Don't start a business if you don't understand the mindset of Liu Bei and Cao Cao!

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a work with profound meaning. It's not just an old classic, even today. Many business leaders keep it by their bedside. To learn how to build and defend their careers. The three rulers, Lu Bei, Sun Quan, and Chao Chao. Are worthy of lasting praise as three great leaders. For their exceptional qualities as rulers. They offer invaluable lessons for later generations to learn from. Especially in building a cause. Now, Batacry will use the stories of these three rulers. To share our take on their careers with you. Welcome to Batacry's Chinese History Notes. How Lu Bei Built His Cause Although Lu Bei was a descendant of the Han royal line. He lived a wandering life. Making a living selling straw sandals. Before he built his great enterprise. He spent most of his life in humble circumstances. Even during his rise. In the struggle for the realm. He lost more than he won. Was defeated time and again. And was driven across the land by Chao Chao. Yet in the end he still rose to split the realm into three. So what helped Lu Bei build Shu? It all came down to three factors. First, he built a trustworthy team. It's fair to say Lu Bei was not a master of battlefield tactics. And his schemes were nothing special. However, when it came to winning people over. Lu Bei had a keen eye. He always upheld benevolence and righteousness. Serving the ruler and strengthening the state. That won him people's support. And helped him recruit the best talent. At the start, Lu Bei had very little capital and few resources. Lu Bei had Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei. And top strategists at his side. These great talents made enormous contributions to Lu Bei's cause. More importantly, they were loyal. When Lu Bei was in trouble, even while with Yuan Shao. Guan Yu stayed loyal and never served Chao Chao. At Chongban, Zhao Yun defied death. And charged into Chao Chao's army to rescue Lu Bei's son. Fearless and unshaken. Through Zhuge Liang's relentless planning. He helped Lu Bei secure western Sichuan. And never stopped until his death. Though Zhuge Liang was unmatched under heaven. After Lu Bei died and entrusted him with his orphaned son. He still gave everything to serving the lord of Shu. And never once thought of seizing power for himself. That was Shu's foundation. Lu Bei was not as shrewd as Chao Chao. Nor as secure as Sun Quan. So if he wanted to compete for the realm. Lu Bei had to find a competitive edge of his own. Something the other two did not have. At their first meeting, Chao Chao and Lu Bei clashed in debate. Chao Chao said that in an age of chaos. To contend for the realm. You had to rely on power, strategy, and armies. You had to build your forces. Stand on your own. Move flexibly. And keep eliminating rivals until you took the realm. Lu Bei, by contrast. Believed the great chaos in the realm. Came from a failure of the people's hearts. To seize the realm. You had to win the people over. Lu Bei resolved to win their support. Chao Chao dismissed Lu Bei as old-fashioned. Naive and hopelessly outdated. But later. When he saw Guan Yu hand back his seal and gold. And give up his high rank and wealth. To return to his former lord. Chao Chao finally understood the highest principle. Behind Lu Bei's thinking. The one he had once dismissed. Lu Bei's benevolence and righteousness. Were not just his character. Or his way of dealing with people. They were his strategy. His operating doctrine. And his political platform. After all. Without benevolence and righteousness. And without using them to rally strength. Lu Bei had nothing. Meanwhile. Chao Chao can use talent on the battlefield. And in politics. And his strong power lets him gather the best people. Sun Quan, on the other hand. Builds on the foundation he already has. And keeps bringing in talented people. As for Lu Bei. He can only build his force by relying on his reputation. Chao Chao and Sun Quan can give their people generous pay. High rank and prestige. And they can grant them troops. Horses. Pay. And rewards. Making them serve them. That is why they can carry out tough strategies. And issue orders entirely on their own will. But if Lu Bei did the same. He would never survive. Where would he get the pay and the troops to reward his men? He also lacked the ability to lead a team to win the realm. So he had to build his reputation. And use his benevolence and righteousness. To find the best people to serve him. He gave them complete trust and the honor of serving under him. He built his force on those two things. And sure enough. In time everyone respected Lu Bei for his reputation of benevolence and righteousness. And for his many followers who served the ruler and strengthened the state. Even when Lu Bei kept losing at first. His power was still extremely weak. If Chao Chao wanted Shu Zhou. He could send one army and take it in a single blow. Lu Bei also wanted Shu Zhou. But he had no strength to seize it. So Lu Bei went to save Shu Zhou. Though he coveted Shu Zhou. He went to rescue it. And Tao Qian admired him and offered Shu Zhou to him. Lu Bei truly deserves to be one of the most insightful leaders we should study. When your power is still weak and your ability is not yet strong. Cooperation is unavoidable in the process of building a cause. But who to cooperate with. And how to do it without losing your direction or being swallowed up. Is a skill you have to learn. Looking at Lu Bei. When he cooperated with Gongsun Zan. He transformed completely and was no longer a traveling straw sandal peddler. He had troops and generals now. And with that support. He began to move freely and seize one place after another. By working with Chao Chao. He killed Lu Bu. Removed a major threat. And saved his own life. By working with Yuan Shao. He escaped destruction. Broke free from Chao Chao's grasp. And reunited with his brothers. By working with Lu Biao. He gained a place to shelter and build his base. By working with Eastern Wu. He seized Jinzhou. And took the first step toward the Three Kingdoms Order. Clearly. Lu Bei was very good at choosing partners. Cooperation not only gave Lu Bei many opportunities. But also brought him valuable business ties. Lu Bei never lost out in any partnership. Each one brought him major gains. In every alliance. No matter who it was with. Lu Bei always stayed true to his principles. Serving the ruler and fighting the enemy. Without losing his identity. That is extremely worth learning. And most important. He always knew when to leave. Lu Bei asked to go to Xuzhou to attack Yuan Shao. And used the chance to break away from Chao Chao. Likewise. Lu Bei asked to go fetch Guan Yu. And used the chance to escape from Yuan Shao. These are the two lessons we should learn. From Lu Bei's skill at cooperation. Be patient. Endure. And let go at the right time. Before founding Xu. Lu Bei was often trapped by others. And lost his territory many times. He was given Xuzhou by Tao Qian. But Lu Bu drove him out. Then he worked with Chao Chao to kill Lu Bu. And Xuzhou was taken by Chao Chao again. He served Lu Biao and was granted Xingya. But then Chao Chao chased him off again. If Lu Bei had never let go. And kept fighting no matter what. He might not have survived. Let alone built a legacy. Lu Bei had grand ambitions. His goal was the realm. And his strategy was to win people over. So a few cities or one or two commanderies. May have seemed huge to others. But to him they were trivial. To achieve a greater goal. Lu Bei was willing to give up the spoils others coveted. And pursue a bigger strategy. He pursued the rivals he needed to face. Not petty gains or territory-grabbing fights. To build a bigger enterprise. Learn from Chao Chao. Chao Chao was exceptionally gifted. In both civil and military affairs. Unmatched for a thousand years. The lessons Chao Chao left behind are still useful today. Even Chao Chao's famous warrior generals outnumbered all of Shu's. If Chao Chao had not been so skilled at managing his cause. There would never have been a mighty Wei later on. Know the people. Know the work. And trust your subordinates. In Chao Chao's camp. Strategists and brave generals were countless. Yet Chao Chao always knew how to place his men correctly. Putting the right person in the right job. So everyone could give full play to his strengths. Xinyu was good at civil affairs. So Chao Chao put him in charge of internal administration. Guo Jia was a strategic genius. So whenever Chao Chao went on campaign. He took him along for advice. Xinyu, Qingyu, and Jia Su all excelled at unconventional tactics. And whenever things turned difficult. Chao Chao relied on them. Dian Wei was simple. But brave and loyal. With the strength of 10,000 men. So Chao Chao kept him by his side as a guard. To beat Ma Chao. He used Su Qiu. To hold Fan Qing. He used Chao Ren. At Hefei. He relied on Zhang Liao to rout Sun Quan. When Guan Yu threatened the frontier. He sent Su Huan to defeat him. Under Chao Chao's command. Each man could give full play to his strengths. Helping Wei dominate the realm. What made Chao Chao great was his ability to place each person. In the role that suited him best. Su Qiu and Dian Wei. Though stronger than most. Could behead enemy generals and earn merit. But they were never put in command of an army. They could only stay at Chao Chao's side as guards or trusted aides. Chao Ren was not especially skilled in personal combat. But Chao Chao always trusted him to command the army. And he won Chao Chao countless victories. Zhang Liao and Zhang He were both first-rate generals. But Chao Chao always valued them highly. Put them on the right battlefields. And both won great merits for Chao Chao. Even a great strategist like Zhuge Liang could misuse Ma Su and waste Wei Yan. Which shows how important talent management really is. Promoting people is hard enough. Putting them in the right role and fully using their abilities is even harder. This is something we must absolutely learn from Chao Chao. Building an effective system. In the Three Kingdoms era, politics is rarely talked about. However, Wei was highly regarded for its political and legal system. When Chao Pai founded Wei, most of Wei's institutions were left by Chao Chao. This included the nine-rank system, which is highly regarded in history. The nine-rank system was proposed by Qin Kun as a refinement of merit-based selection. In other words, Chao Chao's talent management helped Wei recruit countless capable officials. This was something Wu and Shu lacked as well. By the end of the Three Kingdoms, Shu fell into a talent shortage and had no one to use. This shows Chao Chao's farsighted vision. You could say tactical brilliance on the battlefield or in business is always time-sensitive. But the real foundation for final victory, or for winning the realm, is a nation's combined economic, political, and social strength. Even Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei, no matter how talented they were, could do little if Shu's national power was weak. And the internal situation was in disarray, they could never win overall. Any wins would only be tactical, not strategic. Building a complete system was Chao Chao's right call. Before thinking about conquering the realm, you need a strong machine that runs smoothly. Likewise, in a company, before going out to win orders or roll out projects, you first need a well-functioning personnel system. Pay, benefits, discipline, rewards, and punishments must be clear. The direction of work and division of duties must also be clear. Only then can staff work and strive with confidence, and leaders won't waste time on trivial matters, but focus fully on winning the realm. For legacy building, look to Sun Quan. When you've built a solid, stable enterprise, the most important thing is how to keep it going long term. Here, you can see that Sun Quan was a master in this area. Sun Quan inherited the foundation from his elder brother, and while he didn't do much to build it himself, he was excellent at preserving and expanding what he had. He won over trusted allies and handled people with tact. You could say Sun Quan did very well in this area. Zhou Yu and Sun Tzu were close friends and relatives, and Lu Sun was Sun Tzu's son-in-law. Sun Quan's two daughters were both married to the sons of key eastern Wu generals. At the time, marriage alliances were the tool politicians used most often. In today's world, though, it's probably more about love, money, and status. Sun Quan was also very good at talent management. Though not as gifted as Chao Chao or as benevolent and righteous as Lu Bei, Sun Quan was exceptionally shrewd in dealing with people. He knew how to judge talent and saw that among the whole court, only Zhou Yu had what it took to stand up to Chao Chao. He brushed aside criticism and gave Zhou Yu command, despite respected veterans like Ching Pu, Huang Gai, and Yi Qiu. Zhou Yu was determined to fight Chao Chao against the views of Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Gu Yong. But Sun Quan didn't push them aside, instead, he kept them united and gave them charge of internal affairs, pay and rewards, and logistics, which greatly strengthened the Red Cliffs campaign against Chao Chao. Sun Quan gave Zhou Yu the main command, but he also used Lu Su, who held the opposite view, to keep him in check. Though Lu Su and Zhou Yu had opposing views, they were close friends and worked together to serve Sun Quan. That way, Zhou Yu couldn't monopolize power, and Lu Su could give his all to eastern Wu. Sun Quan was never good at commanding troops himself, he rarely led armies into battle. And when he did, it often ended in disaster, like at Hefei. Even so, eastern Wu achieved two unmatched victories. It defeated Chao Chao's 800,000-strong army at Red Cliffs and Lu Bei's 750,000-strong force at Yiling. Zhou Yu commanded a force dozens of times smaller. That was all due to Sun Quan's talent management and his ability to win over trusted allies. Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as Grand Admiral, and Zhou Yu successfully repelled the naval attack. By appointing Lu Su as Grand Admiral, the Sun-Wu alliance was strengthened. As eastern Wu grew stronger, Sun Quan appointed Lu Meng as Grand Admiral, and Meng seized Jingzhou for Sun Quan. By appointing Lu Sun as Grand Admiral, Sun shattered a 750,000-man army for Sun Quan. Most importantly, all of them deeply respected Sun Quan and devoted themselves fully to serving their lord. Hold your ground and grow your strengths. If Lu Bei was a master of public appeal and Chao Chao the king of market conquest, then Sun Quan was surely the war god of preserving a legacy. His lessons are especially valuable when the market is volatile and the realm is in chaos. Eastern Wu under Sun Quan was never a force with much ambition to conquer the realm. But anyone who tried to invade it had to pay a very high price. Even if they were as powerful as Chao Chao or Lu Bei, Sun Quan knew exactly how to play to his strengths and maximize his competitive edge, the dangerous Yangtze barrier, his elite navy, and his neutral position, which let him strike when Guan Yu was off guard and break the truce to seize Jingzhou. Sun Quan's most valuable lesson for later generations is this, if you are not yet strong enough to capture new markets, focus on consolidating the market share you already have and be ready to beat back any rival who dares to enter it. By contrast, Yuan Shu's rash move to declare himself emperor and become the enemy of the realm shows that if your strength is not ready and you rush into a highly competitive market, failure is inevitable. Yuan Shu was no match for Chao Chao in talent, Yuan Shao in power, or Lu Bei in will. Yet he still dared to proclaim himself emperor and ended up becoming a joke to the warlords before dying soon after. Guan Yu's story was the opposite, he chased new territory too aggressively and neglected the market share he already had, even though that was the foundation of his success and strength. By neglecting Jingzhou and focusing on taking Shengyang, Guan Yu lost both his base and his gains, and in the end lost the city and his life. When Sun Tzu took over Jiangdong, it was still a remote wasteland, vast and sparsely populated. But under Sun Quan's rule, it became a prosperous, thriving land. Sun Quan correctly identified his competitive edge, the dangerous terrain, the elite navy, and a highly advantageous neutral position. Using those three strengths to the fullest, Sun Quan secured his legacy, expanded his territory, built up his forces, and formed strong alliances. Among the states in China, Eastern Wu was the weakest, so holding its foundation was no easy task. That is why Sun Quan chose alliance, uniting the remaining powers to strengthen himself against stronger enemies. Eastern Wu was seen as neutral in the Three Kingdoms power struggle, and Sun Quan used that advantage well to secure real gains. When confronting Chao Chao, Sun Quan seized the strategic Jing province and allied with Xu Han. But when Sun Quan wanted Jing province back from Lu Bei, he secretly sought an alliance with Chao Chao. After the Battle of Yiling, Xu and Wu were like fire and water, utterly incompatible. Yet after Lu Bei died, Sun Quan was the first to visit Xu and also seek reconciliation. From then on, the Xu-Wu alliance could resist Wei, which was then at its strongest and trying to swallow the other two states. Sun Quan was a master of political maneuvering, as elusive and hard to control as a net spread over the river. Still, we cannot deny that this alliance strategy helped Eastern Wu survive steadily through the chaos and wars of the Three Kingdoms era. These are valuable lessons and insights from three brilliant rulers of the Three Kingdoms. What do you think? Do you have a different view? Share it in the comments.