The 48 Laws Of Power

again,you

willbe

sorry

later.”

But

Hsiang

decided to

bemerciful.He

wanted
to
bring

Liubackto

Ch’u

alive,

and

toforcehisformerfriendtoac-

knowledge

himasmaster.ButFan

proved

right:

Liu

managed

tousethe

negotiations

forhissurrenderasa

distraction,

andhe

escaped

withasmall

army.Hsiang,

amazedthathehad

yetagain

lethisrival

slipaway,

once

moresetoutafter
Liu,

this

time

with

such

ferocity

thatheseemedtohave

losthismind.Atone

point,havingcaptured

Liu’s

fatherin

battle,

Hsiang

stood
theoldman

upduring

the

fighting

and

yelled

toLiuacrossthelineof

troops,

“Surrender

now,

orIshallboil

your

fatheralive!”Liu

calmly

arr

swered,

“Butweareswornbrothers.So

my

fatheris

your

fatheralso.If

you

insiston
boilingyour

own

father,

sendmeabowlofthe

soup!”Hsiang

backed
down,
andthe

struggle

continued.

Afew

weeks

later,

inthethickofthe

hunt,

Hsiang

scatteredhisforces

unwisely,

andina

surprise

attackLiuwasabletosurroundhismain

garri-

son.Forthefirsttimethetableswereturned.Nowitwas

Hsiang

whosued

for
peace.

Liu’s

top

adviser

urged

himto

destroyHsiang,

crushhis

army,

showno
mercy.

“Tolethim

go

would

be

like

rearing

a

tiger——it

will

devour

you
later,”
theadvisersaid.Liu

agreed.

Making

a

false

treaty,

helured

Hsiarig

into

relaxing

his

defense,

then

slaughtered

almostallofhis

army.Hsiangmanaged

to

escape.

Aloneand

on

foot,

knowing

thatLiuhad

put

a

bounty

onhis

head,

hecame

upon

a

small

group

ofhisown

retreating

soldiers,

and

cried

out,

“IhearLiu

Pang

hasofferedonethousand

pieces

of

gold

and

a

fiefoftenthousandfamilies

for
my

head.Letmedo

you

afavor.”Thenhe

slithis

ownthroatanddied.

Interpretation

Hsiang

Yuhad

proven

hisruthlessnesson

many

anoccasion.He

rarely

hesitated
in
doingaway

witharivalifitserved

his

purposes.

ButwithLiu

Pang

heacted

differently.

He

respected

his

rival,

anddidnotwanttodefeat

him

through

deception;

hewantedto

prove

his

superiority

onthebattle

field,

eventoforcethecleverLiutosurrenderandtoservehim.

Every

time

hehad
his
rivalinhis

hands,

something

madehim

hesitat&——a

fatal

sympa~

thy

with

or

respect

fortheman

who,

after

all,

hadoncebeen

a

friendand

comradeinarms.Butthemoment

Hsiang

madeitclearthatheintendedto

do

away

with

Liu,

yet

failedto

accomplish

it,

hesealedhisowndoom.Liu

wouldnotsufferthesamehesitationoncethetablesweretamed.

This

isthefatethat

facesall

of

uswhen

we

sympathize

withourene

mics,
when
pity,

orthe

hope

of

reconciliation,

makesus

pull

back

from

doingaway

withthem.We

onlystrengthen

theirfearandhatredofus.We

havebeaten

them,

and

they

are

humiliated;

yet

wenurturetheseresentful

vipers

whowillone

day

killus.Powercannotbedealtwiththis

way.

It

must
be
exterrninated,crushed,
anddenied
thechancetoreturntohaunt

us.Thisisallthetruerwithaformerfriendwhohasbecomean

enemy.

Thelaw

governing

fatal

antagonisnis

reads:Reconciliationisoutofthe

question.Only

onesidecan

win,

anditmustwin

totally.

Liu

Pang

learnedthislessonwell.After

defeatingHsiang

Yu,

thisson

condoitien

waizlrdm

/war.()I1L‘f’in’reurhuzl

Sinigriglirx.

Ccstire

wouldhean€‘(Lt‘,V

pry);

caught

betweenthe

cimrlr-Iandtlwir

jnruzs

ringizzg

rlqv

town....

'/‘hrcondottieriwere

sure

they

had

milzmry

.s'uperim'ity.

believing

thatthe

Ilepurmreof

theFrmch

troops

lmd

left

(.‘c.mrewith

only

11 mm)!

firfsic’.

In.

fact.at-rordirsg

zo

M(zchiav¢>l1i,ffiarginj

had

left

(‘arenawith

rmtlroustmd

r'nfzm:r_x~’~

menandthreethou-

sandIznrse,

taking

pairls

to

spinup

his

nzewsothin‘

they

would

march

alongparallel

roams

beforz?r:onverg-

mg

on

Sirtigagliu.

Tilt‘

re'u.ynr1

for

sucha

large

force

wasthatheknew.

from

a

crmfmwiozz

(’x(mr,'Ie<l

from

Ramiro

([1!Lara),wlmlthe

condouicrihad

up

theirsleeve.He{lIer(‘—

fore

decidedreturn

theirown

impzrgniozsi

them.Thiswasthe

muslerpieceoftrickery

Ihal

the

historianPaolo

G'imsiolatercalled“thr-

magnijirenr

z1i—a»it.“

AlrlzxwnonDecember

31/1502],

Cestlre

rcurluzdthenutxkir/.y

of

Siniguglilz.

...Led

by

Mit'ltel()lI()Corvllu.

Cesare admrzce

guard

of

twoltumlrcdlaI1fP.\'

look

up

its

prlrltiotl

on

the(amt!

bridge.

...

'I‘i:iscorztml

ofrhe

bridgeeffectively

prevented

the

,c:mr;2z'ra«

tors‘

troopsfrom

with-

'

Ilmwlhlg,

.

..

Cesare

greeted

the

condouieri

offusivcly

andirzllitezlthemto

j()ll’l

him.

...A/Iirlzelorlu

LAW 15 I09