In the late Qing Dynasty, Hu Xueyan, a famous red-top merchant and representative figure of huishang, once gave a specific explanation on his life pursuit:
One does not become an official, the other does not want a name, but only for profit, marry a wife and a concubine, and have a good life, this life is enough!
Hu Xueyan, who came from a humble background, with his outstanding business talents, took advantage of the gap in the turbulent years, and with the support of Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang, and Zeng Guofan, a heavy minister of the late Qing Dynasty, quickly accumulated a huge wealth that was rich and invincible, and successfully won the recognition of the imperial court, the official residence was second-class, and the yellow horse coat was rewarded. The so-called "warmth and lust", Hu Xueyan, who exceeded his life pursuits, began to show his "upstart" characteristics and took his own life to another realm.
After becoming rich, Hu Xueyan "started the garden, indulged in eroticism, lived in luxury, was too princely, arrogant and lascivious, and greatly changed his nature." In addition to "a group of concubines, build the thirteenth floor to store it", he is also keen on "micro-service parade street market, see those who have beautiful postures, will be heavy and golden". So much so that many people's notes attributed the reason for Hu Xueyan's rapid decline after he became rich to "absurd luxury, unusual and unusual, and the latter was defeated."
Hu Xueyan's former residence is a tall building
In addition to the conventional practices of these "upstarts", the happiness of Hu Xueyan, a "rich man", is mainly reflected in the revenge against women. For women who look down on themselves, Hu Xueyan uses the absurd method of "buying and rotating" to feel the "happiness" that ordinary people cannot experience again and again.
Hu Xueyan, who had a large number of concubines, was tired of the indulgent life of an emperor and began to go out on a parade to collect the absurd life of women. The "Notes on the South Pavilion" written by the Qing Dynasty scholar Li Boyuan recorded the cases of revenge after Hu Xueyan was humiliated by wandering around the Qinglou.
One day, Hu Xueyan, who was simply dressed, wandered around the Qinglou, and the Qinglou woman who had always looked good at people naturally ignored Hu Xueyan, who looked poor and sour. But only an old woman warmly welcomed Hu Xueyan. The next day, Hu Xueyan ordered someone to send two packs of gold leaves to the old woman to thank for the kindness of yesterday's hospitality. The Qinglou woman who had once ignored Hu Xueyan knew that she had missed a wealth god who was invincible to the country, so she quickly begged the old woman to invite Uncle Hu.
Late Qing Qing Lou
Hu Xueyan also gave enough face and came to the Qinglou again, but in the face of the Qinglou woman who was very dedicated, he just smiled and did not say anything, and with speechlessness and disregard, he vividly counterattacked the Qinglou woman's "eyes do not know Taishan".
One day, Hu Xueyan, who was wandering in the street market again, passed by a clothing shop, and took a look at the female shop owner who was "leaning on the door and standing on the door, quite slim", so he "looked at it". After being so rudely peeked at, the female shopkeeper turned back to the store and closed the door. In this way, Hu Xueyan felt that he had been insulted, and he began his revenge plan of "heavy gold and strong".
The next day, Hu Xueyan ordered someone to find the female shopkeeper's father and use a powerful money offensive, "Promised seven thousand yuan, and then made a proposal." The "Notes on the South Pavilion" records the specific performance of Hu Xueyan after marrying the female shopkeeper:
On a certain day, the guests were feasted, the wine was thrown into the cave room, the wine was drunk alone, and after getting drunk, the woman was left naked on the bed. The giant candle of the servant Qing waited next to him, And Hu Huihuan looked at it, and Xuan Qi laughed loudly: "Ru did not let me see it the day before yesterday, how can it be now?" "He has hurried out of his house.
After looking at his whole body in a bright and upright way, Hu Xueyan's self-esteem was infinitely satisfied, and then he laughed and left, leaving the female shopkeeper and sleeping in the room of the other concubines. But this is not the point, the next day, Hu Xueyan ordered someone to tell the female shopkeeper that "all the people in the room will go, they can remarry others, and there is no place in this room." Insults are not enough, but on the second day of marriage, they must be quickly dismissed and given a reward of more than 20,000 gold. Because of Hu Xueyan's absurd revenge, the female shopkeeper's family has become extremely rich, which is really speechless.
Similar to the above-mentioned perverted retaliation psychology, it is staged almost every day in Hu Xueyan's body. According to the notes of many people at the time, Hu Xueyan, who was "cool and beautiful", as long as he saw a "beautiful person", he must "order the doormen to visit his residential name, and said to Guan that in addition to his value, he did not care about his status, and allowed his father Ruofu or brother Yimeiguan to return in exchange for a beautiful person." Under such a powerful money offensive, I asked who could refuse, so "all women who have no ambitions, and men who are heavy on profits, all have to listen." But after the beautiful people were in their arms, Hu Xueyan quickly liked the new and tired of the old, and then dismissed with heavy money. With the accumulation of such absurd acts, "hundreds of people who buy and rotate are destroyed."
The outstanding performance in the shopping mall allowed Hu Xueyan to quickly accumulate huge wealth and rank among the high society in the late Qing Dynasty, but after the identity change, Hu Xueyan's various absurd performances desperately chased the happiness that "rich people" could feel, so that they quickly decayed and even "lost their reputations, the guests disappeared, and the concubines scattered." Hu Xueyan, who personally built the tall building, slowly pushed it down with his own practical actions.
References: "Notes on the South Pavilion", "Hu Xueyan's Outer Biography", "Remembering Hu Xueyan's Former Residence", "Red Top Merchant Hu Xueyan"