Confucianism has always not attached importance to businessmen, resulting in the entire society is very repulsive to businessmen, believing that only reading, participating in the imperial examination, and obtaining meritorious names is the serious road of life, and many businessmen, after having money, also try their best to spend money to buy an official pawn and improve their social status, that is, this kind of psychology. And Hu Xueyan, a rich businessman in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, spent money to buy officials, and then used his power for personal gain, engaged in monopolistic operations, and became rich enough to rival the country, and finally under the mutual tilt of the official field, he was ruined and his family was destroyed, and before he died, he summed up his life and left a four-word family training: "Don't go near the white tiger." "
Hu Xueyan was born in poverty, his father died very early, he went to a money house in Hangzhou as an apprentice in his teens, here, he was trained to use investment vision, economic laws to see people and things, we have to admire his unique investment vision, his first investment is a person, this person is Wang Youling.
At that time, Wang Youling was still just a minor alternate official, and it was still unknown what his career would be, but Hu Xueyan believed that he would develop, boldly and decisively embezzled the money of the qianzhuang, and let Wang Youling go to the official field to dredge up.
Although Hu Xueyan was thus expelled from Qianzhuang, Wang Youling, with his financial support, rose step by step from the governor of Huzhou to the governor of Zhejiang, and Hu Xueyan's business also went from Huzhou to the whole of Zhejiang, selling silk and selling salt, and then set up a qianzhuang, controlling the economic lifeline of Zhejiang Province.
Wang Youling committed suicide because of his failure to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Zuo Zongtang was sent to Zhejiang. Zuo Zongtang is a generation of famous generals, Hu Xueyan also played a great deal of social skills, got the appreciation of Zuo Zongtang, a large number of collusion between officials and businessmen, business has reached the whole country, Hu Xueyan also became the richest businessman in the late Qing Dynasty. In the Xinjiang rebellion, Zuo Zongtang turned the tide and recovered Xinjiang, hu Xueyan was also awarded the three pins by the imperial court because of his money and efforts, giving yellow coats and wearing red tops, Hu Xueyan became a veritable "red top businessman".
Soon, Zuo Zongtang was overthrown by Li Hongzhang, another important minister of the late Qing Dynasty, and Hu Xueyan was also affected, and Li Hongzhang used the low price of raw silk in Europe to make Hu Xueyan lose his family, and then he was arrested for a crime, dismissed Hu Xueyan from his official position, and confiscated the family property.
As Zuo Zongtang fell ill and died, Hu Xueyan also quickly came to the end of his life, poor and sick, full of emotions, he summed up his life before his death, leaving four words for his children: "Don't go near the white tiger." The white tiger is silver, it is money, and he is exhorting his descendants that if there is enough money, it is enough, and greed will harm oneself.