Hi everyone, welcome to Cold-Knowledge Blind Box. Today we're not talking about e-commerce, and we're not talking about space. We're talking about a 2,500-year-old, surreal operations manual: The Art of War.

2,500 years ago, a young man in his twenties named Sun Tzu suddenly appeared in what is today the suburbs of Hangzhou, in Fuchun, Zhejiang.

Back then, this area belonged to the state of Wu. The King of Wu wanted to destroy the state of Chu, and Wu Zixu recommended Sun Tzu.

Then Sun Tzu met the King of Wu and opened by saying: War? It's very dangerous, people die. If there's no need, don't fight. Even if there is a need, you should be able to avoid fighting. (War is a matter of vital importance to the state, the ground of life and death, the path to survival or ruin, and it must not be neglected.)

That's right, you and the King of Wu both heard correctly. This is the very first sentence of The Art of War.

In ancient times, this book wasn't even called The Art of War. It was called Sun Zi or Sun Zi in Thirteen Chapters.

Just as Laozi doesn't teach you how to make elixirs, and the Book of Changes doesn't teach you how to divine with the trigrams.

Sun Zi in Thirteen Chapters doesn't really teach you how to fight a war at all. It teaches you how to handle the brutal, life-or-death relationships that are like war.

If you sum it up in three sentences: it is not a method of fighting but a method of not fighting; it is not a method of winning but a method of not losing; and it is not a method of winning with few against many, but a method of winning with many against few.

For example, Sun Tzu told the King of Wu that if we hold a meeting and brainstorm, we can make the other side admit defeat directly. That is certainly more sophisticated than hiring a horde of online trolls to flame the other side.

If you really can't win with words, then you must show your massive gold chain, so the other side is frightened into surrendering. That's acceptable too.

But if you grab a weapon, charge in, take eighty-one stabs, and only then knock the enemy down, that only proves you are very foolish.

This is The Art of War, one of the most popular versions in the West today. The compiler, Clavell, introduces it in the preface like this: before becoming a general, Sun Tzu was a philosopher, who discussed every aspect of war, from tactics to human nature, in insightful and poetic language.

I will follow his precepts and bring it to today's world, into business and everyday life.

So what The Art of War really discusses is the philosophy of war and human nature.

How to subdue the enemy's army without fighting, and how to keep yourself forever in an unbeatable position: with these brilliant ideas, we can do business, handle complicated relationships, and even run a self-media channel and build a personal brand. Specifically, the thirteen chapters of Sun Tzu's secret manual roughly go as follows...

Chapter 1: Planning

Does everyone think, as a result, that The Art of War is like the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a book that teaches you how to use tricks?

In fact, the thing Sun Tzu opposed most was winning through conspiracies and schemes and relying on luck.

So what does the "planning" in the first chapter really mean?

Cao Cao believed that this "plan" means planning, as in plotting ahead.

Before a battle, you should think about retreat before advance, and plan the following six things in pairs.

Is the general I've chosen suitable? Most importantly, could he be tempted by the enemy and turn against me on the battlefield?

Is the battlefield I've chosen suitable? Most importantly, can my soldiers adapt to the battlefield environment?

Is the route I've chosen for the march suitable? Most importantly, if I lose, can this route let me retreat safely?

That's Cao Cao's understanding. It's like a seasoned stock market god who never goes all in. The stock god doesn't think every day about how much he can earn. He thinks about how much loss he can bear...

In short, the opening of Sun Tzu talks about planning, at two levels:

1. If nothing requires it, don't fight, because war kills people.
2. Even if you don't fight, you must still have a plan.

But then, if the war really breaks out, what should you do?

I'm sure that when the King of Wu heard this, he must have asked Sun Tzu the same question. Sun Tzu answered as follows...

Warfare Is the Way of Deception

Sun Tzu said that once the fighting has started, throw away all the Military Strategies and Battle Formations books.

Once the real fight begins, whatever dirty tricks you know, whatever low blows you can think of, use them all, and beat the enemy down hard.

Aim for victory above all. Don't hesitate, don't flip through books. The worst thing is to follow the rules step by step and turn into an academic.

Whatever deception works, use it. (Warfare is the way of deception...)

Then, what exactly is deception?

Sun Tzu answers in three words: pretend to be weak.

For example, like Steve Jobs in 2008: he had already developed the iPod, which was almost driving the Walkman off the music market, but until he officially released the iPhone, he never let on, never let anyone see through his ambitions, and let his enemies be as arrogant as they pleased.

Maybe the next Sun Tzu who changes the world is GPT, or NVIDIA. If you can truly see it, then without a doubt you are a stock god, and you will also reach financial freedom.

So far, the first chapter of Sun Tzu, "Planning," has been laid out, with three levels in all:

1. Don't fight unless you have to.
2. If you must fight, have a plan.
3. When the fighting really starts, pretend to be weak.

After listening to Sun Tzu's remarks, the King of Wu fell into thought. It seems that if he wants to destroy Chu, he still isn't quite Sun Tzu enough.

So Sun Tzu gave the last paragraph of the first chapter. He said, in fact, how far you should pretend to be weak depends on your overall goal.

If your overall goal is to destroy Chu, then working backward from that goal, the more and the finer the possibilities you can deduce, the greater the probability of final success.

Many times, the path deduced in reverse is crystal clear, and the outcome is already decided before you even need to fight. (

But if you can't deduce a path in reverse, that proves the time isn't right yet. Don't make a fuss, and don't reveal your intentions. (

Wait. Create the opportunity, or recognize it when it appears.

Hearing this, the King of Wu sat up straight without realizing it.

But when Sun Tzu began the second chapter, the King of Wu felt something was off...

Chapter 2: Waging War

The second chapter is called "Waging War." Sun Tzu drops the lofty heights of a philosopher and starts talking to the King of Wu about how to fight in the open field, how to plant flags to lift morale, how to win over enemy soldiers and turn the battlefield around, how to use money and honor to give soldiers the fame and profit they want, and so on and so forth.

The King of Wu felt it was strange. This doesn't fit with what came before. Is there some hidden meaning in this Sun Tzu?

In fact, Cao Cao saw the meaning of the second chapter at a glance. In his commentary he noted several times "same as me" (yu wu tong ye).

Then he suddenly annotated one more: "If you want to attack the enemy, you must first plan."

So the second chapter of Sun Tzu is also Sun Tzu's plan to manipulate the King of Wu.

It's like a chef serving you a first course that makes you happy, and you like it so much that you come back to the restaurant the next day, impatient.

But this chef only has thirteen dishes. Would he serve them all at once?

Obviously, your taste buds would explode, and your stomach couldn't digest it all. What comes next is easy to imagine: you would wipe your mouth and scold the chef.

So what should the second meal be?

Serve you something homestyle and light.

Then, when you're suspicious, I gradually reveal my intentions...

That brings us to the most important and most brilliant chapter of Sun Tzu, the third: "Attack by Stratagem."

Chapter 3: Attack by Stratagem

In the third chapter, Sun Tzu finally states his core idea: subduing the enemy's army without fighting is the best of the best.

How do we understand this?

Actually, the situation was roughly like this.

At the third meal, Sun Tzu came up holding two big words. The King of Wu was displeased: what do you mean by these two words, "not fighting"?

Sun Tzu said, take the neighboring state of Yue, famous for its beauties like Xi Shi. Surely you would want those beauties to come to Wu, sending text messages to say: "Rich, gullible, come quick."

In this way, you would draw all those sisters away from Yue.

At the same time, you surely would not want to conquer Yue and make Xi Shi's sisters come to serve you with burning hatred in their hearts, right?

By the same logic, you surely wouldn't want your generals, the ones who fled from Chu, Wu Zixu and Bo Pi, to actually take power and command your army, would you?

It's best to subdue Yue's army without fighting, so that Yue's generals lead their troops to surrender.

That way, you can also have more people to balance Wu Zixu and Bo Pi.

Then, from the perspective of Wu Zixu and Bo Pi, extending this further: wouldn't it also be best that their subordinate brigade commanders and soldiers did not move at all?

It's all up to you.

The King of Wu suddenly pressed his forehead. He remembered how, when he was still Prince Guang, he found an opportunity to get rid of his elder cousin, King Liao of Wu.

Wasn't it that King Liao loved war, sending his own army on campaign after campaign, becoming the ever-victorious general beloved by the myriad people of Wu?

Sure enough, Sun Tzu's next sentence made the King of Wu's back go cold again: So, King of Wu, think it through. Is winning every battle really what you want to see?

From your perspective, isn't subduing the enemy without fighting the best possible result of reverse deduction?

By the time the King of Wu heard this, he was drenched in cold sweat. Sun Tzu then emphasized his core idea once more: if we can hold a meeting, we can make the other side admit defeat directly. That is certainly more sophisticated than winning by insults.

If you really can't win with words, then you must show your big gold chain, so the other side is frightened into surrendering. That's acceptable too.

But if you must grab a weapon, then you had better have truly reliable generals who can fight quickly and decisively.

And if you're forced to charge in yourself, then really, all that's left is a six-month window.

Building the siege equipment for a desperate battle takes three months, and in the remaining three months, if you still can't defeat your opponent, it's all over. You may as well prepare to be reborn...

Yet has Sun Tzu's reasoning finished?

The third chapter, "Attack by Stratagem," has only just begun. It spent a lot of time on a whole set of theories about why you shouldn't fight. So tell me, when you can't win by insults and can't scare the enemy to death, what on earth should you do?

Then Sun Tzu uttered a famous line that everyone knows...

Know Yourself and Know the Enemy, and You Will Never Be Defeated in a Hundred Battles

Sun Tzu said, if you have ten times the advantage, then surround the enemy at his spring and slowly humiliate him.

If you have five times the advantage, then hold the high ground and keep him from leaving home.

If you have only one times the advantage, then don't be reckless. Go after the jungler, hit the one who gives away the kill, and let them fight among themselves. Your win rate will be highest.

If the forces are evenly matched, Cao Cao added, be the most shameless one. Whoever plays dirtiest wins.

And if you're weaker than the enemy, at this point, even the good student Du Mu has spoken: then why not run? Are you a fool?

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