To Lure a Tiger from its Mountain Lair, 调虎离山 - 36 Strategies
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36 Strategies - Strategy No 15: To lure a tiger from its mountain lair, 调虎离山
Original: 待天以困之，用人以诱之，往蹇来返。
Modern: 等待自然条件对敌人不利时在去围困敌人，用人为的假象去诱惑敌人，向前进攻有危险，那就想办法让敌人来攻我。
English: Wait for natural condition to be unfavorable to your enemy, use deceptions to lure the enemy to attack you since attacking him would be dangerous.
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Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, just before the Three Kingdoms Period, there was intense fighting among warlords for territories. One young warlord was Sun Ce who was only seventeen when he took over his father's ambition. In 199 AD, Sun Ce wanted to expand north, eyeing Lu Jiang. The problem is that Lu Jiang has the Yangtze River and the Huai River as natural barriers, thus making the region very difficult to attack. Moreover, the warlord that is occupying the Lu Jiang region was Liu Xun who wields great power but was extremely greedy.
So Sun Ce discuss with his advisors the strategy he should use and they decide to use "To lure a tiger from its mountain lair" strategy. Sun Ce wrote a letter that heap praises on Liu Xun and together with the letter, a very expensive gift. At the end of the letter, after much praises at the start, he sought help from Liu Xun. Sun Ce wrote,"The army from Upper Liao always plunder my territories, as we are weak, we are not able to send our troops to expel them. Can you please help us? Your help is greatly appreciated." Being praised to the sky by Sun Ce, Liu Xun was more than happy to help Sun Ce because he has plans to take over Upper Liao because of the huge wealth that the people had gathered. And seeing that Sun Ce was 'weak', he does not have to fear that he would be attacked from the rear. Liu Ye advised against the move but Liu Xun was too mesmerized by the praises and gift sent by Sun Ce to take in his advice.
Sun Ce monitored Liu Xun's movement. When he saw that Liu Xun had left with his troops to Upper Liao, leaving his city defenseless, seized the opportunity to take over the city. With the weak defense, it was too easy for Sun Ce's men. Liu Xun, on the other hand, was not able to conquer Upper Liao and when news travelled to his ears that Lu Jiang has been captured by Sun Ce, he knew all is lost and went to seek refuge at Cao Cao.
东汉末年，军阀并起，各霸一方。孙坚之子孙策，年仅十七岁，年少有为，继承父志，势力逐渐强大。公元199年，孙策欲向北推进，准备夺取江北卢江郡。卢江郡南有长江之险，北有淮水阻隔，易守难攻。
占据卢江的军阀刘勋势力强大，野心勃勃。孙策知道，如果硬攻，取胜的机会很小。他和众将商议，定出了一条调虎离山的妙计。针对军阀刘勋，极其贪财的弱点，孙策派人给刘勋送去一份厚礼，并在信中把刘勋大肆吹捧一番。信中说刘勋功名远播，今人仰慕，并表示要与刘励交好。孙策还以弱者的身份向刘勋求救。他说，上缭经常派兵侵扰我们，我们力弱，不能远征，请求将军发兵降服上缭，我们感激不尽。刘勋见孙策极力讨好他，万分得意。上缭一带，十分富庶，刘勋早想夺取，今见孙策软弱无能，免去了后顾之忧，决定发兵上缭。部将刘晔极力劝阻，刘勋哪里听得进去？他已经被孙策的厚礼、甜言迷惑住了。
孙策时刻监视刘勋的行动，见刘勋亲自率领几万兵马去攻上缭，城内空虚，心中大喜，说：“老虎己被我调出山了，我们赶快去占据它的老窝吧！”干是立即率领人马，水陆并进，袭击卢江，几乎没遇到顽强的抵杭，就十顺利地控制了卢江。刘勋猛攻上缭，一直不能取胜。突然得报，孙策已取卢江，情知中计，后悔已经来不及了，只得灰溜溜地投奔曹操。