Current location - Quotes Website - Excellent quotations - Li Shimin’s approach to employing people
Li Shimin’s approach to employing people

Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was an outstanding politician and military strategist in ancient my country. He was recognized by traditional Chinese historians as a rare "star emperor" in China. The formation of the prosperous age was not only due to his outstanding literary talent and military strategy, but also the superb art of employing people was the key. Its ideas on employment have gone through many years without diminishing its brilliance, and it is still worthy of our study, research and reference to this day.

Employing both talents and abilities

Tang Taizong’s idea of ??selecting people based on their talents is different from Cao Cao’s “appreciating talents only”. His talent standards are more comprehensive, taking into account both talents and virtues. In two aspects, "practice" as a talent standard is more dynamic and practical. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty highlighted the primacy of virtue in the talent evaluation criteria and emphasized the primary value of the moral quality of talents. Virtue is the commander-in-chief of talent, which determines the direction and intensity of talent’s role; it is talent’s support that affects the role and scope of virtue. Talents without virtue will definitely cause huge harm and losses to society.

Abandoning grudges and employing people

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty greatly appreciated the ancients' mentality of "not avoiding relatives when promoting internally, and not avoiding enemies when promoting externally". He has always advocated: "As long as he is a real talent, he must be promoted even if he is a disciple or an enemy." The prime minister is an important minister of the court, and the royal family is very cautious when appointing him. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty lived for 23 years. Among the 12 prime ministers appointed successively, some were from the royal family of the previous dynasty, and some were people who had been used by the great ancestor Li Yuan. The fact that these people could be used by Taizong reflected Tang Taizong's extraordinary selection standards and Courage. It is similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's employment philosophy of "I should be sincere in surrendering and not to make mistakes before". Wei Zheng was once Li Jiancheng's confidant and the chief culprit in the murder of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. It was such a person who later became his senior counselor and prime minister. The relationship between Tang Taizong Li Shimin and Wei Zheng was the most ideal relationship between monarch and minister in the era of Chinese feudal emperors. When Wei Zheng died of illness, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came to express his condolences, burst into tears, and said an eternal saying: "Using copper as a mirror, you can straighten your clothes; using history as a mirror, you can understand the rise and fall; using people as a mirror, you can understand gains and losses; I will always protect this "Three mirrors to prevent oneself from making mistakes."

Be kind to others

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty often used "the death of the Sui Dynasty as a warning" to accept advice from talented people. After the grand event of Zhenguan had taken shape, when he reviewed his thoughts on employment, he said to the ministers with emotion: When I came to the throne, all the petitioners said, "The leader must be authoritative and independent, and must not appoint subordinates..." Only Wei Zheng He advised me to "suppress revolution and promote literature, spread virtue and benefit..." I followed his words, and the world was at peace ("Old Book of Tang Dynasty? Biography of Wei Zheng"). Is it "authoritarianism" that employs people, or "general virtue and charity" that employs people? These are two completely different ideas on employment, which will inevitably lead to different relationships between monarchs and ministers, superior and subordinate relationships, and ultimately different personal relationships and political situations. This has been proven repeatedly. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty accepted Wei Zheng's suggestion. In addition to firmly grasping the driving force of power when employing people, he also vigorously cultivated an affinity relationship with his ministers, that is, using the two motivations of power driving and friendship driving at the same time to control talents.

Rewards and punishments are clear

Rewards and punishments are the tools to control the army and the masses. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty emphasized in "Zhenguan Politicians Volume 3 Feudal Chapter" that "National affairs are only about rewards and punishments. Rewards should be regarded as their efforts, and those who have done nothing will retire. Punishments should be regarded as their crimes, and those who do evil will be afraid..." He His cousin Li Shentong was both a founding father and his savior. When he was appointed an official, Li Shentong was unwilling to be replaced. Li Shimin immediately pointed out, "My uncle was the first to raise troops to fight against the Sui Dynasty, and he saved my life. I will never forget it. But later! Dou Jiande annexed Shandong, and your army was wiped out; Liu Heida made a comeback, and you fled again." I can't reward you indiscriminately just because you are a relative of the emperor." When Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty used people to manage affairs, he always strictly inspected officials at all levels and decided to promote or demote them based on their political performance. They did not tolerate flattery and were strict in rewards and punishments. To this end, he also established a special examination institution and formulated the examination standards of "Four Good Things" and "Twenty-seven Best" as a standard for supervising officials.

Use people like tools

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty compared using people to making furniture by a good carpenter: "A wise person uses his strategy, a stupid person uses his strength, and a brave person uses his divine power. Cowardly people should be cautious, and all kinds of characters should have both.

A good craftsman does not give up any wood, and a wise king does not give up any talent. Don't forget his strengths just because he has a shortcoming, and don't cover up his achievements because of his shortcomings. You can learn from each other's strengths and make up for your weaknesses, and people can make the best use of them. "It is precisely because Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty always used his ministers' strengths and avoided their weaknesses, so during the Zhenguan period, there were many heroes and talents. Some were knowledgeable, some were far-sighted, some were brave and good at fighting, some were upright, and some were capable of doing things. Some are calm and cautious, while others are enthusiastic and full of enthusiasm.