(Hu) The first house garden, the pine stone flowers and trees, prepared with extremely rare treasures, concubines in groups, up to the thirteenth floor to store it. - "The Biography of Hu Guangyong"
Hu Xueyan (1823-1885), real name Hu Guangyong, a famous red-top merchant in modern China, a representative figure of huishang, in the early days Hu Xueyan also achieved "poverty can not be moved", and in the later period, he was completely contrary to "rich and noble can not be obscene", in its heyday, arrogant and unscrupulous, crazy to use thirteen attics to raise wives and concubines, change one building overnight, its living luxury, is completely the configuration of the prince.
In his later years, Hu Xueyan was absurd and unscrupulous, and the degree of lustfulness had long been spread throughout the streets and alleys, from the eighty-year-old woman to the seven- or eight-year-old child, who could not walk when he wandered around the street and saw the beauty, and many daughters of poor families also regarded him as a life-saving straw, standing in the street dressed up and walking around at all times, hoping to be looked at by him.
He really "lived up to the expectations of the people", as long as there was a look at it, he sent someone to propose to him, and the price was extremely high to marry the beauty into a concubine, according to the "Zhuang Harmonious Lock Record" recorded that he had used a huge amount of money of seven thousand taels to forcibly marry back a young girl who came out of the water hibiscus, to know that the life of a commoner in the Qing Dynasty at that time was only one or two halves of silver for a year, but the next day he gave the other party twenty thousand taels to remarry, please look down with the small editor.
01 Hard work, cattle herding boy turned into a business owner, really only rely on luck
In 1823, a child was born in a farmhouse in Huli Village, Huizhou, Anhui Province, and no one would have imagined that he would become a rich and enemy of the country in the future, and the family was often stretched, hungry and cold, and only at a childlike age, he could only go to other people's homes to herd cattle. At the age of thirteen, the family moved to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and the whole family could only make a small business with their father, and they were embarrassed to live. In 1835, his father died of illness, which was really worse for the Hu family, who were in difficulty at that time.
The burden of life always spurred Hu Xueyan, and his nineteen-year-old mother spent a lot of effort to send him to Fukang Qianzhuang as an apprentice, and as a rural teenager, looking at the picturesque Hangzhou, it was normal for his heart to throbb, but he was not dazzled and wanted to wander around to satisfy his curiosity.
Immerse yourself in the shop all day, or practice basic skills such as counting silver tickets and wrapping silver rounds in the vault without distraction. Perhaps from the influence of his father's side, he had a certain mind for business, and he worked extra hard, which also laid the foundation for becoming the owner of the money house in only eight years.
His success history seems to be smooth and unimpeded, but how many sleepless nights have been exchanged for ah, the most newcomer to the workplace, humble and courteous, humble and studious, seize all opportunities that can enhance his own value, his goal has never been but an apprentice who eats and waits to die, otherwise how can he be entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the boss of the money bank who has nothing to do with it only eight years later?
Some people say that he just walked lucky, and the boss did not have a son to inherit the family property. Just think, if it weren't for his "sleepless" learning spirit, would he have stood out among a group of apprentices, and if it were not for the accumulation of eight years of experience, would he have achieved future success?
There is such a custom: high-ranking officials and nobles often gather in one place, singing and dancing, accompanied by beautiful people, of course, Hu Xueyan is also among them.
02 Made his fortune by women, Cixi gave yellow coats
Hu Xueyan became the boss of the business house and became more and more clever in his business means, his ambitions were bursting, and he was not willing to be only a business house boss, and in Hangzhou at that time, there was such a custom: high-ranking officials and nobles often converged in one place, singing and dancing, and there were beautiful people as companions, of course, Hu Xueyan was also among them.
At a banquet, Hu Xueyan met Yun Xiang, a qianjin lady who was sold into the family of an official eunuch who was sold into the "Pear Blossom Spring" because of his father's imprisonment, at that time, he did not have much money to redeem the head card of this Qinglou, but at that time, in order to redeem Wang Youling, who was also equally beautiful, he almost gambled on all his family property to redeem the rue girl, and Yun Xiang, who had long been accustomed to red dust, saw Hu Xueyan, who had devoted all his life to her, and was extremely grateful, and he sincerely became his eyeliner.
Using the beauty of rue incense has become your first chip towards success. Later, having the privilege of getting acquainted with this big tree of He Guiqing, the scholar and government of Jiangsu Province, Hu Xueyan repeated the same trick and sent his clever and clever concubine "Sister Ah Qiao" to He Mansion. At that time, in Hu Xueyan's eyes, women were only for success and the same chips as commodities, and they made a fortune by women.
In the following years, Hu Xueyan, who arrived at his peak, married the twelve aunts before and after, of course, excluding the wind and flow debts of picking flowers and grass during the business trip, and the folk legend was known as the "Twelve Noble Houses of the East Building". Hu Xueyan even spent a lot of money and time for them, built thirteen buildings for them, and ordered his concubines to accompany them at any time, just like the emperor.
In the eleventh year of Qing Xianfeng (1861), the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou, and Hu Xueyan was appreciated by Zuo Zongtang for transporting arms and grain and rice from Shanghai to help the Qing army, and later helped Zuo Zongtang organize the "Changjie Army" and found the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. When Zuo Zongtang went west to quell the rebellion against Agubai, he presided over the affairs of the Shanghai Procurement and Transportation Bureau for him, borrowed foreign money five times in Shanghai, up to 11.95 million taels, collected military salaries, ordered arms, and did intelligence work.
03 Arrogant and extravagant, seven thousand two concubines, why the next day twenty thousand two concubines
On the way to an office, he met a beautiful-looking girl, the unique youthful atmosphere can fascinate the old Hu, the girl is just the age of buds to be released, it is inevitable to be shy to be stared at like this, so he immediately ran into the shop and closed the shop door.
Hu Xueyan spent most of his life in a smooth manner, could not stand such frustration, immediately entered the shop to find the girl's father wanted to marry her into the house, the girl's father only when he was a scoundrel, drove out the old Hu who was more than half a hundred years old, and when he showed his identity and promised to marry with 7,000 silver ming media, it was really fulfilled that money could make the ghost push and grind.
Not long after, Lao Hu got what he wanted to marry the girl, and on the night of the cave, he ignored the girl, took care of himself, and with a little drunkenness, he let the woman take off her clothes, he looked up and down several times with the lantern, and laughed for a long time: Ru was not able to see a few days ago, but what does it mean now? ”
After saying that, Hu Xueyan left, leaving the girl to cry alone. The next day, he came to the girl's room with a big wave and told her that everything in this house was yours and could be disposed of at will, and he gave her an extra twenty thousand taels of silver, and took the money to go back to remarry and live a good life.
Looking at Hu Xueyan's life, he was poor and poor when he was young, but he did not give up on himself, and when he was young, he was angry and tried to be strong, and he was open-minded and studious.
Before that, it is indeed worth our reference, to improve ourselves with our hearts, the goal is clear and clear, to a large extent, it can be called a model of my generation, but in the middle and late years, I was extravagant, almost lost my original intention, and became a slave to money without compromise, until I became a victim of the political struggle between Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, and in my later years I fell into a tree and scattered, and my wife and daughter were scattered, so people must not drift after success.
bibliography:
[1] Gao Yang, Smoke Disappears, Beijing: China Friendship Publishing Company, 1992.
[2] See "Historical Materials of Foreign Debt in the Qing Dynasty" and "Records of Zhuang Harmonious Lock"