Economic Weapon
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Duke Huan, the ruler of Qi, consulted with his prime minister, Guan Zhong, on how to conquer two of Qi’s neighboring states, Lu and Liang.
Guan Zhong said, “Both Lu and Liang are producers of brocade. I suggest that Your Highness put on clothes made of brocade and instruct all government officials to do the same. The people of Qi will likely follow suit. At the same time, you issue a decree to stop all domestic production of brocade. As a result, brocade must be imported from Lu and Liang.”
Duke Huan began wearing a brocade robe in public. Meantime, Guan Zhong placed a large order for the fabric with the merchants of Lu and Liang. He told them that Qi would pay three thousand ounces of gold for every thousand bolts of brocade to meet popular demand.
Elated, the rulers of Lu and Liang urged their people to devote themselves to making brocade.
Thirteen months later, Guan Zhong learned that the people of Lu and Liang were so busy making brocade that they had neglected farming. There was an endless line of wagons transporting brocade to Qi.
“Now it is time to conquer them,” Guan Zhong told the duke.
“How?”
“Please stop wearing anything made of brocade and change to clothes made of fine silk instead. At the same time, close the borders and cut off the traffic with Lu and Liang.”
Neither Lu nor Liang made fine silk. Ten months later, Guan Zhong learned that the people in Lu and Liang were starving; the governments had no revenue. As grain could not be produced in a short time, its price in both states shot up to ten times that in Qi. Soon the economy of the two neighbors collapsed.
In two years, sixty percent of the population in Lu and Liang emigrated to Qi. At the end of another year, the rulers of Lu and Liang were compelled to subject themselves to the rule of Qi.
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Wise Proverbs
- To fight a hundred battles and win a hundred is not supreme excellence; what would be more supreme is breaking the enemy's resistance wothout fighting.
- 百战百胜，非善之善也；不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。
- If you know the enemy and know yourself, you can fight a hundred battles without a single defeat.
- 知己知彼，百战不殆。
- Plan strategies within a command tent, and ensure victory on the battlefront a thousand li away.
- 运筹帷幄之中那个，决胜千里之外。
Editor Says:
By making their economy totally dependent on exporting to Qi, Lu and Liang courted their own doom.