Peter Grant was greatly surprised when he heard the long string of new terms I had prepared for a long time, and asked me, “What do you mean by the principles of orthodox and unorthodox, slow and swift, real and feigned, advance and retreat, advantage and disadvantage, movement and stillness, hardness and softness, existence and non-existence?”

　　I replied, “To govern a country with orthodoxy, to use the unorthodox in warfare—when the entire army can face the enemy without defeat, that is the principle of orthodox and unorthodox. Engage the enemy with the orthodox, achieve victory with the unorthodox. Specifically, facing the enemy head-on is orthodox, maneuvering in coordination is unorthodox; open is orthodox, covert is unorthodox; stillness is orthodox, movement is unorthodox; advancing is orthodox, retreating is unorthodox; acting first is orthodox, acting later is unorthodox... Generally, conventional, regular, and ordinary strategies and tactics are orthodox, while special, variable, and rare strategies and tactics are unorthodox.”

　　Peter Grant was greatly astonished, because in my words I quoted from Laozi’s Dao De Jing, Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and some theories he had never heard before—those were the results of later generations’ research on Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Peter Grant immediately changed his demeanor and respectfully asked me about other aspects, such as the principles of slow and swift, real and feigned, advance and retreat, advantage and disadvantage, movement and stillness, hardness and softness, existence and non-existence. I only smiled and did not answer, because I had only prepared this much, and besides, wouldn’t I give myself away if I said more?

　　Peter Grant then turned to discuss the principle of orthodox and unorthodox with me in detail. I was well prepared. I asked Peter Grant to set up a hypothetical camp—he would defend, and I would attack.

　　Historically, Peter Grant was famous for his defensive skills. In the Battle of Baimazhen, it was he who led a lone force to withstand the assault of Yuan Shao’s fierce general Yan Liang, holding out until Cao Cao’s reinforcements arrived in the spring. A cautious and meticulous general like him eventually became one of Cao Cao’s five great generals, and made it known throughout Cao’s camp that: “If Peter Harris is defending the city, it will not fall.” This made me truly admire Cao Cao’s ability to employ talent.

　　Very well, since you are skilled at defense, I will shatter your confidence in the area you are best at.

　　Peter Grant placed a bamboo slip on the desk, representing the camp he had set up.

　　“Is there water beside the camp?” I asked.

　　“There is water,” Peter Grant replied proudly.

　　“I will block the water flow, wait until the river is full, and then release the water to flood your camp.”

　　“No water,” Peter Grant changed his answer.

　　“If an army has no water for three days, it will collapse. I will surround you on all sides and prevent you from getting water. After three days, I’ll send someone to your camp to cut your throat.”

　　“No water, I’ll dig a well,” Peter Grant said, his face turning red and neck bulging.

　　“I’ll wait for you to dig up water,” I said with a smile. As if you could dig up water anywhere—do you think you’re a deity?

　　“Is there a mountain?” I continued.

　　“Perhaps there is a mountain,” Peter Grant answered hesitantly.

　　“I will set up camp on the mountain. When you come to attack me, I will strike down from above. If rocks tumble down the slope, how will you defend against them?”

　　“I’ll set up camp on the mountain too,” Peter Grant was already furious.

　　“There’s no water on the mountain. I’ll surround you on all sides and starve you out.”

　　Back and forth like this, Peter Grant defended twenty times, and each time I broke through his defense. An exasperated Peter Grant demanded that we switch roles.

　　“You set up camp—no water, no mountain nearby,” Peter Grant shouted.

　　“I’ll have cavalry patrol outside your camp, shooting arrows into your camp from time to time. The cavalry will use hooked poles to pull down your palisade, and then the infantry will attack and enter your camp.” I smiled at Peter Grant and said, “If you set up camp where I don’t want you to, I’ll keep harassing you. If you are able to set up camp, it must be in a place I have chosen for you, a place I want you to be. At that point, you are the fish and I am the knife—aren’t you at my mercy?”

　　“You set up camp—no water, no mountain nearby, I’ll attack first,” Peter Grant said viciously.

　　“I’ll dig traps all over the camp, with sharp stakes in every pit. If you attack me, I’ll simply abandon the camp—do you dare enter?”

　　After that, Peter Grant used my attacking methods to attack the camp I set up about twenty times, and I countered each one. By this time, Peter Grant had been reduced to a complete fool, muttering nonstop, “Can’t attack, can’t defend, what should I do?”

　　However, my goal had not yet been achieved. I believed that if someone experiences great pain once, he may only remember that one lesson. But if he experiences great pain, then great joy, and then great pain again, he will probably never dare to provoke me for the rest of his life. I immediately changed the subject: “May I ask, what is meant by military affairs?”

　　This was another area of expertise for Peter Grant. He immediately began to speak at length, and from time to time I would ask Patrick Turner questions about what Peter Grant was saying, but I made no comments on his explanations. This made him immediately feel proud, and in the end he spoke directly to Patrick Turner, constantly glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

　　Taking advantage of this, I slowly looked around Peter Grant’s study. It was filled with bamboo slips and weapons. Among them was a type of halberd, the same kind of weapon Liu Bei used when fighting bandits in the mountains. I picked up the halberd and examined it closely. Oh, I see—this isn’t a halberd, it’s called a ji. On the crosspiece of this halberd, there was a protruding spearhead. In the Eastern Han dynasty, this kind of weapon was developed from the halberd, and because it could both thrust and slash, it became the most popular weapon of the time. It is said that Lü Bu was the first to transform the crosspiece of the halberd into a crescent shape and called this weapon the “Fangtian Huaji.” Because it had more hooking and hanging functions than an ordinary ji, Lü Bu was able to dominate the land.