The state of Yan attacked Qi, and Qi was defeated. King Min of Qi fled to Ju, where Nao Chi put him to death. Tian Dan held fast to the city of Jimo, defeated the Yan army, and recovered the territories of Qi. King Xiang of Qi had been the crown prince, wandering in exile abroad. The people of Qi harbored resentment against King Min, and so Tian Dan installed King Xiang as ruler, in order to bring peace to the people of Qi. In earlier times, when Yan was attacking Qi, King Min said to Tian Dan, "If Qi should perish, I will face it together with you." Tian Dan replied, "When a minister dies and a sovereign falls, I dare not cling to life alone." When Yan eventually broke Qi, Tian Dan fled to Jimo, and later installed King Xiang and restored Qi. Tian Dan's installation of King Xiang was not born of private motive, but rather for the preservation of Qi.
💡 商战启示录
Tian Dan installed King Xiang of Qi on the throne—on the surface, a transfer of power, but in essence, a strategic restructuring amid crisis. In modern business, when an enterprise faces a major crisis—be it a founder's scandal or strategic failure—leaders must decisively execute a "leadership transition" to steady morale and rebuild the brand. For instance, in 2019, Boeing fell into a crisis of trust following the 737MAX crashes. Its new CEO, David Calhoun, did not rush to assign blame but first reorganized management and cooperated with regulators, gradually restoring the company's reputation—much like Tian Dan first installing King Xiang to reassure the people rather than seizing the throne himself. Tian Dan's wisdom lay in his understanding that "preserving Qi" mattered more than "personal power," so he chose a legitimate heir instead of exploiting the chaos for his own gain. In business, this means that when a company is in distress, the CEO should prioritize the organization's long-term interests over short-term personal control. For example, before Satya Nadella took over Microsoft, the Ballmer era had missed the mobile internet wave. Upon assuming leadership, Nadella did not wholesale reject his predecessor's legacy but established a "cloud-first" strategy—stabilizing internally before innovating externally—ultimately doubling the company's market value. Tian Dan's act of "installing a ruler" was fundamentally about building consensus, reducing internal friction, and focusing the team on external competition. After modern mergers and acquisitions, cultural clashes often arise; a wise CEO will retain the core team of the acquired company (akin to "installing King Xiang") to maintain customer and employee confidence before gradually integrating. In sum, the essence of Tian Dan's strategy is this: amid chaos, first establish a "legitimate anchor" to stabilize the overall situation, then plan the counteroffensive—a classic paradigm of crisis leadership.