Text/Feng Xuanyi
In "Water Margin", there is such a story, called Lin Chong Fighting Wang Lun. The owner of Shuipo Liangshan was originally Wang Lun, and after Lin Chong went up the mountain, because Lin Chong had strong ability, high martial arts, and good character, Wang Lun's status was threatened. Soon after, Chao Gai took six good men to Liangshan. After Wang Lun had eaten and eaten a good meal, he was going to drive them away. The reason is very simple, one Lin Chong has already endangered his position, this down seven, how can he lead? Wang Lun's attitude angered Lin Chong, and Lin Chong drew his knife and killed Wang Lun.
This is the story in the novel, with the author's fabrication. However, there have been many similar stories of power grabs in history. The most typical is the story of a Wagang army in the rebel army at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
The earliest owner of Wagangzhai was Zhai Rang. He was originally The Fa Cao of Weicheng (魏城, in present-day Hua County, Henan), and seeing the chaos in the world, the masses rose up together, and he himself pulled a team to occupy Zhai Wagang Village and become the king of the mountains. In the twelfth year of Daye, Li Mi, who was wanted by the Sui army for participating in Yang Xuangan's rebellion, came to Wagangzhai under the introduction of Zhai Rang's subordinate Wang Bodang, met Zhai Rang, and asked to surrender to him. Zhai Rang accepted him.
Soon after, Zhai Rang lost his leadership over the Wagang army and was eventually killed by Li Mi. So, how did Li Mi take up Zhai Rang and seize the leadership of the Wagang Army?
The process of Li Mi's seizure of power is much more complicated than the story in "Water Margin". To sum up, it is mainly through the following means:
First, take the initiative and gain trust. When a newcomer arrives at a collective, the first step is to gain the trust of the collective. At this point, Lin Chong did not do well enough, and Wang Lun always did not trust him. After Li Mi arrived in Wagang, he offered to let him lobby some small rebel armies in the surrounding areas and absorb them into the Wagang Army, so as to rapidly increase the strength of the Wagang Army. Zhai Rang agreed. Li Mi did a very good job in this regard, and it did not take long for him to recruit good rebels to join Wagang, so that Wagang's strength could be expanded. Li Mi thus gained Zhai Rang's trust. Gaining trust shows that he has a firm foothold in this collective.
Second, give advice and show strength. It is not enough to gain trust, to gain a long-term foothold, we must rely on strength. Li Mi himself was very good at giving advice, and he was once a very important strategist under Yang Xuangan. Therefore, after he initially gained a firm foothold, he made a suggestion to Zhai Rang, saying that now that the number of soldiers in Wagang has increased, but the grain and grass have no provenance, they can still support it in the short term. So what to do? Li Mi's suggestion was to capture Xingyang, so that he could rest his troops and horses, and then compete with the crowd for the world.
Zhai Rang agreed to Li Mi's suggestion.
In the process of attacking Xingyang, Li Mi's military ability was fully demonstrated. Xingyang has a dangerous terrain and has been a place of contention for soldiers since ancient times. The Sui Dynasty general stationed at Xingyang was Zhang Sutuo. Li Mi asked Zhai Rang to lead a large army to confront Zhang Sutuo, while he personally led more than a thousand soldiers to ambush in a critical area. The battle began, and Zhai made the army unfavorable and gradually lost. When entering the ambush circle, Li Mi led the ambush troops to rush out, struggling to kill the enemy, and the Sui army was defeated. Zhang Sutuo was besieged by the Wagang army and was defeated and killed. This was the first major victory of the Wagang Army since its formation. After this battle, the Wagang army was greatly strengthened, and Li Mi also made great achievements in battle, and the military talent was recognized by the whole army.
Third, buy people's hearts and minds and form teams. If a person wants to succeed, he must have a team that is completely his own. Li Miyin was successful in battle, and Zhai Rang let him establish his own tooth tent and form a relatively independent team, known as the Pushan Gongying. Li Mi used this as a platform to constantly buy people's hearts and minds and form his own team. In his daily life, Li Mi adheres to hardship and simplicity, and his life is very simple. And the property he himself received was given to his subordinates separately, which was a typical money retention. Then he rewarded the meritorious and promoted his own confidants. Through these measures, Li Mi became the number one person in Wagang Village.
In order to further expand the results of the battle and seize the granary, Li Mi suggested sneaking into the Important Granary of the Sui Dynasty, Luokou Warehouse, and then opening the warehouse to release grain and help the victims of the disaster, so that "millions of people can be gathered in one dynasty." Zhai Rang agreed to his suggestion.
In the spring of the thirteenth year of Daye (617), Li Mi and Zhai Rang led 7,000 elite troops out of the north of Yangcheng, crossed the Fang Mountains, and attacked Xingluocang from Luokou. Opening the warehouse, "the people take what they want, the old and the weak are weak, the roads are endless, and the crowds are hundreds of thousands." "
The Sui army rushed to the aid, but was unexpectedly ambushed by the Wagang army, and the Sui army was defeated.
At this point, the strength of the Wagang Army has greatly increased, and its prestige has been greatly enhanced. And Li Mi also completed the identity transformation from an outsider to a master.
Under these circumstances, Zhai Rang had no choice but to give up his leadership position and push Li Mi to be the new master of Wagang, with the title of Duke of Wei. In February of the thirteenth year of Daye, Li Mi set up an altar in the south of Gong County to take the throne, claimed to be the first year of Yongping, and began to establish a political institution. Li Mi became the true master of Wagang.
Among the many heroes who rose up at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Mi was one of the more talented and capable. They have four generations and three dukes, excellent tutors, and high cultural literacy. He is both literate and strategic. In terms of leading the battle, he was even much stronger than his old leader, Yang Xuangan, who had already been killed. Through the silent strategy and means of moisturizing things, after going to Wagang, he gradually seized the leadership of the Wagang Army and gradually became the new owner of Wagang. In this process, I have to lament the cleverness of its means, ordinary people can't learn it!