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'1‘RANSGRESS[Ol\' OF THE LAW

No

rivalry

between leadersis^morecelebratedⁱⁿ Chinese

history

^{than the}

struggle

^between

Hsiang

^{Yu and Liu}

Pang.

^Thesetwo

generals began

^their

careersas

friends, fighting

^{onthesameside.}

Hsiang

^{Yucamefromtheno-}

bility; large

^and

powerful, given

^toboutsofviolence andtemper,^{abit dull-}

witted,

^{he was}

yet

^a

mighty

^warriorwho

always fought

^atthehead of his

troops.

^Liu

Pang

^camefrom

peasant

^{stock. Hehadnever}been much of^a

soldier,

^and

preferred

^{womenand wine to}

fighting;

ⁱⁿ

^fact,

^{hewas some}

thing

^{ofascoundrel.Buthewas}

wily,

and he had the

ability

^to

recognize

the best

strategists, keep

^themashis

^advisers,

^andlistentotheir advice.He hadriseninthe_army

through

^these

strengths.

In 20813.0.,^the

king

^{of Ch’usenttwo} massive armiesto conquer the

powerful kingdom

^ofCh’in. One army^went

north,

^underthe

generalship

of

Sung

^{Yi, with}

Hsiang

^{Yu second in}

^command;

^the

^other,

^led

by

^Liu

Pang,

^headed

straight

toward Ch’in. The

target

^wasthe

kingdom’s splendid capital, Hsien-yang.

^And

Hsiang ^Yu,

^{everviolentand}

impatient,

^couldnot

stand the idea that Liu

Pang

^would

get

^to

Hsietryang ^first,

^and

perhaps

wouldassumecommand of theentireanny.

At ^one

point

^on the northern

front, Hsiang’s ^commander, Sung Yi,

hesitated in

sending

^his

troops

^{into battle.}

Furious, Hsiang

^entered

Sung

Yi’stent,

proclaimed

^{himatraitor,cutoff his}

^head,

and assumed solecom~

mand of the army. Without

waiting

^for

^orders,

^heleftthe northern front and marched

directly

^on

Hsien—yang.

He felt certain hewasthebetter sol- dier and

general

^thanLiu,

^but,

^tohisutterastonishment, ^his

rival, leading

^a

smaller,

swifter army,

managed

^{to reach}

Hsien-yang

^first.

Hsiang

^{had an}

adviser,

^Fan

Tseng,

^{who warned}

him,

^“This

village

^headman

[Liu Fang]

usedtobe

greedy only

for riches andwomen,butsince

entering

^the

capital

hehasnotbeen led

astray by ^wealth,

^{wine,orsex.Thatshowshe is}

aiming high.”

Fan

Tseng urged Hsiang

^tokill his rival beforeitwastoo late. He told the

general

^{to invitethe}

wily

^{peasant to a}

banquet

^attheircamp outside

Hsien-yang, ^and,

ⁱⁿthe midst ofa

celebratory

^sword

^dance,

^{to have his}

headoutoff. Theinvitationwassent; Liu fell^forthe

trap,

^{andcameto the}

banquet.

^But

I-Isiang

^{hesitated in}

ordering

^{the sword}

dance,

^and

by

^the

time he _gave the

signal,

^{Liuhad sensed a}

trap,

^and

managed

^to escape.

“Bah!” cried Fan

Tseng

ⁱⁿ

disgust, seeing

^that

Hsiang

had botched the

plot.

“One cannot

plan

^{with 3.}

simpleton.

^Liu

Pang

^will steal your

empire yet

andmakeusall his

prisoners."

Realizing

^his

^mistake, Hsiang hurriedly

^{marched on}

Hsien-yang,

^this

time determined ^to hack off his rival’s head. Liuwas never one to

fight

when the oddswere

against ^him,

and he abandoned the

city. Hsiang

cap~

tured

Hsien-yang,

murdered the young

prince

^of

^Ch’in,

^{and burned the}

city

^{to the}

ground.

^{Liu was now}

Hsiang’s

bitter enemy, ^and he

pursued

him for many

months, finally cornering

^himinawalled

city. Lacking ^food,

his armyⁱⁿ

disarray,

Liu sued forpeace.

Again

^Fan

Tseng

^wamed

Hsiang,

^“Crushhim now! Ifyou let himgo

again,

you will be sorry later.” But

Hsiang

^{decided to be merciful. He}

wanted^to

bring

^{LiubacktoCh’u}

^alive,

^andtoforce his former friendtoac-

knowledge

^{himas master. But Fan}

proved right:

^Liu

managed

^{to usethe}

negotiations

for his surrenderas a

distraction,

^andhe

escaped

^withasmall

army.

Hsiang,

amazed that he had

yet again

let his rival

slip

away, ^once

more set outafter

Liu,

this time withsuch

ferocity

that he seemedtohave losthismind. At one

point, having captured

Liu’s fatherⁱⁿ

battle, Hsiang

stoodthe oldmanup

during

^the

fighting

^and

yelled

^toLiuacrossthe line of

troops,

^{“Surrender now,or I} shall boil your father alive!” Liu

calmly

^arr

swered,

^“Butwe are swornbrothers. So_myfatherisyour father also. If you insist on

boiling

your ^own

father,

^{send me a} bowl of the

soup!” Hsiang

backed

down,

^{and the}

struggle

^continued.

Afew weeks

later,

ⁱⁿthe thick of the

hunt, Hsiang

scattered his forces

unwisely,

^andina

surprise

^{attack Liuwasableto}surround hismain

garri-

son.Forthefirst timethe tableswereturned. Nowitwas

Hsiang

^{who sued}

forpeace. ^Liu’s

top

^adviser

urged

^himto

destroy Hsiang,

crush his army, show^nomercy. ^“Tolet him go wouldbelike

rearing

^a

tiger——it

will devour you

later,”

the adviser said. Liu

agreed.

Making

^afalse

treaty,

^{he lured}

Hsiarig

^into

relaxing

^his

^defense,

^then

slaughtered

almost all of his army.

Hsiang managed

^toescape. Alone and

on

foot, knowing

^{that Liuhad}

put

^a

bounty

^onhis

head,

^hecameupon^a small group of^hisown

retreating ^soldiers,

^{andcried out, “Ihear Liu}

Pang

has offeredonethousand

pieces

^of

gold

^{andafief often}thousand families for my head. Let^medo you^afavor.” Then heslithisownthroatand died.

Interpretation

Hsiang

^{Yu had} provenhis ruthlessness on many^{an occasion.} He

rarely

hesitatedin

doing

away with^arival ifitserved his purposes. ButwithLiu

Pang

^{he acted}

differently.

^He

respected

^his

^rival,

^{and didnot wanttodefeat}

him

through deception;

^{he wantedtoprove his}

superiority

^{on the battle}

field,

^eventoforcethe clever Liutosurrender andtoservehim.

Every

^time

hehadhis rivalinhis

hands, something

made him hesitat&——a fatal sympa~

thy

^withor

respect

^{for the man}

who,

^after

all,

had oncebeen^afriend and comradeinarms.Butthemoment

Hsiang

^madeitclear that he intendedto do_awaywith

Liu, yet

^failedto

accomplish

^it, he sealed hisowndoom. Liu wouldnotsufferthesamehesitationoncethe tables^weretamed.

Thisis thefate thatfaces all ofuswhen we

sympathize

^{withour ene} mics, when

pity,

^{or the}

hope

^of

reconciliation,

^makesus

pull

^{back from}

doing

away with them. We

only strengthen

^theirfearand hatred ofus.We have beaten

them,

^and

they

^are

humiliated; yet

^{we nurture}these resentful

vipers

^{who will one}

day

^{kill us. Power cannot} be dealt with this way. It mustbe

exterrninated, crushed,

^{and deniedthe chance to returntohaunt}

us. This isall thetruer with ^aformer friend who has become^an enemy.

The law

governing

^fatal

antagonisnis

reads: Reconciliation is out ofthe

question. Only

^{onesidecanwin,anditmustwin}

totally.

Liu

Pang

learned this lessonwell. After

defeating Hsiang ^Yu,

^{this son}

condoitienwaizlrdm

/war.()I1L‘f’in’reurhuzl

Sinigriglirx.^Ccstire wouldhean€‘(Lt‘,Vpry);

caughtbetween the cimrlr-I and tlwirjnruzs ringizzg^rlqvtown.... '/‘hr condottieriwere surethey^hadmilzmry .s'uperim'ity. believing

that theIlepurmre of the Frmch troops lmd left(.‘c.mre withonly

11mm)!firfsic’.

In.fact. at-rordirsg^zo M(zchiav¢>l1i,ffiarginj hadleft(‘arena with rmtlroustmdr'nfzm:r_x~’~

menand three thou- sandIznrse,taking pairls^tospinuphis nzewsothin‘they^would

marchalong parallel

roamsbeforz?r:onverg- mg^onSirtigagliu.^Tilt‘

re'u.ynr1for^suchalarge force^{wasthat heknew.}

from^acrmfmwiozz (’x(mr,'Ie<lfrom^Ramiro ([1!Lara),^{wlml the} condouicri had_up their sleeve. He {lIer(‘—

fore^{decidedreturn}

theirownimpzrgniozsi them. Thiswasthe muslerpiece of trickery Ihal the historian Paolo G'imsio later called“thr-

magnijirenr^{z1i—a»it.“}

Al rlzxwnonDecember 31/1502],^Cestlre rcurluzd thenutxkir/.yof Siniguglilz.^...Ledby Mit'ltel()lI() Corvllu.

Cesare admrzceguard of^twoltumlrcd laI1fP.\' look_{up its}prlrltiotl^on the (amt!bridge.^... 'I‘i:is corztmlofrhe bridgeeffectively prevented^the,c:mr;2z'ra«

tors‘ troopsfrom^{with- '} Ilmwlhlg,^...

Cesaregreeted^the condouierioffusivcly

and irzllitezl themto

j()ll’l^him....A/Iirlzelorlu

LAW 15 I09

hm!prvpurmi^the

!’aIa7.:'.nl2ermIr(lt'no /or(/m‘a1/u's'l(.~'(',and thezlu/<4:Em-'izwl the condotticri ittxizlr‘.^_.. Onceimfoorx themen wvlr(,'HI.x'I1VV^nrrzrstvc!

by5,-uarz'l.s'who creptup

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areas....'1'izuzm'ght, whilezlmirrmopi^were helm;crlmlwd,^Miche- lazm rhrnulrd ()Iuw—

mttoand Vilelli inme Ilernarrlirmpalacrr.^... .-‘l1oneJP/l.i’wL>up,

,’I3m_<.;iu/had got ridof hisformer generals^and

worxtmtczrlies,

‘rm-: zmnums.

haw(‘i.m;:.Ax.

193‘)

To havezzizinzlete vmury, you^rrnmIn:

ruihlexs.

N/\voLmN B<>N,M’ARTr-,, l 7(i‘)~ 1 821

110 LAW15

ofafarmerwentontobecomesupremecommander of thearmiesof Ch’u.

Crushing

^{his next n'val—the}

king

^of

^Ch’u,

^{his own} former leader—l1e crowned himself emperor, defeated everyoneⁱⁿhis

path,

^andwentdown

in

history

^{as oneof the}

greatest

^{rulers of}

China,

the immortal Han

Kao-tsu,

founder of the Han

Dynasty.

Thosewhoseektoachieve

things

should Shownomercy.

Kuutilyu,^Indianplzilnsupher, ^zhmlcentury^{11. (I.}

OBSERVANCEOF ‘THE LAW

Wu

Chan,

^borninAd).

625,

^wasthe

daughter

^ofa

^duke,

^{andasa.beautiful}

young^womanof_many

charms,

^shewas

accordingly

^{attachedtothe harem}

of

Emperor

^T’a.i

Tsung.

The

imperial

^{harem was a}

dangerous place,

full of young concubines

vying

^{tobecome the}

emperor’s

favorite. Wu’s

beauty

and forceful charac- ter

quickly

^{won her this}

battle, but, knowing

^thatanemperor, like other

powerful

^{men,isacreatureof}

^whim,

^{and thatshe could}

easily

^be

replaced,

she

kept

her eye^onthefuture.

Wu

managed

^toseducethe

emperor’s

^{dissoluteson,Kao}

Tsung,

^onthe

only possible

^occasionwhen she could find him alone: while he^wasreliev-

ing

^himselfatthe

royal

urinal. Even so,when the emperor died and^Ken

Tsung

^tookoverthe

^throne,

^shestill suffered the fatetowhich allwivesand concubines of^a deceased emperor^werebound

by

tradition and law: Her head

shaven,

she enteredaconvent, for what^was

supposed

^{tobe therest}

ofherlife. Forsevenyears Wu schemed^toescape.

By communicating

ⁱⁿ

secretwith thenewemperor, and

by befiiencling

^his

wife,

the empress, she

managed

^toget^a

highly

^unusual

royal

^edict

allowing

^herto return to the

palace

^{and to the}

royal

harem. Once

there,

^{she fawned on}the empress, while still

sleeping

with the emperor. ^The empress did ^not

discourage

this—--she had

yet

^to

provide

the emperor with ^an

heir,

^her

position

^was

vulnerable,

^{and Wuwas avaluable}

ally.

In 654 Wu Chao gave birth^toachild. One

day

the empress^cameto visit, ^{and as soonas she had}

left,

Wu smothered the newborn——herown

baby.

When the murderwas

discovered, suspicion immediately

^fellonthe

empress, who had been ^onthescenemoments

earlier,

^{and whose}

jealous

naturewasknown

by

^{all. Thiswas}

precisely

^Wu’s

plan. Shortly thereafter,

the empress ^was

charged

with murder and executed. Wu Chao was

crowned empress ^{in her}

place.

^Hernew

husband,

^{addicted to} his life of

pleasure, gladly

^{gaveupthe reins ofgovernment toWu}

^Chao,

^{who was}

from thenonknown^as

Empress

^Wu.

Although

^{now in a}

position

^of

great

power, Wu

hardly

^{felt secure.}

Therewereenemies

everywhere;

^{she couldnot}let down her

guard

^forone

moment.

Indeed,

^{when shewas}

forty-one,

^she

began

^tofear that her bean~

tiful young^{niece was}

becoming

^the

emperor’s

^{favorite. She}

poisoned

^the

womanwitha

clay

^{mixedintoher food. In 675herownson,toutedasthe}

heir

apparent,

^was

poisoned

^aswell. The next—eldest

son———illegil:'ma.te,

^but

nowthe crown

prince——was

^{exiled a} little later ^on

trumped—up charges.

And when theemperor

died,

ⁱⁿ

683,

^Wu

managed

^{to have the son after}

thatdeclared unfitforthe throne. All flrismeant thatitwas her

youngest,

mostineffectual^sonwho

finally

^‘becameemperor. In this way she ^contin- uedtorule.

Over the nextfiveyears there^were innumerable

palace

coups. All of them

failed,

^{andall of the}

conspirators

^{wereexecuted.}

By

^{688 therewasno}

one left^to

challenge

^{Wu. She}

proclaimed

^{herselfadivine} descendant of

Buddha,

^andin690 her wisheswere

finally granted:

^Shewasnamed

Holy

and Divine

“Emperor”

^{of China.}

Wu became emperor because there^was

literally nobody

^{le-Rfrom the}

previous "Pang dynasty.

^{Andsoshe ruled}

unchallenged,

^{forover adecade}

of relative peace.^In705,^at_{the age of}

eighty,

^{shewasforcedtoabdicate.}

Interpretation

All whoknew

Empress

^{Wu remarkedon}her energy and

intelligence.

^At

thetime,^{there was no}

glory

available foranambitious woman

beyond

^a

few yearsⁱⁿthe

imperial harem,

^thenalifetime walled up^inaconvent. In Wu’s

gradual

^{but remarkable rise to the}

top,

^{she was never naive. She} knew that any

hesitation,

any

momentary weakness,

^would

spell

^{her and.}

If,

_every^{time she}

got

^{rid ofarivala new one}

appeared,

^{thesolution was}

simple:

^{She hadtocrushthem allor}be killed herself. Other emperors be fore her had followed thesame

path

^tothe

top,

^but

Wu-«who,

^{as a}woman, hadnext tonochanceto

gain power———had

^{tobemoreruthlessstill.}

Empress

^Wu’s

forly—year reign

^{wasone ofthe}

longest

ⁱⁿ Chinese his- tory.

Although

^the

story

^ofher

bloody

^{rise to power is well}

^known,

ⁱⁿ

China sheisconsideredoneofthe

period’s

^mostable and effective rulers.

A

priest

^{asked the}

dying Spanish

^statesmanand

general

Ramon MariaNarvdez (1800-1868), ^“Doesyour

Excellency forgive

^allyour enemies?”^“Idonot haveto

forgive

myene1nies,"anrwmedNarmiez, “I have had themall shat.^”

KEYSTO POWER

Itisnoaccident thatthetwo stories

illustrating

^{this lawcomefromChina:}

Chinese

history

abounds with

examples

^ofenemies whowereleft alive and returnedtohauntthelenient. “Crush the

enemy”

^isa

key strategic

^tenetof

Surrtzu,

^the

fourth—century—B.C.

author of The^Art

ofl/Wzr.

^{The ideais}

simple:

Yourenemieswish you ill. There^is

nothing they

^{wantmorethantoelimi-}

nateyou.

If,

ⁱⁿyour

struggles

^with

^them,

you stop

halfway

^oreventhree

quarters

of the way,^outof mercy^or

hope

^of

reconciliation,

_you

only

^make

them^more

determined,

^more

embittered,

and

they

^will

someday

^takere-

venge.

They

may^act

friendly

^{for thetime}

being,

^{butthis is}

only

^because

you have defeated them.

They

^{havenochoice buttobide theirtime.}

The solution: Have ^no mercy. Crush your^{enemies as}

totally

^as

they

LAW 15 I71

I12 LAW 15

would crush you.

Ultimately

^the

only

peace and

security

you^can

hope

^for

from your^enemiesistheir

disappearance.

Mao

Tse—tung,

^adevoted reader of Sun—tzu and of Chinese

history

^gexr

erally,

^{knew the}

importance

^ofthislaw. In i934the Communist leader and

some

75,000 poorly equipped

soldiers fledinto the desolate ^mountainsof westernChinatoescape

Chiang

K.ai—shek’s much

larger

army,ⁱⁿwhat has sincebeen called the

Long

^March.

Chiang

^{wasdeterminedto}eliminate every last

Communist,

^and

by

^a

few years later Mao had less ^than

10,000

soldiers left.

By ^1937,

ⁱⁿ

^fact,

whenChina^was invaded

by japan, Chiang

^calculated that the Commu- nistswere no

longer

^{athreat.He chose to}

give

up the chase and ^conceir trate on the

Japanese.

Ten years later the Communists had recovered

enough

^torout

Chia.ng’s

army.

Chiang

^had

forgotten

^{theancientwisdomof}

crushing

the enemy; Mao^hadnot.

Chiang

^was

pursued

^{untilhe and hisen-}

tire army fled ^to theisland of Taiwan.

Nothing

^{remains of his}

regime

ⁱⁿ

mainland Chinatothis

day.

The wisdom behind

“crushing

^the

enemy”

^{is asancientas the Bible:}

Its first

practitioner

may have beenMoses,who learned^itfrom GodHim«

self,

when He

parted

the Red Sea for the

Jews,

then let thewater{low back

over the

pursuing Egyptians

^{so that “not so much as one of them re-}

mained.” When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten Corn- mandments and found his

people worshipping

^{the Golden}

^Calf,

^{he had}

every last offender

slaughtered.

^And

just

^{before he}

died,

he told his follow- ers,

finally

^abouttoenterthe Promised

Land,

^{that when}

they

had defeated the tribes of Canaan

they

^should

“utterly destroy

^{them . . . make no}

covenantwith

them,

^andshownomercy^tothem.”

The

goal

^{of total}

victory

^{isanaxiom ofmodern}

warfare,

^andwascodi- fiedassuch

by

^Carlvon

Clausewitz,

^the

premier philosopher

^ofwar.Ana»

lyzing

^the

campaigns

^of

Napoleon,

^von Clausewitz wrote, “We do claim thatdirect annihilation of the

enemy’s

^forcesmust

always

be the dominant consideration. ^{. ..}Once ^a

major victory

^isachieved there^mustbe^notalkof rest, of

breathing

space ^{. . .} but

only

^{of the}

pursuit, going

^{for the enemy}

again, seizing

^his

capital, attacking

^{his reserves and}

anything

^{else that}

might give

^his

country

aid and comfort.” Thereason for this ^isthat afier

war some

negotiation

and the division of

territory.

If you have

only

^wona

partial victory,

you ^will

inevitably

^{lose in}

negotiation

what you have

gained by

^war.

The solution is

simple:

Allow your^{enemies no}

options.

^Annihilate

them and their

territory

^isyours^{to carve.The}

goal

of power^{is to}control your^enemies

completely,

^{tomake them}

obey

your will. You^cannotafford togo

halfway.

^If

they

^haveno

options, they

will be forcedtodo your bid-

ding.

^{Thislaw has}

applications

^far

beyond

^thebattlefield.

Negotiation

^isthe

insidious

viper

^{that will eat} away ^at your

victory,

^so

give

your ^enemies

nothing

^to

negotiate,

^no

hope,

^{no roomto maneuver.}

They

^{are crushed}

and thatisthat.

Realize this: In your

struggle

for power you will^stirup^rivalries and