greatest wisdom book

Chapter 99
True and false, hide your cards
Those who are humble and ready are advancing; those who are strong and advancing are retreating; those who lightly move out to the side first are Chen Ye; those who invite peace without an agreement are seeking; Those who are half-advance and half-retreat are also tempted.

There is an old saying: "When the false is true, the true is also false. Inaction is where there is something and there is nothing." In the world, it is always difficult to distinguish between true and false, false and real.Sun Tzu's combat strategy emphasized many times in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is actually a clever use of this kind of truth and falsehood: the enemy's emissary speaks humbly but is stepping up combat preparations, preparing to attack; Those who make a forward posture are preparing to retreat; those who deploy light vehicles first and deploy on the two wings are forming formations; The date is scheduled for a decisive battle with me; the enemy's half-advance and half-retreat is trying to lure our army.

In fact, whether it is the smoke released by the enemy or the strategy adopted by our side, the intention is to create an illusion and produce an effect of seeing flowers in a fog, so that the opponent cannot guess what his real purpose is.This kind of behavior can be called "hiding a knife in a smile" on the battlefield; but in real life, it can be called keeping a low profile, skillfully hiding the true intention behind one's actions, and painting a "protective color" for oneself. Only by carrying out your own plan in a low-key and cautious manner can people be negligent and have a chance of success.Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty knew this well.

Emperor Kangxi was only 8 years old when he came to the throne, and the government was assisted by four Gu Ming ministers. Among them, Oboi was the most domineering. He didn't pay attention to the little emperor at all.The scheming Kangxi had long planned to get rid of Oboi, but due to his monopoly on power, a careless move might lead to death, so he must not act rashly.

Therefore, Kangxi called some Manchurian noble children into the palace to practice martial arts. Seeing that the little emperor was indulging in children's rough-and-tumble games all day long, Aobai relaxed his vigilance, thinking that Kangxi had no ambitions and nothing to worry about.Kangxi felt that the wrestling team under him was proficient in martial arts, so he made a careful arrangement and passed Oboi into the palace.

Oboi, who was not on guard, actually pointed out the children's wrestling skills with great interest, and suddenly his whole body was restrained and he was thrown to the ground.Kangxi took out the dagger hidden in his sleeve and stabbed it into Oboi's chest.Obai was captured, Kangxi cut off all his party members, and was finally able to take charge of the government.Kangxi reigned for 60 years and became a very accomplished emperor in the Qing Dynasty.

Kangxi showed extraordinary courage and wisdom when he was young. "Great courage is like timidity, great wisdom is like foolishness", he hides his heart deeply, on the surface he indulges in fun and does not think about making progress, but in fact keeps a low profile, constantly improves his strength, and finally eliminates Oboi, a stumbling block on the road to pro-government, in one fell swoop.Obviously, this is the successful practice of Sun Tzu's thought.

If you want to be a real strong and wise man, you need to achieve "real people don't show their faces, and their faces are not real people".In today's extremely competitive social environment, smart people are very cautious and will not easily reveal their true intentions.Those "rookies" often unknowingly destroy their careers because of insufficient practice, which is a pity.

A university graduate named Liu Gan was assigned to a research institute to work on the classification and cataloging of standardized documents.He thinks he is a major in this field, and he thinks he knows more than his colleagues, so he is full of confidence and wants to do something earth-shattering in his position.

When he first came to work, the leader put on an open-minded attitude of "all ears", which flattered him, and felt that he would live up to the expectations of the leader no matter what.He has a flexible mind and likes to think, and soon discovered some drawbacks in the institute.He thought hard, and expressed a lot of opinions within a few days, and the answer he got every time was always: "Your opinion is very good, I will bring it up at the next meeting for everyone to discuss." But the result?Not only did he not change at all, but he became an idle "vase". During the year, the leader did not arrange any specific work for him.

He was very dissatisfied, and he was also very dissatisfied with the mediocrity and cowardice of the leaders. At a general meeting, he proposed to implement a system of competition for posts, where the capable go up and the mediocre go down.After the meeting, he suddenly found that he had become a boss who was always hated.Later, a colleague said to him quietly: "I was the same as you at the beginning, you should change the unit, you don't want to be successful here, you have offended everyone." So, after a period of time, he transferred up.When he was leaving, the leader patted him on the shoulder and said, "What a pity! I really don't want you to go, and I plan to train you to be my successor!" Liu Gan couldn't figure out the meaning of the words "it's a pity" What it is, I think it must have the meaning of "should not show your sharpness".

No one wants to be famous, everyone has their own "ambition", but it should not be too exposed.Only when you hide yourself deeply, can you achieve the purpose of confusing the other party, reduce all kinds of artificial resistance, and make success easier.

Life is like a big gamble, don't let others see through your cards. The "Virtual and Real" of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" mentions various ways and means to make the opponent fall into his own "virtual and real" trap. Victory and defeat are naturally discernible.Therefore, it's okay to use "a hidden knife in a smile" at the right time to hide the goals and ideas in your heart.

(End of this chapter)