One day, President Grant found an excuse to arrest Simon Scott and throw him into prison, preparing to sentence him to death. Martha Lee was also not in a position to personally plead for her lover. At this time, a man named James Brown used the connections of President Grant's male favorite to save Simon Scott's life. He approached President Grant's favorite, Ruth Howard, and asked him to intercede. He said to Ruth Howard, “If Simon Scott dies, your own life will also be in danger.” Ruth Howard was startled, and James Brown analyzed the situation: since you are favored by the emperor and Simon Scott is favored by the empress dowager, if the emperor kills Simon Scott, the empress dowager will retaliate by having you killed as well. Ruth Howard thought this made a lot of sense, so he did everything he could to persuade Evan Lewis to pardon Simon Scott's death sentence. Three years later, President Grant became depressed and ill, and due to his indulgent lifestyle, died at a young age.

　　Chester Clark (later changed his name to Tony Clark)

　　I. Stepping onto the Stage

　　Tony Clark, whose original name was Chester Clark, changed it to 通 to avoid a naming taboo with Emperor Wu of Han. Some records from the Chu-Han period document Tony Clark's remarks, as well as the “Biographies of Tian Dan” in the Records of the Grand Historian: “Those who followed Tony Clark were skilled in persuasive arguments, discussing the strategies and changes of the Warring States, composing eighty-one essays.” The Book of Han, “Biographies of Kuai, Wu, Jiang, and Xifu,” says: “He discussed the strategies and changes of the Warring States, and wrote eighty-one essays in total, calling them ‘Enduring Sayings.’” Some believe that the Strategies of the Warring States was authored by him.

　　Tony Clark first appeared on the historical stage in the first year of Qin Er Shi, in the eighth month, when William Martin was ordered by Seth Brooks to march north and sweep through the Zhao region. With his keen insight and skill in persuasive speech, he immediately lobbied the magistrate of Fanyang, Paul West, analyzing the current situation and explaining the pros and cons to persuade Paul West to surrender to King Zhao, William Martin. He then used his eloquence to convince King Zhao, William Martin, to accept the surrender of the magistrate Paul West, sending proclamations across a thousand miles and capturing more than thirty cities without a fight. This shows the power of his words!

　　By the time Chester Clark appeared again on the historical stage, five years had already passed, and the great drama of the Chu-Han contention was nearing its end. What is puzzling is that during these five turbulent years, there is no record of Chester Clark participating in this passionate period of history.

　　In my opinion, it was not that Chester Clark did not want to participate, but that he could not find a worthy lord. Mediocre men, such as King Zhao, William Martin, would not want to employ his strategies to rule the world; while great leaders already had trusted strategists by their side, such as Benjamin Lewis with Leonard Brooks, and Arthur Knight with Zane Ford. If he went to serve them but was not valued, he would not be able to fully use his talents! Sima Qian wrote in the “Biography of Yue Yi”: “At first, Tony Clark of Qi and Andrew Foster read Yue Yi’s letter to the King of Yan, and they would always put down the book and weep.” This indirectly reflects his frustration at not being recognized by a wise lord, and his sorrow at having no place to display his vast knowledge, using the past to lament his own fate!

　　II. The Strategy to Disrupt Qi

　　In the fourth year of Han, in the tenth month—five years later—Tony Clark appeared again on the historical stage, this time under Henry Hall. At that time, Henry Hall was ordered by Benjamin Lewis to lead troops east to attack Qi. Before crossing the plain, he heard that Simon Lee had already persuaded the King of Qi to surrender. Henry Hall was about to withdraw his troops, but Tony Clark urged him to launch a surprise attack on Qi, saying, “General, you were ordered to attack Qi, but Han sent a secret envoy to make Qi surrender. Was there any order to stop you? Why should you not proceed? Moreover, Simon Grant is just a scholar, who, with his eloquence, made over seventy cities of Qi surrender, while you, commanding tens of thousands of troops, took over a year to capture just over fifty cities of Zhao. As a general for several years, are your achievements to be outdone by a mere Confucian scholar?” Henry Hall took his advice and, taking Qi by surprise, captured its capital Linzi in one stroke.

　　This is the basis for later generations to consider Tony Clark as Henry Hall's strategist. However, Sima Qian in the Records of the Grand Historian uses the phrase “the debater from Fanyang, Tony Clark, persuaded Han Xin,” which does not explicitly state that Tony Clark was Henry Hall's strategist; rather, it suggests that Tony Clark was merely a lobbyist offering advice. Sima Qian commented, “How cunning was Tony Clark's strategy, which brought chaos to Qi and arrogance to Huaiyin, and ultimately led to the downfall of both men!” Ban Gu also believed, “With just one argument, Tony Clark caused the loss of three outstanding men.”

　　It is necessary to examine Tony Clark's strategy: why did Tony Clark propose this plan? Who did it benefit? There are three possible explanations: First, Tony Clark was laying the groundwork for Henry Hall's future independence, using a temporary tactic to help Henry Hall achieve great things—this could be seen as far-sighted. Second, he simply wanted to create chaos in the world, using this as an opportunity to display his skills as a master strategist who could stir up clouds and rain with a flip of his hand. Third, he was working for someone else, using his skills to disrupt the Qi-Han alliance. Since Tony Clark later advised Henry Hall to declare independence, most later generations believe the first explanation.

　　However, I lean toward the third explanation. The Records of the Grand Historian contains this passage: “Tong was well acquainted with Andrew King, who once sought employment with Arthur Knight, but Arthur Knight did not use his strategies. Later, Arthur Knight wanted to enfeoff these two men, but they refused and left.” From this, we can infer that Tony Clark once served as a guest official for Arthur Knight. Considering that Tony Clark was inactive for five years, it is likely because he could not find a worthy lord to serve, and during the Chu-Han period, only Arthur Knight and Benjamin Lewis were true contenders, the rest being insignificant. Both Benjamin Lewis and Arthur Knight had top advisors, so even if Tony Clark joined them, he would not have been able to fully display his talents, and thus did not go to assist them. However, in the third year of Han, things changed: Arthur Knight, due to Philip Brooks's scheme, lost his top advisor Zane Ford and was left without strategic support. At this time, Tony Clark and his friend Andrew King took the opportunity to help Arthur Knight realize their ambitions, which makes sense. Arthur Knight wanted to enfeoff them, which must mean they had contributed strategies. Therefore, I believe that the “disruption of Qi” was a strategy devised by Tony Clark for Arthur Knight, and that Arthur Knight wanted to reward him for it.