When a leader makes a mistake, stupid people will complain, and wise people will find ways to resolve it.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the famous minister Zeng Guofan faced the blind command of the leader, and the method of resolution he adopted may be able to point out a direction for many confused people.
In the third year of Xianfeng (1853 AD), when Zeng Guofan first founded the Xiang Army, his wings were not yet strong, but what was incomprehensible was why he dared to disobey the orders of the Xianfeng Emperor.
When we disobey the leader's orders, the most we can do is not to do our work, and there is no place for the grandfather to stay here. However, in feudal society, when a person disobeys the emperor's orders, it is "resistance", and the consequences are very serious, and it is possible to charge the army and behead.
Zeng Guofan was a man who was good at being an official, he would not joke with his own life, offending the Xianfeng Emperor, it was his ability to control people.
If you want to control others, you must understand human nature. Below, we analyze in detail the case of Zeng Guofan's disobedience to the Xianfeng Emperor's order:
First, we must test the bottom line of leadership.
The most stupid person is to directly argue with the leader, thinking that without him, the earth will not turn!
Such a person, no matter how skilled he is, will not be reused by the leader.
Truly intelligent people are good at testing the bottom line of leadership, and they will not clash head-on with the tip of the leader's needle against Mai Mangdi.
Let's look at Zeng Guofan's method of testing the xianfeng emperor's bottom line.
In August of the third year of Xianfeng (1853 AD), the Western Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Army had already approached the city of Wuhan, and the Green Battalion of the Imperial Court had no resistance and retreated. The Xianfeng Emperor was terrified that the Taiping Army would drive all the way in and threaten the safety of the capital. However, the reality was very cruel, and the main forces of the imperial court were concentrated in the two camps of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, resulting in the Xianfeng Emperor's hands having no troops to send.
It was under such circumstances that the Xianfeng Emperor thought of Zeng Guofan, who was training troops in Hunan, and ordered him to quickly lead the Xiang army north to support Wuhan.
At this time, Zeng Guofan had only been training troops for a few months, and he could not be sent to the battlefield at all. Although he had more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, he had to face hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops who had been in the battlefield for a long time, that is, eggs touching stones, which was of no avail at all.
Emperor Xianfeng's orders could not be ignored, so what should Zeng Guofan do? He took a tentative approach. Zeng Guofan reported to the Xianfeng Emperor that he planned to send three thousand men to reinforce Hubei. For this decision of Zeng Guofan, the Xianfeng Emperor naturally disagreed and insisted that he personally lead all the horses north.
Zeng Guofan knew the bottom line of the Xianfeng Emperor through the method of temptation, that is, the imperial court only wanted to use the Xiang army to block the Taiping Army, to avoid rapidly approaching the capital, and the Xianfeng Emperor did not care about the life and death of the Xiang army.
Second, we must be clear about the thoughts in the hearts of the leaders.
Regardless of the leader's ability, there is a reason for any decision he makes, any order he gives. Therefore, while disobeying the leader's orders, we must look at the problem from the perspective of the leader and clarify what he thinks in his heart.
Zeng Guofan was able to disobey the xianfeng emperor's orders many times when his wings were not in full swing, because he was good at starting from the issues that the xianfeng emperor cared about.
In the face of the increasingly powerful Taiping Army, the Xianfeng Emperor did not have much confidence in the Xiang army trained by Zeng Guofan. First, under the circumstance that the regular army of the imperial court could not compete with the Taiping Army, what role could a civilian armed regiment train the team play? Second, the Xianfeng Emperor also hoped that Zeng Guofan would indeed be able to train a "big group" as he reported:
Practicing one person reaps the benefits of one person, and practicing in January has the effect of january.
With the imperial court unable to confront the Taiping Army, the Xianfeng Emperor urgently needed a third party to help him.
It was precisely because Zeng Guofan stood in the perspective of the Xianfeng Emperor and knew his complicated feelings of doubt and expectation for himself that he dared to disobey orders many times and allowed himself enough time to train the Xiang army.
In the process of delaying time, Zeng Guofan not only did not have a direct conflict with the Xianfeng Emperor, but also understood the emperor's anxious mood, from beginning to end, Zeng Guofan disobeyed the order, all in order to be able to train an army, serve the imperial court, and serve the Xianfeng Emperor. Zeng Guofan's loyalty completely controlled the Xianfeng Emperor and finally comforted Zeng Guofan:
The heart of Ru can be quality, not only known.
Among the more than 40 regimental training ministers appointed by the Xianfeng Emperor, no one dared to disobey his orders except Zeng Guofan, and the reason why Zeng Guofan dared to disobey orders was that he knew how to control people.
These methods of Taming People by Zeng Guofan are all practical methods, which are worth reading repeatedly.