Story3
　　They both felt the kingdoms were weak. The kingdom of Chuh was large, but chaotic. The only kingdoms which could rise to command the rest were located at southeast. Wen Chung resigned his position and went to the kingdom of Wu with Feng Li. At the time. the king of Wu's favorite was Wu Tzu-Shi. The two lived in the capital for a few month and saw that Wu Tzu-Shi was indeed a wise man. They were not necessarily better than him.
　　After some discussion, they decided that although Yueh was a smaller kingdom, but they could put their talents to use there. Kou Chiang received them warmly and gave them both high positions.
　　Then Kou Chiang ignored the advise of Wen Chung and made war with Wu. His army was defeated by the shore of Chiang Tang River. Kou Chiang was surrounded at Kuai Chi Mountain and almost died along with his kingdom, but he listened to the advise of Feng Li and Wen Chung and bribed the Prime Minister of Wu. Fu Chai then listened to the Prime Minister instead of the wiser Wu Tzu-Shi and agreed to a peace treaty. Kou Chiang lived in Wu as a hostage for a few years, but he was released later. Then Kou Chiang slept only on beds made of thorny branches and tasted the bitter juice of beef gall bladders to remind himself of the humiliations he suffered. He used Wen Chung's Nine Methods to subvert Wu and strengthen Yueh.
　　The Nine Methods were. One, pay respect to the gods and spirits. Two, give Fu Chai vast amount of money so he will feel secure as well as becoming soft in luxury. Three, borrow food from Wu and return seeds which will not grow, causing famine in Wu. Four, give Fu Chai beautiful women such as Si Shi and Cheng Dang, so Fu Chai would be paying more attention to the beautiful women rather than the affairs of the state. Five, give Fu Chai engineers so he started building expensive palaces which drained the economy of the country. Six, bribe the ministers of Wu. Seven, distance Fu Chai from his wise ministers. The wise Wu Tzu-Shi was eventually forced to committ suicide as punishment of a false charge of treason. Eight, hoard food so the kingdom of Yueh will have great reserve available. Nine, make weapons, train soldier and wait for the chance. Eight methods have succeeded, but the ninth had run into great difficulty.
　　Everyone could tell that the eight warriors of Wu were better than anyone Yueh could produce. Feng Li told Wen Chung the results of the contest. Wen Chung frowned "Brother Feng, the sharpness of their swords is a major problem, also the way their swordmen worked together in groups in accordance to Sun Tzu's Art of War." Feng Li said "Yes, decades ago, when Sun Tzu helped the king of Wu. They destroyed Chuh, the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time. In his book, it's said "If I concentrate my forces and the enemy's forces is fragmented into ten parts then I can use my unified one to attack his ten fragments. Then I will outnumber my enemy and the battle will be over." Wu used this principle to achieve local superiority against our swordmen."
　　When they talk they arrived in front of Kou Chiang. Kou Chiang was staring at the gift sword. After a long while, Kou Chiang lifted up his head and said "Minister Wen. Years ago, Wu had the husband-wife team of swordsmiths, Keng Chiang and Mo Shei. Yueh had O-Yeh Tzu. Now, all three have died. Wu still have great swordsmiths, yet we have no one to succeed O-Yeh Tzu."
　　Wen Chung said "I have heard that O-Yeh Tzu had two students. One is named Fong Hu-Tzu, The other is called Hsieh Chu. Fong Hu-Tzu is in the kingdom of Chuh. Hsieh is still in Yueh."
　　Kou became glad and said "Summon him. And order someone to go to Chuh with gold so we can get Fong Hu-Tzu here as well."
　　The next morning, Wen Chung reported that he already sent someone to Chuh. Meanwhile, Hsieh Chu was already here. Kou Chiang grant Hsieh an audience and asked "Your master O-Yeh Tzu once followed my father's ordder and forged five swords. How do you grade those five swords?"

　　Hsieh said "I have heard my master said that he forged five swords for the king. Three large swords and two small swords. They are Trembling Reed, Pure Edge, Defeater of Evil, Fish Intestine and the Great Tower. Now, the Trembling Reed is in Chuh. Defeater of Evil and Fish Intestine are in Wu. Your Majesty still have Pure Edge and Great Tower."
　　Years ago, the Prince Ho Lu of Wu heard of the swords and asked Kou Chiang's father for some of the swords. Kou Chiang's father feared the might of Wu and gave Holu Trembling Reed, Defeater of Evil and Fish Intestine. Using Fish Intestine, Ho Lu assassinated his cousin the king and took the throne. Trembling Reed fell into a river and was acquired by the king of Chuh. King of Chin heard of this and asked for it. Even after a few wars, the king of Chuh still refused to give it up.
　　Hsieh said "My master said, of the five swords, Defeater of Evil is of the highest grade. Pure Edge and Trembling Reed are next. Fish Intestine is lower and Great Tower ranks last. When Great Tower was forged, the alloy was not pure, so it was only a sharp sword and not a truly precious sword."
　　Kou Chiang said "Are you saying my Pure Edge and Great Tower are not as good as Fu Chai's Defeater of Evil and Fish Intestine?"
　　Hsieh dare not admit that Kou Chiang's swords was inferior, but Kou Chiang knew the answer anyway.
　　Feng Li said "You have the skill of your master. You can forge a few swords of your own. They might not be inferior to those owned by Wu."
　　Hsieh said "I cannot forge swords anymore."
　　Feng Li asked "Why?"
　　Hsieh held up his hands. On both his hands, the thumb and the index fingers were gone. He said sadly "Thumbs and index fingers are required for forging swords. I am a cripple."
　　Kou Chiang said "Did you enemy cut away your fingers?"
　　Hsieh said "No, my fellow student did it." "Your fellow student? You mean Fong Hu-Tzu? Why did he doe it? Ah! It must be that you have greater skill than he. He beame jealous and cut away your fingers." Hsieh remained silent.
　　Ko Chiang said "I was thinking about inviting Fong from Chuh, but now I see he won't come because he fears your vengeance."
　　Hsieh said "Your Majesty is indeed wise, but Fong is no longer in Chuh. He is in Wu.
　　Ko Chiang said "He...He's in Wu? What's he doing there?"
　　Hsieh said "Three years ago, Fong came to my home and took out a precious sword for me to inspect. I was astounded. That sword was forged by my master for Chuh. It is named the Flowing Fabric. The blade was full of runes that flowed like water. I heard from my master that he forged three swords for Chuh. That was one, the others were Dragon Spring and Ching Ah."
　　Kou Chiang said "Then the king of Chuh must have given it to Fong."
　　Hsieh said "Indirectly. Fong said that after the army of Wu broke the capital of Chuh. Wu Tzu-shi took the sword from the grave of the previous king. When he returned to Wu, he heard of the skills of Fong, so he gave the sword to him as a gift. He said the sword was a legacy from our master and that Fong was the rightful owner."