Our greatest tragedy is to make future generations "stupid and rich"

01

The greatest tragedy in history is that posterity is "stupid and rich".

After Zuo Zongtang became an official, he was full of vigilance in the face of the huge wealth accumulated. Because he realized that human society has a law of equilibrium. Man gets it in one place, and God will make you lose it in another place to achieve overall balance. This kind of cause and effect sometimes appears in the contemporary era, and sometimes it is cycled in generations.

Zuo Zongtang believes that the greatest tragedy in the world is that posterity is "stupid and rich". Growing up holding a golden rice bowl, I didn't learn a little, I had a bunch of hobbies, I sat and ate every day, people coveted your wealth, I didn't have the ability to keep it, once my father died, first of all, I ruined my family, and finally cut off my children and grandchildren, is this not a family tragedy? Wealth is simply the chronic poison of the family.

Throughout China's 5,000-year history, none of those who tried to leave a sum of money to their descendants and let them continue to be mighty and blessed did not succeed; those who could form more reading habits, the descendants often flourished and could continue to prosper, Zeng Guofan, Liang Qichao, and so on, is not so...

Nie Yuntai, the grandson of Zeng Guofan, once wrote in an article: As the saying goes, it is not difficult to get rich, and it is the most difficult to protect wealth. I have lived in Shanghai for more than fifty years, and I have seen many people who have become rich, and after they have become rich, there are those who have lost in less than five or ten years, those who have lost in 20 or 30 years, and those who have lost in 40 or 50 years.

I remember that most of the rich people who interacted with my father, some of them were officials, some of them were engaged in business, they were all prosperous for a while, and now most of them have withered away and their family affairs have declined. Some are squandered because their children and grandchildren gamble on not doing the right thing; some even their children and grandchildren are gone. About forty or fifty years ago, the rich people, now the family property has not been completely defeated, the children and grandchildren can study, do the right thing, and make progress, among the hundred families, it is really rare to have one or two.

Where money comes in the right way, and there is no savings to leave money for the hearts of future generations, the children and grandchildren will be more talented and talented, and excellent and outstanding. Zeng, Zuo, Peng, and Li are the most expensive officials, and their descendants are more able to read and serve the society with academics: Zeng Guofan's great-grandchildren have graduated from universities at home and abroad, and there are three university professors; several of Zuo Zongtang's great-grandchildren are also famous for their science majors; Li Hongzhang's grandchildren, some of whom are university professors, and most of whom are university graduates...

He also gave other examples:

Yelü Chu of the Yuan Dynasty was the military master of Genghis Khan and Yuan Shizu, because Yuan Taizu was easy to kill, but he was able to advise Taizu not to slaughter, and as the prime minister, he was clothed and vegetableed, and lived frugally. At the same time, he was also a great Buddhist scholar, extremely indifferent to self-interest, and had no savings, but his descendants, several generations of prime ministers, but there were as many as thirteen people.

Lin Zexu, who sells cigarettes in Humen, is a great man of a generation. If he wanted to get rich, it would have been easy to get a few million at that time. However, he thought that the opium mutilation was very serious, so he burned 20,000 boxes of opium, because gangzheng was not a child, and after Lin Zexu died, he also had no savings, but his descendants were constantly literate for generations, and there were still jinshi and people among the great-grandchildren, and there are still prominent people today. Lin Xiang, the president of the Supreme Court many years ago, was also one of them, and his morality was also very noble.

Nie Yuntai also gave the example of the people around Lin Zexu, at that time, the Wu clan and the Pan clan and the Kong clan in Guangdong were all people who made a lot of money in the opium field, and at that time, most of the famous ancient calligraphy and painting inscriptions in the sea were stamped with the seals of the Wu, Pan and Kong clans, which showed the wealth of these three families.

But decades later, these precious items have flowed to other homes. Their Nanmu houses have long been demolished, and the most important thing is that their descendants, who have not developed one, are completely different from Lin Zexu's descendants!

Think about modern people, how many people are busy day and night, sacrificing their lives to work hard, is to leave some "family property" for their children, leaving a house is not counted, but also want to do everything possible to leave them a sum of money, and then feel that their hearts are solid. Don't you know that in the end, not only did you make yourself embarrassed, but you also hurt your children!

02

Of course, there are also many parents who know the importance of reading and want their children to read more, but they will also complain, "My children just don't love to read, and I can't do it!" ”

In fact, the best way for adults to persuade children to read is to lead by example! Instead of telling them all kinds of big truths, because children will never listen to you, they will only imitate you.

You know, for children, parents use all kinds of big truths to lead them without any basis, far less than leading them in behavior! How many parents never read books themselves, and spend their time on wine tables, card tables and all kinds of low-level fun entertainment, but expect their children's spiritual interests in books, this is simply ridiculous!

How many parents think that as long as they do their best to meet their children's needs and create the best conditions for them, they will fulfill their responsibilities?

What is "habitual like killing"?

Let's look at Lin Zexu's empowerment: "If my children and grandchildren are like me, what will they do with the money?" If you are wise and rich, you will lose your will; if your descendants are not as good as me, what will you do with the money? Foolishness and wealth increase their excesses! ”

There is an old saying in China, called "rich but not three generations", it is said that this truth, wealth inheritance can only be passed on to the third generation at most, for the real book Xiang Mendi, rich can be passed down from generation to generation! And this kind of affluence is not only the wealth of the species, but also the wealth of the spirit, which is a double affluence!

I hope that every parent can soberly realize this problem!