How to Adjust When Things Go Wrong? Wei Liao Discovered the Way of Making Choices from the Nine Two Line of the Qian Hexagram

In the late Warring States period, dust swirled through the streets of Daliang. Wei Liao poured the last half-sack of millet into a clay pot and counted it out—enough for three days. He had come to the State of Wei to seek office three months prior, submitting ten petitions, all of which had been buried on the desk of the Grand Master; he had not even laid eyes on the King of Wei. The old woman next door who sold rice pudding saw him staring blankly at a scroll of bamboo slips all day and advised him: "Sir, if you feel your luck is bad, how can you turn it around? Go ask the fortune teller at the city gate." Wei Liao smiled and waved his hand. He himself was well-versed in the *I Ching*—what need had he for someone else to tell his fortune?

One day, he came to the Qian Hexagram, his fingertip resting on the line of the Nine Second Yao: *"A dragon appears in the field; it is advantageous to meet a great man."* He stared at these eight characters for half the night, then suddenly slapped his bamboo mat and laughed. Wasting away guarding the murky waters of Wei—was that not trapping a hidden dragon in a mud pit? For a dragon to emerge from seclusion, it must first find the right "field," then seek out a "great man" who could recognize its worth. What sense was there in stubbornly clinging to one place?

He packed his bags at once. The old woman chased after him, pressing two flatbreads into his hands: "Sir, you're leaving already? Your problem isn't solved yet!" Wei Liao weighed the flatbreads in his palms. "How to deal with a difficult problem? Find a new place to solve it, of course." With that, he strode off, heading west toward the State of Qin.

Upon arriving in Xianyang, he did not rush to submit a visiting card. First, he rented a dilapidated house in the South Market, and every day he wandered the city gate with his bamboo slips, explaining the art of war to anyone who would listen. Even the city guard soldiers forgot to rotate shifts, so engrossed were they in his words. The news reached Li Si, who came to listen for half a day, then returned to recommend him to Ying Zheng: "Wei Liao, who has come from Daliang, is a man of great talent."

Ying Zheng summoned him to the palace. Wei Liao did not kowtow; standing upright, he laid out the overall situation of the realm with perfect clarity: "With Qin's strength, the feudal lords are like the rulers of prefectures and counties. My only fear is that the lords will form a united alliance, rising up to attack us when we least expect it." Ying Zheng's eyes sparkled as he listened. On the spot, he wished to appoint Wei Liao as a High Minister, bestowing gold and jade upon him—but Wei Liao declined all of it, saying only that he must first see if the King of Qin was truly capable of tolerating others.

Later, someone reported to Ying Zheng behind Wei Liao's back, saying that Wei Liao was arrogant and rude, and had even privately commented on the king's facial features. Ying Zheng laughed heartily upon hearing this: "What's wrong with a talented man having a bit of a temper? Even a dragon on the ridge of a field swishes its tail now and then." He continued to treat Wei Liao with great courtesy, providing him with the same clothes and food as he himself enjoyed.

Only then did Wei Liao fully set his mind at ease, agreeing to stay in Qin as the State Commander. Later, he helped Ying Zheng devise the strategy: "Spare no expense in bribing their influential ministers to disrupt their plans." Without expending much military force, he threw the six other states into utter chaos.

Years later, he was drinking with Wang Jian in the military tent. Wang Jian asked him how he had dared to be so sure, back then, that Qin was the right place to go. Wei Liao stroked his beard and smiled: "The Nine Second Yao of the Qian Hexagram says a dragon appears in the field. A dragon cannot lie low in the abyss forever, but neither can it soar straight up to the sky at the very start. First find the right field to set foot in, then meet a truly discerning great man. Get this step right, and everything that follows will fall into place."

Outside the tent, torches crackled and popped. In the distance, Hangu Pass loomed in the night like a crouching beast. Wei Liao gazed toward the Guanzhong region, thinking of that half-sack of millet back in Daliang. It suddenly struck him: the hardest thing in life is never lacking ability—it is knowing when it is time to stand somewhere else.