wei-liao-conquest-strategy

# Wei Liao's Conquest Strategy A strategic framework for defeating multiple adversaries by exploiting internal weaknesses rather than direct military confrontation. ## Overview When facing multiple states that might form alliances against you, use financial resources to corrupt their leadership rather than relying solely on military force. ## Steps 1. **Assess the threat**: Recognize that while individual states may be weak, their united front (合从/hezong) poses a significant danger 2. **Allocate resources**: Commit substantial funds (e.g., 300,000 gold) for bribery operations 3. **Target key officials**: Identify and bribe powerful ministers (豪臣) in each state 4. **Disrupt coordination**: Use bribed officials to sow discord and prevent unified action 5. **Execute military action**: With alliances broken, proceed with conventional military conquest ## Decision Points - If states show signs of uniting → prioritize bribery operations - If a state is isolated → proceed with direct military action ## Expected Outcomes - Enemy states unable to form effective coalitions - Reduced military casualties and costs - Systematic conquest of individual states ## Historical Context This strategy was proposed by Wei Liao to Qin Shi Huang and contributed to Qin's unification of China. ## Validation - Verify that the coalition threat (合从) was assessed before allocating bribery resources - Confirm that targeted officials (豪臣) in each state have been identified and their influence on alliance coordination evaluated - Check that military action is only initiated after alliance disruption is confirmed and individual states are isolated