One early morning in November 1885, Hu Xueyan, a red-topped merchant in the late Qing Dynasty, was lying in a broken thatched hut in Hangzhou. With his last strength, he said to his relatives with sadness that the descendants of the Hu clan must remember three sentences:
"First, don't do business, second, don't go near official eunuchs, and third, Hu Li has not been married for generations!"
When his life was dying, Hu Xueyan looked out the window at the light rain. These sixty years of ups and downs, like a movie, rushed through his mind...
Hu Xueyan befriended Wang Youling
In 1823, Hu Xueyan was born in Huli Village, Jixi County, Huizhou, Anhui Province. When he was young, his family was poor, and Hu Xueyan made a living by herding cattle. At the age of 19, because of his proper work, he was accepted as an apprentice by the money manager of Fukang Qianzhuang.
After the death of the money manager, because there were no heirs left, the money house worth 5,000 taels was left to him. Hu Xueyan took Fukang Qianzhuang as his foundation and began his legendary life of being both an official and a businessman.
Six years later, Hu Xueyan met by chance, "alternate Zhejiang Salt Ambassador" Wang Youling. At that time, Wang Youling was in a difficult situation and urgently needed Yin Liangshang to supplement the official. After Hu Xueyan knew, he immediately took out 500 taels of silver from the qianzhuang to help him survive this disaster.
Later, Wang Youling became the governor of Hangzhou and then promoted to inspector of Zhejiang. With this patron, Hu Xueyan was unimpeded in the business field, and soon became the richest man in Hangzhou.
After recovering Xinjiang, Hu Xueyan became acquainted with Zuo Zongtang
In 1861, Wang Youling was surrounded and suppressed by the Taiping Army in Hangzhou, and eventually hanged himself. Losing this big patron, Hu Xueyan's life ushered in another nobleman.
After Wang Youling's death, the post of Inspector of Hangzhou was topped by Zuo Zongtang. In 1881, Cixi ordered Zuo Zongtang to recover Xinjiang. After Hu Xueyan knew about it, he first risked his life to send him 100,000 stones of grain, and then raised more than 10 million taels of military expenses for him.
After successfully recovering Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang praised: "The merits of Xueyan are really the same for a while!" Grateful for Hu Xueyan's great help, Zuo Zongtang regarded him as a confidant and recommended him to Empress Dowager Cixi.
When Cixi learned of Hu Xueyan's exploits, she rewarded him with a yellow coat and an official residence, becoming the only "red-top merchant" in history. Since then, Hu Xueyan has danced well in the political arena and achieved a magnificent counterattack.
Hu Xueyan's last glory
After a person reaches the peak of life, no matter how he goes, it is a downward spiral.
When Hu Xueyan crossed the line, immersed in the joy of money and women. A pair of eyes in the dark were already staring at him deadly.
This person is Li Hongzhang.
In the early days, Li Hongzhang was a protégé of Zeng Guofan. After zeng guofan died, Li Hongzhang took the lead alone, rising again and again.
Later, due to different political concepts, the friction between Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang became more and more intense, almost to the point where they did not interact with each other.
Zuo Zongtang had Hu Xueyan under him, and Li Hongzhang had Sheng Xuanhuai behind him. In order to eradicate this thorn in the eye, Li Hongzhang was very headache.
Once, Sheng Xuanhuai proposed: "If you want to overthrow Zuo Zongtang, you must kill Hu Xueyan." Li Hongzhang was deeply impressed.
In 1882, the opportunity finally came! This year, Hu Xueyan spent nearly 20 million taels of silver to buy all the raw silk on the market. Trying to play a game with foreigners and occupy the dominant position in the Chinese market.
Unfortunately, it backfired, and that year there was a great harvest of raw silk in Europe. The large amount of raw silk accumulated by Hu Xueyan became his life-killing charm.
After Sheng Xuanhuai learned about it, he immediately contacted the major raw silk merchants, and even at the cost of losing money, he also wanted to sell the raw silk at a low price, which lowered the price of the entire market. In this way, Hu Xueyan can only sell at a low price. In just a few days, he lost 10 million taels of silver.
Sheng Xuanhuai released the news again, saying that Fukang Qianzhuang had no money. It caused the people to withdraw money one after another, and the threshold of the money house was trampled. Due to the inability to open the capital turnover, Hu Xueyan could only sell his property and eventually declared bankruptcy.
In only three days, the business empire created by Hu Xueyan collapsed, which really made people sigh.
Hu Xueyan's last wisdom before his death
Before Hu Xueyan was born, she was a very good female color. His wife, Lady Luo Si, once married 12 beautiful women for him, known as the "Twelve Golden Nobiles".
When they heard that he had fallen, the wives and concubines fled separately. In the last days, only Mrs. Luo Si and Aunt Jiu accompanied him.
One day, Hu Xueyan felt that the limit was approaching, so he took the hand of the Ninth Aunt and said, "After I die, there may be a mysterious person wearing an iron hat." You tore off the corner of my coat and gave it to him. ”
Although the Ninth Aunt did not know what to do, she still obeyed his instructions.
On the day of Hu Xueyan's funeral, there was indeed a person wearing an iron hat in the crowd. Aunt Jiu handed over a corner of the shouyi to the other party. The man looked at it and sighed and left.
Later, I learned that the man turned out to be a spy who robbed the tomb. This matter should start from Hu Xueyan's life.
In his early years, when Hu Xueyan was charitable and charitable, when he came into contact with the people, he heard one thing: As soon as the dignitaries died, the tomb robbers would send spies to step on the point.
Hu Xueyan was afraid that there would be no peace after death, so he came up with this method. Let the ninth aunt tear off the corner of the shou robe, and when the other party saw that the cloth was so poor, he knew that he really had no money, and he would not move his tomb again.
It is precisely because of this great wisdom that after Hu Xueyan's death, his tomb can be preserved forever. It was not until more than 100 years later that it was discovered by an employee named Zhao Yucheng.
Hu Xueyan's life has ups and downs, and we know his story, not only can we understand the truth of success, but also can see through the hearts of the world.
There has always been a saying circulating in the anecdote: "For officials must read "Zeng Guofan", for businessmen must read "Hu Xueyan"." ”
To this day, the business myth he created is still a topic of conversation. His people and deeds are also more and more legendary because of the fog of history.