The General Who Feared His Own Friend
He studied alongside the greatest strategist of the age — and spent his life destroying the kingdom that employed them both out of fear of that friend's talent.
Pang Juan studied military arts alongside Sun Bin, the greatest military mind of the age. Pang Juan went to serve Wei first and became its supreme general. When he heard that Sun Bin had gone to Qi, he feared his old friend's talent. He lured Sun Bin to Wei and had his knee caps removed — making him a permanent invalid. Sun Bin would become a wandering strategist in Qi. At Maling, Pang Juan led the Wei army into a trap set by Sun Bin's strategies. Trapped, exhausted, surrounded, Pang Juan died by his own sword rather than be captured. His jealousy destroyed the one friendship that might have saved him — and killed him in the end.