What two magic weapons does the emperor have? Add carrots to sticks. If you are obedient, you will be given carrots. If you are disobedient, you will be given a big stick. Article by Yan Jianhuai Li Fang was a famous official in the Northern Song Dynasty. He entered the Imperial

What two magic weapons does the emperor have? Add carrots to sticks. If you are obedient, give carrots. If you are disobedient, use the big stick.

Text/Yan Jianhuai

Li Fang was a famous official in the Northern Song Dynasty. He entered the Imperial Academy three times and ascended to the throne twice. He won the trust of Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi. However, when Li Fang was in power, I didn't hear of any outstanding political achievements. On the one hand, his excellence was reflected in his life as an official, loyalty to the royal family, unity with colleagues, magnanimity, kindness to others, and high reputation both inside and outside the court. On the other hand, in terms of culture and literature, he is a scholar-type leader. For example, he was ordered by Emperor Taizong to take the lead in compiling the collection of ancient books "Taiping Yulan", the collection of poems and essays "Wenyuan Yinghua", and the collection of novels "Taiping Guangji" These three major books have preserved many valuable documents for future generations.

Zhao Guangyi admires him mainly for these two aspects, especially as a person. He is generous and forgiving and does not remember old evils. He has always been praised by Zhao Guangyi. One of the most famous allusions is that Li Fang was friendly with Lu Duoxun, and Li treated Lu with open arms and no suspicion, but Lu Duoxun often spoke ill of Li Fang inside and outside the court, and even murmured in front of the emperor. Colleagues told Li Fang, however, did not believe him. Later, he did not believe it until Zhao Guangyi told him. However, he did not forget his old grudge against Lu Duoxun and continued to communicate with him as usual. This shows that Li Fang is kind-hearted and broad-minded, and is a good subordinate who is conducive to unity and harmony.

The emperor's internal worries were nothing more than two things. One was the discord among his subordinates, who started fighting among themselves every day and fought openly and secretly to the death. The second was the disloyalty of his subordinates, who did one thing to his face and another behind his back. In these two situations, the emperor always had trouble sleeping and eating. What the emperor wanted was harmony, not murderous intent. What he wanted was mutual restraint, not mutual blame. A country is like a family. If the sons and daughters do not cultivate or cultivate all day long, quarreling endlessly, or pretending to be in front of others, and secretly poaching behind their backs, the family will definitely decline, and it will definitely be over in a few days. To maintain the country's surname Song and to be the king forever, we must resolutely crack down on the behavior of fighting and rebelling. The power of example is infinite. In this case, the emperor would often consider evaluating pacesetters, setting examples, setting examples, encouraging progress, praising progress, and letting his ministers follow the example.

In the second year after Li Fang retired, on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Guangyi led the civil and military ministers to watch the lanterns on the tower of Qianyuan Gate. At this time, the emperor will not forget those retired subordinates, especially veteran cadres like Li Fang who have higher prestige and good evaluation among the masses. He invited Li Fang, and arranged a special seat for Li Fang on top of the current prime minister's seat and close to him. He also personally carried a wine pot and poured wine for Li Fang, showing great respect. To whom will the emperor pay the utmost respect? Of course, they are figures with benchmark significance such as pacesetters, models, and role models. Therefore, this event is called Lantern Viewing. It is actually an opportunity to educate people by watching lanterns, so that everyone can see how role models are respected and praised by the emperor.

Zhao Guangyi sets an example in three steps:

The first is the overall evaluation. After the emperor and his ministers sat down, the emperor looked at Li Fang and said to the following ministers with infinite emotion: "Li is a good man and a gentleman. He has served me for twenty years and has never done anything to harm anyone or anything. I know "Also." Mr. Li has been working under me for so long. He has always been united with comrades and loyal. He has never made me worry or worry. He is definitely a moral model and a role model for leading cadres.

The second is affectionate foreshadowing. Under the silver moonlight, the emperor chatted affectionately about the past when he and Li Fang competed in poetry and sang harmony with each other when he was still the king of Jin. Looking back on those days, both the emperor and his ministers were filled with emotion. When it came to the emotional point, Li Fang suddenly stood up and recited more than 70 poems by the emperor in one breath, not only fluently, but also without any mistakes. Zhao Guangyi asked quickly, why do you remember so clearly? Li Fang replied: "To tell you the truth, I get up every morning, after washing, I sit in the Taoist room, burn incense and recite poems. I recite your poems every day. As time goes by, I can recite them backwards." The monarch and his ministers treat each other with respect as guests. The following civil and military officials were deeply moved by the feeling of brotherly love.If the leader can recite his poems and quotations by heart, why wouldn't the leader like them? Who would not envy, respect and admire the subordinates who could maintain such a deep friendship with the emperor? Sensational enough? The dialogue between the emperor and his ministers is like staging a play. The emperor is the protagonist, Li Fang is the supporting role, and the officials are the audience. However, without Baiguan, I am afraid there would be no such drama. The emperor just wants to show this drama to all the officials, "prevention first, education first". Of course, the drama hasn't reached its climax yet.

The third is to reward on the spot. In this play, the emperor is both the leading actor and the director. When and how to reach the climax are completely controlled and promoted by the emperor. When the emperor heard that Li Fang recited his own poems every day, and he recited them fluently, he was very happy and said to him: "I also put your poems in a separate box." He also asked: "I like your calligraphy and small regular script very much. Is your handwriting still so good now?" What kind of person is Li Fang? He immediately followed the emperor's wishes and replied: "I have never been good at calligraphy. Those poems given to you were all written by Quanzi Zongne. ." So, the emperor immediately extended his "olive branch" and appointed Li Fang's son Li Zongna as a sixth-rank official on the spot, finally pushing the drama to a climax.

The emperor’s move has a proven track record. It seems logical, but in fact it is unique. Do you think that an emperor would not recognize the words of a Hanlin or prime minister who is writing memorials and drafting documents for him every day? A person who relies on writing and composition to make a living and still needs his son to write for him is like saying that a top chef asks someone else to cook. Is it possible? Didn't Li Fang, who had served as an imperial scholar and prime minister, know that the emperor was asking questions knowingly? No. What their monarchs and ministers performed was not only a play, but also a "double act". The emperor just wanted to find a reason to award the reward, and Li Fang just gave the emperor a chance to award the reward. And the reward is not just a reward, the behavior is the reward, and the purpose is educate. That is to say, let the officials see that as long as you memorize the emperor's poems and quotations every day, obey the emperor's wishes and listen to the emperor's words at all times, then the emperor will cherish you, care for you, and grant you a title. A wife's shadow will allow you to die in a high position and have a good death. This is how role models are made. Can the civil and military officials below not "follow the good example" and learn from "examples"?

Of course, the emperor only has two magic weapons, carrots and sticks. If you are obedient, you will be given the carrot, and if you are disobedient, you will be given the stick. This is the same throughout the ages.