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Use when balancing honor-based commitments against tactical military advantage. Applies Duke Wen's three-stage retreat (三舍) framework: recalling past agreements, assessing current position, weighing long-term reputation versus immediate gains, and documenting decision rationale.
Use when creating interstate alliances for mutual defense or joint offensive operations. Covers ally evaluation (military strength, reliability, geography), alliance types (marriage, military, mutual defense pacts), negotiation protocols, and long-term alliance maintenance through gifts and consultation.
Use when assigning leadership roles to maximize team effectiveness based on relative strengths. Follows Fan Li's advice to Goujian: directly compare each advisor's capabilities across domains (military vs. civil) and assign primary roles where each person excels most.
Use when evaluating unexpected benefits or opportunities during crisis or competition. Applies the principle that unearned benefits often carry hidden costs: analyze the source, examine causation chains, assume strategic motivation, and evaluate long-term consequences before accepting or rejecting.
Use when building multi-state coalitions or diplomatic alliances against a dominant threat. Applies Su Qin's 合纵 strategy — analyzing each party's geography, military strength, and fears, then proposing concrete mutual defense terms with specific obligations per member.
Use when prioritizing between competing strategic targets or evaluating conquest options. Weighs prestigious targets (symbolic resources like the nine tripods) against practical targets (territorial expansion) using feasibility, consequence, net benefit, and reputation criteria.
Use when facing coordinated disinformation or slander campaigns targeting your reputation. Identifies warning signs of bribery and planted criticism, and outlines defensive measures including transparent communication and alliance-building.
Use when identifying and cultivating undervalued political figures for long-term gain. Follows Lu Buwei's 奇货可居 method: assess investability, provide resources, influence gatekeepers, and secure commitment from promising candidates.
Use when persuading officials or leaders by aligning your proposal with their self-interest. Demonstrated by Kuai Tong and Li Yiji, this technique researches the target's fears, frames problems objectively, and presents solutions that benefit the listener.
Use when distributing monetary rewards or resources received in an official capacity. Ensures fairness and loyalty by publicly displaying resources, allowing self-selection by subordinates, and keeping nothing for personal use.
Use when managing large-scale water control projects, river dredging, or land drainage. Follows Yu the Great's methodology for surveying terrain, selecting transportation, developing waterways, reclaiming flooded land, and coordinating regional labor.
Use when planning river navigation routes or developing drainage channels. Maps nine major river systems from source to terminus, guides dredging, embankment construction, and integration into tribute transportation networks.
Use when planning military campaigns from intelligence through post-victory consolidation. Covers terrain assessment (知水草处), supply logistics for 60,000+ troops, alliance coordination, siege tactics, and garrison establishment (置使者护田积粟).
Use when evaluating territorial concessions or appeasement strategies against aggressive neighbors. Applies the 抱薪救火 (carrying firewood to extinguish fire) framework to expose why each concession emboldens further demands and weakens negotiating position.
Use when negotiating with a stronger adversary who may act in bad faith. Covers establishing baselines, demonstrating resolve through credible threats, demanding reciprocal formality, and preparing escape routes.
Use when managing tribute obligations or enforcing compliance across distance-based zones. Structures five concentric zones (五服制度) from daily offerings to lifetime homage, with escalation protocols for non-compliance.
Use when designing a multi-step succession sequence to transfer leadership to a designated heir. Models King Shoumeng of Wu's brother-to-brother chain (寿梦→诸樊→余祭→余眜→季札) with safeguards for refusal.
Use when designing governance systems that ensure fair access to justice across all social levels. Covers territorial tours, open-air administration, and prompt dispute resolution following the model of rulers who personally judged cases under trees.
Use when planning systematic territorial expansion across multiple neighboring states. Applies the 远交近攻 doctrine: befriend distant powers, isolate nearby targets, and conquer incrementally for secure, contiguous gains.
Use when building secret alliances against a central authority while maintaining deniability. Covers verbal-only communication, shared grievance framing, self-interest appeals, and network expansion through confirmed allies.
