The King of Chu asked Li Yuan, "I wish to establish the heir apparent—what shall be done?" Li Yuan replied, "I have heard that in matters of counsel, success rests with men, but its fulfillment is decreed by Heaven. If Your Majesty desires to name the heir, you should first ascertain the disposition of the chosen one, and then deliberate upon his station. I observe that the young lord Wan possesses both talent and virtue in full measure, sufficient to inherit the great legacy. Yet his mother is of humble birth, and I fear the assembled ministers will not submit. Let me propose for Your Majesty: better first to appoint the young lord Wan as Chancellor, to observe his capabilities, and thereafter establish him as heir—thus the title will be just and the claim well-founded." The King of Chu said, "Well spoken." Thereupon he appointed the young lord Wan as Chancellor. After several months, the King of Chu fell ill, and summoning Li Yuan, said, "My sickness is grave, and I fear I shall not recover. The matter of establishing the heir must be hastened." Li Yuan said, "Let Your Majesty not be troubled—I have already made arrangements among the hundred officials, and they are all willing to support the young lord Wan. Yet I fear the faction of the Queen may harbor dissenting intentions; I pray first to remove them." The King of Chu said, "Agreed." Li Yuan then issued a false royal decree, executed the Queen's partisans, and established the young lord Wan as heir apparent. When the King of Chu passed away, the heir Wan ascended the throne—this was King Kaolie. Li Yuan, by virtue of his merit, became Prime Minister and wielded exclusive power for several decades.
💡 商战启示录
Li Yuan's strategy stands as a classic case of "power transition and organizational restructuring" in ancient terms, with its essence lying in "progressive positioning" and "leveraging momentum to eliminate obstacles." In modern corporate warfare, this offers a lesson to leaders: when facing critical positions or succession selection, one should not rush for quick results, but rather first employ methods such as "trial appointments" or "acting roles" to allow candidates to accumulate prestige, demonstrate capability, and reduce internal resistance. For instance, after Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he did not immediately overhaul the company; instead, he first introduced products like the iMac to revitalize the brand, gradually consolidating his position before pursuing strategic transformation. Li Yuan's practice of "appointing as chancellor to observe competence" resembles modern corporate mechanisms like "job rotation" or the "shadow CEO" system, which both assess candidates and help teams adapt to change. Before the power transition, Li Yuan's decisive removal of opposing forces corresponds to "organizational purges" or "interest realignment" in enterprises, though such actions must remain lawful and compliant to avoid triggering turmoil. In reality, systems like Huawei's "rotating chairmanship" exemplify how distributed oversight enables a smooth transition to collective leadership, mitigating the risk of individual autocracy. Li Yuan's success also lay in his mastery of the public relations principle that "a cause must be legitimate to be justified"; modern enterprises should likewise pay heed to the timing and wording of "appointment announcements" to secure support from employees and shareholders. However, Li Yuan's use of "forged edicts" serves as a warning to managers against overstepping rules—short-term gains achieved through such means inevitably invite long-term backlash, as seen in the Enron executives' fraud that ultimately led to bankruptcy. Thus, the wisdom of business strategy lies in this: deliberate planning before action, steady and gradual progress, while steadfastly upholding moral and legal boundaries, so as to achieve a win-win outcome for both the organization and the individual.