Chapter 7 Chapter 4 The Core of Open Management Han

To develop a new system, or to continue the system left by the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty certainly had a certain process to solve this problem.When the Han Dynasty was first established, some people said that heroes and princes should be entrusted.But in fact, although the enfeoffment system was implemented in two generations of the Han Dynasty, the result of practice was that first there were conflicts between heroes and the central government, and then there were rebellions by pro-vassals, which caused many civil strife.When the Han Dynasty was first established, some people even suggested that the Six Kingdoms be rebuilt, so that the descendants of the Six Kingdoms could continue to rule their original places and jointly regard Han as the emperor.But Han Gaozu's advisers, including Zhang Liang, did not agree with this approach.The feudal system is equivalent to taking out things that have become historical relics, and it will only cause difficulties for the operation of the entire government.In other words, the system of setting up many branch companies due to insufficient conditions has finally become a thing of the past under this situation.Zhang Liang was born in an aristocratic family in South Korea among the six kingdoms destroyed by the Qin Dynasty. When he participated in the anti-Qin revolution, his original purpose was to restore the six countries. Of course, the restoration of South Korea was his main intention.But the world has been settled, and he dismissed the idea of ​​restoring feudalism, believing that the governance of the county system can maintain the stability of the country.The Han Dynasty continued to maintain the administrative system of direct management of prefectures and counties, and continued to maintain the supervision system of assessment-these two characteristics have always been seen in Chinese dynasties.

In the early days of the Han Dynasty, the color of the rule of a small group could not be separated.Many of Han Gaozu's former heroes naturally became high-ranking officials.In the two or three generations of the early Han Dynasty, the prime ministers were all meritorious officials, because the conditions for being a prime minister were to be selected from the senior officials of the feudal marquis.In the Han Dynasty, Marquises were not awarded except for military merits. They must be partners who fought together in the world to be named Marquises.Only the descendants of Liehou can inherit the title.Similarly, the senior officials of the two thousand stones are also duoliehou.In other words, the posts of prime minister and other senior cadres are monopolized by a small group.There is a small episode in history: in the early Han Dynasty, when the situation was not stable, Gaozu once saw a group of people gathering and talking on the river beach from a high platform, Han Gaozu asked Zhang Liang, what are these people doing, Zhang Liang replied Say, these people are discussing how to resist you.Han Gaozu was very puzzled, why?Zhang Liang replied: These are people who help you conquer the world, but you only seal your relatives, and those who have meritorious deeds don't know where they should be placed.Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty asked Zhang Liangying how to solve it. Zhang Liang said: "Immediately assign the title, we have no time to assess, but you only need to seal one. Everyone knows that he usually hates you the most, and you hate him the most, but this person is a meritorious person. You seal it first." He, do you have such a person in your mind?Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty said that there was such a person named Yong Chi.Zhang Liang suggested that Yongchi be made a Marquis immediately. Once Yongchi was made a Marquis, the other heroes would be relieved, because Yongchi was still a Marquis, so what about them?

This is Zhang Liang's little trick, but the hidden meaning behind the trick is that when you want to reward others for their merits, you can't just take into account your personal feelings, and you can't just take into account your own likes and dislikes.So although this is a strategy, behind the strategy is a principle of fair rewards and punishments.This principle has been implemented for most of the 400-year history of the Han Dynasty.All those in power have made a mistake, just like Qianlong in the TV series, who likes Heshen and hates Liu Luoguo.If Liu Luoguo can be named Marquis, the others will feel at ease.It was because of a principle of fairness that Qianlong still appointed Liu Luoguo as prime minister after all, and named Wen Zhenggong after his death.Therefore, although the Qing Dynasty began to decline when it reached Qianlong, the Qianlong period was basically not a bad era.

In the early Han Dynasty, there was a group of heroes, but the decision-making class was actually closed. Even talented people could only enter the second-level cadres, not the first-level.Therefore, among the county prefects across the country, there were also children of meritorious officials who served in almost three dynasties.Such a government has no national representation, the ruling class is completely separated from the ruled class, and the decision-making class is also completely separated from the executive cadres.Fortunately, there were many changes in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.In the Han Dynasty, there was a habit of letting the subjects of the world submit letters, allowing people with insights to express their opinions on the government's governance. However, in the early Han Dynasty, there was no system for recruiting talents, there was no fixed quota, and it was not held regularly.When Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was unsure of the world, he met his elders on the road, those elders who were old and knowledgeable, and made some suggestions to him.Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty knew that the people had many important opinions, so the Han Dynasty sometimes asked the virtuous and virtuous to speak out. If they said something wrong, they would not be punished; if they said something right, they would be rewarded.The channel for soliciting opinions from the people in the Han Dynasty was implemented as the inspection system during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.According to the proportion of the population of counties and counties in the whole country, the localities should recommend inspections, find local talents, and go to the localities to do things.First served as a subordinate of officials in the local area, and then gradually recommended to work in the central government.In the Han Dynasty, there was a quota for filial piety and integrity. If there were more than 200,000 people, one person would be nominated, and if there were less than 200,000 people, one person would be recommended. This method completely changed the government structure of the Han Dynasty.

In other words, if the services required by the customers, that is, the common people, are prosperity and stability, now that someone speaks on behalf of the customers, the customers can also participate in the operation of the government.Using corporate activities as an example, if a group of customers make a collective purchase, the company can learn from the representatives of the purchasing group what these customers want and what they like.With this group of virtuous and filial persons in the Han Dynasty, it was possible for them to participate in policy activities.During the court meeting, the emperor, important ministers, and heads of various ministries were present, and government officials and talents selected through investigation discussed government policies together.A famous example is "On Salt and Iron".The government officials, based on national defense needs, discussed whether to fight the Huns. If they did not fight the Huns, the Huns would come in.How much will it cost to fight the Huns, and who will pay the price?Is it worth it?If the existing government funds are not enough to pay, it is inevitable to find financial resources to pay for the war.Government officials said that salt and iron should be sold publicly, and representatives of the common people said that salt and iron are necessary for daily life.Salt and iron are sold publicly, the rich have so much salt, and the poor eat so much salt; the rich do not use iron, but the poor use hoes. This is simply unfair, because everyone has different burdens.National defense policy, domestic prosperity, and the market disturbance after the public sale of salt and iron; whether the economy will prosper after the disturbance; the principle of fair burden for the people...these major issues emerged in the debate on "On Salt and Iron".

Whether "On Salt and Iron" is a complete record of the debate at that time, we have no way of knowing.But it is probably not far from the truth. It may be a simple narrative, and many details may be omitted, but it is enough to reflect the debate caused by the meeting itself and the different positions of the two sides in the debate.Just like a product presentation, customers and manufacturers may have to express some opinions on the product. Bad salesmen refute customers' opinions, while good salesmen listen to customers' opinions.Democracy is all about getting the salesman to listen to the customer.After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, most officials came from the scouts, just as salesmen came from customer representatives. Therefore, although the system of the Han Dynasty itself was not a democratic system, the scouting system was a bridge between the government and the people.This system enabled this large company in the Han Dynasty to win a four-hundred-year life.Because the Han Dynasty was a long period of peace and stability, we still call ourselves Han people today.The stability of the Han Dynasty is a very important reason why China can exist for a long time and become a long-standing cultural and political body.

The prime minister of the Han Dynasty was neither an independent chief of staff nor a full CEO.As mentioned above, at the beginning of the dynasty, all the prime ministers were meritorious officials or after meritorious officials, they came from the same group, and their homogeneity was very high. The prime minister of the Han Dynasty was the head of the imperial court, and all the records were in the prime minister's mansion. This was the credit of Xiao He, the first prime minister in the early Han Dynasty.Xiao Heyuan was an employee of the Peixian County Government, equivalent to a position like the secretary of the county magistrate. His education was unknown and his resume was not high, but he was able to appreciate Liu Bang very early, and later he also helped Liu Bang seize Pei County as his first base.When Liu Bang took over the world, Xiao He was an important assistant, and the act of collecting archives in Jinxianjiu was one of the important keys to Liu Bang's success.When the Han army entered Xianyang, the capital of Qin, the first thing Xiao He did was not to close the warehouse, but to receive atlases, including maps, household registrations, and files.Xiao He has a far-sighted vision and understands that for an operational management machine, there must be files and data in hand.Those who have a map of the whole country, people who have national population data, people who have tax figures, and people who have information on the national post, ship and mail network will have a comprehensive understanding of the national situation.Xiang Yu failed to do this, Han Gaozu and Xiao He did.In the words of Mr. Huang Renyu, the management system can only operate if it is managed according to numbers; the albums are all numbers.A good company must have a batch of good data: Where are its customers?How to calculate the cost of the product?Without this information, it is possible to open a mom-and-pop shop on the corner, but not to run a large company.What Xiao He did was to have enough information and data.

The basis of the power of the government of the Han Dynasty lies in this batch of data, because the data of the whole country are not in the palace, but in the Xiangfu.This is the special power held by the CEO of the Han Dynasty.Therefore, the prime minister in the early Han Dynasty may be uneducated, but he has real power.The emperor must have his favorite courtiers, but the emperor is in the palace; the prime minister represents law and order.Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty was a good monarch and created the situation of the rule of Wenjing.Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty had his favorite ministers, but the prime minister at that time, Shen Tujian, was not very knowledgeable and capable, but he was still able to punish the ministers.In the Han Dynasty, the separation of finances in the palace and in the mansion was a very important principle of the Han Dynasty. The reason why the two can be separated is that there are materials and data on government operations in the prime minister's mansion.For this reason, although the Han Dynasty continued to have foreign relatives and eunuchs intervening in politics, the government always had a considerable degree of stability, that is, relying on the principle of separating the palace from the mansion.The power is in the palace, and the energy is in the mansion.Separation of powers and functions. Once the chairman appoints the general manager, the general manager has all the administrative power and data. The chairman should retreat to the second line and only control the direction of major policies.This kind of division of authority was practiced very early in China. At the same time, Rome had neither counties nor counties, nor divisions in the palace, nor divisions between soldiers and literati, nor an investigation system, and virtuous founders participated in the discussion of state affairs. system.The Roman citizens of the same age as the Han Dynasty participated in politics with the oldest aristocratic system, which seemed primitive and rough.The operating system of the Han Dynasty is quite in line with the principles of running a company.

But who actually designed the system?Not any prime minister, but the opinions provided by scholars one after another.Among scholars, Dong Zhongshu is a key figure.Dong Zhongshu seriously suggested that the base of power should be relaxed and lowered to the local level.Dong Zhongshu's theory of government is the Mandate of Heaven, and he believes that the emperor's rule is based on the Mandate of Heaven, while natural disasters reflect human feelings.To borrow an analogy, whether a company can exist and operate depends on market response.Whether it is a century-old store or an authentic trademark, customer satisfaction determines everything.When the common people are speechless, God will speak for them; natural disasters are actually dissatisfaction among the people.When the world is stable, natural disasters are natural disasters. When people are dissatisfied, the people discuss and find reasons for natural disasters.When disasters and visions from heaven are interpreted as wrong policies, or bad government...that is, when people are disaffected.In the same way, when the company's products are good and the service is good, no matter how bad the advertisement is, the product will still sell, because at this time it is the product that speaks for the company.When a company is scolded for its bad advertising and deceptive advertising, it means that the product is no longer good.Dong Zhongshu's yin and yang perception is actually about the market effect, and the market effect depends on the support of the people, and the people's hearts depend on the satisfaction with government services.Therefore, in Dong Zhongshu's theory, the source of heaven's mandate and kingship depends entirely on the opinions of the people, and the celestial phenomena are just a reaction, and the real decision is made by the people.As far as business management is concerned, market competition depends entirely on products, no matter how good the publicity, no matter how good the packaging, no matter how old the signboard is, only the quality of the product itself counts.Regarding the system of prefectures and counties in the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi's "Public Security Policy" is an important document. He advocated the establishment of prefectures and counties and opposed feudalism.The disaster predicted by Jia Yi came true during the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion.

The financial problems of the Han Dynasty are also worth noting.A country seeking income, like running a business, must have reliable working capital.At that time, industry and commerce were not well developed, and the country’s operating funds came from the people. How to get enough tax revenue from the people without rebelling is just like how to make customers willing to buy products.Enterprises hope that customers have purchasing power and hope that customers are rich. If I were a bank, I hope that customers will deposit their money with me. Of course, I also hope that they will lend my money to him. After he makes money, he will deposit the money he earns in my bank. bank.Basically, the economic policy of the Han Dynasty was based on this, focusing on hiding wealth from the people. If the people are rich, the country is rich.If the government collects all the private wealth, the country will also be poor.Therefore, the financial theory of the Han Dynasty focused on not disturbing the people.

The basic policies of the Han Dynasty were "emphasis on agriculture" and "storing wealth from the people", but the two may also conflict.For example, in terms of monetary policy, if the rich have the privilege of issuing currency, ordinary people, including farmers, will inevitably suffer.In the twelfth year of Emperor Wen, Jia Yi wrote a letter, talking about the need to hide wealth from the people, and the currency should be minted by the government itself.For a period of time in the Han Dynasty, the right to charter coinage was handed over to the lord and his favorite ministers.Jia Yi believed that minting money by the people would make the currency uncreditable, cause inflation, and the people would be poor.In economics, currency depends on credit, not on its own value. When the government issues currency, it should maintain the stability of the currency so that the wealth of ordinary people can be preserved for a long time.From the discussion of emphasizing agriculture to making money, it can be seen that the policy of the Han Dynasty was to allow the people to maintain a stable life. In the north of the Han Dynasty, there was a powerful nomadic empire, the Xiongnu. The Han Dynasty government had to defend the frontier, and also had to take into account the burden of the country's huge military equipment. How to find the most economical and effective method between the two was also a question for the Han Dynasty government Difficulties that must be faced.Volume 15 records that in the 11th and 12th years of Emperor Wen, Chao Cuo suggested twice that a professional defense force could be established on the frontier, and a group of volunteers would be attracted to guard the frontier by releasing the state public land. You can farm and feed yourself-this is military farming.At the same time, merchants are rewarded for transporting food and materials to the frontier, so as to reduce costs and defend the frontier.This strategy is to create conditions and make the people willing to do things for the country at no cost.However, in order for these people to live in the farmland with peace of mind, the government must first spend some capital to build towns, build houses, and send doctors, so that the farmers in the farmland can live in peace of mind. This is why in the process of producing products, we must try our best to use non-economic factors to stimulate motivation, reduce costs, and increase workers' willingness to work.When the willingness to work is strong and the enthusiasm is high, the quality and professionalism of the products can be improved, and the added value will increase.Using non-economic factors to reduce economic costs is a strategy that companies often adopt in production today, but the Han people have long understood it. The organizational reform of the Han government and the various policies mentioned above are equivalent to a major project to transform the company structure and production procedures.The branch company system in the early Zhou Dynasty was a structure with a single production method for a single product.The Han Dynasty changed to a highly integrated company structure, and the company's cadres were also highly specialized.These trained virtuous founders can be regarded as highly professional civil servants.Both Jia Yi and Chao Cuo put forward suggestions with professional ability to promote the diversification of the company's production methods, use a variety of different methods to produce the best quality service at the lowest cost, and continue to collect customers' opinions, so that customers and There is constant interaction between products.This structural reorganization took nearly a hundred years and continued for another three hundred years.The Han reforms were quite effective because the structure was constantly self-regulating.The civil service system in the Han Dynasty realized the selection of professionals to organize the decision-making class, rationally accept the opinions of consumers, rationally analyze the needs of consumers, and rationally consider how to reduce costs and improve quality.If any company can achieve such a standard today, the company must be successful.In today's free market economy environment, taking the United States as an example, once a company's stock is listed, the shareholding is dispersed, and the board of directors is elected by shareholders.Of course, the board of directors is separated from the operator, and the operator must be a professional manager in order to have such great flexibility. But any system will go wrong, and the problem of the Han Dynasty lies in the conflict between the board of directors and the general manager.The emperor was often unwilling to delegate power; the power of the monarch and the power of the prime minister inevitably conflicted, and the power of the monarch often fell into the hands of relatives and eunuchs.Therefore, there were foreign relatives and eunuchs intervening in politics in both Han Dynasties, especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty.In other words, the board of directors is always trying to intrude on the general manager's authority.In the Han Dynasty, there was a distinction between the inner court and the outer court.The power of the inner court grew stronger and stronger, so that the Han Dynasty perished. Another problem is the change of the power structure in the Eastern Han Dynasty.There were three companies in the Eastern Han Dynasty: Situ, Sima, and Sikong, forming a three-headed politics. None of the three leaders held a leading position, that is, there was no real general manager, but three general managers.The Eastern Han Dynasty has been unstable because of such a change in the system.Power ministers will also seize the power of the monarch, such as Wang Mang, who originally came from the inner court. After winning the power of the prime minister, the power of the king and the prime minister actually merged into one.He only seeks his own power, which means that the company has a corrupt general manager who abuses his power. He is rich but loses the company.Today, many general managers in the United States often make such a mistake. They raise their salaries to astronomical figures, regardless of the company's profits, and change the company if the company is overwhelmed.This means that if a balance cannot be struck between the general manager and the chairman, professional operators will also be disloyal. In Taiwan, such situations are rare at present, because the board of directors of companies in Taiwan is mostly in the hands of the founder or his sons and daughters, so it has not yet reached this point.But this crisis has always existed, so the check and balance between the chairman and the general manager is not easy to achieve. Even with a stable structure like the Han Dynasty, there are still many troubles.If an enterprise can have a highly professional and sound organizational structure, so that professionals can play a corrective function, I am afraid that it is the only force that can prevent troubles.But professionals must have a certain professional ethics, otherwise it is useless.If the Han Dynasty is regarded as a company, the Chinese Dynasty Company has been formed and integrated into a good organizational structure.The Han Dynasty has existed for four hundred years, but there are still many problems after all.The final problem is that the sources of professional talents are not as extensive as in the past. Cadres continue to recruit their own people, and the channels of investigation and promotion are monopolized by a few people.The so-called "Three Dukes from generation to generation" means that a family holds high-level positions for generations, but how can it be possible for generations to produce sages?This is all because there are some big families in the counties and counties, who will always check and sponsor themselves.In other words, the customer's representative can no longer reflect the customer's opinion, but can only reflect the opinion of the customer group leader. The group leader controls the opinions of the underlying customers, and the group leader's interests are always superior to the customer's. Such an example is common in Taiwan, where the stakes of political power distribution exchange the interests of ordinary people for their own rewards.On the surface, it is still highly specialized, and talents have gone through the same education, selection and promotion process, but the source of talents has shrunk from the original 30 to 40 million people to a few hundred households.The channels for absorbing opinions established by the Eastern Han government only represented the opinions of less than one thousandth of the profit-making class.So around 180 A.D., the common people rebelled. The slogan of the Yellow Turban uprising was that the Mandate of Heaven was changed, and it was no longer in the Han Dynasty.The Han Dynasty could no longer provide a stable life. The Western Qiang and the Xiongnu invaded from time to time. The big families oppressed the people, and the government was full of corrupt officials.The students of the National University saw that the government made many mistakes but could not change it, so they came out to protest, and finally, the Han Dynasty collapsed.This 400-year-old company has no direct and good communication with customers. The same organization and structure cannot produce the same self-regulating function. In the bureaucratic system, everyone intercepts the collected taxes. Self-fertilization, the cost is raised very high, but the product is very poor, and the company must of course collapse.Therefore, everyone in the company is for their own interests. In a short period of time, it is beneficial to the individual, but in the long run, the company will definitely cross the stage.A reorganized Han Dynasty collapsed due to aging.