Property may serve you, but it may also enslave you—Horace
In the thousands of years of history of our country, heroes have gathered, and there are different representative figures in different fields, such as in the field of commerce, Lü Buwei in the Warring States period, Shen Wansan in the Ming Dynasty, etc., but the most famous businessman in history is Hu Xueyan of the late Qing.
Hu Xueyan has a well-known nickname, that is, "red top merchant", in the late Qing Dynasty, Hu Xueyan's wealth is unbeatable, and even in war, there is a shadow of Hu Xueyan. But unfortunately, Hu Xueyan's wealth did not last long, and his later years were very miserable, and it is said that when he died, he frequently warned his descendants to stay away from the white tiger, was the white tiger the culprit that led to his failure?
A life of counterattack
In ancient China, there has always been the ranking of scholars, farmers, industrialists and merchants, in society, the status of merchants is very low, no matter how much money you have, you have to be suppressed by the people who are officials, so those who are rich on the side of the party have an ultimate dream, that is, to become an official, the huge rich Lü Buwei of the Qin Kingdom has become one person below and above ten thousand people through the wealth against the sky, and Hu Xueyan has also won the title of red top businessman.
Hu Xueyan was born in 1832, the turbulent years made Hu Xueyan's family destitute, coupled with the early death of his father, Hu Xueyan could only go out to work early, because of his young age, he did not read much, he could only do some miscellaneous work. Even so, not many shops were willing to hire him for a long time, so that Hu Xueyan experienced the feeling of displacement from an early age.
However, with the increase of age and the deepening of social experience, Hu Xueyan began to understand all kinds of people's sophistication, and won the appreciation of the boss in a money house, the money house in ancient times is a very special industry, every day people come and go, the social status is very complicated, in this money house, Hu Xueyan is more soberly aware of this society, and it is this money house that makes Hu Xueyan have the capital to turn over.
Meet KDU
In the Qing Dynasty, no matter how much you learn, you must learn one thing, that is, spend money, after Qianlong, the entire official field of the Qing Dynasty was more corrupt, and the matter of selling officials and buying officials often occurred, not to mention some ordinary things, and Wang Youling, a heavy minister of the imperial court, naturally became a regular visitor to the qianzhuang because he often needed to use money.
As the main partner of Qianzhuang, Wang Youling has been received by Hu Xueyan for many years, and in the long run, Hu Xueyan has been appreciated by Wang Youling, and Hu Xueyan naturally has the idea of being an official, at that time he was just a small guy, but all this changed with the death of the owner of Qianzhuang.
Coincidentally, the owner of Qianzhuang has been childless and childless all his life, and has always regarded Hu Xueyan as his own son, and after the death of the owner of Qianzhuang, this qianzhuang has become Hu Xueyan's private property, which has also given Hu Xueyan the foundation for success, although this is a small money house, but it can also take out a lot of money.
Regarding Hu Xueyan's success, there are many theories, some people say that Wang Youling has been secretly funded by Hu Xueyan for many years, and some people say that Hu Xueyan gave him a large amount of money, but no matter what, with Wang Youling's relationship, Hu Xueyan has achieved a change from a civilian to an official, which is just the beginning.
Met Zuo Zongtang
If Wang Youling is Hu Xueyan's Bole, then Zuo Zongtang is Hu Xueyan's great benefactor, and as Hu Xueyan began to become an official, he naturally became successful in the business field with the combination of official and business. However, at this time, he also understood that he needed a patron, and Wang Youling was naturally unqualified, so who did Hu Xueyan find? He was Zuo Zongtang, a heavy minister of the late Qing Dynasty.
As the saying goes, the gun is out of power, Zuo Zongtang is naturally a powerful faction in the imperial court, in terms of factions, Zuo Zongtang was recommended by Zeng Guofan to enter the dynasty, belonging to the strongest faction in the late Qing Dynasty, in terms of strength, Zuo Zongtang as one of the leaders of the foreign affairs movement, the soldiers under his hands are not only numerous, strong in combat effectiveness, but also equipped with new weapons, in the entire Qing Dynasty, few people dare to provoke.
After Zuo Zongtang met Hu Xueyan, the two hit it off and began to cooperate for many years, Hu Xueyan, as a businessman, has one thing different, that is, he knows how to pay very well, in order to get Zuo Zongtang's newcomer, Hu Xueyan can be described as a big bloodletting, like Zuo Zongtang's Chang Jiejun, it is said that it is funded by Hu Xueyan.
With enough funds, Zuo Zongtang naturally added wings like a tiger, and also successfully completed the feat of recovering Xinjiang, after Zuo Zongtang's success, Hu Xueyan naturally also gained great benefits, the imperial gift of yellow coats, official worship erpin is Zuo Zongtang's return, because the top of the Erpin officer is red, so Hu Xueyan also won the title of red top businessman, at this time Hu Xueyan has unlimited scenery and reached the peak of life.
Stay away from the White Tiger
But after becoming a red-top businessman, Hu Xueyan's ambitions became bigger and bigger, so big that he wanted to swallow the silk business in the south alone, the profits here were too terrible, if he could succeed, his income would far exceed the treasury of the Qing Dynasty.
It was this move that caused Hu Xueyan to be boycotted and his business to be frustrated step by step, not only that, Zuo Zongtang's opponents also began to use their connections to attack Hu Xueyan in the official arena. As a businessman, everyone naturally understands the way of combining officials and businessmen, and Hu Xueyan, who was boycotted, soon fell to the bottom, not only failed in business, but also was dismissed from his post, completely returning to the original starting point, and Hu Xueyan was depressed because of this blow.
Before Hu Xueyan died, he constantly warned his descendants: Do not approach the white tiger, so what is the white tiger? The so-called money is like a tiger and leopard, he who has earned countless wealth in his life eventually died because of greed for money, which makes people sigh endlessly, so he constantly warns his descendants not to be too obsessed with money.
In fact, as early as hu xueyan's success, there was already a problem, at that time he was too high-profile, but because of Zuo Zongtang's reasons, no one dared to provoke, but with zuo Zongtang's death, his enemies will naturally target Hu Xueyan's body, the so-called pifu innocent and guilty is such a truth, he has been paying for Zuo Zongtang for many years, he has long become a golden egg in the eyes of others.
With Li Hongzhang's complaint, all of Hu Xueyan's family property was directly seized, and many years of efforts were burned, which is a pity, in fact, Hu Xueyan had many times before, for example, he could take the initiative to hand over a part of the property, or unite with local businessmen to make money together, and tie everyone together, naturally it will not be targeted.
But Hu Xueyan at this time has been unable to put down his own property, he is reluctant to his "white tiger" to go to others, in the end can only be cocooned, want to succeed, must be willing, hu Xueyan in his later years has long forgotten, how he succeeded, but fortunately, at the last moment, he suddenly woke up, so that his descendants have more experience, and it is not too late to make up for it.