Chinese attaches great importance to blood relations, especially to future generations, and the bloodline inheritance is "no filial piety has three, and no queen is greater." In the concept of Chinese, whether there can be descendants to continue the bloodline, whether they can leave anything for their descendants, is a very important thing, a sentence "enyin descendants" has been the reason for the struggle of countless Ancient Chinese.
To this day, most people struggle for the sake of their children, in order to let the children live a better life, parents can be said to be doing their best, but the fathers are for the psychology of the children, but also let many people become the rich second generation who do not learn and have no skills, the stupid children, the self-made rich generation, most of them will not think that their hard-earned family business will be destroyed in the hands of their children and grandchildren.
What should a person leave behind for his descendants when he lives for a lifetime? Is it to leave a huge amount of money, or to leave a valuable family style? Li Hongzhang's story may give some inspiration to future generations.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was named
Some people say that Li Hongzhang is a traitor, and some people say that Li Hongzhang was born into the name of the wrong dynasty, as a politician and diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, he was full of talent and wanted to save the world, but he encountered an unfortunate and wandering era, his life was full of ups and downs, there were too many legendary experiences, and there were too many unbearable and helpless.
Li Hongzhang was born in Shuxiang mendi, from an early age very intelligent, when he was young, he read poetry and books, in 1847, he was the 13th in the second class of the entrance examination, and he entered the door of Zeng Guofan and emphasized the study of the world, which was an era of national turmoil and people's uneasiness.
Although Li Hongzhang was a scholar, he also understood that only a strong army could save the country, so he began to train the Xiang Army, and his Xiang Army played a very important role in the late Qing Dynasty, but China at that time could not be saved by relying on a few students and an army.
Later, Li Hongzhang led the Western Affairs Movement, advocating industry to save the country, hoping to revitalize China and save the crumbling Qing Dynasty by learning Western technology.
During the period of the foreign affairs movement, he successively opened hebei cizhou coal and iron mine, Jiangxi Xingguo coal plant, Hubei Guangji coal mine Kaiping taxation bureau, Shanghai machine weaving layout, Tianjin telegraph general bureau and other modern enterprises, all of which achieved good results.
Li Hongzhang successively served as a scholar of the Wenhuadian University, a minister of trade and commerce in Beiyang, and a viceroy directly subordinate to him, and he was proud of the spring breeze in the official field, and his development in the political circles was inseparable from political support, spanning both political and commercial circles, which allowed him to accumulate a huge wealth.
Li Hongzhang left this wealth to his children and grandchildren, and his original idea was to hope that his children and grandchildren would live a rich life, but it turned out to be contrary to his wishes, and this huge wealth actually led to tragedy.
The fate of three generations of wealth
Li Hongzhang's education of his sons was very strict, and his three sons, Li Jingfang, Li Jingshu, and Li Jingmai, all served as officials in the imperial court, and although their political and business talents were far inferior to Li Hongzhang's, and they could not carry forward the family business created by Li Hongzhang, they could also be regarded as small achievements, and they could barely maintain the family business and keep the family wealth left by Li Hongzhang.
But in Li Hongzhang's grandsons Li Zijia and Li Houfu's generation, these people who can live well by virtue of their ancestral accumulation have lost the goal of struggle, and the elders have not carefully disciplined, and even sometimes they are in a state of excessive doting, and if they break into disasters, they will use money to settle down.
In such an education model, they all became stupid children, eating, drinking, gambling and gambling, and in just 10 years, they lost the huge family business handed down by their ancestors.
Li Zijia is the son of Li Jingfang, after Li Jingfang's death, he left this son 13,000 acres of land lease and a huge mountain field, and also left a 3-storey bungalow at No. 42 Dingpan Road in Shanghai to his son, in addition, he also entrusted the bank to fix the living expenses of 500 oceans per month for his son, perhaps he also knew that his son was a profligate person, so he had such an arrangement.
Because of his father's pampering, Li Zijia often stayed in the Qinglou liquor store, and later fell in love with gambling, after losing all his family property, he could only go to his brother Li Houfu, but Li Houfu's family property had long been destroyed, even he couldn't take care of himself, where could he take care of this younger brother?
There is no way, Li Zijia can only live in a broken house of his friend Zuo Jusheng, Zuo Jusheng's father is the late Qing Dynasty minister Zuo Zongtang, this person is also a playboy, and finally lost his family wealth, the two people can only rely on each other for their lives.
But how could Li Zijia, who was accustomed to a good life, bear such a life? Soon after, he chose to jump into the pond to commit suicide, but was saved by a kind person.
Li Zijia, who could not commit suicide, suffered from wind and cold, but because he had no money to treat his illness and no one around to take care of him, he died in the broken house soon after because of wind chill and hunger, and the brother of the prince of the scenery fell to such a miserable end, which was also lamentable.
Li Hongzhang left behind a thousand family fortunes, originally wanting his descendants to live a superior life, he would never have thought that his grandson would die so miserable.
It is better to stay rich than to stay in Germany
Li Zijia was born in 1910, died in 1953, although he only lived for 43 years, but he enjoyed the glory and wealth of the world, but also suffered the pain and cold eyes of the world, he lived recklessly, but also lived sadly, with a golden spoon born in this world, and finally because he did not learn no skills, squandered the family wealth, and left this world miserably.
After Li Zijia's death, his aunt and cousin Li Yongzhang heard about this incident and sighed: "The world should not accumulate wealth for children and grandchildren, but should accumulate virtue for children and grandchildren." This sentence is undoubtedly a very reasonable saying, what can really be passed down from generation to generation in this world is never a family wealth, but a beautiful character and cultivation.
Lin Zexu, a celebrity who sold cigarettes in Humen, once said: "If my descendants are like me, what will they do with the money?" My children and grandchildren are not as good as me, what do I do with the money? This short sentence contains the philosophy of life, but also contains his attitude that good family learning is something worth inheriting, not money.
There are countless examples of such as ancient and modern China and foreign countries, each generation of founding monarchs have left their own descendants with wealth that encompasses the world, but there are very few monarchs who can really guard the world.
Although Confucius was poor and wandering all his life, he left behind a noble style of study and the spirit of Confucian learning, which benefited his descendants endlessly, until now, most of Confucius's descendants are scholars, which also fully explains the truth that it is better to stay rich than to stay in Germany.
brief summary:
As the "four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty", Li Hongzhang's life was discredited, and some people said that he single-handedly saved the crumbling Qing Dynasty, and also said that he was a complete traitor.
Leaving aside his political exploits and faults, he undoubtedly failed in the face of his family, leaving behind a thousand family wealth but without strict family rules, and as a result, the huge wealth was all lost in the hands of his grandson.