In China, 527 BCE, Zhonghang Wu, a general in the state of Jin, was tasked with conquering the city of Gu. While leading his army toward its objective, a resident of Gu approached, offering to betray the city and surreptitiously allow Jin forces to bypass its fortifications unimpeded. Zhonghang Wu not only rejected the man’s offer, but forcibly returned him to the city so its leaders could execute him as a traitor. Mystified, Zhonghang Wu’s advisors beseeched their commander: “The city could be taken without any exertion on the part of our troops. Why not do it?”[3] Zhonghang Wu, however, was thinking beyond the immediate gratification of a quick and deceptive military victory. Since his mission was to permanently annex the city, if his first act was to reward a traitor for his disloyalty, this would set a new standard of acceptable conduct. One day soon, the citizens of Gu would have no reservations about betraying their new rulers. “We should not associate ourselves with evildoing out of a desire to take the city,” he cautioned. “What we would lose by such an action would be greater by far than what we would gain.”[4]
