36 Strategies Vernacular Full Translation

Chapter 36 Fishing in troubled waters
The original scriptures take advantage of its chaos, benefit its weak and have no master.Then, let Xiang Hui enter the banquet.

Taking advantage of the enemy's internal chaos and deteriorating situation, taking advantage of his weakness and panic and lack of core leadership, he made the most of the situation and made him follow me.This is just like what is said in Sui Gua Xiangci in "Book of Changes", it is as natural as people eat and sleep according to the time of day.

Interpretation of fish in muddy water, the original meaning is to intentionally muddy the water, while the fish flustered, at a loss, take the opportunity to catch it.It can be extended to say that in a turbulent situation, all kinds of forces are naturally drawn into the chaotic vortex.In order to seize the opportunity to expand our power, in a situation where there is nothing but mud and sand, and fish and dragons mixed together, we can take over those characters who are temporarily weak, whose position is not firm enough, and who do not know who to follow.This is a strategy to take advantage of the confused situation, take advantage of the opponent's hesitation, and reap the benefits of the fisherman.

A commonly used method in military operations is to disguise as enemy soldiers and penetrate into the enemy's interior as an auxiliary means to cooperate with the main attack.Mix up the water to catch fish, mess up the enemy's deployment, plan, and position, so as to win in chaos.

"Muddy water" is a necessary condition for using this plan.As for muddy water, it can be divided into two situations: one is that the water is originally muddy, and one side seizes the opportunity to win in chaos;Of course, the latter is more difficult, but it is also more widely used.

Because the cost of using this plan is low, and the goal can be easily achieved, so this plan is widely concerned and favored by people in the fields of war, shopping malls, life and the workplace.

To understand this timing, you should grasp the following meanings.

[-]. Take advantage of the chaotic situation and profit from it.There are many ways to profit from competition, among which profit from chaos is one of the better ways.Because everyone spends their energy on competing with each other, there will inevitably be many interests that have no time to take care of, and each of them will also expose many gaps to take advantage of.At this time, you can easily reap various benefits from it.Of course, turbulent and chaotic situations are not often encountered, so we must be good at grasping them and not let great opportunities slip away from us.

[-]. Disguise the real and fish in troubled waters.After the water is muddy, the visibility will inevitably become lower, and the fish will not be able to tell the direction in the water, and it will be more difficult to distinguish the authenticity from the fake.At this time, we disguise the false as the real, and mix it with the real. We can take advantage of the enemy's "concealment without detection" to draw in the forces that are beneficial to us and take it as our own.

[-]. Filling up the numbers. "Troubled waters" play the role of concealment and cover-up. Taking advantage of formal flaws and loopholes in management to tide over difficulties or obtain benefits is also part of the strategy of fishing in troubled waters.

When the other party adopts the strategy of fishing in troubled waters, we can take the following preventive measures to deal with it:

[-]. Guarantee a high-quality character, and keep the mud out of the mud without staining it.No matter how chaotic the situation is, you must always keep a clear head, because this is an effective measure to prevent the other party from profiting from it.As long as you can see the facts clearly, no matter how much the other party disturbs you, it will be useless.

[-]. When you are in chaos, you must be calm and calm, and you must not mess up your position, bump into it indiscriminately, let alone express your position at will.The most appropriate way is to temporarily hide in a relatively safe place and reappear when the weather is calm.

[-]. Escape from dangerous situations quickly to prevent being "touched" by the enemy.When we are afraid of being caught by the enemy and hide, we can't just close our eyes and hide our ears, but we must carefully distinguish the direction, and when we find favorable terrain, we must escape decisively to avoid falling into an irreversible passive situation.

Examples of Wisdom
Russian army false flag to lure the enemy
In military warfare, "fishing in troubled waters" is not only a practical method, but also a superb strategic application.The trick to this strategy is to seize opportunity.That is to take advantage of the opponent's confusion, weakness, and lack of mastery to lure and force him to enter our preset trap, so that our side can win.

From 1853 to 1856, the Crimean War, also known as the Eastern War, broke out between Russia and Britain, France, Turkey, and the Kingdom of Sardinia for two and a half years.

The war was started by Tsarist Russia.Russia attempted to rely on its status as an international gendarmerie after the failure of the European revolution in 1848 and take advantage of the decline of the Ottoman Empire to expand to the Balkan Peninsula and control the Bosporus Strait, the Dardanelles Strait and the Sea of ​​Marmara at the exit of the Black Sea. The Black Sea eventually became the inland sea of ​​Tsarist Russia.

Unfortunately, the British and French colonialists also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to intensify their aggression against the Middle East, thereby expanding their respective capital markets.At the same time, the Turkish government, instigated by Britain and France, was not to be outdone by Tsarist Russia, and attempted to compete with Tsarist Russia for the Crimea Peninsula and the South Caucasus with the help of Britain and France.All countries have ambitions and are ready to go.

In October 1853, the Russo-Turkish war first broke out.Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia have successively stood on the side of Turkey.In the early days of the war, fighting took place simultaneously in the Danube valley, along the Black Sea coast, and in the Caucasus.Among them, the biggest battle was the Sinop naval battle on the Black Sea coast in northern Turkey.In this battle, Nakhimov led the Russian navy to successfully destroy the Turkish fleet.

The reason why the Russian Navy was able to win the first battle was largely due to the strategy of "fishing in troubled waters". In mid-November 1853, the Turkish navy was at a disadvantage when resisting the Russian navy in the Black Sea, and was retreating steadily. Finally, it had to retreat to Sinop Bay to wait for the rescue of the British and French navies.At this time, General Nakhimov, the commander of the Russian fleet, skillfully took advantage of the psychology of the Turkish fleet waiting for the rescue of the British and French navies, and resorted to the strategy of "fishing in troubled waters".

Battle of Sinop

On the morning of November 11, heavy fog fell in Sinop Bay.In order to prevent the attack of the Russian navy, the Turkish fleet began to moor as close to the coast as possible.At noon, the sea breeze blew away the dense fog and the visibility at sea increased.The watchmen of the Turkish fleet suddenly found 30 battleships and 6 cruisers flying the British "M" flag, sailing quickly towards Sinop Bay with full sails.Osman, commander of the Turkish fleet, was overjoyed when he saw that the British fleet had come to support him, and immediately arranged for contact and deployment to meet him.However, at 2:12, when the 30 warships with the "M" flag were approaching the Turkish fleet, they suddenly turned around and quickly aimed their muzzles behind them at the Turkish fleet.At the same time, the "rice" flag fell, and the Russian "cross" flag rose slowly.The dense shells rushed towards the Turkish fleet like a storm.

Osman was terrified and immediately ordered his fleet to fight back, but it was too late.Since the gunners could not be in place quickly, the Turkish fleet immediately fell into a passive situation.In addition, there are only 16 small-caliber artillery shells on Turkey's 510 warships, while the Russian fleet is equipped with 720 shells, and a large part of them have calibers and ranges that exceed those of the Turkish army.Therefore, even though the Turkish army finally had 38 guns participating in the battle, some shells even hit their own warship amidst the billowing smoke.Osman, the coach of the Turkish army, saw that the defeat was set, and in order to escape from the dead, he ordered the fleet to break through the siege.Unexpectedly, in the end the ship sank and the crew died, and he himself became a prisoner of the Russian army.

In this battle, the reason why the Russian army was able to quickly gain an advantage was that it used the method of disguising the flag, making the Turkish army ecstatic for the arrival of reinforcements, and then completely relaxed their vigilance while being deceived.At this time, the Russian army was fishing in troubled waters. When the Turkish fleet could not distinguish the situation, they fought actively and resolutely, and finally caused the weak Turkish army to suffer a disastrous defeat.

Tan Kah Kee strives to protect the homeland

If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if the water is muddy, it is easy to catch fish. "Fishing in troubled waters" means winning in chaos.In the business war, many merchants want to get big "fish" from the big "fish pond" of the market, but not everyone can get what they want.When facing severe competition, shrewd businessmen and successful entrepreneurs often adopt the method of "fishing in troubled waters" to confuse the water in the "fish pond" to create a chaotic situation in the market, and then use their own wisdom to quietly Touch the big "fish" and make a big profit.This is how Mr. Tan Kah Kee's "Tomorrow" tire was passed down as a good story.

Tan Kah Kee

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a Sanli company in the United States that specialized in the production of tires.The president of the company is always actively looking for opportunities to let its "Shengli" brand tires occupy the Southeast Asian market in one fell swoop.Finally, Shengli Company set its sights on Singapore.

When "Shengli" entered the Singapore market, the first thing it had to face was the challenge from the "Tomorrow" brand tire created by Mr. Tan Kah Kee.However, Tan Kah Kee's "Tomorrow" brand tire production started relatively late, and at that time it could not compare with Shengli Company in terms of capital and technology.Especially in terms of production cost, "Tomorrow" tires are nearly twice as high as "Shengli", so "Shengli" company still has an advantage in the competition.

In addition, the price of "Shengli" brand tires in the Singapore market is only 20 Singapore dollars each, and retailers are allowed to defer payment for 3 months.At that time, the "Tomorrow" brand tires produced by Mr. Tan Kah Kee's company sold for as much as SGD 50 each. The disadvantage of its competition was obvious.In addition, the "Shengli" brand tires are strong and durable, and are quite famous in the European and American markets, while the "Tomorrow" tires are little known in the international market, even in China, not many people know about them.

Therefore, in order to consolidate its advantages and seize the market, "Shengli" company decided to adopt a variety of marketing methods to completely devour Singapore's national industry and eventually occupy the tire market in Singapore and even the entire Southeast Asia.

At the same time, for the survival of the "Tomorrow" tire factory and the future of Singapore's national industry, Mr. Tan Kah Kee, the president of the "Tomorrow" tire factory, immediately transferred all the funds belonging to his companies from all over the world to Singapore, vowing to be with "Tomorrow" "Sacred Power" launched a struggle to maintain the national industry on the land of Singapore.

However, Mr. Chen deeply knows that it is very likely to fail in a direct business battle with a world-renowned large company, relying solely on his own strength.Therefore, he and his subordinates formulated two plans for this commercial war in detail: first, unite Singapore’s chambers of commerce and guilds, let them help carry out national patriotic education, encourage the people to use national products, boycott foreign products, and form a solid national unity Second, try every means to destroy the corporate image of "Shengli" in Singapore, so as to fundamentally reverse the situation and eventually drive "Shengli" out of Singapore.

Due to the great prestige of Mr. Tan Kah Kee in Singapore, a national united front against American goods was soon formed.The people were all moved by Mr. Chen's strong patriotic spirit, and expressed their firm support for "Tomorrow" company.At the same time, Mr. Chen also asked the employees of "Tomorrow" to work overtime to rapidly expand production.Good-quality tires should also be marked with the "Tomorrow" brand and sold at a price of SGD 50; while tires with poor quality will be marked with "Sacred Power" and put on the market at a price of SGD 10.

Sure enough, the "Tomorrow" company's goal was quickly achieved, and the real and fake "Shengli" tires flooded the market for a while.Consumers agree that although the price of "Tomorrow" is high, the quality is guaranteed; while "Shengli" sells inferior products with low prices and poor quality.In addition, the price of "Shengli" company has fluctuated from high to low, causing many wholesalers in Singapore to question, and they no longer dare to buy "Shengli" tires with erratic prices.

The reason why Mr. Chen dared to do this is because he learned that the "Shengli" tire factory actually despised Singapore in its attitude, so it did not register the "Shengli" brand trademark.When they found out that the "Tomorrow" company counterfeit the "Shengli" tires, they could only have misery and had no right to file a lawsuit to protect the trademark.In the end, the "Shengli" company had to swallow the bitter wine it had brewed, withdrew its Singapore branch, and never appeared in the Asian market again.

Mr. Chen's strategy to capture the market is really ingenious.This kind of "fishing in troubled waters" method of disrupting the market and taking advantage of the opportunity seems to be contrary to business ethics, but from the perspective of defending one's own national industry, it is commendable.

Liu Xiu eats like a tiger
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, was a very strategic politician.Before he ascended the throne, he fought Wang Lang in the Hebei area for more than 20 days, and finally captured Handan, killed Wang Lang, and succeeded.Before that, when Wang Lang became king in Handan, when his army was abundant, there was an interesting story.

At that time, Liu Xiu was afraid to confront Wang Lang due to Wang Lang's strength, so he brought a few cronies to Jizhou.At that time, there was a mutiny in Jizhou, and everyone responded to Wang Lang and arrested Liu Xiu.Liu Xiu had no choice but to rush out of the city gate and fled south in a hurry.

When the group fled to Raoyang, they ran out of ammunition and food, and were very hungry.Liu Xiu suddenly slapped his thigh, and told everyone a way to eat like a tiger: pretend to be Wang Lang's envoy and cheat the post station to eat.

So, everyone dressed up and walked into the post in the name of Wang Lang's envoy.The officials of the post station believed it was true, so they dared not to be negligent, and hurriedly prepared delicious food to entertain them.A group of people who hadn't had a full meal for several days began to devour it.Their embarrassment aroused the suspicion of officials.

In order to distinguish the authenticity, the officials of the post station deliberately beat the drum dozens of times, shouting that the King of Handan is coming.This shout stunned everyone, and everyone's palms were sweating.Liu Xiu couldn't help standing up in shock, but he soon calmed down again.I thought to myself, if the King of Handan really came, he would not be able to escape, so it is better to play it by ear.So, he gave everyone a wink, intending to make everyone calm down.He sat down slowly by himself, and said calmly: "I've wanted to see King Handan for a long time. I'm so happy today."

Liu Xiu used a small trick of "fishing in troubled waters" in exchange for enough food and drink in a difficult situation. Afterwards, in order not to reveal their identities, the group left the post station immediately.The use of this plan here is a typical manifestation of its small use and small effect.

(End of this chapter)