The 48 Laws Of Power

PART

I-.CONCEALYOURMIS'I‘AKES-~

HAVE

A

SCAPEGOATAROUNDTOTAKETHEBLAME

Our

good

nameand

reputationdepend

moreonwhatweconcealthanon

whatwereveal.

Everyone

makes

mistakes,

butthosewhoare

truly

clever

manage

tohide

them,

andtomakesuresomeoneelseisblamed.Aconve-

nient

scapegoat

should

always

be

keptamzmdfor

suchmoments.

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW 1

Neartheendofthesecond

century

A.D.,

asChina’s

mighty

Han

Empire

slowly collapsed,

the

great

general

and

imperial

minister Ts’aoTs’ao

emerged

asthemost

powerful

maninthe

country.Seeking

toextendhis

power

baseandtoridhimselfofthelastofhis

rivals,

'Is’aoTs’ao

began

a

campaign

totakeconlrolof

the

strategically

vital

CentralPlain.

During

the

siege

ofa

keycity,

be

slightly

miscalculotedthe

timing

for

supplies

of

grain

toarrivefrom

the

capital.

Ashewaitedforthe

shipment

tocome

in,

the

army

ranlowon

food,

andTs’aoTs’aowasforcedtoorderthechiefof

commissariattoreduceitsrations.

Ts‘ao Ts’ao

kept

a

tight

reinonthe

army,

andrananetworkofinform-

ers.His

spies

soon

reported

thatthemenwere

complaining,grumbling

thathewas

living

wellwhile

they

themselveshad

barelyenough

toeat.

Perhaps

Ts’aoTs’aowas

keeping

thefoodfor

himself,

they

murmured.If

the

grumblingspread,

Ts’aoTs’aocould

have

a

mutiny

on

hishands.He

summonedthechiefofcommissariattohistent

“Iwanttoask

you

tolendme

something,

and

you

mustnot

refuse,”

Ts’aoTs’aotoldthechief.“Whatisit?”thechief

replied.

“Iwanttheloamof

your

headtoshowtothe

troops,”

saidTs’aoTs’a.o.“ButI’ve

dope

nothing

wrong!”

criedthechief.“I

know,”

saidTs’ao

Ts’ao

witha

sigh,

“but

ifI

do

not

putyou

to

death,

there

will

be

a

mutiny.

Donot

grieve-—a.fteryou’re

gone,

I’lllookafter

yourfamily.”

Put

this

way,

the

request

leftthechiefno

choice,

sohe

resigned

himselftohisfateandwasbeheadedthat

veryday.

Seeing

hisheadon

publicdisplay,

thesoldiers

stoppedgrumbling.

Some

saw

through

Ts’aoTs’ao‘s

gesture,

but

keptquiet,

stunnedand

intimidated

by

hisviolence.Andmost

accepted

hisversionofwhowasto

blame,

pre-

ferring

tobelieveinhiswisdomandfairnessthaninhis

incompetence

and

cruelty.

Interpretation

Ts’ao
Ts’aocame
to
power

inan

extremely

tumultuoustime.Inthe

struggle

for

supremacy

inthe

crumbling

Han

Empire,

enemieshad

emerged

from

allsides.ThebattlefortheCentralPlainhad
proven

moredifficultthanhe

imagined,

and

money

and

provisions

wereaconstantconcern.Nowonder

thatundersuch

stress,

hehad

forgotten

toorder

supplies

intime.

Once

it

becameclearthatthe

delay

wa.sacritical

mistake,

andthatthe

army

was

seething

with

mutiny,

Ts’ao'Is’aohadtwo

options:apology

and

excuses,

ora

scapegoat.Understanding

the

workings

of

power

andtheim—

(IIIEIM.lU~:'E'lfili

A

greatcalarnityhefcll

the(own

of

Chelmone

day.

Themwn

zrablrler

murrleredone

ufltix

customers.Sohewas

broughtbefore

the

judge.

whoxemenzretl

him 10 die

byhanging.

Whentheverdictwas

read

a

Iownsmcmarose

andcried

am,

“Ifyour

Humor

ple:2.\ex~)-oz:

havesemertcerltodeath

thetowncobbler!Heis

the

only

onewe‘ve

got.

I

Iyouhang

himwho

will

mend

our

shoes?"

“Who?Who?

"

criedall

the

people

of

Chelm

with

onevoice.

The

judge

nodtlecl

in

agreement

andrecon-

sideredhisverdict.

“Good

peopleof

Chelm,

"

he

said,

“

what

you.s’a_,v

istrue.Since

wehave

only

one

ml)-

hleritwouldbea

great

wrong

against

mewm—

munlry

tolet/ilmdie.

Aszlwre

are

two

mofers

inthetownIn

one

of

thembe

lzcmged

inxlearl.

"

A|‘RliASl;RY

or

JEWISH

rm.Ki,0Ri‘-..

NA'1‘HA.~AL:s1'isi~.L.2:13..

1948

LAW 26 201