It's not a good thing to win everywhere

Always striving for the first place is a kind of character that the vast majority of people compete, but those who achieve great things do not lie in competing everywhere, but in properly preserving their strength and striving for the first place where they are most needed.

To compete for the first place everywhere is to be competitive. Competitive personality traits, if well controlled, can help a person to maintain sufficient motivation on the road of life. However, there are two sides to everything, and competitiveness is no exception, and if it cannot be effectively controlled, it is also likely to become a weakness that affects our normal development, and a weakness of our character that offends others.

On May 16, 1868, Zeng Guofan was awarded the rank of Wuyingdian University Scholar, and later, he was awarded the rank of Cloud Cavalry Captain for his meritorious service in organizing the "suppression" of the back road arms. In the course of a year, Zeng Guofan was glorious, which also showed that the Qing government seemed to attach great importance to him. However, on the contrary, he felt that there was a shadow that had been surrounding him, and that was Zeng Guoquan's impeachment of Guan Wen.

The official was a banner man, and in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, where Han officials were densely populated, he won the respect of the Qing government and was awarded the post of governor of Huguang. When Hu Linyi was appointed governor of Hubei, he knew that he could not be moved, so he pushed the United States everywhere to make merit in order to win over the official documents, so that the Hunan army was relatively smooth in all matters. After Hu Linyi's death, Guanwen and the Hunan army maintained a superficial harmony, but in fact they had become very estranged. This time, Zeng Guoquan took over as the governor of Hubei and lived in the same city with the official text, and suddenly the relationship between the two sides became tense.

Because the enmity between Tang Jisheng, the judge of Hubei, and Huang Nanpo, a close friend of Zeng Guoquan, was very deep, Tang Jisheng instigated the official document and asked Zeng Guoquan to help handle military affairs, so that he could leave Wuchang and avoid being supervised in the same city. As a result, Zeng Guoquan had a grudge with the official and waited for an opportunity to retaliate.

Zeng Guoquan first played Tang Jisheng, and then impeached the official text. Because there were no clerks in Zeng Guoquan's camp, no one discussed the draft of the recital, which coincided with Zeng Jize being in the camp, but he did not know the political interests of the impeachment of the official documents, so after the recital was issued, many sentences were not pertinent, and the sentences were lengthy, and the beginning and end did not care about each other. Zeng Guofan's confidant Zhao Liewen said in his diary: The original was written by the Duke of Yuan, but it was agreed upon by Gang (Zeng Jize) and written in order to write it, with greed and arrogance, deception and favoritism, favoring the family, delaying the military and government, correcting the head according to the rules, and the following paragraphs, the language is not pertinent, the sentences are also redundant and long, and the beginning and the end are not taken into account. Zeng Guoquan was afraid that Zeng Guofan would obstruct his impeachment of the official document after he found out, so he deliberately carried him behind his back. After the outside world learned that Zeng Guoquan participated in the impeachment of the official documents, not only the gentry in Hubei were opposed, but even Zeng Guofan's protégé and former officials also thought that this matter was very inappropriate. Zeng Guofan was very worried, lest he would offend the Manchurian aristocracy and be detrimental in the future. Therefore, Zeng Guofan expressed his concern both in advance and afterwards, and did not agree with this move. In the September 1865 letter "To Brother Yuan". He instructed Zeng Guoquan to say: "Shunzhai ranks a section, please also suspend the picture." The reason is: "Fortunately these things are won, and the people are waiting for them, and they will seek to vent their anger." He cannot take revenge, but if all think of the one who takes revenge on him. In short, "if the younger brother conspires to do this, people will refer to it as martial arts, saints, and disciples, and the towering image of the wind is seen, please slow down." Subsequently, Zeng Guofan said in a letter to Zeng Guoquan: "In the Shunzhai case, can you drop out after receiving the remaining letter? Hanging to the end. Such a major event, everyone suspects that it is a brother's acquaintance, and it has nothing to do with whether the meeting is or not. Ten days later, Zeng Guofan had learned that the matter of playing the official document had been issued, and repeatedly told Zeng Guoquan: "It is okay for my generation to be strong in self-cultivation, but it is not okay to seek strength in the place of victory." He has repeatedly admonished: "If the Fuyi foreigner is focused on winning people, it is not yet known whether it can be strong or not." Even if he is strong and stable for life, he is disdainful of a gentleman. "Zeng Guoquan's character is that once he decides something, he has to do it. The starting point of his statement about why he wanted to participate in the impeachment of the official document is: "The ministers steal and defend the territory, and they are important ministers of the country, and they are not related to military affairs, official governance, the national economy and people's livelihood, and local security. Furthermore, he specifically listed the seven counts of the official document in the recital. After the incident, after repeated thinking, Zeng Guofan "secretly folded the official (official document), please do not investigate deeply". However, Zeng Guofan's move caused a lot of discourse outside, and for a while, Zeng Guofan's words of "impeaching Lao Jiu" were praised one after another, making Zeng Guofan speechless, only "insensitive and inhumane", in order to wait and see the changes of the times.

The Military Aircraft Department dispatched a special investigation of the case, and "word for word, listed the confessions of various divisions, provinces, civil and military affairs, and refuted the original references, and almost nothing had a slight impact. Some people even think that Zeng Guoquan's accusation of "purging the party" in the official document is untrue, and they demand that Zeng Guoquan be punished for the crime of being framed as usual.

Cixi Nala knew in her heart that this impeachment was purely a power struggle between the Hunan and Manchurian magnates, and the twisted army was in full bloom, and it was also necessary to use the Hunan and Huai armies to contribute, so he was removed from the official post of governor of Huguang, retained the rank of university scholar, and after returning to Beijing, he was put in charge of the criminal department, and the white flag was in charge, which actually did not harm the official documents.

But what worried Zeng Guofan still happened. Shortly thereafter, a large number of Hunan military officials were dismissed and returned to their hometowns, such as Yang Yuebin, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Liu Rong, the governor of Shaanxi, Guo Songtao, the governor of Guangdong, Zeng Guoquan, the governor of Hubei, and Liu Changyou, the governor of Zhili. This could not help but wake up Zeng Guofan, who felt that this might be the result of the impeachment incident. Zeng Guofan wrote in a letter to Guo Songtao: The official minister (official document) just now has a letter from the direct subordinate, I don't know why the Yinqu is vacant? Recently, Hou (Yang Yuebin), Xia (Liu Rong), Yun (Guo Songtao), and Yuan (Zeng Guoquan) went to the throne for the first time, and Yin (Liu Changyou) reinstated. This could not help but make Zeng Guofan worry about his end, and he increasingly felt that the imperial court was cold and alienated from him, and he had a deeper experience of not offending the eunuch as an official. On September 13, Zeng Guofan sent an edict: "The governor of Zhili will be transferred to make up for it, and the governor of Liangjiang will be transferred to Ma Xinyi." Zeng Guofan knows very well that the transfer from Liangjiang to Zhili is not to reuse himself, but to be in Zhili, and to pay attention up and down, I am afraid that it will be difficult to serve for a long time. It is possible to thank you early, but it is difficult to phrase the vacancy for Chen. Therefore, Zeng Guofan chose not to win by winning, but to retreat as advance, which was extremely smart.

In life, everyone should learn not to be superior to others. Napoleon's housekeeper, Constan, wrote on page 73 of Book 1 of Napoleon's Private Life that he often played billiards with Josephine: "Although my skills are good, I always let her win, so that she is very happy." ”

We can learn a lesson from Constein's words: let our customers, friends, husbands, and wives win over us in trivial arguments.

Shakya said, "The root of hatred is to be stopped, and it depends on love." "It is impossible to eliminate misunderstandings by being competitive, and only by skill, coordination, and tolerance can we eliminate misunderstandings.

Lincoln once rebuked a young officer who had a heated argument with a colleague, saying, "Anyone who is determined to achieve something will never waste his time in a private dispute, the consequences of which he cannot afford." The consequences include tantrums and loss of self-control. Make more concessions in things that have equal rights with others; And those things that are clearly your right, let them be less. Instead of arguing with the dog and being bitten by it, let it go first. Because, even if you kill it, it won't cure your bite. ”

Confucius said: "The gentleman is proud but not arrogant, and the villain is arrogant but not arrogant." Hence the saying of "a humble gentleman". "Humility" is a traditional virtue, and "false humility" is naturally extremely powerful. First, gentle and respectful people, such as gathered in wood, easy to unite people; second, to be careful, as if in the valley, it is easy to be arrogant; Third, trembling and trembling, walking on thin ice, it is easy to make the enemy neglect his defense, hypocrisy and hypocrisy are all out of the need to confuse political opponents in the officialdom struggle, and the attack is unexpected, and the code is impeccable.

Ways to get along with people in difficult situations

In difficult times, how to unite people's hearts is the most critical success technique. Zeng Guofan was very skilled in this regard, so much so that people at the time thought that he also admired power.

When Zeng Guofan was trapped in Qimen, Li Hongzhang had already returned to Jiangxi, and most of his staff had left. The shogunate only had a few people such as Cheng Shangzhai (Huan Sheng, the word Shang Zhai), and they were not angry at all. Faced with the increasingly cold "court", Zeng Guofan was embarrassed. At this time, Li Xiucheng led the Taiping Army Brigade to break through the Yangzhan Ridge and enter Keyi County, which was only 80 miles away from the Qimen camp of the General Headquarters of Zeng Guofan. At that time, Zeng Guofan only had 3,000 guards around him, and Zhang Yunlan, who was stationed in Xiuning, was even more precarious. Zeng Guofan had no choice but to urgently dispatch Bao Chao to aid Qimen. Zeng Guofan was in a desperate situation this time, and he expected that he would not be able to escape death, and even wrote a will. The staff of the Qimen camp panicked and made a mess. Zeng Guofan saw that the people's hearts had dispersed, and he could not be forced to stay, but he had a plan. One day, he said to one of them, "What is it like to die in a heap?" The staff members were silent, and quietly put their luggage in the boat, in order to escape. One day, Zeng Guofan suddenly issued an order: "The thief is like this, and those who want to return temporarily, pay their salary for three months, and the matter is peaceful, but they still come to the camp, I don't mind." When all the staff members heard this, they were greatly moved, and they all said that life and death were the same, and people's hearts were solid.

However, Li Xiucheng lost the battle with Bao Chao and Zhang Yunlan at Xiuning Baizhuang Ridge, and then hurriedly withdrew his troops to the south, and transferred to Zhejiang through Tunxi and Wuyuan, so that Zeng Guofan picked up a life. During this period, Zeng Guofan talked and laughed on the surface, and his demeanor was calm, but he was extremely frightened in his heart. It is said that after Li Xiucheng withdrew from the army, Bao Chao led a team of his own soldiers to the Qimen camp to meet Zeng Guofan, and Zeng Guofan calmly came out. Bao Chao dismounted and saluted, Zeng Guofan stepped forward quickly, hugged Bao Chao, and said, "I don't want to still be able to meet my brother!" After the words, he burst into tears, "no longer able to hold on to himself." It can be seen that the siege of Qimen this time dealt a heavy blow to Zeng Guofan mentally.

Although Li Xiucheng is gone, the Taiping army still has a large number of men and horses left in southern Anhui, especially after the occupation of Huizhou, the Taiping army may attack Qimen at any time. Therefore, Zeng Guofan ordered Bao Chao to stay in Yuting and Zhang Yunlan to be stationed in Yixian County to strengthen the defense force of the Qimen camp. However, due to the special terrain of southern Anhui and the disadvantage of the Hunan army in terms of troop strength, Zeng Guofan still did not fundamentally get out of the predicament.

In mid-December 1860, the Taiping army launched another attack on Qimen. The east road broke Deqing and Wuyuan went straight to Qimen, the west road broke Jiande and Poyang turned to attack Jingdezhen, and the north road entered Yangzhan Ridge and forced Yixian. Zeng Guofan was embattled and once again in terror. In his letter home, he said: "Since November, there have been many dangers and turmoil, and those who have been unable to get through the newspaper have been unable to pass for 5 days, and those who have been unable to pay for more than 20 days. After Huizhou was captured by the Taiping army, Fuliang, Leping, and Jingdezhen became the only external passage for the Qimen camp. Among the people and horses of the Taiping army attacking Qimen, the Western Route Army had the largest number, about 20,000 people, and the main commander was Huang Wenjin, a famous general of the Taiping Army, which became the biggest threat to the Hunan army. Therefore, Zeng Guofan urgently dispatched Bao Chao to Jingdezhen to rescue. At this time, Huang Wenjin, Bao Chao and Zuo Zongtang's army were wounded in a fierce battle, and led the army back to southern Anhui, so that Zeng Guofan could quickly restore the grain route and survive the crisis.

Everyone has a dilemma, but there are different ways to deal with it. Zeng Guofan's excellence lies in the fact that he knows how to communicate with others in difficult times, and is good at obtaining the power of success from others. Actually, it's the way to be human.

Blind obedience can only lead to self-deception

Those who are gullible to others are because they lack their own opinions, and mistakenly believe that the truth is always in the hands of others. Zeng Guofan is familiar with human feelings and sophistication, and he will never blindly obey others, believing that blind obedience can only mislead himself.

In politics, of course, we must not be stubborn in our opinions, nor should we believe the words of others, but we must always weigh the pros and cons and come up with a method to grasp the fundamentals and grasp the source.

Zeng Guofan said in his reply to Ding Yusheng: Thanks to you for discussing the pros and cons of the Huaiyan matter, you have sprinkled thousands of words, which are very detailed. said: "Outsider discussions, fair but not in line with the actual situation; The opinions of the bureau are cordial but selfish in them. People who are good at guessing do not care about the profit and loss of material resources; Those who talk about changing the law do not think about the consequences. These words are particularly pertinent. This is exactly what you mean in your last letter asking you to listen carefully and make careful choices rather than dealing with them lightly. …… The national vassal never acted in a stubborn manner, nor did he believe the words of others, and he was willing to give up his own opinions and listen to others only after seeing the stakes. Your Excellency is a keen mind and often has many unique opinions. If you study too much and see thorns everywhere, it is inevitable that you will abandon the road and go to drill the horns of the cattle, and you will be disgusted with livestock and want to be a clam.

In a letter to Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan said: If you collect more profits, the common people will be resentful, and if you impeach others more, the officials will slander you. We are so cautious, only in the word "employment", in addition to the need for effort. The ancients said: "If you inquire about the news from the vulgar reputation, then he is untenable." "I always think about the shortcomings of weekdays, and I can only inquire about the reputation of discredit, and I should think more about inquiring about the proper employment of people recently.

Analyzing the reasons here, there are about two. First, it is impossible for a person who does things to have only praise without slander or comment, only grace without resentment; Second, public opinion often changes at any time, and there is no certain standard. Therefore, if it weren't for his own request to establish a foundation and inquire about the news from the vulgar and reputational, there would definitely be a day when he would be untenable. Zeng Guofan said in a letter to Yun Zhongcheng: It is absolutely impossible for anyone who is in charge to have only praise without slander, only grace without resentment. It is enough for a self-cultivated person to be calm, and not to be discouraged or depressed by sarcasm. To measure and evaluate others, it is enough to seek only one strength, and not to give up useful talents because of small problems. If you are too demanding of the best, then the mediocre will be lucky.

Zeng Guofan emphasized that the right to do things and do things should weigh the interests and disadvantages, grasp the importance of the matter, and pay special attention not to divert the reputation of the vulgar. In his reply to Chen Fangxian, he said: "The discussion of the Jingshi and the news of the Privy Council change at any time. Whenever there is a handover of officials, the people who were expected to return will be spurned in the blink of an eye; There are also people who are suspicious and slandered, and there is a lot of discussion, but in a blink of an eye, the situation is calm again. Only those who stand on their own will not change their image after the change of red and black. Your Excellency has not been in Beijing for a few days this time, but the favor of God and public opinion seem to be very good, I hope that Your Excellency will not be complacent, and if there is any nitpicking discussion in the future, there will be no mercy, and I hope that Your Excellency will not be depressed because of this. Sooner or later, we will diligently pursue the way of self-reliance, private affairs are to do our own affairs and study at the same time, and official affairs are to operate both management and defense. Diligence-oriented, supplemented by sincerity. Diligence, although weak, will become strong, although dull, but will also become smart. Sincerity, sincerity can make the gold and stone open, the ghosts and gods are obedient, and the ugly ridicule can't be washed even if you jump into the Yellow River, so what else is there to argue? These words profoundly understand that the gist is nothing more than to be down-to-earth, strive to be self-reliant and self-reliant, and not be diverted by the reputation of the vulgar.

When Zeng Guoquan took office as governor of Hubei, Zeng Guofan wrote a letter to him, in which he said: It is not easy to be a governor, and it has been an eventful time recently, so it is necessary to recruit soldiers and raise military salaries. Recruiters are afraid of being slandered for failure, and those who raise salaries are afraid of resentment by saying that they are looting. Both of these things are easy to tarnish their reputations, and this has caused a lot of discussion, and those who are impeached by others often use people inappropriately. Yuan Pudi's fraternity is like weakness, and he has always been redundant in employing people. In the future, it is necessary to carefully choose sages to remedy sloppy problems, and use fewer people to remedy redundant problems. The status is very high but the qualifications are very shallow, the appearance is gentle and respectful, and the inner value is modest and courteous. We don't know much about the affairs of the world and people's hearts, and we don't expect much, and we can't have a little self-righteous thoughts. If you do these two things, you will definitely be able to avoid blame and not lose your good reputation. These words are the most important and important instructions, and you must not ignore them as general discussions!

From this, it can be seen that Zeng Guofan's political thinking is closely related to his experience.

Zeng Guofan does not stubbornly hold his own opinions, nor does he believe the words of others, and he must see the stakes before giving up his own opinions and listening to others. It can be seen from this that Zeng Guofan is neither a stubborn person nor a person who blindly submits. This is his attitude towards public opinion; I also have this attitude towards other people's suggestions. In his reply to Ouyang Xiaocen, he said: Brainstorming is not an easy thing to do well. In provincial towns, it is especially easy to be deceived and deceived. The people who come to my house every day either write books to offer advice or give opinions to their faces, and they are generally not among the three things you have written. Those who are proud should be restrained, but this should not completely abolish the habit of spitting out the old and accepting the new. The important thing should be to grasp the opinion yourself, such as the six reins in hand; Extensive and slow absorption from the outside world, like a thousand streams going to a gully, is the most perfect. I think all the ancients should be like this, but I can't do it. Zeng Guofan is a person who can respect the opinions of others, but he will never blindly follow, and he can always think deeply about a thing according to his own wishes, so as to achieve a target. This shows that all successful people are not blindly imitating others and listening to others, but believing in themselves and doing what they think is right.

△ Decryption of Zeng's Avoidance Character:

Advance and retreat freely, life is smooth, Zeng Guofan's shrewdness lies in knowing how to fight on the cusp of the storm without being swept away by the waves; It can be both advanced and retreated, and it is easy to play. He is both good at attacking and good at self-preservation. This shows that at the critical moment of life, you must learn to give in. Zeng Guofan's way of retreating had a great influence on Zhang Zhidong.

Zhang Zhidong is a mature and experienced politician, he has a strong sense of self-preservation, is scheming, has a skill in advancing and retreating, and leaves a way out for himself everywhere. He does not form sectarian sects or establish private parties, and he often flaunts himself as "the way to establish himself and establish a dynasty, without Taiwan and cabinets, without Hunan and Huai, without harmony and war", and "both harmony and inability to be the same, and both the group and the party." In politics, due to the convergence of political views, it is natural to have close friends. As we all know, when he was discussing current affairs in Beijing, Zhang Zhidong attached himself to cabinet ministers like Li Hongzao and became the "bull's horn" of the Qingliu Party, and in the more than four years from the end of 1876 to 1881, his pen and tentacles irrefutably showed that he was an important member of the Qingliu Party, but he always tried his best to deny that he was a Qingliu Party.

When the Empress Dowager Cixi inquired about the Qingliu Party, Zhang Zhidong calmly said: "The Empress Dowager Qi, the minister thinks that the Qingliu Party is not in line with the facts. Since returning to Beijing from Sichuan in the second year of Guangxu, the minister has had a lot of contacts with Li Hongzao, Pan Zuyin, Zhang Peilun, Chen Baochen and others. First, the ministers admired their strict character and loyalty to the queen mother and the emperor, and cared about state affairs, and second, the ministers and they had a fondness for learning and poetry, gold and stone examination, and so on. Although there has always been a difference between the party of gentlemen and the party of villains, the ministers are still in the precaution of 'forming a party for personal gain', and dare not form an alliance with others to be honest. As far as the minister knows, Li Hongzao and others have the same heart as the minister. Moreover, the minister thought that the idea of impeaching the senior officials was not entirely true. Let's take the ministers as an example, in the past few years, except for Huang Tifang, who drafted the impeachment of Dong Sui, the secretary of the household department, the rest of the more than 30 excerpts, whether they were drafted on behalf of others or signed by themselves, are all words and deeds, and they are not mainly bullet correction masters. For example, in this Ili incident, the minister advocated severe punishment for Chonghou, but he did not specifically speak for Chonghou. The minister drafted seven or eight excerpts for this matter, and a few more were not yet played, all of which focused on how to properly handle the return of Yili, rather than on how to punish Chonghou himself. The minister read the book of the ancestors, was coarse and righteous, did not dare to form a party for personal gain, and did not want to impeach others for self-interest. The minister has always believed that the emphasis should be on dissecting the situation and seeking good solutions, rather than the purpose of severely punishing the dismissal and reduction of officials. ”

Indeed, among the leading figures who are regarded as the "Qingliu Party", Zhang Peilun, Chen Baochen and others have the most complaints, while Zhang Zhidong has indeed not been attacked and criticized much, precisely because he, the "Qingliu Party", focuses on words and things and rarely talks about people. Zhang Peilun and Chen Baochen, play this today, correct that tomorrow, and there will be a lot of grievances in the future. Zhang Zhidong is indeed very different from them.

Zhang Zhidong is also vain and wrongful even to his political enemies, although he is vertical and horizontal, but always admonishes himself to try not to offend others rashly. Cixi reused Zhang Zhidong, and had the intention of sharing Li Hongzhang's momentum to avoid Li Hongzhang's gathering of power. Although Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang disagree in many aspects, such as the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang was the main peace, Zhang Zhidong was the main battle, Li Hongzhang regarded Zhang Zhidong as "the scholar's opinion", but Zhang Zhidong still showed great respect for Li Hongzhang on the surface, it is said that when Li Hongzhang was 70 years old, Zhang Zhidong made a birthday essay for him, and he was busy for 3 days and 3 nights, during which he rarely slept. Liulichang bookstore engraved this longevity text in a single book, and Luoyang paper was expensive for a while, and it became the pressing work in the longevity text received by Li Hongzhang. Zhang Zhidong's handling of the relationship with Li Hongzhang in this way obviously contains a profound sense of outer circle.

His strategy of the outer circle is also manifested in the question of whether to abolish the Guangxu Emperor or not. After the Wuxu Reform, Zhang Zhidong, in view of the majesty of the Empress Dowager of the West, has not expressed his position on the abolition of the Guangxu Emperor, and has always been vague, neither supporting nor opposing it, and often presumed that this is a royal family matter. From his attitude towards this matter, it can be seen that Zhang Zhidong is smart, sophisticated, sleek and cunning.

When the Military Aircraft Department sent a secret telegram asking for his opinion on abolishing Emperor Guangxu, he was very embarrassed. Because he feels that although the current emperor has many flaws, he is willing to carry out new policies and has the ambition to make great efforts, and this is a good emperor. If there are Ming monarchs like Kangxi and Qianlong, it is not impossible to abolish the emperor and replace them with sages, but looking at the present day, there is no one who is qualified to inherit the throne. So in Zhang Zhidong's view, of course, it is better not to abolish the emperor, but the Empress Dowager of the West is strong and decisive, values power, and is very different from ordinary women. She is a person who likes to seize power by herself, although she keeps saying that she wants to return to politics and take care of herself, but it is said that during the 100-day New Deal, the emperor went to the Summer Palace 12 times to report, and the civil and military officials above the second grade had to be decided by the Queen Mother herself, and she had to go to the garden to kowtow to her before leaving Beijing. This is clearly that she is still in control of the court! No matter how bold the emperor is, it is difficult to make a difference under such control. Therefore, he felt that the purpose of the Empress Dowager Xi was obviously to abolish Emperor Guangxu. Although he does not agree to abolish it, but the Empress Dowager of the West is in power and cannot afford to offend, and she is unwilling to speak against her conscience, this problem is indeed very tricky. So he remembered many similar examples in history, such as Yang Xiu's killing, because he interfered in the establishment of the Cao family's heir, which caused Cao Cao's anger. This is a lesson from the past. And Zhuge Liang did it more wisely, when Liu Qi's brothers fought and asked Zhuge Liang for advice, Zhuge Liang said, who to make the lord of Jingzhou, this is your family matter, outsiders are not allowed to talk much. It seems that the emperor's family has always treated the heir as a family affair, and it is very rare to regard it as a state affair.

This historical event gave Zhang Zhidong a lot of inspiration, he thought: Since ancient times, officials have paid attention to "thinking out of position", in their positions, seeking their own government, requiring that they do not exceed their own status when speaking and doing things, what should be said, what should be done, what should not be said, what should not be done, all limited by their own duties, cautious and steady, this is one of the manifestations of shrewdness and sophistication. Zhuge Liang can be said to be a shrewd and sophisticated person, his sentence "This is your family matter" is an excellent witty sentence, with a huge package capacity, and he kicked the "ball" back without being humble or arrogant. As the saying goes, "You can't get married." "Emphasizing that outsiders should not get involved in disputes between other people's families, let alone the royal family, because this involves the central nervous system of the power struggle, which is extremely sensitive, otherwise there will be a fear of life. Besides, now that the Empress Dowager Xi has made up her mind, it is impossible for her to take the words of a foreign minister seriously. She now wants to ask the Military Aircraft Department to consult her opinion, which is nothing more than using herself. If her own words match her mind, she will use her words as a shield; If her own words do not suit her mind, she either ignores them, or alienates herself from now on, then waiting for her own end must be dismissed from office. So he decided to reply to the Military Aircraft Department like this: "The abolition of the establishment is a family matter of the Son of Heaven, and it should be clearly determined by the Sacred Heart of the Queen Mother, and the foreign ministers should not and should not put their beaks." Zhang Zhidong felt that such an answer was more appropriate, first, he strictly abided by the distinction between monarchs and ministers and did not interfere in the royal family affairs; The second is to agree with the decision made by the Queen Mother herself, whether to abolish or not to abolish in the future, I have no opinion, and I also skillfully expressed my loyalty to the Queen Mother. Zhang Zhidong felt that this was the most appropriate way to deal with it, because the Empress Dowager Xi was a stubborn person, so why bother talking about such a person, saying more would not only be useless, but useless. Although Zhang Zhidong is upright, he is good at fortification and self-protection; He is assertive and individual, but also flexible. That is, it is both rigid and elastic, with a character of rigidity and softness, a politician who is round on the outside and square on the inside, like a soft sponge on the outside, but like steel in the bones. He strives to make his life appear round, and he believes that society is round. The pressure of the circle is the lowest, the tension is the greatest, and the plasticity of the circle is also the strongest. He advocates being a man to be round, this circle is round, it is a kind of generosity, integration, great wisdom and foolishness, and it is good to others. In fact, protecting oneself is not the same as stealing peace, and those who steal only know how to fly and dog, and get by. To protect oneself is to avoid being eaten by others and crushed, to maintain a favorable position in the competition, to meet the limelight, to avoid it in time, and once you seize the opportunity, you can rise again and give better play to your strengths.

If you want to protect yourself, you must first have a deep understanding of your own situation, behavior, and purpose, be fully mentally prepared for all kinds of unforeseen events, and decide your behavior mode with changes in the situation and personnel. Although the purpose is not to harm others, when necessary, in order to protect oneself, one should not hesitate to use the spear of the son, the shield of the son, and attack as the defense, so as to avoid passivity.