反客为主　(fǎn kè wéi zhǔ)

Guest Outstaying Welcome

As a slave, you have no control over what you do in your master’s house. As a guest, you have little control of things. No matter how long you stay as a guest, you simply don’t have much say in the house, but you can learn a lot while there. Only by taking over as host can you control the house.

In a battle, it’s not always the case that you can overwhelm an enemy and immediately take control of the battlefield.

When you are not strong enough or when you don’t know the enemy very well, you need to first set foot in the enemy’s territory as a “guest.” Only then can you size up the situation. When ready, you can strongly take the role of “host” and bring the situation under control.

One story about this stratagem dates back to the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).

General Yuan Shao and Jizhou Magistrate Han Fu were old friends. Jizhou was a rich place with abundant supply of food and fodder. Yuan always dreamed of taking over Jizhou and turning it into one of his military bases.

One of Yuan’s aides suggested a plot to force Magistrate Han to invite Yuan’s troops to help defend Jizhou. Then they could gradually take control.(https://www.daowen.com)

Yuan surreptitiously encouraged the general of another force to prepare for an attack on Jizhou and then sent some lobbyists to talk his old friend into letting Yuan’s troops help defend the territory.

The lobbyists repeatedly told Han that in the face of imminent attack by enemy forces, the best solution was to seek help from his friend Yuan Shao.

“You know very well, Yuan is an ambitious general,” they told the magistrate. “If you don’t join with him, your enemy may do so. By that time, it could turn out to be a double whammy on you.”

Han was not a strategist and was scared by the situation. So, he decided to let Yuan send his troops into Jizhou to help with the defense, despite strong objection from his subordinates.

After entering Jizhou, Yuan gradually organized his men to take over all important positions and eventually deprived Han of all his power as magistrate.

Han started to regret his decision but it was too late.

Seeing no hope of taking back power, the magistrate finally fled Jizhou, abandoning his home and officials. As a result, Yuan took over Jizhou and named himself as magistrate.

This scheme is designed to defeat the enemy from within by first infiltrating his territory under the guise of cooperation or in the name of alliance. Then the invader can take control by switching his role from “guest” to “host.”