Skilled generals govern well and enforce military laws to control victory. Sun Tzu puts forward five linked factors deciding war outcomes. A winning army holds overwhelming strength and strikes with irresistible momentum.
Confucius said, “The noble person has three things to revere: reverence for the Mandate of Heaven, reverence for persons of high station or great virtue (‘daren’), and reverence for the words of the sages. The petty person, not understanding the Mandate of Heaven, feels no reverence; treats exalted persons with undue familiarity; and mocks…