Zhuge Liang used many boats filled with scarecrows to borrow more than 100,000 arrows. The use of wisdom to achieve one’s goals with the human or financial resources of others.
Idiom Pronunciation:
草船借箭
cǎo chuán jiè jiàn
Origin:
《三国演义》：船到岸时，周瑜已差五百军在江边等候搬箭。孔明教于船上取之，可得十余万枝，都搬入中军帐交纳。鲁肃人见周瑜，备说孔明取箭之事。瑜大惊，慨然叹曰：“孔明神机妙算，吾不如也！”后人有诗赞曰：“一天浓雾满长江，远近难分水渺茫。骤雨飞蝗来战舰，孔明今日伏周郎。” 少顷，孔明入寨见周瑜。瑜下帐迎之，称羡曰：“先生神算，使人敬服。”孔明曰：“诡谲小计，何足为奇。”
Story:
During the Three Kingdoms period of China, Wei occupied the north, Shu occupied the southwest and Wu occupied the south.
On one occasion, Wei sent a large army to attack Wu, which was located on the Yangtze River, by water. It did not take long for the Wei army to advance to a place not far from Wu and set up a camp at the water’s edge, looking for a time to fight. Wu’s marshal, Zhou Yu, after studying the situation of Wei’s army, decided to use bows and arrows to defend against the incoming enemy. But how could he make the 100,000 arrows necessary for the battle in a short time? Because according to the situation of Wu’s craftsmen at that time, it would take at least ten days to make so many arrows, and it was obvious that Wu could not wait for such a long time for its defense.
At that time, Zhuge Liang, the military advisor of Shu, happened to be in Wu for a visit. Zhuge Liang was so clever that Zhou Yu asked him for advice on how to get the 100,000 arrows needed for the war effort in the fastest way possible. Zhuge Liang told Zhou Yu that three days would be enough. Everyone thought Zhuge Liang was talking big, but Zhuge Liang wrote a military order that if he failed to complete the task by then, he would be willing to be beheaded and show his head to the public. Zhou Yu, who had been jealous of Zhuge Liang’s talent, was secretly happy, waiting for Zhuge Liang to fail in his task and die.
The story goes that Zhuge Liang was not in a hurry after he wrote down the military order. He said to Lu Su, the minister of Wu, that it would not be possible to make so many arrows by conventional means. Then, Zhuge Liang asked Lu Su to prepare twenty small boats for him, with thirty soldiers on each boat, and the boats were covered with green cloth and filled with grass. Lu Su prepared the boats and other necessities for Zhuge Liang, but did not know what Zhuge Liang used to do.
Zhuge Liang said he would have 100,000 arrows ready in three days, but the first day he did not see any movement, the second day was still the same, and the third day was about to arrive, and not a single arrow was seen, so everyone pinched a cold sweat for Zhuge Liang, if the task was not completed by then, Zhuge Liang’s head could not be saved.
On the third day at midnight, Zhuge Liang quietly invited Lu Su to a small boat, and Lu Su asked, “What did you invite me to do?” Zhuge Liang said, “I ask you to come with me to get arrows.” Lu Su asked with a confused look on his face, “Where do I go to fetch them?” Zhuge Liang smiled in a mysterious manner and said, “You will know when the time comes.” Then Zhuge Liang ordered twenty small boats connected together with long ropes and marched toward the Wei army’s camp.
That night, a heavy fog filled the sky. The foggier it was, the more Zhuge Liang ordered the fleet to move forward quickly. When the flotilla approached the Wei camp, Zhuge Liang ordered the flotilla to line up and then ordered the soldiers to beat drums and shout on the boats. Lu Su was terrified and said to Zhuge Liang, “We only have 20 boats and 300 soldiers, in case Wei soldiers attack, we will definitely die!” But Zhuge Liang said calmly, “I’m sure Wei soldiers won’t attack in the fog, let’s just drink in the boats.”
In the Wei camp, when the sound of drums and shouts was heard, Cao Cao, the commander in chief, hastily summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures. Finally, it was decided that because of the heavy fog on the Yangtze River, the exact situation of the enemy was unknown, so the navy archers were sent to fire arrows indiscriminately to prevent the enemy from landing. So the Wei army sent about 10,000 archers to the river at fire speed and shot arrows one after another toward the place where there were cries. All of a sudden, arrows flew like raindrops to Zhuge Liang’s fleet, and in a short time, the hull of the ship was full of arrows on the grass handles.
Zhuge Liang saw the right moment and ordered the fleet to turn around quickly and turn the side without arrows towards the Wei army, which was soon filled with arrows. Zhuge Liang estimated that the ship’s arrows are almost tied, and ordered the fleet to return quickly, when the fog also gradually began to clear, and the Wei army figure out what happened, angry chest pounding, that is a regret!
When Zhuge Liang’s fleet arrived at Wu’s camp, Wu’s marshal Zhou Yu had already sent 500 soldiers waiting to carry arrows. The marshal of Wu, Zhou Yu, admired Zhuge Liang’s wisdom and sighed to himself. So, how did Zhuge Liang know that there would be fog on the water that night? It turns out that he was good at observing weather changes, and after projecting, he concluded that there would be fog on the water that night. In this way, Zhuge Liang used his wisdom to skillfully get 100,000 arrows from the enemy. This is how the idiom of “To borrow arrows with scarecrow boats” was derived.
