虛實篇
孫子曰：凡先處戰地而待敵者佚，後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者， 致人而不致于人。
能使敵自至者，利之也﹔能使敵不得至者，害之也。故敵佚能勞之， 飽能飢之，安能動之。
出其所不趨，趨其所不意。行千里而不勞者，行于無人之地也。攻而 必取者，攻其所不守也。守而必固者，守其所不攻也。
故善攻者，敵不知其所守。善守者，敵不知其所攻。
微乎微乎，至于無形，神乎神乎，至于無聲，故能為敵之司命。
進而不可御者，沖其虛也﹔退而不可追者，速而不可及也。故我欲戰 ，敵雖高壘深溝，不得不與我戰者，攻其所必救也﹔我不欲戰，雖畫 地而守之，敵不得與我戰者，乖其所之也。
故形人而我無形，則我專而敵分﹔我專為一，敵分為十，是以十攻其 一也，則我眾而敵寡﹔能以眾擊寡者，則吾之所與戰者，約矣。吾所 與戰之地不可知，不可知，則敵所備者多，敵所備者多，則吾之所戰 者，寡矣。
故備前則後寡，備後則前寡，故備左則右寡，備右則左寡，無所不備 ，則無所不寡。寡者備人者也，眾者使人備己者也。
故知戰之地，知戰之日，則可千里而會戰。不知戰之地，不知戰之日 ，則左不能救右，右不能救左，前不能救後，後不能救前，而況遠者 數十里，近者數里乎？
以吾度之，越人之兵雖多，亦奚益于勝敗哉？！
故曰：勝可為也。敵雖眾，可使無鬥。 故策之而知得失之計，作之而知動靜之理，形之而知死生之地，角之 而知有餘不足之處。
故形兵之極，至于無形﹔無形，則深間不能窺，智者不能謀。
因形而錯勝于眾，眾不能知﹔人皆知我所以勝之形，而莫知吾所以制 勝之形。故其戰勝不復，而應形于無窮。
夫兵形象水，水之形避高而趨下，兵之形，避實而擊虛，水因地而制 流，兵應敵而制勝。故兵無常勢，水無常形，能因敵變化而取勝者， 謂之神。
故五行無常勝，四時無常位，日有短長，月有死生。
Let's continue ...
孫子曰：凡先處戰地而待敵者佚，後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者，
致人而不致于人。
能使敵自至者，利之也﹔能使敵不得至者，害之也。故敵佚能勞之，
飽能飢之，安能動之。
出其所不趨，趨其所不意。行千里而不勞者，行于無人之地也。攻而
必取者，攻其所不守也。守而必固者，守其所不攻也。
故善攻者，敵不知其所守。善守者，敵不知其所攻。
微乎微乎，至于無形，神乎神乎，至于無聲，故能為敵之司命。
Some translation suggested:
Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.
Moran: Sun Tzu said: It is always the case that those who first occupy the battlefield and await arrival of the enemy have ample time on their hands, whereas those who arrive later and must scramble to engage will endure toil. 【PEM: Note that the ideal situation for meeting the enemy may be a pass or other such opening leading to an open space where a strongly shielded ambush has been laid.】
So those who are good at warfare will draw in the enemy and will not permit themselves to be drawn in by the enemy. If one is able to cause the enemy to arrive, that is done by offering him some benefit. If one is able to cause the enemy to be unable to arrive, that is done by offering him injuries. 【PEM: The Sichuan Basin was one part of China that was never conquered by the Japanese during World War II. The reason was that Sichuan was entirely surrounded by mountains except for the water route provided by the Yangtze River. The water flow was very rapid, and the sides of the channel were precipitous. Therefore any forces trying to enter would have had to to go upstream and through miles of ambushing forces on higher ground.】
So if the enemy is at ease one can cause him to toil, if he is well fed, one can cause him hunger, and if at rest one can cause him to have to be on the move. [ To do so,] appear out of the places to which the enemy must hasten to defend, and hasten to the places where you will not be expected. Those who go for a thousand li without toil are those who pass through areas where there are no people. 【PEM: During the Pacific campaign in World War II, one prominent motto (associated with General MacArthur) was: "Hit 'em where they ain't!" Well defended islands were not attacked, but were cut off from being resupplied. Poorly defended islands were captured when useful to the Allies for any purpose. Otherwise, the fleet moved through the open waters.】
In cases where one must succeed in an attack, strike the points at which the enemy has no defenses. In cases where one must firmly defend a position, defend a position that the enemy will not attack. 【PEM: Peaks are easily defended. With preparation, mountains can be hollowed out to provide living spaces for entire armies.】
So in the case of those who are good at attack, their enemies will not know where their defenses ought to be located. And in the case of those who are good at defense, the enemy will not know where they ought to attack. 【PEM: One of the difficulties in guerrilla warfare is that insurgents disappear among the ordinary farmers and other citizens. They have no fortress to attack, no camps to overrun. One alternative to highly concentrated emplacements in mountains and man-made fortifications is to disperse troops so widely that no one point of attack is better than any other. Between these extremes are defenses such as the tunnels constructed by the Vietcong that were hard to find, and sometimes so extensive that defenders could leave by another portal when attackers made entry at any point. This strategy is probably millions of years old. Some trapdoor spiders maintain parallel vertical tunnels, one with the "front door" covered by a carefully constructed plug-like, hinged door, and the other, joined to the first by a short horizontal tunnel with its own door near the bottom and a false top such that the spider would need to dig the last bit through to the surface to escape via the second tunnel.】
Subtle, oh subtle, to the point of being formless. Spirit-like, oh spirit-like, to the point of being inaudible. Thereby one is able to function as the grim reaper of the enemy.
This chapter is about false and real.
孫子曰﹕ Sun Tzu said:
凡先處戰地而待敵者佚，後處戰地而趨戰者勞。: If one occupies the battlefield first and awaits the arrival of the enemy relaxes, whereas if one arrives later and scrambles to engage toils.
故善戰者，致人而不致於人也。: Therefore, a good general directs the enemy and not the other way round.
能使敵自至者，利之也﹔ To direct the enemy, offer him bait.
能使敵不得至者，害之也。: To not attract the enemy, offer him damage.
故敵佚能勞之，飽能飢之，安能動之。: Therefore, if the enemy is resting, toil him; if well-fed, hunger him; if at peace, disturb him.
出其所必趨，趨其所不意。: Stay in places where the enemy must hasten to defend, and hasten to places where the enemy must not expect.
行千里而不勞者，行於無人之地也。: To travel a thousand li and not feel toiled is to pass through areas where there are no defence.
攻而必取者，攻其所不守也。: To attack and win is to attack places where the enemy does not defend.
守而必固者，守其所不攻也。: To defend and survive is to defend places where the enemy does not risk attacking.
故善攻者，敵不知其所守。善守者，敵不知其所攻。: Therefore, if a good general attacks, the enemy would not know where to defend. If a good general defends, the enemy would not know where to attack.
微乎微乎，至於無形；神乎神乎，至於無聲，故能為敵之司命。: Subtle, oh subtle, to the point of being formless. Spirit-like, oh spirit-like, to the point of being inaudible. Thereby, one is able to function as the grim reaper of the enemy.
Sun Tzu stated in his first chapter in his Art of War is that 兵者，詭道也。Basically, this entire chapter explained the beauty of deceit and termed it the true path to success in warfare.
Sun Tzu suggested that you must arrive at the battle ground early and make preparation. Move thy enemy using bait, but not be tempted nor moved otherwise. Attack the enemy when there is no defence, defend when the enemy has no attack. If the enemy is happy make him sad, if the enemy is sad, made him happy. Be formless and silent always, kill the enemy with the grim reaper.
In business, I also agreed that deceit is the key to success. Sun Tzu had thus far suggested numerous of times that deceit is the way to go. I would like to express a word of caution here. It is not a problem if you are strong to use deceit, because winning is only natural for a stronger force. Therefore, using deceit and trickery is to minimize cost of attack. But, if you are weaker comparatively, using deceit would not be advisable. Concentrate your forces and bear the brunt of the main enemy force truthfully, only then will you have a chance to survive the attack. Do not be swayed by the deceit of the enemy.
In the 48 laws of power, it was also stated in the law 3 that one should not reveal the intention, i.e., be deceitful. In fact, many laws were derived from Sun Tzu's Art of War. So this is a circular argument.
Throughout my dealings in business, I noticed that even at partner level, the partners still probe me for information that will make them break free from my strategic influence. I don't like it. I have expressed no intention to play them out. But yet, they fear me. I am way too strong a potion for their liking. It is both a curse and blessing. A curse because I felt being tested all the time. Blessing because I always formed part of their future equation.
At the end, I still believe I stand by my own conviction - my weapon-of-choice is still honesty. With honesty, it is near impossible for enemy to employ deceit on me. They will fall flat in their face.
From the above Sun Tzu's piece, I concluded that to survive completely, one must dig in at places where the enemy can never attack. This, I believe, I have achieved to some extent for one of my business-types. I am currently not venerable to attacks, but, I need to keep shoring up my defence to ensure absoluteness in power.
My current business-types can survive a thousand years each. Hence, it is near impossible for my enemy to dig me that easily. Take for example, my ginseng farm (passion business II), right now there are already more than 3 strong investors wanting to come in. But, I didn't confirm with them as I feel that to be my partner, one has to show honesty. Only with honesty can we grow our business for a thousand years. I have land, I have a good partner-in-crime, I have money, I have contacts to make the channels and I have great ginseng seeds suppliers. I have absolutely no problem, but, I have not one thing - time. I need opt - other people's time.
My hands are also tied in some business-types, for example, cryptocurrency (passion business VII). My partner-in-crime stated categorically that this business-type is out-of-bound to all other partners. Although the business-type worth $200trn might take a good 20 years to mature, he is willing to wait and he is not willing to share. I understand where he's coming from. We both owe it to ourselves that we are 千古河山棋一局，是真名士自风流。
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