No matter who it is, as long as it is born in this world, it will have its value and significance, and even if it is wiped out in one stroke, it can still be obtained again.
The poet Li Bai, with a dashing stroke of his pen, wrote down the enviable attitude of life and how many people can achieve it?
Do not love money, love freedom, do not love fame and fortune to live casually, the late Qing Dynasty produced such a dashing rich man, can be called the richest man in China at that time, he is notoriously not to love the official name only love the color of Hu Xueyan.
Who is it?
Hu Xueyan, born in Anhui Province in 1823, he is a famous red-top merchant and emblem merchant representative figure in modern China and the late Qing Dynasty, the so-called red-top merchant is an official businessman, who has the duties of both a government official and a businessman. However, in general, in order to separate the "power" and "power" and ensure the integrity of government officials, officials are not allowed to do business, and Hu Xueyan can become an official in business, which shows his status.
So, did the officials and businessmen who could be authorized by the Qing government at that time have any strong family background? But no, in fact it is the opposite.
Start from scratch
Hu Xueyan grew up poor, the family lived by helping people to work, at the age of 12, that is, in the fifteenth year of Qing Daoguang (1835), Hu Xueyan's father died, which made him have to make a living for himself, Hu Xueyan was 13 years old, alone in Hangzhou, did a lot of dirty work, helped people run errands, sweep the floor and wash dishes, can do things, Hu Xueyan are diligent and earnest to work and complain.
In the end, this energy was appreciated by Hangzhou's "Xinhe Qianzhuang", so Hu Xueyan officially became a buddy of Qianzhuang and began to contact Shangdao.
At the age of 19, he was fortunate to be accepted as an apprentice by the Hangzhou Fukang Qianzhuang Yu Treasurer, yu Treasurer treated Hu Xueyan as if he were the same, seeing that Hu Xueyan was also thirsty for knowledge, he entrusted himself with what he had learned, hu Xueyan also learned in more detail the experience of making money, because Yu Treasurer had no descendants, so Qianzhuang was also delivered to Hu Xueyan's hands, thus Hu Xueyan got the first bucket of gold for business.
Hu Xueyan is a good person, good at making friends with talents, and making good friends. Once, when Hu Xueyan went out to work, he encountered a torrential rain, his body was wet, and he saw that he was about to become a chicken in the soup, and he actually encountered a stranger who passed by to hold an umbrella for himself, and since then Hu Xueyan has also been accustomed to holding umbrellas for others, and for this reason, Hu Xueyan has won the praise of neighbors.
Coincidentally, one year, there was a person who wanted to enter the career, but was trapped in money, Hu Xueyan poured out his money to help, and this person was the future Zhejiang Inspector Wang Youling. Taking Wang Youling's boat, Hu Xueyan's business can be said to be rising.
In the first year of Qing Xianfeng (1851), Wang Youling, who was once trapped in money, is now the governor of Huzhou, and naturally does not forget the people who once helped him, so Hu Xueyan represented the Huzhou public treasury through Wang Youling's kindness, and through the use of the cash of the Huzhou public treasury to support farmers to grow silkworms, began to enter the silk weaving industry, and transported the silk of Huzhou to Shanghai and Hangzhou and other places to sell, thus making a lot of money.
But Hu Xueyan was not satisfied with this, using liquidity to start a pharmacy, after 9 years, Wang Youling was promoted to the inspector of Zhejiang, and vigorously helped Hu's "Fukang Qianzhuang", Hu Xueyan's business in medicine, silk weaving, and qianzhuang was smooth.
But this is still not the end of Hu Xueyan's big, Gengshen's change, Hu Xueyan began to secretly build relations with the army, Wang Youling privately entrusted the heavy responsibility of handling grain and equipment and shipping to Hu Xueyan to take care of, thus most of Zhejiang's arms and grain wages were held by Hu Xueyan.
In 1861, the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou, Wang Youling lost the city and died, and Hu Xueyan, who had lost his backing, tried his best to win the trust of Zuo Zongtang, the new governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and officially opened the road of official business.
After the Taiping Army was destroyed, Hu Xueyan, who had mastered the military assets, relied on Zuo Zongtang's power to expand his industry, and silver trumpets, medicinal materials, and silk tea shops opened all over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, among which the Hu Qingyutang Chinese Medicine Store, which continues to this day, is still famous.
The core of the Huqing Yutang brand is "to avoid deception". Adhere to the "true price" Tong Sou is not deceived, and open the market with honest hospitality.
Hu Xueyan not only adheres to the integrity of management, but also understands that "the poor are good at themselves, and the poor are both good at helping the world." "The money earned will be used for social undertakings, the establishment of porridge factories, good halls, righteous mats, repair of famous temples and ancient temples, support the people, the reputation of benevolent and righteous businessmen makes Hu Xueyan trusted by more people, and business talks are more unimpeded."
Suddenly, Hu Xueyan became the richest man at that time, which also made many businessmen begin to learn Hu Xueyan's business philosophy and study Hu Xueyan's entrepreneurial experience.
Hu Xueyan became the richest man, although the family wealth is thousands of dollars, but it is not to keep the wealth as fate, Fuze Township, scattered wealth relief, is very good, after all, it is a thousand gold scattered and returned, he is so casual about money, but he is obsessed with beauty.
Hu Xueyan does not love the official name only, Hu Xueyan himself once said bluntly, "Being an official has come to be happy." "He is obsessed with beauty, almost everyone who is friends with him knows things, and some people often send beauty to Hu Xueyan's arms in order to seduce Hu Xueyan."
Hu Xueyan's wife Luo Si took all this in her eyes, in order to tie up her husband, and in order not to let others use this to affect the business, his wife Luo Si actually helped her husband take 12 concubines, which also became a hot topic of gossip among the people at that time.
Hu Xueyan is not short of money, but also accompanied by many beauties, such a rich life no one can imagine the misery of his old age.
Don't go near the White Tiger
In the first year of Guangxu (1875), Zuo Zongtang was appointed to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang, and he still had a heart to defend his family and defend the country when he was old at that time, and he wanted to recover Xinjiang, but the Qing government at that time had no money. So I found him and found Hu Xueyan and discussed the matter of assisting in military materials and grain. Hu Xueyan naturally agreed happily.
In the seventh year of Qing Guangxu (1881), Zuo Zongtang successfully recovered Xinjiang, he did not forget Hu Xueyan's help, so he helped Hu Xueyan to ask for merit, and Hu Xueyan was also awarded the title of envoy (sanpin), wearing a yellow coat and an official hat with two poinsettia tops, becoming an official businessman recognized by the Qing government.
But after a year, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Starting from the silk cocoon trade, a large commercial war between China and foreign countries began. At the beginning, in the face of the plunge in the price of domestic raw silk, Hu Xueyan single-handedly collected a large number of domestic new silk at a high price, stabilizing the domestic market for a while, and foreign investors lost their advantages, but the outbreak of the Sino-French war instantly made the situation out of control, and at the same time, the European new silk harvest and the financial crisis broke out. Hu Xueyan was overwhelmed and defeated.
In order to compensate for the losses in the failure, many of Hu Xueyan's shops were forced to sell cheaply, and the temporary failure made the bureaucrats in various places who saved money in Hu Xueyan's money bank tremble with fear, and they bid for deposits, resulting in Hu Xueyan's more serious capital turnover failure.
In November 1883, as soon as the news of the collapse of the Fukang Silver in the capital came out, the Qing court immediately ordered people to secretly check Hu Xueyan's assets, and a few years later, Zuo Zongtang was asked to check Hu Xueyan's arrears and sent people to seal Hu Xueyan's pawnshop and business name. Hu Xueyan was depressed and anxious, and in the midst of poverty and hatred, in less than two years, he was depressed. Before his death, Hu Xueyan recalled his life with a thousand emotions, and he told the juniors who were guarding in front of the sickbed: "Don't go near the white tiger."
What is a White Tiger? The simplest and intuitive meaning is the albino tiger, but obviously it will not be the answer, among the many later interpretations of the white tiger, the white tiger refers to the "official" and "business" interpretation is the most convincing.
Hu Xueyan once used the power of the official field to expand his business, and in the end he was also seized by the government, so success or failure was thus done, so Hu Xueyan warned his descendants not to follow in his footsteps.
In fact, the behavior of his descendants also correctly printed the "White Tiger" to refer to "officialdom and business", and his descendants were engaged in education, medical treatment, art, and science, but there were no people who entered the official field and business.
The official sea is ups and downs, money is blinding, and its descendants remember Hu Xueyan's admonition, which can also be regarded as making Hu Xueyan have a beginning and an end.