The 48 Laws Of Power

before.

Menghuoreplied

thathehadnotbeenbeaten

fairly,

but

merely

be-

trayedby

hisown

officers;

hewould

fightagain,

but

if

captured

athird

time

hewouldbowto

Liang’ssuperiority.

Overthe

following

months

Liang

outwitted

Menghuoagain

and

again,

capturing

hima

third,

a

fourth,

andafifthtime.Oneachoccasion

Meng—

huo’s
troops
grew

moredissatisfied.

Liang

hadtreatedthemwith

respect;

they

hadlosttheirheartfor

fighting.

But

every

timeChuko

Liang

asked

Menghuo

to

yield,

the

greatking

wouldcome

up

with

anotherexcuse:You

tricked
me,

I

lost

through

bad

luck,

onandon.If

you

capture

me

again,

hewould

promise,

IswearIwillnot

betrayyou.

Andso

Liang

wouldlet

him
go.

Whenhe

capturedMenghuo

forthesixth

time,

heaskedthe

king

the

same

questionagain.

“If

youcapture

me

a

seventh

time,”

the

kingreplied,

“Ishall

giveyoumyloyalty

andneverrebel

again.”

“Very

well,”

said

Liang.

“But

if

I

capture

youagain,

Iwillnotrelease

you.”

Now

Menghuo

andhissoldiersfledtoafarcorneroftheir

kingdom,

the

region

of

Wuge.

Defeatedso

many

times,

Menghuo

had

only

one

hope

left:

He

wouldaskthe

help

of

KingWutugu

of

Wuge,

who

had

an

immense

andferocious

army.Wutugu’s

warriorsworeanarmorof

tightly

woven

vines soaked in

oil,

then dried to an

impenetrable

hardness. With

Menghuo

athis

side,

Wutugu

marchedthis

mightyarmyagainstLiang,

and

thistimethe

greatstrategist

seemed

frightened,leading

hismeninahur-

riedrelreat.

Buthewas

merelyleadingWutugu

into

a

trap:

Hecornered

the

king’s

men

in

anarrow

valley,

thenlitfiressetallaroundthem.When

thefiresreachedthesoldiers

Wutugu’s

whole

army

burstintoflame-the

oiiintheir

armor,

of

course,

beinghighly

flammable.Allofthem

perished.

Liang

had

managed

to

separateMengliuo

andhis

entourage

from

the

carnage

in

the

valley,

andthe

king

found

himselfa

captive

fortheseventh

time.Afterthis

slaughterLiang

could

not

beartofacehis

prisoner

again.

Hesenta

messenger

tothe

capturedking:

“Hehascommissionedmetore-

lease

you.

Mobilizeanother

armyagainst

him,

if

you

can,

and

try

once

moreto

defeat

him.”

Sobbing,

the

king

felltothe

ground,

crawledto

Liang

onhishands

and

knees,

and

prostrated

himselfathis

feet.“Oh

great

minis-

ter,”

cried

Menghuo,“yours

isthe

majesty

ofHeaven.Wemenofthesouth

willnever

again

olierresistanceto

your

rule.”“Do

you

now

yield?”

asked

Liang.

“I,

my

sons,

and

my

grandsons

are

deeply

moved

by

YourHon0r’s

boundless,

lifegivingmercy.

Howcouldwenot

yield?”

Liang

honored

Menghuo

with

a

greatbanquet,

reestablishedhimon

the

throne,

restoredhis

conquered

landstohis

rule,

thenreturnednorth

withhis

army,

leaving

no

occupying

force.

Liang

nevercameback—hehad

noneedto:

Menghuo

hadbecomehismostdevotedandunshakable

ally.

Interpretation

Chuko

Liang

hadtwo

options:Try

todefeatthebarbariansinthesouth

withone

crushingblow,

or

patiently

and

slowly

winthemtohissideover

time.Most

people

more

powerful

thantheir

enemygrab

thefirst

option

andneverconsiderthe

second,

butthe

trulypowerful

thinkfarahead:The

Themenwhohave

changed

thel.tI1iv(,’rS!'

havenewer

gotten

there

byworking

on

Iecrdery,

butrather

bymoving

thenza.s‘.ve.s“.

Working

on

lcartrrsisthemethod

of

intrigue

and

only

lozurlx

to

s:t4.':)r111(1r_\1

rmlaltx.

Working

onthe

rrm<r5c'5.

however,

isthesrroke

ofgenius

mm

charxges

the

famnfthc

world.

NAY()LE().‘*-l3i)NAPAR31-

.

1769 i821

l.lI«‘|7,ill’

Al.lCV\\l)I'.Ii

'l‘ll|~.(.l(l‘.:\'l

This

long

and

pzlirzfizi

[111

mu"I

ofI)arz'ns—-—for

inrlevm

days

he

nuzrched 33 htmdrczl

fi4rIurzgx—~l1ura.v.w(l

his

xm‘zJ'£cr.\‘sorim!most

of

themwere

ready‘

to

give

it

up,

L-hicflyfor

mm!

of

water.While

they

wereinthis

rimrexzsz

it

lmppened

that.\‘f)!’I1£’

Macedoniimr

whohad

fetched

Willi?!inskins

upon

theirmules

from

:1river

they

had

/(mm!

outcameaboutnoon

tothe

phnce

where

Alexanderwax.and

seeing

himalmost

irlmkodwith

Ihirxt.

pmwnilyfilled

zrhelmet

(rm!

oflered

ithim....

Thenhelookthe

hzimermmhis

hands.

and

looking

round

about

whenhesawall

thosewhowerenear

him

.\'l!(’l€}¢fIzg

their

headsoutand

looking

earnestlyafter

the

drink.hereturnedit

again

wixh(hanks

LAW 43 371