Finally, sometimes by crushing an enemy, you embitter them so much that they spend years and years plotting revenge. The Treaty of Versailles had such an effect on the Germans. Some would argue that in the long run it would be better to show some leniency. The problem is, your leniency involves another risk it may embolden the enemy, which still harbors a grudge, but now has some room to operate. It is almost always wiser to crush your enemy. If they plot revenge years later, do not let your guard down, but simply crush them again.
Reversal
This law should very rarely be ignored, but it does sometimes happen that it is better to let your enemies destroy themselves, if such a thing is possible, than to make them suffer by your hand. In warfare, for example, a good general knows that if he attacks an army when it is cornered, its soldiers will fight much more fiercely. It is sometimes better, then, to leave them an escape route, a way out. As they retreat, they wear themselves out, and are ultimately more demoralized by the retreat, they wear themselves out, and are ultimately more demoralized by the retreat than by any defeat he might inflict on the battlefield. When you have someone on the ropes, then but only when you are sure they have no chance of recovery you might let them hang themselves. Let them be the agents of their own destruction. The result will be the same, and you won't feel half as bad.
Authority: For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. (Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527)
Image: A Viper crushed beneath your foot but left alive, will rear up and bite you with a double dose of venom. An enemy that is left around is like a halfdead viper that you nurse back to health. Time makes the venom grow stronger.
It is not, of course, a question of murder, it is a question of banishment. Sufficiently weakened and then exiled from your court forever, your enemies are rendered harmless. They have no hope of recovering, insinuating themselves and hurting you. And if they cannot be banished, at least understand that they are plotting against you, and pay no heed to whatever friendliness they feign. Your only weapon in such a situation is your own wariness. If you cannot banish them immediately, then plot for the best time to act.
Be realistic: With an enemy like this around, you will never be secure. Remember the lessons of history, and the wisdom of Moses and Mao: Never go halfway.
Realize this: In your struggle for power you will stir up rivalries and create enemies. There will be people you cannot win over, who will remain your enemies no matter what. But whatever would you inflicted on them, deliberately or not, do not take their hatred personally. Just recognize that there is no possibility of peace between you, especially as long as you stay in power. If you let them stick around, they will seek revenge, as certainly as night follows day. To wait for them to show their cards is just silly; as Empress Wu understood, by then it will be too late.
The solution is simple: Allow your enemies no options. Annihilate them and their territory is yours to carve. The goal of power is to control your enemies completely, to make them obey your will. You cannot afford to go halfway. If they have no options, they will be forced to do your bidding. This law has applications far beyond the battlefield. Negotiation is the insidious viper that will eat away at your victory, so give your enemies nothing to negotiate, no hope, no room to maneuver. They are crushed and that is that.
The goal of total victory is an axiom of modern warfare, and was codified as such by Carl von Clausewitz, the premier philosopher of war. Analyzing the campaigns of Napoleon, von Clausewitz wrote, "We do claim that direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration... Once a major victory is achieved there must be no talk of rest, of breathing space... but only of the pursuit, going for the enemy again, seizing his capital, attacking his reserves and anything else that might give his country aid and comfort." The reason for this is that after war come negotiation and the division of territory. If you have only won a partial victory, you will inevitably lose in negotiation what you have gained by war.
The wisdom behind "crushing the enemy" is as ancient as the Bible: Its first practitioner may have been Moses, who learned it from God Himself, when He parted the Red Sea for the Jews, then let the water flow back over the pursuing Egyptians so that "not so much as one of them remained." When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments and found his people worshipping the Golden Calf, he had every last offender slaughtered. And just before he died, he told his followers, finally about to enter the Promised Land, that when they had defeated the tribes of Canaan they should "utterly destroy them... make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them."
Chiang was determined to eliminate every last Communist, and by a few years later Mao had less than 10,000 soldiers left. By 1937, in fact, when China was invaded by Japan, Chiang calculated that the Communists were no longer a threat. He chose to give up the chase and concentrate on the Japanese. Ten years later the Communists had recovered enough to rout Chiang's army. Chiang had forgotten the ancient wisdom of crushing the enemy; Mao had not. Chiang was pursued until he and his entire army fled to the island of Taiwan. Nothing remains of his regime in mainland China to this day.
Mao Tse-tung, a devoted reader of Sun-tzu and of Chinese history generally, knew the importance of this law. In 1934 the Communist leader and some 75,000 poorly equipped soldiers fled into the desolate mountains of western China to escape Chiang Kai-shek's much larger army, in what has since been called the Long March.
The solution: Have no mercy. Crush your enemies as totally as they would crush you. Ultimately the only peace and security you can hope for from your enemies is their disappearance.
Keys To Power
It is no accident that the two stories illustrating this law come from China: Chinese history abounds with examples of enemies who were left alive and returned to haunt the lenient. "Crush the enemy" is a key strategic tenet of Sun-tzu, the fourth-century-B.C. author of The Art of War. The idea is simple: Your enemies wish you ill. There is nothing they want more than to eliminate you, If, in your struggles with them, you stop halfway or even three quarters of the way, out of mercy or hope of reconciliation, you only make them more determined, more embittered, and they will someday take revenge. They may act friendly for the time being, but this is only because you have defeated them. They have no choice but to bide their time.
A priest asked the dying Spanish statesman and general Ramon Maria Narvaez (1800-1868), "Does your Excellency forgive all your enemies?" "I do not have to forgive my enemies, " answered Narvaez, "I have had them all shot."
Empress Wu's forty-year reign was one of the longest in Chinese history. Although the story of her bloody rise to power is well known, in China she is considered one of the period's most able and effective rulers.
1. Fysieke laag (Physical Layer)
De fysieke laag is de eerste en laagste laag van het OSI-model. Het is verantwoordelijk voor de fysieke verbinding tussen verschillende netwerkapparaten. Deze laag houdt zich bezig met de overdracht van ruwe bitstreams over een fysieke medium, zoals kabels, radiofrequenties of optische vezels. De fysieke laag bepaalt hoe de bits als elektrische of optische signalen worden gecodeerd en verzonden.
Voorbeeld:
• De fysieke laag omvat hardware-elementen zoals Ethernet-kabels, USB-kabels, hubs en repeaters. Een voorbeeld van communicatie op deze laag is de verzending van elektrische signalen door een Ethernet-kabel om data van een computer naar een router te sturen.
2. Datalinklaag (Data Link Layer)
De datalinklaag is verantwoordelijk voor de betrouwbare overdracht van gegevensframes tussen twee direct verbonden apparaten. Deze laag zorgt ervoor dat er geen fouten optreden tijdens de overdracht van de gegevens door middel van foutdetectie en -correctie. De datalinklaag is onderverdeeld in twee sublagen: de Media Access Control (MAC)-laag, die de toegang tot het fysieke netwerk regelt, en de Logical Link Control (LLC)-laag, die zorgt voor foutcorrectie en flowcontrol.
Voorbeeld:
• Wanneer een computer een pakket verzendt naar een switch, zorgt de datalinklaag ervoor dat de gegevens op de juiste manier worden geadresseerd en zonder fouten aankomen. Ethernet-protocollen zoals IEEE 802.3 werken op deze laag.
3. Netwerklaag (Network Layer)
De netwerklaag is verantwoordelijk voor het routeren van pakketten over verschillende netwerken. Dit betekent dat deze laag bepaalt welke route een pakket moet volgen om van de bron naar de bestemming te komen, zelfs als deze door meerdere netwerken of routers moet reizen. De belangrijkste functie van de netwerklaag is adressering en routing. Het internetprotocol IP (Internet Protocol) werkt op deze laag.
Voorbeeld:
• Als je een e-mail stuurt naar een vriend in een ander land, zal de netwerklaag (met behulp van IP) bepalen welke routers het pakket moet passeren om op de juiste bestemming aan te komen. De netwerklaag maakt gebruik van IP-adressen om ervoor te zorgen dat de gegevens het juiste apparaat bereiken.
4. Transportlaag (Transport Layer)
De transportlaag is verantwoordelijk voor de betrouwbare overdracht van gegevens tussen twee computers. Het zorgt ervoor dat de gegevens in de juiste volgorde aankomen en zonder fouten worden afgeleverd. Dit gebeurt door middel van segmentering van gegevens in kleinere delen en herassemblage aan de ontvangende kant. De transportlaag gebruikt protocollen zoals TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) voor betrouwbare verbindingen en UDP (User Datagram Protocol) voor snellere, minder betrouwbare overdracht.
Voorbeeld:
• Wanneer je een webpagina opent, zorgt de transportlaag ervoor dat de gegevens die de webserver naar je computer stuurt (zoals afbeeldingen, tekst en video’s) in de juiste volgorde worden ontvangen, zelfs als ze via verschillende routes worden verzonden. TCP garandeert bijvoorbeeld dat verloren pakketten opnieuw worden verzonden.
5. Sessielaag (Session Layer)
De sessielaag is verantwoordelijk voor het tot stand brengen, beheren en beëindigen van communicatie tussen twee computersystemen. Deze laag zorgt ervoor dat er een sessie (een logische verbinding) wordt opgebouwd en bewaakt tussen de twee apparaten. Als er een onderbreking optreedt, kan de sessielaag de sessie herstellen, zodat de communicatie opnieuw kan worden hervat zonder gegevensverlies.
Voorbeeld:
• Als je aan het videobellen bent via een applicatie zoals Zoom, zorgt de sessielaag ervoor dat de sessie tussen jouw computer en die van de andere persoon correct wordt beheerd, zodat het gesprek kan doorgaan, zelfs als er tijdelijke netwerkproblemen zijn.
6. Presentatielaag (Presentation Layer)
De presentatielaag is verantwoordelijk voor de vertaling van de gegevens die worden verzonden, zodat ze door de ontvangende applicatie correct kunnen worden begrepen. Dit omvat de codering en decodering van gegevens, evenals de compressie en encryptie van gegevens om ze veilig te houden. De presentatielaag fungeert als een vertaler tussen de applicatielaag en de transportlaag.
Voorbeeld:
• Wanneer je een versleutelde e-mail verstuurt, zorgt de presentatielaag ervoor dat de gegevens worden versleuteld voordat ze worden verzonden. Aan de ontvangende kant decodeert deze laag de gegevens, zodat ze weer leesbaar zijn.
7. Applicatielaag (Application Layer)
De applicatielaag is de bovenste laag van het OSI-model en biedt directe toegang tot netwerkservices voor eindgebruikers. Dit is de laag waarmee gebruikers communiceren via applicaties zoals webbrowsers, e-mailprogramma’s, en bestandsdelingssystemen. Het biedt functies zoals bestandsoverdracht, e-maildiensten en netwerkbeheer.
Voorbeeld:
• Wanneer je een webpagina opent in een browser, zoals Chrome of Firefox, werkt de applicatielaag met protocollen zoals HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) of HTTPS om de gegevens van de webserver naar je computer te sturen. Dit zorgt ervoor dat je de webpagina kunt zien en erop kunt navigeren.
Interactie tussen de lagen
Elke laag van het OSI-model werkt samen met de lagen eronder en erboven om gegevens van de ene computer naar de andere te verplaatsen. De gegevens worden van boven naar beneden door de lagen van de verzendende computer gepasseerd en vervolgens van onder naar boven door de lagen van de ontvangende computer. Dit proces heet encapsulatie. Elke laag voegt specifieke informatie toe aan de gegevens, zoals adresinformatie of foutcorrectiecodes, om ervoor te zorgen dat de gegevens veilig en correct worden verzonden.
Voorbeeld van een volledige communicatie:
• Stel dat je een e-mail verzendt via een webmailclient. De gegevens worden eerst door de applicatielaag behandeld, waar ze worden voorbereid voor verzending. De presentatielaag kan de gegevens versleutelen voor extra veiligheid. De sessielaag zet een sessie op met de e-mailserver en de transportlaag zorgt ervoor dat de e-mail zonder fouten wordt afgeleverd. De netwerklaag bepaalt de beste route voor de gegevens om de juiste server te bereiken, terwijl de datalinklaag zorgt voor een foutloze overdracht binnen het lokale netwerk. Uiteindelijk wordt de e-mail als een reeks elektrische signalen via de fysieke laag naar het internet gestuurd.
Standing a planned seven day vigil over his father's funeral bier, Jaime finds himself with a lot of time for thinking. He feels that he is as much to blame for his father's death as Tyrion or Varys. He also finds himself wondering what happened to the eunuch. His thoughts then turn to the day that Prince Rhaegar rode for the Trident.
Jaime had begged not to be left behind to guard the king, but Rhaegar told him that Aerys feared Lord Tywin more than he did Robert, and meant to keep Jaime at his side as insurance. Mounting up, Rhaegar's last words to Jaime were, "When this battle's done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but...well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken." Finally, Jaime recalls his recent questioning of the chief undergaoler, which was a complete farce as Jaime knew far more than the man did, since he was the perpetrator.
When Jaime learned that the two gaolers who were put to sleep were killed by Boros Blount and Osmund Kettleblack, he reprimanded them, warning them never to act on his sister's orders to kill anyone without consulting him first. Some time in the middle of the night, Cersei visits him with news of Kevan's refusal to become her Hand, as well as remarking that Kevan knows about their relationship. She implores Jaime to reconsider being Hand, but Jaime rejects her again. She departs with, "Very well. If it is battlefields you want, battlefields I shall give you."
The next morning, the mourners arrive anew, but the smell is so nauseating that Tommen gets sick. Jaime takes him outside to console him, advising him to "go away inside", something Tommen understands from when Joffrey would torment him. Cersei then joins them, as does Mace Tyrell, and Jaime asks the Lord of Highgarden to have dinner with his sister. When Mace departs, Jaime tells Cersei to get the wedding over with, and then send Lord Mace to besiege Storm's End once again. Cersei likes the idea, hoping Tyrell might lose his life this time.
There was a time, many years ago, when this England of ours was a savage country.
The oldest stories that we read about our island happened so long ago, that the English had not yet come to the land where we live. In those days, the country was not called England but Britain; and the people were the ancient Britons.
In the time of the Britons, the greater part of the country was covered with moors and swamps, and with great forests, where dangerous wild animals lived: wolves and bears and wild cats; where herds of deer wandered, and droves of wild cattle.
The ancient Britons lived in huts built of branches of trees plastered with mud, very low in the roof, and dark, having no windows; and there were no chimneys to let out the smoke. Their villages were only collections of huts surrounded by a fence or stockade, and a ditch to keep out the wild animals, as well as other Britons who were enemies of the tribe, for these wild people were always fighting among themselves.
The Britons had blue eyes, and yellow or reddish hair, which both men and women wore long, and hanging over their shoulders. In summer they went about with their chests and shoulders almost bare, and in winter they clothed themselves in the skins of animals killed in the chase.
They were a wild people, but so brave that we like to hear stories about them.
About two thousand years ago, when the Britons were living their savage life, there lived in the country which is now Italy another people called the Romans. These Romans were one of the greatest and wisest nations that have ever lived.
It seems strange that they should have left their own beautiful country to come to Britain, with its cold climate and savage inhabitants, but they were a very ambitious people, who would not be content until they had subdued every other nation of the earth.
The Romans had already conquered all the nations round about their own country when the Emperor Claudius became their chief; but Claudius wished to win glory by making fresh conquests, and he determined to subdue the wild northern island of Britain.
Knowing that the Britons were a very fierce and brave people, he sent against them an army of forty thousand men under the command of two skilful generals.
When the inhabitants of southern Britain saw the sea about their coasts covered with Roman vessels, while more vessels were always appearing above the horizon, their anger and dismay knew no bounds. They knew that the Romans were the bravest and most skilful soldiers in the world, and that they had come to conquer them if they could, and to take their country away from them.
As the soldiers, wearing their glittering breast-plates and helmets of polished steel, and with the sun flashing upon the gold and silver eagles which they carried for standards, landed from their vessels and marched on their way to the place where they were going to make their camp, the Britons watched them from their hiding-places with both rage and terror.
Still they did not despair. Old men among them were able to tell them how their ancestors had withstood the Romans who had come to their shores a hundred years before, and how the great Julius Caesar had been glad to make peace with the Britons and sail away to his own country.
Messengers were sent far and near to summon the chiefs and their followers, and they resolved to fight to the last.
The Britons proved to be some of the most determined foes that the Romans had ever met. Battle after battle was fought, and the country still remained unsubdued. Sometimes the Romans won, and sometimes the Britons were masters of the day. The Romans were trained soldiers, while their opponents were wild and undisciplined savages, but the Britons were fighting for their homes and freedom, and that made them very brave.
Among the British leaders the noblest was a chieftain of the name of Caradoc, or as the Romans called him, Caractacus. When some of the other chiefs, having been defeated many times, were forced to make peace with the invaders, Caradoc refused to yield. Fighting stubbornly, he contested every inch of southern Britain, but was slowly driven backwards to the mountains of Wales.
Here he gathered around him a band of Britons as brave and determined as himself, and for nearly nine years he held the Romans in check. The invaders, who did not know the country, were unable to penetrate far among these valleys, where thick forests hemmed in the view, and where every hillside might harbour a band of their savage foes.
It was impossible to reach Caradoc in this wild retreat. Accompanied by his followers, he would leave the mountains and sweep suddenly down upon a Roman camp in some distant part of the country. At a time when the Romans were least expecting it, a band of these wild, red-headed warriors would appear, yelling their war-cries as they let fly a shower of darts and arrows; then, after killing and wounding a number of the enemy, they would vanish among their mountains before the Romans had time to follow them up.
As years went on, a large number of Britons found their way to Caradoc in his Welsh retreat. The mountains became full of desperate men who had been driven from their homes, but were still determined to fight for freedom, and the example of their leader gave his followers fresh courage.
After many years of fighting, the Romans saw that the country would never be subdued so long as Caradoc should remain at liberty.
A great army was marched towards the stronghold of the daring chief. Caradoc mustered his retainers, and found himself at the head of a body of men almost as numerous as the Roman army. For nine years these Britons had remained unconquered; and the brave band hoped that the day had now come when they might gain a victory which would end in the invaders being driven out of the country.
Romans and Britons met on the borders of Wales.
The Britons, looking down from their mountains, saw the Romans on the plain far below. Between the armies there flowed a river, which was joined by a torrent rushing down by the side of a steep hill. Caradoc ordered his men to take up their station upon this hill, and all night long the Britons worked to strengthen their defences by building up barricades of loose stones.
When morning dawned the Britons could see the Roman legions forming in position. The sunbeams were glancing upon the crests of the soldiers' helmets and upon the points of their spears, and the Britons almost seemed to hear the voice of the general who was riding his prancing war-horse round the ranks of his army.
The Britons were eager to attack, but before a man left his post Caradoc came forward and spoke to his followers.
"Men of Britain," he said; "this day decides the fate of your country. Your liberty, or your eternal slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who drove the great Julius himself across the sea!"
The Britons were so stirred by these words that they replied by a great shout; then rushing down the hill, they let fly a hail of darts and arrows upon the Roman army.
For a long time the battle raged, and neither side appeared to gain the advantage.
In order to meet the Britons hand to hand, the Romans had to cross the river under a storm of darts. Many fell and were swept away by the current. Others struggled onward, to be received by savage cries from the Britons, who tore stones from the barricade to hurl at their advancing foes.
In spite of the fury of the defenders, the Romans swept steadily up the slope. Soon the foremost had reached the barriers. They stumbled and fell among the loose stones, but recovered themselves and pressed onwards, holding up their shields to ward off the blows rained down upon them. The hillside became a seething mass of combatants; the wild, active Britons flying hither and thither to repel the advance of the steel-clad host. From the thick of the fight, Caradoc himself shouted encouragement to his soldiers, who replied by shrill cries and by redoubled exertions.
The stone barriers were passed; Romans and Britons were mingled in a life-and-death struggle.
Soon it became apparent that the day belonged to the better-armed combatants; the soft copper swords of the Britons had been blunted upon the steel breast-plates of the Romans, while their own wooden shields were hacked to pieces by the Roman swords.
In a short time the Britons were flying in all directions, unable any longer to resist the Romans. Caradoc's two brothers were taken prisoners, and his wife and daughter fell into the hands of the conquerers.
The British leader himself, weary, wounded and disheartened, found his way to the hut of his mother-in-law, and asked her for shelter. She gave him a wolf-skin to lie upon by the fire and soon he was fast asleep, worn out by fatigue and loss of blood.
For a time the old woman sat and watched him.
It had needed no words from the wounded, half-fainting chieftain to tell her that the day was lost.
She thought of the proud Romans who were now masters of the country; of the villages which would be burned, and of their inhabitants who would be carried away into slavery.
Being a selfish old woman, she soon began to think less of other people's troubles than of her own.
What would happen to her, she wondered, were the Romans to come this way and find out that she was giving shelter to the vanquished chieftain?
She trembled as she thought that soon this poor hut might shelter her no longer; that her few belongings might be taken away from her, and she herself be driven out to perish upon the cold hill-side.
As she looked at her guest, lying asleep in a corner, and frowning a little with the pain of his wound, she felt as though she hated him.
An ugly look came into her face as she realised her helplessness.
Presently she heard cries echoing in the valley, and peeping from the door of the hut she saw some flying Britons, closely pursued by two Roman soldiers.
The Britons disappeared in a thicket and were lost, and as the woman watched the soldiers beating the bushes and brambles with their swords in a vain search for the fugitives, a very evil thought came into her mind.
She left the hut, and crept along in the shelter of the rocks and trees, so that the soldiers might not see where she had come from.
The soldiers were very much surprised when a little wild-looking, wrinkled old woman stood before them, trying to tell them something in the language that the Britons spoke.
They soon understood that she was offering to show them the hiding-place of a captive far more important than the poor British warriors whom they had been pursuing.
"Come along then, old woman," said one of the soldiers; "show us the way."
A sly look came into the woman's small twinkling eyes. "Wait a little," she said; "what are you going to give me for delivering this great captive into your hands?"
The soldiers looked at each other; and then one of them offered her a gold coin. The old woman shook her head.
"No," she said; "this is a very, very great man, and the Romans would like very much to catch him. You must give me far more than that if I show you the way to his hiding-place."
Interpretation
All who knew Empress Wu remarked on her energy and intelligence. At the time, there was no glory available for an ambitious woman beyond a few years in the imperial harem, then a lifetime walled up in a convent. In Wu's gradual but remarkable rise to the top, she was never naive. She knew that any hesitation, any momentary weakness, would spell her end. If, every time she got rid of a rival a new one appeared, the solution was simple: She had to crush them all or be killed herself. Other emperors before her had followed the same path to the top, but Wu who, as a woman, had next to no chance to gain power had to be more ruthless still.
