Chapter 13 - The Use of Spies

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter thirteen, The use of spies. One swinter said, raising a host
of a hundred thousand men and marchingthem great distances and tails heavy laws on
the people, and a drain onthe resources of the state. The daily

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expenditure will amoungst to a thousand answersof silver. There will be commotion at
home and abroad, and men whodrop down exhausted on the highways. As
many as seven hundred thousand families willbe impeded in their labor. Two hostile

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armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory, which is
decided in a single day. Thisbeing so to remain in ignorance of the
enemy's conditions simply because one grudges theoutlay of a hundred answers of silver in
honors and emoluments is the height ofinhumanity. Three. One who acts thus

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is no leader of men, nopresent help to his sovereign, no master
of victory. Four. Thus,what enables the wise sovereign and a good
general to strike and conquer and achievethings beyond the reach of ordinary men is

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fore knowledge. Five. Now,this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits.
It cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation. Six.
Knowledge of the enemy's disposed posessions canonly be obtained from other men.

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Seven. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes.
One local spies, two inward spies, three converted spies, four doomed spies,
five surviving spies. Eight. Whenthese five kinds of spies are all

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at work, none can discover thesecret system. This is called divine manipulation
of the threats. It is thesovereign's most precious faculty. Nine. Having
local spies means employing the services ofthe inhabitants of a district. Ten,

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Having inward spies making use of officialsof the enemy. Eleven, Having converted
spies getting hold of the enemy's spiesand using them for our own purposes.

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Twelve having doomed spies doing certain thingsopenly for purposes of deception, and allowing
our spies to know of them andreport them to the enemy. Thirteen.
Surviving spies. Finally, are thosewho bring back news from the enemy's camp.

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Fourteen. Hence it is that whichnone in the whole army are more
intimate relations to be maintained than withspies. None should be more liberally rewarded.
In no other business should great secrecybe preserved. Fifteen. Spies cannot

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be usefully employed without a certain intuitivesagacity. Sixteen. They cannot be properly
managed without benevolence and straightforwardness Seventeen.Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot
make certain of the truth of thereports. Eighteen Be subtle, Be subtle,

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and use your spies for every kindof business. Nineteen. If a
secret piece of news is devouged bya spy before the time is ripe,
he must be put to death,together with the men to whom the secret
was told. Twenty Whether the objectbe to crush an army, to storm

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a city, or to assassinate anindividual, it is always necessary to begin
by finding out the names of theattendants, the aid to come, and
door keepers and sentries of the generalin command. Our spies must be commissioned

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to ascertain these. Twenty One.The enemy spies who have come to spy
or us must be sought out,tempted with bribes, led the way,
and comfortably housed. Thus they willbecome converted spies and available for our service.

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Twenty two it is through the informationbrought by the converted spy that we
are able to acquire and employ localand inward spies twenty three. It is
owing to his information again, thatwe can cause the doomed spy to carry

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false tidings to the enemy twenty four. Lastly, it is by his information
that the surviving spy can be usedon appointed occasions twenty five. The end
and aim of spying in all itsfive varieties is knowledge of the enemy,

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and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance from the converted
spies. Hence, it is essentialthat the converted spy be treated with the
utmost liberality. Twenty six of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty was

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due to each Chi who had servedunder the Choa. Likewise, the rise
of the Joo dynasty was due tolu Jah, who had served under the
Yinn twenty seven. Hence, itis only the enlightened ruler and the wise
general who will use the highest influenceof the army for purposes of spying,

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and thereby they achieve great results.Spies are a most important element in water
because on them depends an army's abilityto move. End of chapter thirteen.

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End of the art of war byswindle,