The richest man ended 01020304

In 473 BC, the Wu-Yue struggle for hegemony, which had been tug-of-war for many years, finally came to an end.

The Vietnamese army attacked the city of Gu Su in one fell swoop, and Fu Cha, who had been besieged for several years, fled, leaving behind a sentence of "Lonely and old, can not do anything to the king", and then he killed himself with a sword, and Wu died.

Since then, King Gou of Yue has ruled the Jianghuai area and become a new generation of overlords.

Seeing that the yueguo was full of tall buildings and flat ground, Fan Li, as one of the great heroes, handed over his resignation to the boss and took a flat leaf boat to "float on the five lakes".

Fan Li, who has served yueguo for many years, said that he would go away, but it was because he had already penetrated people's hearts: "The sad bird is exhausted, the good bow is hidden; the cunning rabbit dies, and the lackey cooks." ”

But Fan Li's legendary life did not end with leaving Vietnam. In his sixties, with a good mind, he transformed from a famous strategist into a world rich man.

What is even more legendary is that after his return to hiding, he "made three thousand gold in nineteen years, and then dispersed and separated from the poor and the poor", gathering wealth and scattering wealth, all of which were calm and self-assured. Such deeds, after the records and praises of historical records, Fan Li was praised by later generations as a shang saint and shang ancestor, and posterity went forward to study Fan Li's business methods.

For more than two thousand years, there have always been some people who have copied Fan Li's "wealth" technique, but few have copied his way of "scattering wealth".

Therefore, few rich people in history can rewrite the perfect ending of Fan Li's style.

Fan Li was born ordinary, but in the eyes of his neighbors, he was already a well-known figure: "When he was a child, he was crazy and woke up, and everyone was crazy." "Fan Li's madness, madness in his grass people, but with a genius in his heart, he is well versed in the way of overlordship."

The name of this madman was loud, and naturally attracted the attention of the discerning people. At that time, wen zhi of Wanling at that time passed through Fan Li's residence and deliberately wanted to visit this madman. Fan Li was embarrassed at first and avoided seeing it, but later knew that this side could not be hidden, so he asked his brother and sister-in-law to borrow a set of decent clothes that could be taken out of his hands to meet the guests. At this sight, the two hit it off immediately, met and encouraged each other, and went to Vietnam to start a career together.

During the decades of serving in the State of Yue, when the State of Yue was defeated at the foot of huiji Mountain, Fan Li gave a strategy of forbearance, "entering the eunuch in Wu", and advancing and retreating with the monarch; when he was released and returned to China, Fan Li gave a plan to strengthen the country, emphasizing the need to develop farming, rich the country and strengthen the army; when the King of Yue could not stop asking when to cut down Wu, Fan Li repeatedly advised him to wait patiently and not to rush to send troops...

With his understanding of the situation in the world and his endurance beyond ordinary people, Fan Li's plan successfully helped the Vietnamese country become strong and achieve the hegemony of the country.

▲ Fan Li. Image source: Network

At such a brilliant moment, Fan Li did not smile because of the promise of "dividing the country with the son", but resolutely asked for resignation and retirement.

Fan Li knew that for himself, retiring from success was the best choice. Unfortunately, when his friend Wenzhong received his exhortation letter, he still did not have time to retreat, and eventually ended up being forced to commit suicide.

After Fan Li bid farewell to the state of Yue, he traveled north to the state of Qi, first stopping at a piece of land bordering the sea. Fan Li immediately realized that this was a treasure land - suitable for the development of the agricultural economy. Therefore, Fan Li took the old and young in his family to develop agriculture and animal husbandry in this waterfront land, and soon saved the first bucket of gold: "to produce hundreds of thousands." Qi Guo heard that he was virtuous and invited him to be his friend. But not long after he returned to the official field, he issued a new sigh: "Staying at home will give thousands of gold, and the official will be the secretary of state, and this cloth is also extreme." Long-respected, ominous. So he returned the seal, scattered his family wealth, and continued to travel.

Soon, he found a second treasure land, and used his philosophical and military ideas there to create a business legend again.

Fan Li believes that the geographical location of "Tao" is excellent: "In the world, the princes are connected to each other." Convenient transportation and a strong population are important conditions for the revitalization of the goods trade. Subsequently, Fan Li started from farming and animal husbandry again, and after having an output, he began to organize two teams of transportation and sales, with pottery as the center, transporting goods to many places, and also opened up slaughtering, eating, brewing, fur processing plants and other peripheral industries. At this time, he called himself Zhu Gong, and posterity honored him as Tao Zhu Gong.

▲Zhejiang Shaoxing Fan Li Ancestral Hall. Image source: Figureworm creative

As for how he did business, most of them used the strategies inherited from his master Ji Ran. The most famous is the business strategy of "using knowledge at the time", "taking cheaply from the high", "small profits and high sales", etc.

Looking at the history of Fan Li's fortune after retiring from the official field, it is not difficult to find that in doing business, we must first find the right place, and the production conditions and trafficking conditions in that place are indispensable.

Regarding the choice of land to govern life, there was once a Zhao Guo smelting iron rich merchant Zhuo Shi also deeply believed. When the State of Qin attacked the State of Zhao, the Zhao people were forced to migrate, and many people took out their belongings and hoped to go to a closer place. Unlike these people, Zhuo proposed to move to the more distant "under the Wen Mountains", because the land was fertile, the products were abundant, and it was easy to develop commerce. In the end, the Zhuo family came to Linqiao, Daxi, and opened the mountain to smelt iron. Later, he lived a very prosperous life: "The joy of Hunting in Taike is intended to be a human king." ”

Second, Fan Li firmly grasped the important position of agriculture and animal husbandry. There was a poor man who paid a special visit to Tao Zhugong and asked how to get rich. Tao Zhugong told him: "If the son wants to get rich quickly, he should be a five-year animal (female livestock)." Listening, Yi Dun complied, found a place to raise cattle and sheep and other livestock, and soon accumulated wealth, and then developed the salt industry, and also became a generation of rich people.

In addition, Fan Li developed a corresponding handicraft industry based on agriculture and animal husbandry, and then took advantage of the convenience of geographical location to build a huge transportation and sales network. This long-distance trafficking business, which connects many places, is an important means of enriching the rich. Zigong, Confucius's richest student, was also one of the best in long-distance trafficking.

In those years, Zigong gradually found out the market of various countries on the way around the world, and he knew exactly where to produce what and what was scarce. Subsequently, Zigong adopted the strategy of buying cheap and selling expensive, purchasing "local specialties" from various places and exchanging them in different places to obtain profits.

The main reason why Fan Li was revered as a shang saint in later generations and was enshrined was that his business strategy had insight into the laws of the market, from small to prosperous, large to governing the country, all of which could make people gain something. Secondly, it is his spirit of honest management and benevolence to get rich that people admire, after all, under the desire of people, it is much more difficult to scatter wealth than to gather wealth, as Tai Shi Gong said: "This so-called rich and virtuous person is also." ”

Subsequently, Fan Li's descendants were also very powerful, independently running the family business, accumulating tens of thousands of family properties, and Tao Zhugong was able to enjoy his old age in peace.

Rich people like Fan Li, who worked hard and made a fortune steadily, are admired, but those who make a fortune by "luck" are even more curious.

This has to mention Deng Tong, the favorite of Emperor Wen of Han and the monopoly of the money minting industry.

When Deng Tong was a child, his family was still well off, and he usually went to the river to catch fish and shrimp while reading. However, the book was not read, and the ability to "tame" water was learned a lot.

One day, to the weak crown, it is time to think about the way out of the future. At that time, the imperial court did not rely on the examination system for employing people, and the inspection system of recommending people from the bottom to the top did not start until the time of Emperor Xiaowu. According to Deng Tong's level of literary talent, the chance of being recruited by the official government is very small, so it is still necessary to rely on the family's financial resources to let him go to the Beijing Division, seek a lang official, and wait for an opportunity to be reused by the imperial court.

His dream soon came true: by virtue of his specialty of rowing, Deng Tong was recruited to the palace as a yellow-headed man and in charge of the boat.

▲ Dunton. Image source: Network

From here on, Deng Tong's history of his family was like the Han Dynasty in which the study of Wei Wei was prevalent, and it was overshadowed with a hint of mysticism.

According to historical records, Deng Tong's acquaintance with Emperor Wen of Han came from a dream. One day, Emperor Wen of Han dreamed that he was going to heaven, but it was almost there. At this time, suddenly a yellow-headed man with a belt tied behind his back pushed him, and then he succeeded. After waking up from the dream, Emperor Wen of Han was obsessed with the dream, so he came to the gradual platform in the Cangchi of Weiyang Palace to carefully observe whether there were people in the dream. Coincidentally, That's how Deng Tong dressed that day. Ask his name, don't ask not to know, a question is frightened, the surname Deng Mingtong, that is not the meaning of ascending to heaven? Emperor Wen of Han was overjoyed and summoned him to his side and played with him every day.

At this time, another specialty of Deng Tong came in handy: Deng Tong was very good at flattery, always coaxing Emperor Han Wen to be very happy, and Emperor Han Wen would reward him as soon as he was happy. Accumulated, Deng Tong received a reward of "tens of thousands of dollars", and his official position also reached the level of a doctor.

But that's not enough.

Deng Tong embarked on the road of "money makes money": monopolizing the money minting industry during the han dynasty.

According to historical records, Emperor Wen of Han decided to reward him with the Tongshan Mountain in Yandao County, Shu County, after Xiangshi issued a judgment to Deng Tong, "When poor and starved to death", and allowed him to mint money. However, some scholars have suggested that this reward is not simply a story of favoring courtiers, but also has the motivation of Emperor Wen of Han to break the monopoly of the market of coins minted by Liu Hao, the king of Wu, in order to ensure the financial security of the central government.

▲ "Four baht and half two" copper coins that began to be minted during the Han Wendi period. Image source: Figureworm creative

The coins minted by Deng Tong, Xu for the purpose of winning by quality and occupying the market, were never adulterated, and were the same as the national monetary standards, so soon After, Deng Qian was indeed widely spread around the world, ensuring the financial security of the Han Dynasty.

However, when the Han Jing Emperor came to power, Deng Tong's good days came to an end. Emperor Jingdi of Han, because of the fact that Deng Tong sucked carbuncles for Emperor Wen of Han in the old days, remembered that he still hated it to this day, and as soon as he succeeded to the throne, he used some charges to exonerate Deng Tong's officials, and then took back Tongshan and confiscated the family property. Deng Tong, who was once rich in the world, finally lost his money and died in someone else's home.

This end actually fulfilled the original prophecy of the Xiangshi "when the poor starved to death". Deng Tong's life is so mysterious that people have some doubts about its authenticity, but in any case, there is a truth that is quite true: what is obtained by just relying on a mouth and rewards is ultimately "returned" back.

Some people make their fortunes by rewards, and some people make their fortunes by robbery, and this person, Shi Chongshi, the richest man in the Western Jin Dynasty, is also.

Shi Chong, who was born in the second generation of the rich, did not leave a penny of his property to him before his death, leaving only a prophecy: "Although this child is small, he will be able to live with himself later." "Although I was confused, I couldn't do anything about it.

Because of his scholarly origin and good education, Shi Chong, in his twenties, became the Commander of Xiuwu County and was known for his talents. Since there are indeed two brushes, Shi Chong's promotion path has always been relatively smooth. However, because of his talent and weight, he often acts very wildly, and is not a fuel-saving lamp.

When he was in Jingzhou, he actually snatched the rice bowl of the mountain thief, plundered the emissaries and merchants who traveled far away, and obtained huge amounts of wealth, thus leaping to the position of the richest man. After becoming the richest man, he acted more wildly and uninhibited, and was known for showing off his wealth and fighting luxury.

▲ Qing "Golden Valley Garden Map", based on the story of Shi Chong sitting in the Golden Valley Garden to listen to the concubine Green Pearl blowing pipes. Image source: Network

When Liu Huan, a high-ranking official with a simple life, visited his home, people had three urgent needs to go to the toilet, came to the toilet, but saw that there were large beds with silk tents, and two beautiful women holding sachets to greet him, which frightened him to run back quickly and apologize to Shi Chonglian: I'm sorry, I just mistakenly entered your bedroom. He replied: No doubt, this is the toilet.

When Wang Kai showed off the two-foot-tall coral tree that the emperor had rewarded, Shi Chong actually took out an iron ruyi and unequivocally smashed the coral tree, and Wang Kai was half dead in anger and shouted loudly. At this time, Shi Chong said lightly: There is nothing to regret, just return one of your trees. Therefore, the orderer took all the coral trees in the house, all about three or four feet high, and the branches and trunks were all perfect, and the light was brilliant. Seeing this battle, Wang Kai had nothing to say.

Such things abound.

But his arrogant character also laid the foundation for himself. Due to political struggle, Shi Chong, implicated and lost power, sima lun's henchman Sun Xiu, who launched the coup d'état, deliberately asked Shi Chong for a concubine, Lu Zhu, and Shi Chong refused. Sun Xiu harbored a grudge in his heart, so he found an opportunity to capture Shi Chong.

Before dying, Shi Chong sighed on the prison cart, "These slaves are trying to make a fortune for me!" The escort next door listened and replied: "I know that the family wealth has harmed you, why don't you disperse early?" ”

Shi Chongyu Plug. In the end, fifteen members of the family were all killed.

Ill-gotten gains cannot be kept when they are taken.

In ancient times, when the small-scale peasant economy was dominant, most rulers had an attitude of not giving up and not letting go of commerce. Merchants have always been feared by rulers when they participate in politics, as if they were particularly wealthy merchants. In such a context, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a businessman actually went against the trend, infiltrated from the shopping mall into the official field, and became a famous red-top businessman - Hu Xueyan.

Hu Xueyan was born in Jixi, Anhui Province, and his family had several acres of land, although he was not rich, he was more than self-sufficient. As the eldest in the family, from time to time to the family to herd cattle, life is also comfortable. Unfortunately, at the age of 12, his father died suddenly, and suddenly, Hu Xueyan had to provoke the family's economic beams.

I still remember my father saying before he died: "If you want to rejuvenate my family, your only name is Shun'er (Hu Xueyan's nickname Shunguan)." Therefore, Hu Xueyan decided to temporarily leave his mother and go to Hangzhou's Xinhe Qianzhuang on the recommendation of relatives to become an apprentice. And Hu Xueyan's road to riches began here.

▲Hu Xueyan. Image source: Network

The apprenticeship life of Qianzhuang is not easy, for example, there is a "sitting exercise" when you first enter the door, which requires you to practice counting silver tickets behind closed doors for 30 consecutive days, and if you make a mistake, you have to count another 30 days. With his intelligence and diligence, Hu Xueyan can always complete various apprenticeship tasks well.

At the same time, Hu Xueyan's emotional intelligence in treating people and handling things on a daily basis is extremely high, and whoever encounters an emergency will take a hand to help him tide over the difficulties, and over time, he will leave a good reputation for being helpful in the industry.

Until one day, he met Wang Youling, the "alternate ambassador of Zhejiang Salt", in the tea house, and during the conversation, Hu Xueyan knew that Wang Youling was suffering from no money to donate to his official position. Out of kindness and out of the keen sense of a businessman, Hu Xueyan made the first venture investment in his life - lending Wang Youling a newly recovered 500 bad debts to Wang Youling to enter Beijing to "invest".

Although Hu Xueyan was dismissed by Qianzhuang for embezzling loans privately, Wang Youling soon returned to promote this nobleman who knew himself as a young man.

After Wang Youling went north, he lived up to his trust and became the director of the Zhejiang Shipping Bureau. The first thing he did when he found Hu Xueyan was to clarify the facts for him in Qianzhuang and let Hu Xueyan's credibility in Qianzhuang be re-established. Subsequently, he took advantage of his position to let Hu Xueyan participate in the transportation affairs. It was also at this time that Hu Xueyan began to set up his own portal, and gradually opened rice shops, silk shops, medicine stores, etc., as well as the most important part of his money empire - Fukang Qianzhuang.

▲The exhibition hall of Anhui Museum recreates the grand opening of Qingyutang Medicine. Image source: Figureworm creative

Facts have proved that Hu Xueyan, who has a businessman's brain, is more flexible than a cautious Qing official.

Soon after Wang Youling took office, he encountered a problem: Zhejiang needed to transport rice to the imperial court, and it just so happened that Zhejiang had a drought last year, and in addition to the inability to collect money and grain in full, the low and shallow river water level was not conducive to river transportation. Therefore, this trip of caomi needs to be changed from river transportation to sea transport, departing from Zhejiang to Beijing via Shanghai.

If the above method is followed, due to the increase in the road, Caomi will definitely arrive in the capital late. Faced with this dilemma, Hu Xueyan immediately proposed a solution: as long as enough rice can be given as scheduled, why bother with whether these rice is Zhejiang rice? Therefore, buying rice from Shanghai and transporting it to the capital can arrive as scheduled.

Hu Xueyan's way of making money is about the flexible principle of "eight jars and seven covers, cover and cover without wearing a gang". In addition, it is an important experience from Huishang: "Chinese can't do business without a backer." ”

Hu Xueyan entered the official field from the mall, all the way to the clouds, the first patron was Wang Youling, and the second was Zuo Zongtang, a heavy minister of the late Qing Dynasty.

At the age of 39, that is, in 1861, the Taiping Army captured Hangzhou for the fourth time, and Hu Xueyan was entrusted by Wang Youling to go to Shanghai to buy and transport grain and arms to help the obstructed Qing army. In the end, Wang Youling, who insisted on Staying in Hangzhou, was martyred, and Hu Xueyan also switched to the new Zhejiang Governor Zuo Zongtang, was appointed as the governor of Zhejiang Grain Station, presided over the province's money, grain, and military salaries, and began the journey to the richest man in the empire.

▲Zuo Zongtang. Image source: Network

Hu Xueyan was able to quickly accumulate wealth, one relying on the rebate on the price difference and the other on the accumulation of funds.

Hu Xueyan's reputation as a "big banker" comes from his vast financial network. Since its founding in 1860, his Fukang Qianzhuang has reached more than 20 branches in 12 years. In addition to the money house, there are silver trumpets and pawn shops. At that time, with the endorsement of some important officials, Hu Xueyan absorbed a large amount of deposits from the people: from the Shangshu of the Qing government to the common people, they were willing to deposit cash in. With enough liquidity, the business can continue to expand and become bigger and bigger.

In addition, when the Qing court's military expenses were in short supply, Hu Xueyan repeatedly borrowed money from foreign banks to help the Qing court tide over the crisis, and could receive a large amount of interest from it. Some researchers pointed out that Hu Xueyan alone assisted Zuo Zongtang in quelling the "Western Expedition Loan" in Xinjiang, and the interest spread earned from it was as high as 2.88 million taels.

With political patronage, Hu Xueyan's business was flourishing, and his personal assets were as high as 20 to 30 million silver, which greatly exceeded the treasury reserves of the Qing government at that time. Relying on Zuo Zongtang, while making money, he also did some good things under the foreign affairs movement, such as using his own business network, actively introducing advanced western machinery and equipment and technology, and assisting in the establishment of the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. In addition, the pharmacy "Hu Qingyu Tang" he founded also retained a good reputation for Tong Shu's innocence and disaster relief.

▲ Hu Qingyu Hall hung a horizontal plaque that reads "True Not Two Prices". Image source: Figureworm creative

But his business empire has not been passed down from generation to generation like Fan Li.

Hu Xueyan's business career can be said to be a money bank and a money bank. At that time, the factional struggle between Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang became increasingly fierce, and Hu Xueyan, who was Zuo Zongtang's left arm and right arm, bore the brunt of it, and was set up by Li Hongzhang's subordinates and another wealthy businessman, Sheng Xuanhuai, who first invested a large amount of cash flow into "fighting silk" and advanceing qing court loans, and then was squeezed by the people of the whole country, and finally the family wealth was scattered.

Perhaps, such a life is more appropriate to describe it as a politics of success and defeat. Dancing with politics is dancing with wolves.

Although Hu Xueyan eventually became a victim of politics, and the legend of the rich could not continue, the foundation of the business legend laid with the integrity, righteousness and discernment of the early years is worth learning.

In the chaotic era of the late Qing Dynasty, there were many people like Hu Xueyan who entered politics through business, but those who abandoned their official positions and engaged in business like Zhang Xiao were even more worthy of admiration.

Everything can be attributed to the four words of "industry to save the country".

Zhang Xiao was intelligent since childhood, and was admitted to Xiucai at the age of 15, but he sat on the cold bench of the imperial examination for 26 years before he was admitted to the yuan. At this time, he was already 41 years old; at this time, the Great Qing Dynasty was going through 1894.

If you want to talk about his achievements in the Qing court, you may debut at the peak, and his identity proves his strength. But when it comes to achievements in modern China, Yuanyuan is the least worth mentioning "honor".

▲ "Zhuangyuan industrialist" Zhang Jian. Image source: Network

In 1895, the Qing court was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War and was forced to sign the Treaty of Maguan. At the time of the signing of the treaty, Zhang Xiao had already left his post due to the death of his father and returned to the system. Seeing such a tragic surrender situation, Zhang Jian wrote sadly in his diary: "The anointing blood of China has been exhausted, and the gains and losses of the national system do not matter." ”

At this time, he already had a deeper understanding of the country's poverty and weakness.

In the summer of 1895, Zhang Jian drafted for Zhang Zhidong the "Tiao Chen Liguo Self-Improvement and Neglect", in which he systematically expounded his own salvation propositions, including strengthening national defense, opening up new learning, and advocating commerce, among which the greatest impact on future generations was the development of modern industry and modern education.

"The world says that foreign countries build a country based on commerce, and this superficial theory is also true. I don't know that the foundation of enriching the people and strengthening the country in foreign countries is really work. Talk about morality, through chemistry, use machines, refine manufacturing, turn coarse into fine, turn less into more, turn cheap into expensive, and then the merchants have the capital to move, and there are multiplied benefits. With this understanding, Zhang Jian opened his industrial road under the instructions of Zhang Zhidong.

In 1896, Zhang Xiao was ordered by Zhang Zhidong to set up a Dasheng Spinning Factory in Tongzhou. First of all, the choice of spinning mill is not accidental, but after observation, it is found that the local cotton flowers are abundant and of high quality, which is very popular. At the same time, it also led to the development of the handmade cotton textile industry, and the locally produced fabrics were very popular in the northeast market, which in turn led to the rise of cloth houses that specialized in sales. Such a complete industrial chain can confirm the great potential of developing spinning mills.

▲Daisei Spinning Mill. Image source: Network

After several discussions and deliberations, it was finally decided that the Dasheng Spinning Factory should be run in the form of "gentleman-led business office". However, from the preparation to the start of construction, it has experienced the dilemma of fund raising again and again. Building factories, hiring employees, buying machines, and buying raw materials all require money, and the investment from merchants is not enough; finding officials is ignored. Zhang Jian wanted to go to Shanghai to raise funds, and the travel expenses were obtained by selling words; he found local officials to ask them to raise funds, like a monk who was everywhere.

With firm will and strong courage, after 4 years, the Daisei Spinning Factory finally opened and threw itself into the "battle" against foreign capital.

With the continuous accumulation of capital, Zhang Jian successively opened oil mills, flour mills, power plants and electric lamp factories and other large and small enterprises, totaling more than 20, becoming the largest private enterprise group in China at that time.

The industry run by Zhang Xiao has led to the rise of national industry and greatly promoted the process of China's modernization. At the same time, the money earned by industry has become the starting capital of modern education, and a new type of school has been established to cultivate a batch of new talents.

Hu Shi once commented on Zhang Jian: "Mr. Zhang Jizhi is a great hero of failure in the history of modern China... He single-handedly opened up countless new roads, pioneered for 30 years, fed millions of people, benefited one party, and influenced the whole country. ”

Although in the end, Zhang Xiao's industrial group was bankrupt and changed hands due to war, commercial competition and investment failures, but he saved the power of the state and has been deeply injected into this land, with far-reaching influence.

In the ranks of making a fortune, there are people who are lucky, but more are people who are down-to-earth and can see the opportunities. On the road, if you are too attached to money, often confined to the interests of individuals or small groups, thousands of family properties will one day become a stumbling block in life.

And those who adhere to their own hearts and virtues will eventually "return to the end of the thousands of dollars", or create a cause that will benefit all generations.

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