At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the country of Yue was on the verge of extinction. Fan Li, a prodigy from the Chu State, had great plans and strategies in mind. At the invitation of Wen Zhong, he went to Yue to assist Gou Jian. When Kuaiji Mountain was defeated, he proposed the strategy of kneeling down to seek peace and entering Wu as a slave, sharing the shame with Gou Jian. During the three years in the stone chamber, Fan Li skillfully used his wisdom to alienate the kings and ministers of the Wu Kingdom, and finally protected the king's return to the country.
After returning to Vietnam, Fan Li worked hard with Wen Zhong. He advocated "ten years of gatherings and ten years of lessons". He searched for the beautiful Xi Shi and used beauty tricks to disrupt the Wu Palace. He supervised the army and performed martial arts with hidden edge. He alienated his husband and killed the loyal Wu Zixu. When the state of Wu was exhausted, he strategized and commanded, and finally helped Gou Jian destroy Wu's shame and achieve hegemony.
When his achievements were high and his master was shaken, Fan Li understood Gou Jian's nature of "sharing adversity but not happiness", so he resolutely hung up his seal and sealed the gold, quietly went boating around the five lakes with Xi Shi, and left a suicide note to warn his close friend Wen Zhong (later Wen Zhongguo was killed). He changed his name to "pi" and hid on the coast of Qi State, where he worked hard and was a merchant, accumulating a fortune. The king of Qi wanted to pay homage to the prime minister, but he scattered all his wealth and traveled far away.
Finally, he settled in Taodi, "in the middle of the world", and called himself "Tao Zhugong". Relying on the "strategy of planning" that has insight into the weather and the business wisdom of "getting the high and taking the low", he operates with integrity, "three fortunes", and is rich in the world, and is respected as the "Business Sage". In his later years, he spent his wealth to help the world, looked down upon gains and losses, and died without any illness. Throughout his life, Fan Li set the world in politics, became wealthy and virtuous in business, advanced and retreated freely, and had far-reaching wisdom. His knowledge of people, country planning, business, and conduct in the world created an immortal legend.
