A crossbow at the end of its bolt lacks the strength to pierce Lu silk.
Yet a masterstroke waged with silk as spear and trade as blade can bring a state to its knees without a fight.
In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong helped Duke Huan establish supremacy, wielding economics as his weapon.
A single decree unleashed a craze for Qi gauze and Lu silk. The entire state of Lu abandoned farming to weave silk, falling into an inescapable trap.
This was the earliest trade war in history,
and a brilliant stratagem, executed in plain sight, that no one could defeat.
Watch Guan Zhong use fine silk as his game pieces and lay out a grand economic design.
Without drawing a sword, he shaped the balance of power between Qi and Lu, and wove the fate of the Spring and Autumn world.
