36 Stratagems: Living Application (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Liu Ye / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Applying the 36 Stratagems in Real Life and Military Affairs – He Ruo Bi’s Attack on Chen’s “Deceiving the Heavens” in Military Strategy is indeed a deceptive tactic that conceals the true intention while displaying a false front, used for operational camouflage to achieve surprise combat effects. In 589 AD, the Sui Dynasty prepared to launch a major attack on the Chen Dynasty. Before the battle, Sui general He Ruo Bi was ordered to command the river defense, frequently organizing redeployments of the river guard units. Each redeployment required the troops to gather at Lixiang. He also specially ordered that when the army gathered, they must display a large number of flags and set up numerous camps, creating a show of force to mislead the Chen Dynasty. True enough, the Chen Dynasty could not discern the truth. At first, they thought a large army was coming and mobilized all their troops and horses to prepare for battle. However, soon after, they discovered it was merely a redeployment of the Sui army’s guards, not an offensive action, and the Chen army withdrew its assembled troops for battle. This happened repeatedly. The frequent redeployments of the Sui army made the Chen Dynasty so accustomed to it that their vigilance slackened. By the time He Ruo Bi’s main Sui army crossed the river, the Chen Dynasty had not even noticed. The Sui army descended like an unstoppable force, catching the Chen troops off guard, and swiftly captured Chen’s Nanxu Prefecture.
The 36 Stratagems and Business – The Real Estate Developer’s “Deception Technique” The application of “Deceiving the Heavens” in business is: when facing a competitor well-prepared, one must resort to unconventional strategies to win. Concealing the true intention and creating a false appearance, striking at unexpected moments and attacking unguarded weaknesses, is precisely to create the opportunity for “Exploiting the Gap and Attacking Secretly.” A small real estate developer in Hong Kong, He Lijie, was preparing to collaborate with a powerful urban construction and development company to develop a piece of land he owned. This land was adjacent to a major transportation hub and was in a prime location. The construction company planned to build a large-scale commercial plaza there, and even their design department presented a plan before negotiations, determined to secure it. After repeated contacts and negotiations with the representatives of the construction company, the talks reached a stalemate. He Lijie knew the construction company was indeed interested in this project, so he raised the price of the land. The construction company knew He Lijie was just a small real estate developer with only this one piece of land, so they refused to budge either. What to do? He Lijie pretended to abandon the plan to develop the land with the construction company. He spent his days associating with a wealthy Arab businessman. They had lunch together many times and even went to dance halls and homes together, appearing extremely close. This frequent interaction finally drew the attention of the construction company’s intelligence personnel. Combined with the fact that Arab merchants were involved in real estate at the time, they suspected He Lijie was planning to collaborate with the Arab businessman, and He Lijie intentionally spread similar rumors. This made the construction company restless, as they had a very optimistic view of the land’s potential and considered it the main project for the company’s development in the next three years, determined to secure it. Fearing He Lijie would sell the land to another company, the construction company made concessions in subsequent negotiations, while He Lijie emerged victorious. Not only could he enjoy a 40% share of the profits after the project was completed, but he also received HK$3 million in compensation immediately after the contract was signed. P4-5