Efficiently Manage Employees: 16 Methods Managers Must Master

Author: Zhao Wenming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: As the saying goes, "A country has its laws, and a family has its rules." Managing employees cannot be separated from systems; good systems are better than any preaching. In the dictionary, a system is defined as "a set of regulations that members are required to follow according to a certain degree of procedure." Systems can serve as a means to regulate behavior, being rigid and mandatory for everyone within a specific scope and time. They possess authority, utility, and timeliness. It cannot be denied that for the Chinese, accustomed to "rule by man," systems are undoubtedly an unbeatable tool for managing employees effectively.
Historically, the transitions of Chinese feudal emperors often led to fierce struggles, even bringing great disasters to the people. How to manage the crown prince and prevent conflicts among imperial sons had always been a headache for feudal emperors. This situation improved only when Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty established a better system. Before Yongzheng, the Qing Dynasty lacked a fixed succession system, resulting in chaos in imperial succession for three generations.
The founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Nurhaci, did not designate an heir, leading to long-term power struggles between Hong Taiji and Dorgon after his death, leaving behind mysteries for later generations. Hong Taiji, the second emperor, died before establishing a succession system. His younger brother Dorgon and eldest son Hongguo were in tense competition, but in the end, the ninth son of Hong Taiji, Fulin, ascended the throne as Emperor Shunzhi at the age of six. Unable to govern personally, he was still advised by the imperial clan. This was done to prevent potential civil wars.
Emperor Shunzhi died at the age of 24 without establishing a succession system. On his deathbed, with the participation of his mother, he decided to appoint his third son, Xuanye, as heir, reasoning that he had survived smallpox and would not die prematurely from this dreaded disease. The issue of the crown prince once plunged the Kangxi era into political crisis. Emperor Kangxi abolished and reinstated the crown prince twice. The struggle for succession disrupted Kangxi's governance, plunging the Qing Dynasty into a political crisis. This conflict lasted over forty years, manifesting in factional struggles that involved imperial clan members, foreign relatives, Manchu and Han officials, some mid-level officials, and scholars. The scope of the conflict was vast, with some factions collapsing, and some individuals being purged or even losing their lives. The succession struggle weakened the Qing Dynasty, significantly undermined the emperor's authority, reduced administrative efficiency, and created a severe crisis in governance.
Emperor Yongzheng recognized this issue and deeply understood the need to reform the succession system. Learning from his ancestors' practices, he realized that the existing succession system had problems, and blindly copying the principle of the eldest son was not feasible. Therefore, he proposed the secret succession system. In the eighth month of the first year of his reign, he summoned the chief ministers and Manchu and Han officials to the Palace of Heavenly Purity in the Forbidden City. He sealed a pre-written edict regarding the crown prince and placed it behind the "Zheng Da Guang Ming" plaque, personally inscribed by Emperor Shunzhi. He decreed that upon the emperor's death, the edict would be opened, and the designated heir would ascend the throne. This was unprecedented in Chinese history, serving the purpose of succession while overcoming the potential flaws of an open succession.
Under the secret succession system, even the crown prince and the court officials did not know who was designated, but the foundation of the state was already established, and people had a sense of belonging. The country would have a new ruler without turmoil, just like the effect of openly appointing a crown prince. The secretly designated crown prince, without a formal ceremony and unknown to all, the emperor