36 Strategies Vernacular Full Translation

Chapter 7

The original classics trap the enemy's momentum, do not use war; damage the hard and gain the soft.

To encircle a situation where the enemy is encircled, it is not necessary to use a direct attack. It is entirely possible to adopt a strategy of standing still and not fighting, actively defending, making the best use of the situation, gradually consuming the enemy's regenerative power, and finally using the lifeline of the enemy's development to kill it. , can make the "strong enemy" suffer losses and make the "weak self" gain, so that one can become passive and active.This is the application of the principle of "loss of rigidity and benefit of softness".

The interpretation of "waiting for work with leisure" means that when the enemy's arrogance is high, in order to avoid the enemy's edge and effectively strengthen one's own strength, one should take the initiative to take the defensive position first, and at the same time actively defend, recharge your energy and store up energy to effectively control the enemy. Skillfully maneuver, mobilize it to run around on the preset battlefield, and when the enemy is fatigued and confused, their vigor is weakened, and the situation of the enemy and the enemy changes, they will quickly switch from defense to offense, and take the opportunity to attack and win.This plan emphasizes: If you want to put the enemy in a difficult situation, the only way to attack is not necessarily.The key is to seize the initiative at the right time, wait for the opportunity, respond to all changes with the same, brake with static, actively mobilize the enemy, try to lead the enemy by the nose, and create a decisive opportunity.Therefore, the "waiting" in this plan must not be understood as passive waiting, on the contrary, it is a proactive counterattack preparation.

War is a contest of "strength". Only by using wisdom, weakening and limiting the enemy's strength and enhancing the display of one's own strength can we be sure of victory. The strategy of "waiting for work with leisure" is an effective way to realize the transformation of "power".Treat the enemy's chaos with our rigor, and treat the enemy's panic with our calmness.In short, find ways to make the enemy travel long distances and tire yourself out!Treat the enemy's exhaustion with your own leisurely rest; treat the enemy's depletion of ammunition and food with your own abundance of supplies.Only in this way can the enemy be defeated.

In modern business warfare, "waiting for work with leisure" is a strategy to respond to all changes with the same, and to win big changes with small changes.This plan has the following meanings: First, it is to accumulate strength and wait for an opportunity.To defeat an opponent, one must first have a sufficient reserve of strength, and when one's own strength is not enough to defeat the opponent, one must not confront the opponent prematurely, but should actively retreat, use the opportunity effectively, expand strength, and free oneself Weak becomes strong.In short, when the time is not ripe, you must be good at waiting for the opportunity. You can use methods such as vain coping and deliberate delay to deal with the opponent. When the time comes, eliminate the opponent in one go.Secondly, when dealing with opponents, use defense as offense.When the opponent's aura is fierce, in order to reduce unnecessary sacrifices, try to make the opponent "alive and active", so that the physical strength is exhausted, the morale is low, and the purpose of weakening its strength is achieved.Sometimes, defense is to prepare for a bigger attack, and defense itself is a special way of attack. At this time, "not fighting" is better than fighting.A proactive and self-defensive non-fighting strategy can consume the opponent's strength and morale more than fighting.

When the opponent uses this timing, we should also actively take some preventive measures to deal with it: First, enter the battlefield first to gain a favorable position.Before the enemy enters the battlefield, there will be sufficient time to make adjustments, make pre-war preparations, and fully familiarize yourself with the environment, control the initiative of the war, and firmly grasp the key elements of winning the war.Secondly, be flexible and changeable, and simplicity is better than complexity.In war, it is necessary to abandon unnecessary actions, concentrate on completing key steps, and avoid unnecessary consumption.In addition, it is necessary to be flexible, to respond to all changes with the same, to respond to major changes with small changes, and to cause huge costs to the enemy with relatively little cost.Finally, recharge your batteries and weaken the enemy's strength.Use fatigue tactics to weaken the enemy's strength, and secretly accumulate its own strength to occupy an absolute advantage.

If this strategy is used properly, it will be possible to be outnumbered militarily and defeat the strong with the weak.In business wars and political life, one who is fully prepared in advance can calmly deal with external changes.In dealing with people, when encountering problems, it is safer to avoid conflicts, delay for a while, wait for all parties to calm down, and deal with them when the time is right."Procrastination" at this time is not slackening, nor is it evading, but a proactive solution, to wait and see the development and changes of things, seize the favorable opportunity, and solve the problem thoroughly.

Examples of Wisdom
Chong'er "retreats" to destroy the Chu army
In 655 BC, a civil strife occurred in Jin State over the succession to the throne. Prince Shensheng was forced to death, and his younger brother Chonger was forced to flee abroad.In 637 BC, Chong'er went into exile in the state of Chu.The king of Chu felt that Chong'er might return to Jin to seize the throne in the future, so he was very enthusiastic about Chong'er.

One day, King Cheng of Chu held a banquet in honor of Chonger, and the atmosphere was very warm.During the banquet, King Cheng saw that Chonger was a little drunk, so he took the opportunity to test: "Young master, if you can return to Jin to rule in the future, how will you repay me?" Chonger did not expect that King Cheng of Chu would ask such a question on such an occasion. I don't know how to answer.But based on his political experience, he still quickly replied: "Your Majesty, there are as many beauties as there are clouds in the state of Chu, mountains of gold, jade and jewels, beautiful and bright feathers, white and fine ivory, and durable leather. Everything in the state of Jin is better than that of Jin." It’s not a fraction of your country.” Chong’er felt ashamed, paused for a while and said, “Thanks to you, if Chong’er can return to Jin to win the throne, I will never forget your great kindness and virtue. In the future, like Jin and Chu If there is a war, I will definitely order the Jin army to retreat ninety miles, hoping that your majesty will forgive me." After hearing this, King Chu Cheng was not very satisfied, so he couldn't say anything.General Cheng Ziyu was a little angry, and quietly said to King Chu Cheng: "Chong'er speaks so arrogantly, he must be ungrateful in the future, the king should eradicate him as soon as possible, so as not to leave future troubles." King Chu Cheng did not adopt his opinion.

Afterwards, Chong'er went through hardships and finally returned to the state of Jin and ascended the throne of the king.He stepped up the reform of internal affairs, expanded the army, and rapidly strengthened the national power.In 635 BC, Cheng Ziyu, a general of Chu State, led his troops to attack Song State.While resisting, Song State discussed with Jin State about sending troops to rescue.After discussing with the ministers, Chonger decided to send troops to attack Cao and Wei who had just surrendered to Chu. If the Chu army went to rescue, Song could escape.King Cheng of Chu heard that the Jin army had captured Cao and Wei two countries one after another, and hurriedly ordered Cheng Ziyu to evacuate Song.Cheng Ziyu was overwhelmed and sent troops to attack the Jin army privately.Chonger ordered the Jin army to retreat, and the soldiers strongly opposed it. "It is a great shame for the Jin army to retreat in front of the Chu army. It will make the princes laugh. We should attack them by surprise and catch them by surprise." Minister Hu Yan explained : "At that time, the monarch promised to the king of Chu that if there was a conflict with the Chu army, he would 'retire three homes' to repay his great kindness. Today, our army temporarily retreats three homes, not only fulfilling the promise of the monarch, but also avoiding the edge of the Chu army. Let go of fighting spirit and then fight with them, and you will be sure of victory.” The soldiers of the Jin army retreated ninety miles, stopped at Chengzhi (now south of Zhixian County, Shandong Province), and waited in formation for the Chu army.Chong'er was restless, worried that the Jin army had never confronted the mighty Chu army, and also worried that the princes would blame him for his ingratitude.Suddenly, there was loud singing outside the tent, and all the soldiers were full of morale and were actively preparing to meet the enemy. Chong'er immediately strengthened his confidence in a decisive battle with Chu.At the beginning of the decisive battle, Chong'er sent a team of elite soldiers and strong generals to attack the weak link of the Chu army in chariots.At the same time, he commanded a part of the main force, pretended to continue to retreat, lured the main force of the Chu army to pursue them, brought them into the ambush circle of the Jin army, and wiped them all out.The Jin army won an all-round victory.

Chong'er took the advantage of "retreating from three homes" to calmly deploy the formation, and it is precisely the strategy of "waiting for work with ease", using static to move, grasping the initiative, actively mobilizing the enemy, and waiting for the opportunity to move, not only when the enemy is exhausted and unable to deal with it in one fell swoop. It was captured, and because many unnecessary blind actions were abandoned, many unnecessary sacrifices were reduced for the Jin army.

Huawei keeps a low profile

As the boss of private enterprise Huawei, Ren Zhengfei's low profile is well known in the industry.He himself never accepts any media interviews, and always builds an invisible self-protection net to keep himself out of the reach of the media.So much so that almost everyone thought that Ren Zhengfei was deliberately avoiding the media and keeping a distance from the media.So far, the media has relied entirely on Huawei to selectively release information about Ren Zhengfei. Therefore, no media has been able to grasp the details of Ren Zhengfei's life, let alone report it.As a result, Ren Zhengfei and Huawei have been shrouded in a layer of mystery by the outside world, so that reporters will never know what they are doing.Huawei's telecommunications equipment has dominated the international and domestic markets for many years, but in public, Huawei has never claimed to be the number one, and it has never advertised ostentatiously. Therefore, people can only occasionally read through news that Huawei has won a bid in a certain country or is doing a certain project. M&A transactions to speculate on the secret of Huawei's success. In 2001, before the split and reorganization of China's telecom market and the sluggishness of the global telecom market, many IT companies went public one after another, but Huawei insisted on not going public and not giving the media a chance to hype.

Ren Zhengfei is in the dark and the media is in the light. The media "sees flowers in the fog" of him, but he pays close attention to the media's movements through various channels. You can use the power of the media to achieve your goals.Because he knows that in China, the best relationship between entrepreneurs and the media lies in the strategy of closeness, neither too close nor too distant.Therefore, Ren Zhengfei can prevent the media from hyping up the details of his life forever, while he can freely control the media at any time.Huawei appreciates the "wolf pack tactics". The large investment in technology ensures the aggressiveness of wolves, and the practice of staying away from the public and avoiding the media is inevitable for "wolves make orders". In 2003, on the list of the top 7 Chinese electronics companies published by the media, Huawei’s turnover ranked [-]th, but its profit was the sum of the top three Haier, Lenovo and TCL, and it ranked first in profit for many years in a row. throne.The more Huawei stays away from the media hype, the more it will be enthusiastically sought after by the media and business people.Ren Zhengfei's articles on internal employees are also regarded by Japanese business people as important documents for studying Chinese management.

Ren Zhengfei's low-key in front of the media is actually a strategy of "stopping with silence" and "waiting for work with ease", and he has grasped the scale of low-key work well, and he has not gone to the two sides of getting along with the media like many Chinese entrepreneurs. Extreme: Either indulge the spread and let the hype prevail; or close yourself and block the source of the news.Huawei attacked at the right time, selectively released relevant news about the company, and focused most of its energy on cultivating the internal strength of the company, doing things quietly, and becoming famous in one fell swoop.Using this strategy, not only successfully got rid of external interference, but also successfully confused the opponent with "quietness", won a favorable time difference for his own rapid development, and hurt the enemy invisible.

High Wechat catches the thief

In daily life, the method of "waiting for work with leisure" is often used by people in various occasions.

The chemist Mr. Highway once cleverly used this strategy to successfully capture a jewelry thief.The stolen jewelry was a Kimberley black diamond collected by jeweler Mrs. Kaur, which was priceless.She praised everyone she met, as a magic weapon to attract business.One day, three gentlemen, Charle, Bello and Allen, came to visit, and Mrs. Kaul took them to the collection room, opened the box containing the diamonds, and immediately stunned the three of them by the dazzling and huge diamonds.As they savored the texture and color of the diamonds, they marveled at such a precious jewel.After the guests finished their rewards, Mrs. Cole closed the treasure chest, sealed it with a white seal smeared with paste, and invited the gentlemen to the living room for a chat.On this day, Mrs. Kaur noticed a strange coincidence among the three people—they all had some minor problems in their right fingers.One forefinger was daubed with purple; one thumb, obviously cut, was rubbed with red; one was daubed with iodine.The conversation was carried out in a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. The three gentlemen left the table to go to the bathroom one after another, but after returning to the living room, they were still chatting and laughing, and behaved normally.

When everyone was in high spirits, Mrs. Kaur's good friend Haiwei, a Ph.D. in chemistry, came to visit.So, Mrs. Kaul accompanied the doctor to visit the diamonds in the collection room again.When she peeled off the wet white seal and opened the lid of the box, she suddenly found that the diamond was gone.She cried out "God!" in despair and sat down on the ground.Although it can be concluded that the diamond will not fly out of the house in such a short period of time, it is still difficult to find such a small diamond if it is randomly hidden in one place.What's more, if you don't have a good reason, you can't search the guests casually.Dr. Haiwei thought for a while, then helped Mrs. Cole to the living room, explained the diamond theft to the three gentlemen, and then asked humorously: "Dear gentlemen, will this naughty diamond fly to you?" Are you in your hand?" The three gentlemen shrugged their shoulders, spread their hands, and said in unison: "It's absolutely impossible." After listening, Dr. Highway comforted Mrs. Kaur while saying calmly: "If you still If you want to see this diamond, then stay and wait patiently for a while."

After that, Haiwei carefully observed everyone's expressions, expressions and various subtle actions during the conversation with the guests.Soon, Haiwei's eyes quickly swept over everyone's hands, and then pointed to one of the gentlemen named Allen and said: "The matter has been revealed, and you are the one who stole the diamond." Allen immediately protested loudly: "You will damage my reputation and reputation by speaking without foundation." Mrs. Kaur did not want any guest to be wronged.Therefore, Haiwei pointed to Alan's blue-black thumb calmly, and said affirmatively: "The color of your finger says it all." Everyone stared at Dr. Haiwei in bewilderment.

Dr. Highway continued: "Just now, when I shook hands with all the gentlemen, I found that your fingers were painted with different colors. Charle painted purple syrup, Bello painted red syrup, and Alan painted iodine. The three of you have just seen the diamond, but the diamond is gone. I think, maybe some gentleman is playing a game of hide-and-seek with us." Dr. Haiwei looked around the crowd, and then said: "China has a wonderful There is a strategy called "wait for work with ease", so I used this strategy and let everyone here casually chat for a while. As expected, I got the result I wanted, and a miracle happened, you see..." Haiwei stood up, Go to Alan's side, grab Alan's finger, and show everyone: "Iodine was applied on Alan's finger, and when the iodine is in contact with the paste, the finger will change from yellow to blue-black. Because the sulphur in the iodine will chemically react with the starch in the paste. I don't think Mr. Allen touched the paste on the seal after Mrs. Call sealed the treasure box. It must not be just out of curiosity, right? "Alan was speechless at this time, lowered his head dejectedly, and obediently took out the diamond from the button that had been hidden.

The application of "waiting for work with leisure" in daily life can help people solve many difficult problems.Dr. Haiwei braked quietly, bought time, and observed secretly. After getting a sure result, he quickly changed from passive to active, and took control of the whole incident.By using the wisdom of "waiting for work with ease", he not only avoids the trouble caused by blind doubt, but also successfully helps Mrs. Kaur find the precious jewels, and the ending has the best of both worlds.

(End of this chapter)