Chapter 1 What is Group Study?

People with some background in the humanities from Ye Tao's original era might scoff and say, "Isn't that just a combination of basic knowledge from sociology, group psychology, management psychology, human resources management, and the like? What's so impressive about it?"

However, in the era that Ye Tao now found himself in, the natural sciences and the humanities were not completely separate. The so-called great scholars of the day were more enthusiastic about investigating things and coming up with many inexplicable theories. There were very few people who specialized in the natural sciences. In the field of humanities, literature, history, and philosophy were even more mixed together, with each containing elements of the others. Where was the situation in later generations, where people feared that the division of disciplines was not detailed enough and research was not deep enough?

When Ye Tao spoke eloquently about what a group was and what types of groups there were, everyone began to straighten their backs and listen attentively. When Ye Tao talked about the status and role of individuals within a group, how individuals influence the group and other individuals within the group, and how to adjust the group's goals and the individual's goals to make them consistent or inconsistent, some people had already keenly realized that this was teaching them how to be good subordinates and good superiors, teaching them how to lead all kinds of soldiers or other subordinates.

In the army, senior people might pass on some ways of doing things to those close to them, but they could not always explain why they should do so. Sometimes, it was also puzzling why some methods worked for some people but not for others. But after listening to Ye Tao's theories combined with examples, everyone had a feeling of sudden enlightenment. It turned out that whether it was to win people's hearts, motivate subordinates, establish authority, or sow discord, attack and divide, there were so many ways to do it, and there were such well-organized theories. Especially those mid-level officers who had been officers for several years and had some initial experience in managing and being managed, felt this even more deeply. Once they combined the methods they knew with the theories they knew, there was no doubt that the management level of many flexible-minded people could instantly improve by a level.

More importantly, when Ye Tao talked about these things, he certainly emphasized that groups are more easily influenced and misled than individuals, but he absolutely did not belittle the grassroots soldiers. Instead, he treated officers and soldiers equally as different individuals in the group, and treated them as equals who influenced each other in the group.

Although what Ye Tao talked about was a bit profound for many people, it was definitely not difficult to understand. During the more than one hour of the lecture, he even arranged several small games to let everyone experience on the spot how they influence each other in a group. He also designed many specific scenarios - often dilemmas where group and individual interests conflicted - to ask some people questions. Ye Tao even changed some of the conditions in the scenarios at any time, asked again, then changed some more, and asked again, until the person being questioned was covered in cold sweat and began to question whether he was qualified to be responsible for the lives of his brothers.

Ye Tao didn't think it was difficult to give such a lecture. Most of his preparation was remembering and finding concrete cases that fit this era. He was very pleased to see the expressions of everyone present, savoring the experience and benefiting a lot when he announced the end of the lecture. He thought to himself, "Damn, it turns out that flying to Beijing every year for two consecutive years to attend a month-long off-the-job training that costs a fortune, and listening to those incredibly awesome people talk about advanced management courses was not a waste of time."

"Yun has been enlightened." To Ye Tao's surprise, after the lecture, Chi Yun, who had been promoted to Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, stopped him backstage and bowed deeply to him.

"What's wrong?" Ye Tao was a little surprised.

"What you said today, Young Master, is the key to commanding troops in the army, and the secret to being an official in the officialdom. For you to be able to tell everyone so selflessly is really..."

"Brother Chi, this is nothing." Ye Tao waved his hand and said, "Reading military books thoroughly does not necessarily make you a general, memorizing millions of classics does not necessarily make you a great scholar, and there are even more merchants who are familiar with accounts but lose their capital. The key to application lies in one's heart. Does Brother Chi think so?"

Chi Yun thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "What I have heard and seen today, I will write down when I go back and present it to His Majesty for his review. Your theories, Young Master Ye, can really play a big role."

Seeing that Chi Yun was a little hesitant, Ye Tao asked, "Brother Chi, if you have anything else to say, please say it."

Chi Yun asked, "From what you said today, Young Master, some things seemed to be unfinished, only scratching the surface. Is it because there wasn't enough time?"

Ye Tao nodded and said, "To explain all these things completely, don't say an hour, I'm afraid ten hours would still be too little."

Chi Yun quickly asked, "Then... will there be such lectures in the future?"

"Are you still willing to listen?"

"Of course!" Chi Yun said quickly.

"Ten days later, preparing examples is really too troublesome." Ye Tao nodded. The fact that someone who used to listen to lectures can now give lectures, and at such a high level, Ye Tao would not be complacent, but he was indeed greatly encouraged.

Before Chi Yun could present the notes he had painstakingly整理 (zhěnglǐ, organize) all night while his memory was still fresh, that very night, the "group study" lecture given by Ye Tao shook the entire Danyang and the entire Dongping high society.

"Alas," in the Gao residence, which was already extremely wary of the Ye family, especially Ye Tao, after listening to the explanation of a retired officer who served as a supervisor in the Fire Kirin Army and had a very good relationship with the Gao family, Gao Zhen was silent for a long time. In the end, he could only sigh and say, "Perhaps the Ye Clan Workshop has indeed accumulated a lot of experience to be able to have today, but with the emergence of this son Ye Tao, will all the young talents of Dongping become his foils?"

Having been in the officialdom for quite a long time, Gao Zhen was more likely than the average person to appreciate the meaning of Ye Tao's so-called "group study". It was conceivable that after learning about what Ye Tao had said today, the always nitpicking remonstrators and censors would definitely attack him in droves. Although there was not a single word about scheming in "group study," it was full of scheming everywhere. Those remonstrators and censors who always lacked a string in their brains had already regarded Ye Tao as their enemy. Because of Ye Tao, because of matters related to Ye Tao, Chen Tingfang was kicked out of the Hall of Political Affairs. They did not dare to do anything to Princess Zhaohua, who dared to stand up, but they would always target Ye Tao, and would try to find a righteous cause to imprison Ye Tao... But they would never succeed.

It was hard to imagine that a person who could organize so many leadership arts and relationships between superiors, subordinates, and colleagues into a theory at a young age would not know how to distinguish between friends and enemies in the officialdom, in the business world, and in this complicated world, and then find his own foothold. Gao Zhen did not believe that the theories that could be spoken were all the wisdom in Ye Tao's mind. And Gao Zhen began to seriously consider redefining the relationship between his Gao family and the Ye family. Perhaps his son Gao Zhuo would be very unhappy, but now Gao Zhen had begun to feel that it would definitely not be easy to deal with the Ye family, and it would definitely pay a great price.

When Lu Dan privately reminded Ye Tao that what he said was already somewhat... extraordinary... or would touch some people's nerves and be detrimental to him. Ye Tao understood that in this era that outwardly touted propriety, justice, integrity, and peace, what he said would cause a lot of shock. Indeed, in the military, in the business world, and in the officialdom, these were extremely useful knowledge. But it was not knowledge that could be put on the table now.

But what was said was said, what else could he do? Although this might mean that he would have to rely on the protection of the princess and others to survive a wave of attacks, so what? Ye Tao was already a little indifferent. What he was thinking about was how to make the next lecture even more exciting.

"Young Master, Her Highness Princess Zhaohua invites you." After finally taking that step, Ye Tao would naturally not continue to be too gentlemanly in his interactions with Sophie, and the housekeeper Lu Dan had to get used to having others prepare breakfast for Ye Tao in the morning, and sometimes had to wake up the young master at the door of the bedroom at the right time. As the chief steward, Lu Dan was very dissatisfied with Sophie's current work attitude, but he knew that this was probably inevitable.

"Your lecture was wonderful." Looking at Ye Tao, who had rushed directly to the Princess's Mansion after getting up and was wholeheartedly devouring the always overly light meals of the Princess's Mansion, Tan Weixin, who was holding a stack of documents, teased.

"...Don't tell me you haven't heard similar lectures." Ye Tao shrugged. What he was referring to was definitely not the lectures of this era.

Looking at Tan Weixin's skilled business skills and the adeptness she showed in the management of the Princess's Mansion, the Inner Treasury, and the enterprises under the Inner Treasury's name, as well as her grasp of her subordinates, Ye Tao had always wondered what the "unsuccessful" life that Tan Weixin, who had never revealed anything, claimed to have lived in her original world was like? She would never be an ordinary person without economic and financial knowledge, management experience, and business operation experience. The ability she showed was of the level that could turn clouds into rain in the business world.

"I've heard of it. I'm still familiar with group psychology and management psychology, especially the group dynamics school... well, it's almost the school most favored by all lecturers, because it's fun to talk about. And you can organize a variety of games." When Tan Weixin said these words, she glanced at the tightly closed door. She knew that Sisi and Qiaoer would not eavesdrop, but what they said was still a bit sensitive.

"Lu Dan said that some people will come out to impeach me again, probably on charges similar to spreading heresy?" Ye Tao asked with a smile, not nervous at all.

"No, they won't." Tan Weixin shook her head and said, "Father saw Chi Yun's memorial this morning. He said in the Hall of Political Affairs that he might ask you to debate with him. At this juncture, no one will be so blind as to cause trouble."

Wen Dui (问对, "question and answer") was a very high level of audience. Generally speaking, those who receive an audience of this level from the national leader are either ministers who have proposed proposals that will have a great impact, or some scholars, experts, and social celebrities who have extremely high achievements or great influence in various fields. It is almost like summoning them to consult on some issues. Although, relative to Ye Tao's age, Wen Dui seemed especially incredible, but precisely because of this, everyone knew that Ye Tao definitely had a bright future. Remonstrators also cherished their official positions.

"Wen Dui?" Ye Tao himself was stunned.

"Yes, although what you said is different from the theories that everyone has heard and seen now, it is undeniable that if you bring these things to this era, it will be enough to start a new school." Tan Weixin said nonchalantly.

Ye Tao scratched his head and said, "...It's not what I thought it would be."

"Hehe, what did you think it would be? Let you continue to give lectures while people keep impeaching you?" Tan Weixin chuckled, "That's not it. Arguing is not good for the court, nor is it good for you or me. ...Besides, you didn't talk about *Thick Black Theory* or *The Prince*. At most, it's just more nerve-wracking, not heretical."

Tan Weixin's eyes darted, and she said, "You enjoyed giving lectures, and it makes me want to join in too. Are you interested in listening to my lecture? I don't have the energy to give lectures to so many people. I'm going to have a small, internal lecture with no more than ten people."

Ye Tao asked with great interest, "What will you talk about?"

"Economics." Tan Weixin's eyes flickered.

Ye Tao's heart stirred. He seemed to be able to see Tan Weixin's black tail with sharp corners under her skirt, twitching and swaying. If group psychology and management psychology could be explained as being familiar with history books and military books and then extracting and summarizing them, and were just some grotesque creatures that people didn't like to see, then many aspects of economics could only be described as floods and beasts.

Tan Weixin knew that her physical strength and energy were limited, so she always carefully controlled her steps, not letting herself do too many things that were too tiring, and not letting her positive attempts in this world possibly hinder her already very fragile life. She would not do things without reason.

"What's wrong?" Ye Tao asked seriously.

"Remember the six hundred thousand taels of silver you got from Elder Master Qi and came to Danyang to withdraw through the Zuo family?" Tan Weixin asked.

"Of course..." Ye Tao was stunned, and then asked, "Could it be remittance business?"

"More complicated. It's not a simple remittance business or off-site settlement business. If it were, a simple piaohao (票号, ancient Chinese bank) could solve it. The problem is that now, the Seven Seas Trading Company is being set up in Yicheng, and the Jiuzhou Trading Company is being set up here in Danyang. I don't know how it happened, but someone proposed a very ingenious credit settlement problem, and then proposed to establish an intermediary organization, temporarily, it is still an internal organization only open to big merchants, to carry out a series of businesses including remittance. They are preparing to concentrate a batch of gold as collateral, and internally circulate gold notes. In fact, it is a kind of gold standard currency. Then, the discussion about this organization is a bit... unreliable." Tan Weixin said simply, "In fact, once this organization is up and running, it will inevitably become a quasi-banking institution that affects more and more people. I think, if possible, it is better to get such an institution on track from the beginning. If this institution grows without control, whether this kind of gold note has enough credit or loses credit one day, it will be very disastrous. If it is very credible, if this kind of gold note circulates to a certain extent, then the country will lose control over the national financial system, and the country's issuance of currency will be affected in the future. And once it loses its credit one day, then the relevant merchants will be greatly affected. Those big families always have ways to avoid risks, but if it leads to a large number of small and medium-sized merchants going bankrupt, it will not be conducive to stability and unity. You know, in this era, those merchants are so shrewd and so idealistic. I think many people will definitely discover how much energy money has."

Ye Tao nodded. Although he didn't know much about finance, he had some awareness of the function of money and the credit system as a modern person. Ye Tao then smiled and said, "Then perhaps, in this era, you will be the mother of economics and the mother of banking in future history books?"

Tan Weixin glanced at Ye Tao and said, "Not bad, I have at least two great children."