This is from "The Legend of the Lantern". According to legend, Chang Jian, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, heard that Zhao Gu was going to visit Lingyan Temple in Suzhou. In order to invite Zhao Gu to write a poem, Chang Jian first wrote two sentences on the temple wall. After Zhao Gu saw it, he immediately wrote two more sentences, and they were better than the first two sentences. Later, literati called Chang Jian's approach "throwing bricks to attract jade." This strategy is used in military affairs. It refers to the strategy of using similar things to confuse and deceive the enemy, making them confused and fooled, falling into our trap, and then taking the opportunity to defeat the enemy. "Brick" and "jade" are metaphors. "Brick" refers to small profits and embroidery bait; "Jade" refers to the purpose of combat, that is, a big victory. "Attracting jade" is the goal, and "throwing bricks" is the means to achieve the goal. Fishing requires bait. Let the fish taste a little sweetness before it takes the bait. Only when the enemy takes advantage of it will it fall into the trap and suffer a big loss. In 700 BC, the Chu State used the strategy of "throwing bricks to attract jade" to easily capture Jiacheng. In this year, the State of Chu sent troops to attack the State of Jiu (now northwest of Yun County, Hubei Province), and the army moved quickly. The Chu army approached the city with great momentum. Jiao Guo knew that going out of the city to fight would be a disaster, so he decided to hold on to the city. The terrain of Jiacheng is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Chu army attacked many times but was repulsed. The two armies were in a stalemate for more than a month. Mo Ao, Qu Juxia, a doctor of the Chu State, carefully analyzed the situation between the enemy and ourselves and believed that Jiacheng could only be outmaneuvered, not conquered. He proposed to the King of Chu a strategy of "catching big fish with bait". He said: "If you cannot attack the city, it is better to lure it with advantage." The King of Chu asked him how to lure the enemy. Qu Xia suggested that while Jiaocheng was besieged for more than a month and there was a shortage of firewood in the city, some soldiers dressed as woodcutters should go up the mountain to collect firewood and transport it back. The enemy troops would definitely come out of the city to rob the firewood. In the first few days, let them gain some small profits. When they become careless and a large number of soldiers come out of the city to rob firewood, they will first set up an ambush to cut off their retreat, and then gather together to annihilate them and take advantage of the situation to seize the city. The King of Chu was worried that Jiao State would not be easily fooled. Qu Xia said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although Jiao State is small and frivolous, and frivolous people lack strategy. With such a sweet bait, there is no need to worry about it not taking the bait." King Chu then followed the plan. Then Xingxing ordered some soldiers to dress up as woodcutter and go up the mountain to collect firewood. After hearing the spies' report about porters entering the mountains, Marquis Jiao asked the woodcutter whether they were protected by the Chu army. The spies said that they came in and out in twos and threes, and there were no soldiers following them. Jiaohou immediately arranged his troops, and when the "woodcutter" came out of the mountain with firewood on his back, he made a sudden attack. Sure enough, he succeeded successfully, captured more than thirty "woodcutter", and captured a lot of firewood. After a few days, I really gained a lot. Seeing the profits, more and more soldiers from the country came out of the city to rob firewood. When the King of Chu saw that the enemy had swallowed the bait, he decided to catch the big fish quickly. On the sixth day, the soldiers of the state of Jiao went out to plunder the city as they had done a few days ago. Seeing the soldiers of the state of Jiao coming to plunder again, the "woodcutters" were so frightened that they ran away. The soldiers of the state of jiao followed closely and were unknowingly led into the Chu army's territory. Inside the ambush circle. I saw ambushes everywhere, and the sound of killing was loud. The soldiers of Wen Kingdom could not withstand it. They retreated in a hurry. They encountered an ambush and their way back was cut off. There were countless casualties. At this time, the King of Chu took the opportunity to attack the city. Hou Hou knew that he had been tricked and was unable to resist, so he had to surrender. In 690 AD, the Khitan captured Yingzhou. Wu Zetian sent four generals, Cao Renshi, Zhang Xuanyu, Li Duozuo and Marenjie, to march westward, hoping to recapture Yingzhou and pacify the Khitan. Sun Wanrong, the Khitan pioneer, was familiar with the art of war and was quite resourceful. He thought that the Tang army was so powerful that it would be unfavorable for them to fight head-on. He first created public opinion about the food shortage in Yingzhou and deliberately allowed the captured Tang troops to escape. Cao Ren, the commander of the Woodcutter Army, saw that the Tang soldiers who had fled back on the road were yellow and hungry, and learned from them that Yingzhou was seriously short of food. , the Khitan generals and soldiers in Yingzhou City were unstable. Master Cao Ren was overjoyed, thinking that the Khitans were vulnerable and that the capture of Yingzhou was just around the corner. Zhang Xuanyu and Marenjiebu, the leading troops of the Tang Army, wanted to seize the lead and advanced rapidly towards Yingzhou. Along the way, they also saw old and weak Khitan soldiers who had escaped from Yingzhou. They claimed that Yingzhou was seriously short of food and the soldiers fled one after another. , and expressed his willingness to surrender to the Tang army. Generals Zhang and Ma became even more convinced that Yingzhou was short of food and the Khitan army was unstable. They led their troops to travel day and night to Xiqiao Stone Valley. They saw that the road was narrow and there were cliffs on both sides. According to the method of using troops, this is a dangerous place to set up an ambush. However, Zhang and Ma mistakenly believed that the Khitan soldiers were already too hungry, and driven by the desire to win the first prize, they ordered the troops to continue advancing. Tang troops entered the valley in an endless stream and marched hard. At dusk, only the sound of cannons was heard. On the cliff, arrows rained down like rain. The Tang soldiers and horses trampled them, causing countless casualties. Sun Wanrong personally led troops to attack the Tang army from all directions. The Tang army was unable to advance or retreat. There was an ambush in front of them and cavalry in the rear. They were in chaos without fighting. Zhang and Ma were captured alive by the Khitan army. Sun Wanrong used the general's seal found to immediately write a letter to Cao Renshi, falsely reporting that Yingzhou had been captured and asking Cao Renshi to quickly go to Yingzhou to deal with the Khitan leaders. Master Cao Ren had long despised the Khitan. After receiving the letter, he was convinced and immediately led his troops to Yingzhou. The large army moved forward rapidly, preparing to pass through the canyon and rush to Yingzhou.

Needless to say, this invincible army made the same mistake again. In the Stone Valley of the West Gorge, it was surrounded and intercepted by Khitan ambushes, and the entire army was annihilated