Ancient officials were divided into different grades, according to different levels of officials, the clothing that could be worn was also different, this rule was also imitated among the commoners, and the merchants were considered to be able to side with the officials among the commoners, and there was also a hierarchy among the merchants.
During the Qing Dynasty, the most famous merchant was the red top merchant, the red top is the qing Dynasty official hat unique style, although this kind of businessman is not an official, but has a very good relationship with the official, of which the typical representative figure is Hu Xueyan.
Hu Xueyan, born in Anhui Province in 1823, when he was young, the family was very poor, helping people to herd cattle for a living, when he was 12 years old, his father died of illness, because he had no money, he only rolled a bed of straw mats, in order to repair his father's grave, he began to go out, he was an apprentice in Xinhe Qianzhuang.
After three years of completion, because of his diligence, he was officially made a guy of Qianzhuang, and at that time, the treasurer of Qianzhuang had no heirs, and Hu Xueyan had no family, so he accepted Hu Xueyan as a righteous son, and after the treasurer died, he entrusted the money house worth 5,000 taels of silver to Hu Xueyan.
Hu Xueyan also learned a lot of business knowledge from the treasurer, he has supported farmers to raise silkworms, and opened pharmacies, Hu Xueyan's family business gradually developed and expanded, in 1861, the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou, Hu Xueyan transported arms from Shanghai, Ningbo and other places, and then received the Qing army, thus knowing Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan.
In the course of the war with the Taiping Army, Hu Xueyan helped Zuo Zongtang, so Zuo Zongtang trusted him very much, and during Zuo Zongtang's tenure, he also let Hu Xueyan manage the affairs of the Relief Bureau, and in 1866, Hu Xueyan also funded zuo Zongtang to open the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau.
Just after Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang, Hu Xueyan was given a two-pint red official hat for his meritorious assistance, and the red-top merchants came because of this, but in 1882, Hu Xueyan wanted to boycott foreign businessmen and deliberately lowered the price of raw silk, and with Zuo Zongtang's assistance, Hu Xueyan had the upper hand.
However, with the outbreak of the Sino-French War, the market changed drastically, Hu Xueyan's raw silk was forced to sell cheaply, with a loss of 10 million taels, just when the capital turnover was not working, the imperial court dismissed Hu Xueyan from his post and recovered Hu Xueyan's arrears, under various pressures, Hu Xueyan's pawnshops, pharmacies, and businesses were all seized, and he also declared bankruptcy.
In 1885, just after Zuo Zongtang's death, he also regretted his death, and just before his death, he told his descendants: Don't go near the white tiger, so what is the meaning of these four words? The first point is not to do business with foreigners, and the second point is the silver of white flowers.
And these two theories are more similar, silver is the foundation of Hu Xueyan's origins, and he can be the achievement of a red-top businessman is to assist Zuo Zongtang, but it is because of helping the imperial court to resist foreign businessmen, which leads to losses, and finally because the imperial court is bankrupt, so the white tiger, alluding to the imperial court, as the saying goes, accompanied by the king is like a companion tiger.
Hu Xueyan, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, died of illness, and before dying, he said "Don't go near the white tiger" 4 words, what does the white tiger mean?