Emperor Wu of Han
The Edict of Luntai
The hardest part of stopping is turning over the old accounts first
Ban Gu, Book of Han, 'Account of the Western Regions II'
Someone urged him one step further, and he opened the old accounts instead. This asks what to say when it is time to stop.
What actually happened?
In 89 BCE Sang Hongyang and others asked the emperor to plant military farms east of Luntai in the Western Regions and station troops there, pushing the frontier one more step west. Wu refused, and issued an edict. It began with the old bills: the extra levy already laid on the people, and the last march on Cheshi, where the army ran short of grain and dozens died on the road. Since taking the throne, he said, much of what he had done had been reckless, had made the empire miserable, and could not be undone.
Open last time's books, not next time's forecast
Sang Hongyang had a case: good pasture, land for grain, soldiers who could feed themselves. Wu did not argue the sums. He asked what the last expedition had actually cost, in hunger, deaths and extra tax. He looked at what had happened, not at what was projected.
Before a third branch opens, look at what the second one really spent and how long it lost money, not at the founder's forecast.
The word 'stop' should come from whoever signed the cheque
The hardest line in the edict is the emperor calling his own conduct reckless. The larger the earlier investment, the less anyone dares say stop, because stopping implies the past was wrong. It carries weight only from the person who ordered it.
Three years into a project nobody dares cut it. The lead says in a meeting, 'I judged this wrong', and only then do others tell the truth.
Stop the new push, keep the existing line
In the same edict he says the priorities now are to curb harshness, end unauthorised levies, encourage farming and mend the horse administration, and to keep up the defences, nothing more. What he pulled back was the next reach, not the garrisons already in place.
Cancel the market you have not entered yet. Do not cut one person from serving the customers you already have.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: You have put a lot behind one direction, someone now asks for another round, and you suspect it is wrong but cannot say stop.
Ask first: What did the last round actually cost and return? Am I looking at forecasts or at what happened?
Where it goes wrong: Reading it as 'never expand'. He did not dismantle the frontier or say every earlier campaign was a mistake. He stopped the next step and kept what he held. Say stop and hold separately, or one will take the other down with it.
Lines to keep
Count what the last push cost, then talk about the next.
Whoever ordered it is best placed to call it off.
Stop the new reach. Keep what is already held.
Same situation, other people are asking
I keep winning these and I'm more tired every time.We're all fighting hard and nobody in this market is making money.My clever move didn't land. Was the idea wrong?They set the agenda every week and I just respond.Winning is costing too much · all 13 questions →If this one named what you are going through,
send it to someone who needs it, or keep it somewhere you will find it again.