«——【Preamble】】 ——
Since ancient times, wars between states have mostly been resolved by real armed confrontation, but there are also strategies that allow a country to defeat an enemy country without a single soldier, and in ancient China, the famous statesman and economist Guan Zhong used a strategy to eliminate multiple enemy countries without bloodshed.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that today, more than 2,000 years later, this strategy has been used by the United States with ease, and even used it many times.
«——[Bloodless Economic Sanctions·]——
During the Spring and Autumn period, relations between Qi and Lu and Liang were tense, and after Qi Huan came to power, he was eager to annex these two countries, but the risk of a head-on battle was too great, so he consulted his prime minister, Guan Zhong, who came up with an ingenious plan to allow Qi to defeat these two enemy countries without using troops.
At that time, the Lu and Liang kingdoms were famous for producing high-quality silk fabrics, silk fabrics. Guan Zhong suggested that the Duke of Qi Huan wear clothes made of silk, and ordered the nobles and ministers of Qi to also wear silk clothes, and soon, this trend spread, and the whole Qi country began to pursue this luxurious silk clothes, and the demand for silk clothes grew rapidly, resulting in the price of silk clothes rising.
Guan Zhong then further encouraged the merchants of Lu and Liang to send the silk to Qi and give them extremely high prices in return, and the merchants of Lu and Liang saw the huge economic benefits and sent their domestic silk to Qi to sell, ignoring agricultural production, resulting in grain dependence on imports.
More than a year later, Guan Zhong proposed that Qi Huan Gong stop wearing silk clothes and instead wear clothes made of other materials, and stop importing silk from Lu and Liang, and at the same time, Qi also stopped exporting grain to these two countries.
This transformation led to a shortage of food in Lu and Liang, and the people began to flee, and in the end, Lu and Liang were unable to make ends meet, and their national strength declined sharply, and they had to surrender to Qi three years later.
«——[Modern Application of Trade War·]——
In the 1970s, Chilean President Allende implemented a series of nationalization policies, can the United States be happy?
Chile is rich in copper ore, and copper ore is the lifeblood of the Chilean economy, and the United States deliberately pushed up the price of copper ore, causing Chile's economy to prosper, but in fact it was a trap, stimulated by high copper ore prices, Chile increased the scale of copper mining, and at the same time increased welfare.
However, in 1972, the United States suddenly shorted copper mines, causing copper prices to plummet, Chile's economy fell into inflation and hyperscopic deficits, and the United States took the opportunity to prop up a right-wing regime to launch a coup d'état, and President Allende died heroically in battle.
The United States has successfully controlled Chile in this "non-war" way, which is the most real application of Guan Zhong's strategy, and when it comes to Guan Zhong's other famous strategies, everyone must think of "buying deer to control Chu".
«——【·“ Buy deer to make Chu"·]——
At that time, the state of Chu was the biggest enemy of the state of Qi, with a large land, a strong army, and a long history. Duke Huan of Qi had repeatedly considered waging war against the state of Chu, but the military power of the state of Chu made him have some scruples. He approached Guan Zhong and sought a way to weaken the state of Chu without fighting.
Guan Zhong put forward the strategy of "buying deer to control Chu", and suggested that Qi Huan Gong buy the wild deer of Chu at a high price.
The key to this strategy was to create a false impression that would induce the people of Chu to abandon agriculture and instead hunt deer.
There are many mountains and rivers in Chu State, wild animals are abundant, and deer are flooded in Chu State, and merchants sent by Qi Huan Gong to buy deer at high prices, which attracts the attention of the people of Chu State.
When King Cheng of Chu learned of this, he thought that Duke Huan of Qi was indulging in fun and that the state of Qi was about to decline. He ordered the people of Chu to catch deer as much as possible, because deer were rampant in Chu and seemed to be an endless source of wealth.
However, Guan Zhong's purpose was not to buy deer, but to destroy the economic foundation of the Chu state. The people of Chu gave up agriculture one after another and began to hunt deer in large quantities, which led to difficulties in grain production in Chu. At the same time, the state of Qi continued to hoard food in preparation for further operations.
When the state of Chu was in economic difficulties and there was a shortage of food, Guan Zhong suggested that Duke Huan of Qi blockade trade with the state of Chu and cut off the food supply of the state of Chu. This strategy led to the complete collapse of the economy of the state of Chu, the flight of the people, and the state of Chu eventually had to submit to the state of Qi.
And Guan Zhong's strategy is not only applicable to the Lu State, he also used similar methods to deal with the Lai State and the Ju State, although these two countries are not a direct threat to the Qi State, they have a good force, and if they are united, they may pose a threat to the Qi State. Qi Huan Gong hoped to eliminate these two countries through economic warfare, so he once again asked Guan Zhong for advice.
Guan Zhong's strategy is to take advantage of the industrial characteristics of Laiguo and Juguo to induce them into economic traps. Matches were abundant in the countries of Lai and Ju, and Guan Zhong suggested that Qi Huan Gong buy matches from these two countries in large quantities and buy them at a high price. This sparked a frenzied firewood cutting spree in the Lai and Ju kingdoms, causing their agricultural production to stagnate.
As time passed, the economies of Lai and Ju gradually fell into trouble, and Guan Zhong advised Qi Huan to stop buying matches and cut off all trade with them, and Lai and Ju, who had no economic resources, eventually had to give in to Qi. This strategy of winning without a fight reflects the wisdom and ingenuity of Guan Zhong.
So in today's international community with frequent trade exchanges, what can our country do to prevent these risks?
«——【Food Security and Prevention·】——
In 2004, U.S. grain traders manipulated soybean prices, which led to a rise in soybean prices in China, and domestic companies closed down one after another.
Fortunately, China has stabilized the market through administrative intervention, and the government has protected domestic soybean farmers by buying soybeans at prices higher than the market price, even though the United States has tried to manipulate China's soybean prices again, but it has failed to make a substantial impact due to China's abundant soybean reserves.
But the United States is trying to destroy the agricultural foundations of other countries by exporting grain cheaply to other countries. In order to obtain US aid, many developing countries have had to lower their grain tariffs and become "puppets" of the United States.
Even Japan and South Korea, which have relatively good economic development, can hardly get rid of the control of the United States, and the grain self-sufficiency rate is low, but fortunately, China has already seen through the US attempt and ensured grain self-sufficiency, and the grain self-sufficiency target set by the state is 95 percent, and it can actually achieve complete self-sufficiency.
China's grain stock-to-consumption ratio is much higher than the international security warning line, ensuring food security.
«——【·Conclusion·】——
Both the ancient strategy of Guan Zhong and the modern economic and food wars of the United States have revealed the power of economic tactics, and China has ensured its own food security and resisted American ambitions through vigilance and response.
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the state must ensure that its economy is diversified and independent, that it does not rely too much on a single industry, and that important areas of national security, such as food and resources, must be firmly in its own hands.
Only in this way can we maintain the initiative in the complex game of the modern world and ensure the economic security and sustainable development of the country.
Resources
Manipulation by the "Black Hands Behind the Scenes"! The world food crisis has been going on for a long time, and the United States has always been behind it