Rising to Power in the Tang Dynasty

October 2023, Bipenggou, western Sichuan.

Autumn was in full swing. Red leaves blazed across the mountains, dressing the land in brilliant colors. Yang Xuan and Sun Ming, two young men in their twenties, walked side by side along a winding mountain path.

Yang Xuan looked relaxed, stopping now and then to admire the scenery, while Sun Ming wore an aggrieved expression, his brows knitted as if a boulder weighed on his heart.

“Sun Ming, you really need to change your temper. How could you turn down an assignment from a senior executive at the mall?” Yang Xuan broke the silence first, speaking earnestly.

Sun Ming snorted in indignation. “Those assignments are complete nonsense! All they do is order people around all day, and they never produce any real results. How am I supposed to respect that?”

Yang Xuan shook his head gently and patiently explained, “Sun Ming, you can’t think that way. We’re in the workplace, and the people above us have their own ideas. If you keep going against your bosses, you won’t last. You have to understand: when it comes to following your leaders’ instructions, whether they’re right or wrong isn’t that important.”

Sun Ming stopped and looked Yang Xuan straight in the eye. “Yang Xuan, how can you say that? If our bosses are wrong, are we still supposed to blindly follow them? Doesn’t that go against our principles?”

Yang Xuan patted Sun Ming on the shoulder and spoke slowly. “Sun Ming, we’ve been classmates for years, so I have to point a few things out to you. At a company, a leader’s decisions are often made with the big picture in mind. Our job is to carry them out. If everyone just did whatever they wanted, how would the company function? And we have to think about our future careers, too. If you keep going against your bosses, how are you ever going to get promoted