36 Strategies Vernacular Full Translation

Chapter 13
plant trees to make money
In the business war, due to the lack of favorable geographical advantages, the bad luck of closing down often happens.Take a look at how the small hotel owner below used the wisdom of "creating something out of nothing" to avoid bankruptcy and grow his business bigger and bigger!

Wooden Hotel is located in a remote place, so it has been in poor condition since it opened, and the situation is very bad.

One day, the owner of the hotel looked helplessly at the barren hills behind him in a daze.People often say: "The weather is right, the location is right, and the people are harmonious." The owner thought to himself, there are neither cultural relics and historic sites of world civilization, nor unique and attractive scenery here, so how can I attract customers?Watching, watching, the master took care of it.

Soon, a distinctive poster appeared in the streets and alleys of the city, signed "Wooden Hotel Announcement".The poster reads: "Dear passenger: Hello! This hotel has a constant flow of clear springs, and there is a large open space in the back mountain, which is vast. The green grass on the mountain is endless, and the vast field is dotted with countless exotic flowers and plants. Gorgeous. This wonderful place is specially reserved for tree planting by tourists staying in our hotel. If you are interested, welcome to plant a small tree, and our store will take photos for you for free. In addition, you can also Write your name and the date of tree planting on the special wooden sign. In this way, if you come again, you will be able to see that the small tree you planted by yourself has flourished and flourished. Our store only charges [-] yen for saplings. will take care of your tree forever."

This small poster quickly spread in the streets and alleys.People talked a lot and told each other: "Hey, I think it's really meaningful to plant trees behind the hotel as a souvenir!" "Yes, my child just happened to be born this year. If I go there and plant a tree of the same age for him , how valuable it is!

Soon, the poster brought a good publicity effect to the small hotel.Wooden Hotel no longer has to worry about the source of customers. People who planted memorial trees came in droves, and the small hotel suddenly became a bustling scene.Among these guests, there are innocent children, literati who dance ink and recite poems, wealthy people with a lot of money, students who concentrate on their studies, dignitaries in political circles who govern the country and manage daily affairs, and busy ordinary people.In short, people of all identities come for the gloomy oasis they yearn for.As a result, because there were too many customers, Kimoto Hotel not only retained all the clerks who were about to be dismissed due to the poor management, but also expanded its scale and recruited a group of new employees.A few years later, the back hill of Wooden Hotel has become a picturesque scene with verdant trees.

Of course, the owner of the hotel also made enough money to transform the already somewhat outdated building into an extremely stylish Wooden Hotel.An ingenious statement can successfully cover up the white lie of the merchant "creating something out of nothing" while attracting customers' attention.Firmly grasp the customer's psychology, make a small change, and finally get a big business opportunity. It can be said that in business wars, success always favors those who are prepared.

Prince Li Jili

The strategy of "creating something out of nothing" is often used in political struggles by those who want to seize power and usurp the throne, and achieve their own political goals by framing others.

In 663 BC (the 15th year of Duke Xiangong of Jin Dynasty), the state of Jin defeated Li Rong (ancient family name).Li Rong begged for peace, so he dedicated his beloved daughter Li Ji to Xian Gong.Because Li Ji was young, beautiful, and full of charm, Xian Gong loved her very much, and soon made her his wife.Li Ji gradually won the trust of Jin Xiangong and began to participate in the government.

Later, Li Ji gave birth to a baby boy, named Xi Qi.Li Ji wholeheartedly wanted Jin Xiangong to make Xi Qi the prince to inherit the throne so that she could be more honorable in the future.However, at that time, the state of Jin had made Shen Sheng, the son of Duke Xian's late wife Qi Jiang, the crown prince, and Li Ji was very distressed.Duke Xian of Jin had a favorite actor named Xiao Shi, who had an affair with Li Ji. Li Ji asked Xiao Shi, "I want to make Xi Qi the crown prince, but I'm worried that the sons of Shen Sheng, Chong Er, and Yi Wu will object. What should I do?" " Xiao Shi said: "Arrange them early, let them know that their status has reached the peak, and they will not be able to climb up, so that they will not covet the position of the monarch."

Therefore, Li Ji bought Liang Wu and Yan Wu, the doctors of Jin, and instructed them to say to Duke Xian of Jin: "Quwo (now northeast of Wenxi County, Shanxi Province) is where the ancestral temple of the Jin Kingdom is located. It is best to send Prince Shensheng to guard it. , Pucheng (now Luliang County, Shanxi Province) and Nanbeiqu (southeast of Shilou County, Shanxi Province) are frontier fortresses, and it is best to send sons Chonger and Yiwu to defend respectively." Xian Gong was in the middle of the night, and Li Ji cried in front of Xiangong in the middle of the night Said: "I heard that Shen Sheng is very good at buying people's hearts. I am afraid that he will kill you and seize the throne." Xian Gong said: "How can Shen Sheng love his people but not his own father?"

Li Ji saw that Duke Xiang still trusted the prince, so she resorted to the strategy of "creating something out of nothing" to tell the truth.

One day, Li Ji persuaded Jin Xiangong to recall the prince, and the prince went to see Li Ji after seeing Jin Xiangong.Li Ji deliberately invited the prince to dinner, and the conversation was very pleasant.The next day, the prince entered the palace to thank him, and Li Ji invited him to dinner again.That night, Li Ji cried to Duke Xian of Jin, saying that the crown prince had molested her, and said wildly that "my father is old now".Jin Xiangong didn't believe it, so Li Ji took the opportunity of going to the Royal Zoo to make friends with the prince, and asked Xiangong to observe on the stage.

The next day, Li Ji put honey on her hair first, so that the bees gathered around her hair.Then he said to the prince: "Prince, can you help me drive them away?" The prince hurriedly chased the bees behind her with his sleeve. Immediately wanted to kill the prince.Li Ji knelt down and begged: "I asked the prince to come back, but he was killed. I killed him. Besides, outsiders will make irresponsible remarks about these things in the palace, so bear with it." Jin Xiangong said angrily. Drive the prince back to Quwo, and order his subordinates to secretly collect evidence of the prince's crimes, waiting for an opportunity to abolish him.

With these foreshadowing, Li Ji's plan became like a fish in water.One day, taking advantage of the opportunity that Prince Shensheng sent a piece of sacrificial meat from Quwo to Jin Xiangong, Li Ji secretly put poison in the sacrificial meat, and then accused the prince of murdering Xiangong, and framed Chonger and Yiwu. Also participated in Shen Sheng's conspiracy.As a result, Chong'er and Yiwu were forced to Di and Liang countries. Shen Sheng was notorious and could not wash his hands, so he hanged himself to death.Seeing that the time was right, Li Ji forced Xian Gong to make Xi Qi the crown prince.

The treacherous and cunning Li Ji, who flattered and courted pity, used several tricks of "creating something out of nothing" and soliciting truths to frame Jin Xiangong's favorite son, and successfully achieved her goal of establishing the crown prince.While lamenting that Lord Jin Xiangong is so biased, we also feel deeply sorry for the son's departure and the prince's injustice! The strategy of "creating something out of nothing" is used by the wicked, and it really harms people!
Zhang Yi overcame difficulties

The strategy of "creating something out of nothing" once helped Zhang Yi, a famous strategist in the Warring States Period, overcome the difficulties of poverty.

During Zhang Yi's stay in Chu State in his early years, he was not reused by King Huai of Chu.Therefore, the long-term homelessness made his daily expenses a problem, and his followers even complained about him.Zhang Yi told everyone unhurriedly that she would soon be able to get out of the predicament.

A few days later, Zhang Yi bid farewell to King Huai of Chu and went to Zheng State to seek development.King Huai of Chu didn't like him at first, so he readily agreed.Zhang Yi said to King Huai of Chu: "Your Majesty has treated me very well these days. Next time I come to Chu, I must bring you some local products from Zheng." You don’t need to bring me anything unusual.” Zhang Yi said, “Yes, there is nothing unusual in Zheng Guo, but the beauties in Zheng Guo are famous all over the world. I heard that all the beauties there come down to earth like fairies, Your Majesty Aren’t you interested in such local products?” The lustful King Huai of Chu was elated when he heard this, and immediately rewarded Zhang Yi with a lot of gold, silver and jewels, and asked him to go to Zheng State to buy more “local products”.

When Zhang Yi returned to his residence, he immediately asked his entourage to publicize the news that he was going to Zheng Guo to help King Huai of Chu choose beauties.Soon, as Zhang Yi expected, this incident reached the ears of Nan Hou and his favorite concubine Zheng Xiu.They were afraid of falling out of favor, so they quickly found Zhang Yi and begged him not to go to Zheng Guo to choose a daughter for King Huai of Chu.However, Zhang Yi agreed to King Huai of Chu with an excuse, not to slip up.Seeing this, Nanhou and Zheng Xiu immediately gave Zhang Yi a lot of gold and silver treasures. Zhang Yi thought about it and said to them: "Well, when I leave Chu and bid farewell to the king, if you two come to see me off in person , I have a plan to make the king dispel the idea of ​​looking for the beauty of Zheng Guo." Nan Hou and Zheng Xiu nodded.

Two days later, King Huai of Chu held a banquet for Zhang Yi's farewell party, and Nan Hou and Zheng Xiu also offered to accompany him.When Nan Hou and Zheng Xiu toasted Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi immediately knelt down in front of King Huai of Chu, and kowtowed desperately, begging for mercy: "I deserve death. Please punish me!" King Huai of Chu was at a loss, so he asked, "You What crime did you commit?" Zhang Yi said: "I have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. Your Majesty, I thought that Zheng Guo's beauties were unmatched, but after seeing your two concubines today, I realized that they are the most beautiful in the world. Your Majesty's woman is by your side. So I said that I have committed the crime of deceiving the king, please punish me!"

After hearing this, King Huai of Chu realized that he had been cheated by Zhang Yi, but because the two concubines were present, he couldn't justify himself, so he had to find a way for himself: "The widow has long said that two concubines are the most beautiful in the world." Beauty, Zheng Guo's local products are just a joke with you, I think you are always loyal, so I will spare you your innocence."

The down-and-out Zhang Yi took advantage of King Huai of Chu's lust and his concubine's jealousy to kill three birds with one stone.On the one hand, by making King Huai of Chu yearn for the beauties of Zheng State, he defrauded a lot of property from her; In the end, he cleverly facilitated the favored concubine to attend the banquet, so that King Huai of Chu could not blame himself due to the situation, and finally escaped the disaster of beheading.

interesting interview

Faced with many talented and outstanding job seekers, companies want to select people who match their own culture and values, so they might as well learn from the "creating out of nothing" strategy adopted by the following company.

When a well-known foreign-funded company in Shanghai recruited a department head, the salary was very generous, so the competition was extremely fierce.With good qualifications and excellent test results, Li Yan was fortunate to be one of the ten re-examination candidates.

The re-examination is personally interviewed by the president.Soon, it was Li Yan's turn.He walked into the examination room nervously, and before he could sit down, a man in his 40s ran over and hugged him with surprise on his face: "I finally found you!" Li Yan looked at the people around him blankly. The reaction told him that this is the president of the company.The president turned around happily and said to others: "It's this young man! Thanks to him who saved my daughter in the East Lake last week! He left without leaving a name. I didn't expect to meet him here!"

Li Yan suddenly felt hot all over, as if he saw the goddess of luck smiling at him.But soon, there was another rational voice in his heart constantly reminding him.So he calmed down and told himself that honesty was more important to him than getting into this dream company.

"I'm sorry, sir, you have identified the wrong person." He calmly said to the president.

"Wrong person? No, it's impossible. Last Tuesday, April [-]rd, East Lake in Donghu Park, I still remember that young man with a mole on his face."

Li Yan became more calm: "You have indeed identified the wrong person, sir. I haven't been to Donghu Park last week."

Two days later, Li Yan received an recruitment call from the Human Resources Department.Of the ten people who participated in the interview with him at the beginning, only three were hired.After joining the company, while chatting with the secretary, Li Yan inquired by the way: "Have you found the savior of the president's daughter?"

"The president's daughter?" Miss Secretary didn't react for a while, and then she laughed loudly: "What, the president doesn't have a daughter at all. During the interview, seven people were eliminated because of his daughter."

When enterprises select talents, they often identify the talents and comprehensive qualities of candidates.And a person's qualities and talents are often revealed at some extremely important and very occasional moments.Therefore, more and more companies will deliberately set some specific situations to better identify whether the applicant is the best candidate for their company's needs.In order to select suitable candidates, the president of this company has put in good intentions and adopted the strategy of "making something out of nothing" to test the conscience and humanity of each applicant, and weed out those applicants who are not honest enough in the face of luck. employees.

(End of this chapter)