in competition, and instead proactively seek "win-win leverage." Consider Apple and Samsung: mortal rivals in the smartphone market, yet indispensable partners in the chip supply chain—Samsung supplies OLED screens to Apple, while Apple provides Samsung with stable orders, maintaining a dynamic equilibrium of competition and interdependence that fortifies each other's moats. Zhang Yi also excelled at deploying "threat perception"—warning that if Qi refused cooperation, Qin would unite other states to encircle it—which corresponds to "ecosystem deterrence" in business. When Huawei faced alliance-based encirclement in the 5G arena, it broke through by opening up the HarmonyOS ecosystem and building a "circle of friends" as a countermeasure. The true wisdom of commercial warfare lies not in annihilating one's rivals, but in designing a game structure in which opponents are compelled to cooperate, positioning oneself as an indispensable node within the ecosystem—thereby securing pricing power and voice. This is the essence of the "horizontal alliance" strategy as applied to modern commerce.