唐朝武則天當政時，她很寵愛來俊臣和周興這兩位大臣，他們倆設計各種慘無人道的刑具來逼供，常常有無辜的臣子和百姓被嚴刑逼得受不了，只好屈打成招。 有一天，武后接獲密報，指出周興私下想造反，武后便派來俊臣去逮捕周興，並查出所有同謀的人。來俊臣覺得十分困難，不是因為兩人是好朋友，而是周興對於刑罰太了解，要他老實招供不容易。來俊臣就找周興吃飯，故意用請教的口氣問：「最近罪犯是越來越狡猾，各種刑具都用了，還是不肯招，不知道您有沒有什麼好辦法？」 周興得意地說：「我最近又想到一個讓犯人非招不可的好辦法，只要用一個大甕，裡面裝滿水，再將犯人放進甕裡用炭火燒，保證他馬上招。」 來俊臣聽完後，露出奸詐的笑容，拍桌子大叫：「太妙了！真是絕招。」接著就叫屬下搬來一個大甕，並裝滿水，接著燒起熊熊烈火，才一下子，就冒出好多蒸氣。這時，來俊臣立刻翻臉指著周興說：「大膽反賊！你想圖謀造反，皇上已經知道了，下旨要我嚴辦，還不從實招來，不然我可是要『請君入甕』喔！」
三十六計之第二十二計：關門捉賊
簡單說就是把門關起來，把小賊捉起來，也就是說對於軍力較小的敵人，我們只要把他們困住，便可以一舉消滅敵人，這是最好的方法。
During the reign of Empress Wu Ze Tian in the Tang Dynasty, there were two ministers by the name of Lai Jun Chen and Jhou Sing who were favored by the Empress. They devised various torture instruments. From time to time innocent officials and civilians would be tortured using these instruments until they succumbed to the pain and made false confessions.
One day, the Empress received tips that Jhou Sing was plotting a revolt. The Empress thus assigned Lai Jun Chen to arrest Jhou Sing and to find out all the conspirators. Lai Jun Chen thought it was a difficult task, not because they were good friends, but because Jhou Sing was also an expert at torture techniques. It would not be easy to make him confess.
Lai Jun Chen then invited Jhou Sing to dinner and deliberately asked him for advice, "Lately the criminals has become more and more cunning. They refuse to confess despite using all kinds of torture on them. Do you have any good ideas?'' Jhou Sing said elatedly, "I have a new idea which would definitely make any suspect confess. It only requires a large water jar full of water. You put the suspect into the jar full of water and bring the whole thing to a boil. Any suspect would confess right away, I assure you."
After he finished, Lai Jun Chen smacked the table and smiled slyly, "Brilliant! What a marvelous idea!'' He then ordered his men to carry a big water jar into the room. They filled it with water and brought it to a boil. Before long it was steaming.
At this point, Lai Jun Chen suddenly turned on Jhou Sing and accused him, "How dare you plot against the Empress! She has known your plot all along and has ordered me to investigate you. Confess now! Or else I will be forced to invite you into the water jar!''
Strategy 22: Shut the Door to Catch the Thief
Shut the door to catch the thief. In other words, the best way to deal with a smaller enemy is to trap him and destroy him.
