2021-02-24
What is Confucianism? The Baidu entry gives the following explanation: a businessman with virtue and cultural literacy. Confucian merchants, that is, the combination of "Confucianism" and "Shang", they have both the morality and wisdom of Confucians, and the wealth and success of merchants, and they are models of Confucianism and the elite of the business world.
From ancient times to the present, countless Confucian merchants have emerged in China, who have the wisdom of doing business, abide by business rules, follow the conscience of society, and have the mind of "reaching the world and helping the world", gathering the wealth of the world, providing for the use of the world, and giving to the world. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the successive generations of Confucian merchants who have promoted the progress of China's commercial civilization.
In the late Spring and Autumn period more than 2,000 years ago, there was such a rich merchant, he was "three to a thousand gold in nineteen years", 30% of the huge wealth and three scattered family wealth, he was one of the "four gods of wealth" worshiped by the people, and was respected by later generations of merchants as "Shang Sheng" and "Confucian Shang Originator", he was Tao Zhu Gong Fan Li.
From Chu to Yue and Song, all three migrations have honored names
Fan Li (536 BC – 448 BC) was a statesman, military and economist during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Fan Li was a native of Chu Guowan (present-day Nanyang, Henan), who came from a poor background, but was erudite and ambitious. At that time, the politics of the Chu state was dark, non-nobles were not allowed to enter the army, and he was excluded from the country, and he and his friend Wen Zhun defected to the Yue kingdom together, and were worshiped by the Yue king as the Shang Dafu. "Bitter people, the sky is not worth it, lying down to taste the gall of three thousand yue jia can swallow Wu." As everyone knows, this tells the story of Yue Wang's Gou Jian who has been lying down for ten years and finally defeating Wu Guo's shame, and the person who helped Goo Jian eliminate Wu Guo and achieve hegemony was Fan Li. However, after making great contributions, he did not continue to stay in Yueguo, but quietly brought Xi Shi to the State of Qi at the celebration banquet and lived a life of anonymity. Originally, Fan Li saw that Gou Jian was only a person who had difficulties to share with when he was blessed, and he felt that staying behind might usher in the disaster of killing himself. Before he left, he also persuaded the wen who assisted the Yue King with him: "The birds are exhausted, the good bows are hidden: the cunning rabbit dies, and the lackeys cook." He asked Wen Zhong to leave The Vietnamese country with him. Unfortunately, the language did not heed this suggestion. Sure enough, the wenshu that chose to stay was later killed by the sword.
Fan Li, who came to the State of Qi, withdrew his real name and changed his name to "Yizi Pi", which means "wine sac skin". He and Xi Shi lived in a stable house by the sea, worked farming, and also engaged in side businesses (fishing, salting), and soon accumulated tens of millions of family properties. Fan Li, who became extremely rich, did not live a luxurious life, he was righteous and loose, and he was kind to the villagers, and the townspeople liked him very much. His wisdom even reached the King of Qi, who invited him to the kingdom of Linzi and worshiped him as the Xiangguo who presided over government affairs. Three years later, Fan Li decisively returned Xiangyin and resigned from his post again. He said: "The official is to the secretary of state, and the ruler can bring thousands of gold; for a self-made cloth coat, it has reached the extreme." I am afraid that being honored for a long time is not an auspicious sign. Therefore, Fan Li left the State of Qi again and came to Taoyi, the Song Kingdom, which was living in the "world" at that time, and called himself Tao Zhugong. Through the "art of scheming to cure production", within a few years, he once again accumulated thousands of family wealth through business and became a local rich man. Similarly, Fan Li insisted on "gathering wealth but not keeping", and he once again used the money he earned to relieve the poor people.
After retiring from their posts, Fan Li and Xi Shi lived a life of leisurely farming in the fields, doing business in their spare time, and forgetting their love for the landscape. It was not until 448 BC that Fan Li died at the age of 88, which was an absolute age in that era. From the State of Chu to the State of Yue, he assisted the King of Yue in defeating the State of Wu; from the State of Yue to the State of Qi, he became a huge fortune in business and was invited by the King of Qi to become a Xiang State; from the State of Yue to the State of Song, he once again became a rich man in business. Sima Qian wrote in the "Records of History": "Fan Li's three moves have honored names. "Several advances and several retreats, Fan Li's achievements in governing the country and doing business, and several scattered family wealth to help the people, deeply loved by the people, won the evaluation of "loyalty to the country, wisdom to protect oneself, business to get rich, fame in the world" evaluation.
The Art of Calculation, "Three Thousand Dollars in Nineteen Years"
The "Chronicle of History" records that Fan Li "made three thousand dollars in nineteen years", and the reason why he was so successful in every business was that he knew how to "manipulate the art of scheming", that is, according to the season, climate, people's customs, etc., to adopt the strategy of people abandoning me and taking me, taking me and taking advantage of nature, waiting for the opportunity.
Specifically, how did Fan Li "manipulate the art of scheming"?
Choose the right location in the ground. Just like many people now choose to start a business in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, a good place can provide the resources and markets needed to start a business. In ancient times, commerce was not developed, transportation was not convenient, and the choice of business place should be more cautious. Fan Li finally chose to go to Taoyi in the Song Kingdom, which is a place called Dingtao today. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Taoyi was located in the "middle of the world", bordering Qi and Lu in the east, Qin and Zheng in the west, Jin and Yan in the north, Chu and Yue in the south, with dense crowds and convenient transportation, which can be described as the best place for business.
Follow the laws of nature. In that era, doing business was nothing more than buying and selling some agricultural and sideline products, and historical sources also recorded that Fan Li's side business was mainly fishing and salt. The production of agricultural and sideline products is greatly influenced by the natural world, and it is particularly important to know how to master and apply the laws of nature. Fan Li knew astronomy and geography, and knew that "if you compare with heaven and earth, then you can succeed." So he will observe the heavens and the earth, predict the future, what year there will be a good harvest, what year will have drought and flood, when there will be famine, he must know in advance and prepare in advance, because the price trend of commodities is closely related to these. In an era when there were no weather forecasts and news broadcasts, this ability was very important for a businessman.
Predict changes in supply and demand. Value determines the price, supply and demand affect the price, today we all know the relationship between supply and demand and price, but in more than two thousand years, it is a very small number of people who know this law, Fan Li is one of them, he summed up after thinking at that time, and came to the conclusion that "on its surplus, it is known that it is expensive." The upper pole is anti-cheap, and the lower pole is anti-expensive. The conclusion means that the price is known by looking at whether the supply of commodities is more or less, and the price rises to a certain extent, which will lead to oversupply, until its value is not even as good as "dung", and if the commodity is too cheap, there will be a shortage of supply, until it is as expensive as "pearl jade". Therefore, Fan Li's business is the same as governing the country, "summer is the skin, winter is the capital, drought is the boat, water is the car", know how to buy at a low price at the right time, sell at a high price at the ideal time.
The way to manage. As a businessman, boss, and leader, how to select and appoint talents has always been an unavoidable proposition. In terms of selecting talents and personnel management, Fan Li also has his own unique views, that is, choosing people and not responsible for people." That is to say, he pays great attention to the selection and appointment of talents, and looks more at people's strengths, putting him in a suitable position rather than staring at his shortcomings and blaming him. In fact, this is also the category of "manipulating the art of nature", that is, conforming to human nature and giving full play to his strengths.
Win-win cooperation awareness. Historical records record a story of "Fan Li selling horses". Because the princes were divided and the war was raging for years, Fan Li found that some countries in Wuyue needed a large number of warhorses, and the horses in the north were strong in combat and quite popular, so he thought of going to the north to buy a batch of horses to be transported to the south to sell. However, at the time of the chaos of the soldiers, the long distance between the north and the south, and the frequent presence of robbers, he was very worried. After several inquiries, Fan Li knew that there was a merchant Jiang Zidun who had been doing the business of transporting northern linen cloth to the south for sale all year round. He thought that this person must be familiar with the road conditions, and the forces along the way had also taken care of it. So he wrote a notice to the effect that he had formed a horse team in the north and was now opening a big reward for helping others transport goods to the Wuyue area for free. Jiang Zidun, who saw the notice, did come to the door, so his horse team arrived safely with the linen cloth to Wuyue. It can be seen that at that time, Fan Li had a sense of win-win cooperation in business, and it was too much for others to think that it was too much to help people transport goods for free. We often hear some bosses call for win-win cooperation now, and only cooperation and complementarity and common development can have a future. In fact, business cooperation has always been very necessary, the key to see who to cooperate with, when to cooperate, in which aspect of cooperation, know "timely and move, standby and move". And Fan Li in the Spring and Autumn Period already knew the strategy of adopting commercial alliances
The god of wealth, the shangsheng, and the originator of Confucianism
We all know that in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than two thousand years ago, the commodity economy was still in its infancy, and the rulers pursued the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", and the countries were independent, and the currencies were also minted by each country, coupled with the continuous annexation wars, that is to say, the business environment in that period was very harsh. But under such circumstances, Fan Li still has a passion for business, "nineteen years of three gold, wealth and huge accumulation", which shows his business talent.
What is even more rare is that Fan Li, who has such business wisdom, is still a veritable "Confucian businessman".
Fan Li put forward the concept of small profits and large sales, he believed that business can not pursue huge profits, the difference in and out of commodities should be moderate, so as to bring about a long stream of income; Fan Li took the insistence on selling high-quality commodities of good quality as the duty of businessmen, and demanded that "the goods that are finished, corrupt and eaten should not be left behind." He believes that only in this way can we establish a reputation and do business for a long time; Fan Li, who has been in business for many years and has achieved great success, also put forward the proposition of "profiting from the end of the farm", and he believes that the interests of businessmen will not be operated when their interests are damaged If the interests of the peasants are damaged, they will not develop production; if the merchants and peasants are damaged at the same time, the interests of the state will be affected. To put it bluntly, it is necessary to control the priceless increase and stabilize food prices, which is of great significance for the development of agriculture, commerce, and the stability of state power.
It is particularly worth mentioning Fan Li's integrity business philosophy. In his business, he found that people buy and sell goods in the market with their eyes, and it is difficult to be accurate and fair. So he took inspiration from an old farmer's method of drawing water and invented a tool that could determine the weight of goods—which he said was revolutionary in promoting the buying and selling of goods. Scales have been passed down from generation to generation, and we still use them today, more than two thousand years later. But even with the name, some businessmen are still not right-minded, and they often lack two pounds when doing business. Fan Li was extremely disgusted by such behavior, and he once warned his peers: "If a businessman deceives others one or two times, he will lose his blessings (happiness); if he deceives two or two people, his descendants will never be allowed to "be an official"; if he deceives people three or two, he will lose his "Yang Shou" (short life)! ”
As a businessman, Fan Li also has a sense of social responsibility for poverty alleviation and weakness, he insists on "wealth gathering but not keeping", and has scattered his family wealth three times to relieve the poor people.
This is Fan Li. He not only had extraordinary business talents, but also had a rare sense of business ethics, conscience and social responsibility, which is an important part of the "Confucian spirit" that we advocate today. Because of this, Fan Li became the "god of wealth" who was worshipped by the common people for generations, and became the "shang saint" and "Confucian merchant ancestor" who was regarded as a model by successive generations of merchants.