Moody and unpredictable are the common characteristics of many feudal emperors. For them, losing their temper is not a skill, and being good at emotional control is their ability; It is difficult to be clever when you are angry, and you can turn anger into joy when necessary, which is considered to be superior. This is also the basic skill of a qualified emperor, but anyone who knows this trick can do it for a long time; On the contrary, if you don't know how to do this, you may end up with an accident at some point.
The emperor's anger turned into joy, and there were basically two situations, one was that he did suddenly realize that he could see the right and wrong interests, so he eliminated the misunderstanding with his subordinates, released his previous suspicions, took the initiative to calm his anger, and showed a smile; In another case, I was still very angry in my heart, but for the sake of the overall situation and to appease people's hearts, I had to pretend to be a fake smile. Regardless of the circumstances, they can be regarded as properly handling the conflicts, resolving the contradictions, achieving good results, and some of them have even become beautiful talks.
- The strength order is a beautiful conversation, half of the credit is attributed to Dong Xuan's uprightness, and the other half is attributed to Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty "turning anger into joy". Luoyang County ordered Dong Xuan to kill the house slave of Princess Huyang who was misbehaving in accordance with the law. The princess complained, Emperor Guangwu was furious, and asked Dong Xuan to kowtow to the princess to apologize, Dong Xuan did not agree, Emperor Guangwu ordered the eunuch to force him to kowtow, Dong Xuan supported the ground with both hands, and refused to give in after all. Emperor Guangwu, who was not confused, turned his anger into joy, said that you were really a "strong order", and rewarded him with 300,000 yuan.
- "Zizhi Tongjian" records that during the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Northern Wei Dynasty, the minister Cui Hao engraved the history of the shame and humiliation of the ancestors of the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty on the stone tablet and made it public, and the emperor was angry and implicated widely. Gao Yun, the leading writer, also participated in the revision of history, and his fate hung by a thread, and the prince took him to intercede with the emperor, saying that Gao Yun had not participated in the revision of history. Gao Yun said that he did study history with Cui Hao, and the emperor was furious. Gao Yun continued: Cui Hao is the leader, mainly I did it. Hearing this, the emperor turned his anger into joy and said, "It is not easy to say goodbye when you are dying, and you can believe it; For the minister not to deceive the king, chastity also", this is a gentleman who believes in the minister, it is rare. So he not only pardoned him, but also promoted him to an official position. This emperor is also a man of understanding.
- Zhao Kuangyin played with a slingshot in the backyard. Some courtiers said that there was something important to play together. When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he hurriedly met him. I didn't expect to play some trivial things. Zhao Kuangyin angrily asked him why he was exaggerating, and the minister said: "I think these things are at least more important than bird hunting." Zhao Kuangyin was so angry that he knocked out two of the minister's teeth with the handle of an axe. The minister bent down and picked up his teeth in his arms. Zhao Kuangyin asked, "Do you still want to sue me?" The minister said, "I dare not sue, but the historian will record it truthfully." Zhao Kuangyin turned his anger into joy when he heard it - maybe he was pretending, he was afraid of leaving a bad impression in history. Not only did he immediately reassure him softly, but he also rewarded the minister with a lot of money.
In the ancient times of the world, the emperor's power was boundless and could not be restrained, and what he did could indeed prosper the country in one fell swoop and lose the state in one fell swoop. However, accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger, the feudal emperor's turn of anger into joy is unreliable, he is in a good mood today, and he may be able to listen to a few words of advice; If you don't have a good time tomorrow, maybe you will go on a killing spree.
Therefore, when we read history and see the emperor's "beautiful talk" about turning anger into joy to his subordinates, we don't need to sing praises, we can only say that the subordinate is lucky.
Excerpted from "Leadership Digest" in June 2024
Source丨Essay Monthly
The author of this article | Chen Lumin
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