Cryptocurrency Exchange - Detailed Explanation of "The Art of War" - The Use of Espionage Chapter

Sun Tzu said:

In general, deploying an army of 100,000, marching thousands of miles, the expenses of the people and the state, costing a thousand gold per day; internal and external unrest, exhaustion on the roads, and the inability to focus on affairs, affect 700,000 households. After years of stalemate, fighting over a single day’s victory, yet valuing rank and salary at a hundred gold, not knowing the enemy’s true situation—this is the utmost cruelty to benevolence! Such people are unfit to be commanders, unfit to be advisors to the ruler, and not the masters of victory. Therefore, wise rulers and capable generals succeed in defeating others because they understand the enemy’s situation beforehand. To understand the enemy’s situation in advance, one cannot rely on ghosts and spirits, nor on past events for analogy, nor on calculations for verification; it must be obtained from people—those who know the enemy’s true condition.

There are five types of spies: the causal spy, the internal spy, the reverse spy, the dead spy, and the living spy. When all five are used together without anyone knowing the secret, it is called a divine strategy, the treasure of the ruler. The causal spy uses local villagers; the internal spy uses officials; the reverse spy uses enemy spies to turn them to our side; the dead spy spreads false information externally, allowing our spies to learn and pass it to the enemy; the living spy reports back in person.

No confidant in the army is closer than a spy; no reward in the army is more generous than for a spy; no secret matter in the army is more confidential than using spies. Only the wise and virtuous can employ spies; only with benevolence and righteousness can spies be motivated; only with subtle and profound judgment can true intelligence be obtained. How subtle, how subtle! Spies are used everywhere. When a matter is planned but not yet executed, and it is known in advance, both the spy and the informant must be put to death.

For any attack on the enemy, any siege of a city, or killing an important enemy figure, one must first know the names of the commanding generals, their deputies, messengers, gatekeepers, and attendants. Our spies must investigate thoroughly. We must identify and buy off enemy spies, using heavy rewards, and turn them to our side. This is how reverse spies are employed; from them, we learn the situation and find suitable personnel in the countryside and within the enemy’s ranks. From reverse spies, we understand the situation and