As we all know, since the Qin Dynasty established China's first unified feudal dynasty. It laid the basic policy and strategy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce in ancient China, and successive rulers have focused on agriculture. The merchants are regarded as a class at the lowest level of society. It has been suppressed by the cold eyes of ordinary people and by the government.
By the time of the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in China, there were more and more merchants in the country. Among them, the most famous are the Jin merchants and the Huishang merchants. In the Jinshang, Qiao Zhiyong is represented, and in the micro-business, Hu Xueyan is the representative figure.
Hu Xueyan was one of the richest merchants in China's modern feudal dynasty. His family property was not only rich, but he often lent money to the Qing government, which in turn supported the important peasant movement and developed state industry. He was also a minister of the Qing government. It can be said that he is a complete winner in life.
However, Hu Xueyan lost all his family property in the later period, and the reason for the bankruptcy was because of the intervention of the Qing government. At that time, he had close contact with the Qing Dynasty official Zuo Zhongtang. The disagreement between Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang in political views led Li Hongzhang to make Hu Xueyan an object of the great liquidation.
Under the vigorous suppression of Li Hongzhang, Hu Xueyan was not only ostracized by the ministers in the DPRK, but also exploited step by step. Until it finally led to the bankruptcy of the business empire he had established, which also made Hu Xueyan sullen all the time. Before his death, he even warned his children and grandchildren: "Do not enter the white tiger." What does this mean?
In fact, it is not difficult to understand, this is because in the ancient feudal society, the social class was arranged by scholars, farmers, industrialists and merchants. So no matter how big the merchant is or how big the official is. In the end, there is always government intervention, leading to bankruptcy. The meaning of white tiger in ancient times was the meaning of silver. Therefore, Hu Xueyan's words are admonishing his descendants not to follow his old path to become a businessman. And his sons are certainly not in business anymore.