"With a principal of 300 yuan, you can get 80,000 profits in one year."
This is Mou's history of making a fortune.
And his legendary life doesn't stop there.
He exchanged Chinese cans and clothes for Soviet planes and made a profit of one hundred million.
He then worked with British companies to invest in satellite launch sites; Negotiate with the government to buy land in Manchuria for construction; Blow up the Himalayas and transform the ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau...
Some people say that Mou Zhongzhong is the "richest man", while others say that he is the "first cheat" in the Chinese market.
In 2000, the Nande Group, the business empire mou founded, collapsed, and he himself was imprisoned for credit fraud and sentenced to life in prison.
After Mu Zhong was imprisoned, all the people who had sworn to fight with him to the end left him.
However, there was a man who accompanied him all the time, running back and forth for his case.
On September 27, 2016, Mou Zhongzhong was released from prison, and it was this person who went to greet him.
She is Mu Zhong's sister-in-law Xia Zongwei. Over the years, she has visited her in prison several times and has not abandoned it.
His wife, Xia Zongqiong, had already taken the child to Germany and had no relationship with him.
What is the relationship between Mu Zhong and Xia Zongwei? And what kind of influence did Xia Zongwei and Xia Zongqiong have on Mou's business ideas?
Character determines destiny
Whether a person can succeed or not can be seen in his personality.
Mu Zhong, who was born in Wanxian County, Sichuan Province, on June 19, 1941, was praised by primary school teachers for his good personality: "This child has an active mind and a good personality, if he can be a little more practical, he will definitely have a great future in the future." ”
As the old saying goes, three years old looks old. The teacher's words became a true portrayal of Mu Zhong's life.
In 1959, Mou Zhongzhong failed the college entrance examination. But he did not falter on this, and his tenacity above that of ordinary people made him go to Wuhan Zhongnan Industrial Construction and Design Institute alone, and then participated in the spring special enrollment of the college there.
After being admitted, Mu Zhongzhong was very excited and thought that he could finally make a big show.
However, only half a year later, the school ordered him to withdraw from school because of his household registration problem.
Mou Was not reconciled, and in order to go to college, he traveled thousands of miles to an art college in Xinjiang. But when he got there, he realized that the school had long been closed.
At this point, Mu Zhongzhong broke the idea of going to college, but he did not stop the momentum of studying.
After returning to Wanxian County, he worked as a boiler worker in a glass factory while studying Marxist and Leninist thought and Studying Mao Zedong's works.
Mou Zhong, who read more than 10,000 volumes, soon became a celebrity in the factory, and whenever an event was held, Mou Zhongzhong must be the first person to give a speech.
The head is intelligent, the mind is sensitive, and the Mou who is often praised by people is somewhat fluttering, and the arrogance in the personality has begun to stand out.
In 1974, the passionate Mou Zhong, in order to show his love of politics, wrote two articles attacking socialism, and was subsequently imprisoned.
This was Mou's first time in prison.
In 1979, Mou Washi, who had spent four years in prison, was released. This career behind bars allowed Mou to break his enthusiasm for politics and develop a strong interest in business.
Although he did not have any business experience, Mu Zhong, who had a lively brain, found that there were many problems in the electrical appliance market at that time.
For example, domestic electrical appliance factories from manufacturing, sales, after-sales did not form a complete sales chain, and electrical appliances for many ordinary people, or unattainable rarity, many people dare not spend a lot of money to buy such a treasure home, in case it is broken, what to do.
Mou saw a "business opportunity" between merchants and customers, and in April 1982, he used only 300 yuan to open a shop called "Sino-German Store".
Mou Zhong signed a contract with the electrical appliance factory and obtained the right to sell. In order to create an effective connection with manufacturers, Mou also proposed a new word, that is, "four generations": purchasing on behalf of, sales on behalf of sales, organization on behalf of consignment, and consignment on behalf of consignment. In addition to production, the manufacturer is responsible for everything else.
For customers who bought electrical appliances in "Sino-German stores", Mou Zhong formulated a system that had never been on the market at that time:
Any customer who buys electrical appliances in Sino-German stores and has any subsequent problems with the electrical appliances can be replaced for 7 days without reason. After 7 days, if the electrical appliances fail, Zhongde Electric will also contact the manufacturer for repairs.
On the one hand, there is a commitment to the manufacturer, on the other hand, there is a commitment to the customer, when everyone is not optimistic about Mu Zhong, he has obtained the first bucket of gold in his life within a year: a net profit of 80,000 yuan.
Mu Zhongzhong was once again famous in Wanxian County, and everywhere he went, people praised him, had vision, and strategy.
For these words of praise, Mou Zhongzhong accepted them all according to the order, and once again fluttered up.
In order to achieve greater success, Mou Zhong began not to follow the right path. In order to make more money and make quick money, he found some cheap products in the market, and then shipped these products to those areas where they were needed to sell at high prices to earn the difference.
This kind of behavior of his does not seem to be at fault in today's market. After all, for people who do business, they make a difference. However, in the 1980s, when the Chinese market was not yet fully open, this kind of "speculation" behavior was not accepted by society.
Mou Zhong, who wanted to make another big profit on this, was soon sentenced to one year in prison for the crime of "speculation and dumping".
The choice outweighs the effort
Facts have proved that the country is easy to change, the nature is difficult to move, and the two prisons have not changed the whimsical personality in Mu Zhong's bones.
After being released from prison, Mu Zhong not only felt that he was right, but also felt that with the development of the Chinese market, this behavior would become a trend.
He wandered around all day, looking for a chance to make a fortune. The first wife, Du Zonglian, did not understand Mu Zhong, and she regarded Mu Zhong's behavior as not doing the right thing, idle, and eventually couldn't bear it, and ended the marriage relationship with Mu Zhong.
At this time, the business myth of Mou zhongzhong really began.
On September 18, 1984, Mou Zhongzhong announced that he would upgrade the Sino-German store and become the Sino-German Industrial Development Corporation. After registering for industrial and commercial taxation and obtaining a business license, Mou began to recruit employees.
It was at this time that Xia Zongqiong entered Mu Zhong's life.
Unlike his first wife, Xia Zongqiong was very supportive of Mou's ideas that sounded like myths. At that time, she was only an employee in China and Germany, and she thought that Mou had great potential.
What Mou needed most at that time was this kind of support. It didn't take long for the two to establish a relationship and become a legal couple.
With the support of Xia Zongqiong, Mou Zhong became more and more bold. In 1989, on a train to Beijing, he heard a Henan man say that the Soviet Union was going to sell their 154 plane, but had been struggling to find a buyer.
Mu Zhong, who was quite knowledgeable about politics and economics, quickly sniffed out the huge business opportunities.
In the Soviet Union at that time, heavy industry was developed, and aircraft and tanks were very cheap in their place, and they could even be sold as commodities. Their daily necessities industry was extremely barren, and some residents of northeast China often traded "barter" with people on the Soviet border. It is said that a cart of watermelon can be exchanged for a cart of fertilizer.
Mu Zhong thought to himself: If you can get a sufficient amount of daily necessities, exchange the plane from Sichuan for an airplane, and then sell the plane in China, the profit in the middle will be enough to turn yourself into a "billionaire.".
Coincidentally, he soon found out that the newly established Sichuan Airlines was planning to purchase passenger aircraft.
Using domestic daily necessities for foreign aircraft, this is simply a fantasy in the eyes of others, many people even if they see the business opportunities in the middle, they do not have the courage to do it, and Mou not only did it, but also did it.
So, how exactly does he operate?
First of all, he took out 10,000 yuan to buy a large number of daily necessities such as cans and clothes at home, and then dragged these supplies to the Soviet Union.
When the Soviets saw that there were so many supplies, they immediately agreed to the deal and promised that as long as Mou could get enough supplies, they could sell him four for 70 million.
Although Mu Zhongzhong is a rich man, the assets he can move have not reached the level of tens of millions. 70 million planes, he can't afford it!
Mu's next operation is regarded by business personnel as an enduring classic.
He consulted with the soviet head and demanded a final settlement in the form of T+7. This means that on the seventh day after the plane arrives in Chengdu, Sichuan, he will deliver the daily necessities requested by the Soviet Union.
The Soviet side immediately agreed to this. It took at least five or six days to transport supplies from China to the Soviet Union by land.
After the successful negotiations, the Soviet Union transported the first aircraft to Chengdu, Sichuan.
Mu Zhongzhong took this plane as collateral at the first time and got a loan of 70 million yuan, which is also an important reason why he asked for A T+7 settlement.
With this money, Mu Zhong also informed the material units that had been contacted in advance, and loaded the required materials into the truck and pulled the goods non-stop, and sent them to the train bound for the Soviet Union.
In this way, after the successful trading of the first aircraft, the transaction of the next three aircraft for daily necessities also went very smoothly.
So, how much does Mu Zhong really make from it?
According to internal information, at that time, Sichuan Airlines announced that the offer for an aircraft was 100 million. In other words, Mu's profit from one aircraft is thirty million.
Four planes, that's 120 million. At that time, the mainland's GDP was only 400 billion.
At this time, Mu Zhongzhong was not only famous in Wanxian County, but also became one of the few "billionaires" in the country.
His wife, Xia Zongqiong, was overjoyed and felt that she had chosen the right man.
However, Mou's "ambition" does not stop there. In his business landscape, the goal is the whole universe.
Where the danger is, people's hearts are known
In 1995, Forbes released the 1994 list of the world's richest people, which ranked fourth in the list of the richest people in the Chinese mainland.
After getting huge profits, Mou Zhong upgraded his Sino-German company again and became the South German Investment Group.
With a strong material backing, Mou Zhong also began to put his "genius ideas" into practice one after another.
"I want to invest 10 billion yuan in Manzhouli for construction and development."
"I want to invest in the satellite program and set up the Sino-German Satellite Company..."
"I also want to blow up the Himalayas, let the warm currents of the Indian Ocean enter China, and turn the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into a land of fish and rice."
"I also want to..."
Listening to Mou Zhong's "business ideas", Xia Zongqiong, the wife of the vice chairman of the group, felt that her husband was crazy for the first time, and she strongly opposed these wild ideas.
The arrogance and stubbornness of his personality made Mu Zhong completely unable to listen to his wife's words, and the two had a dispute.
Mu Zhong did not listen to his wife's advice at all, and was bent on putting all his "genius ideas" into practice.
In 1993, in order to encourage the Nande Group to develop the local international highway port, the Manzhouli government sold 10 square kilometers of land in Manzhouli to the Nande Group according to the cooperation agreement.
In 1995, SÜD invested in Satellite 2. On November 18, the satellite was successfully launched at the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan.
In 1996, South Germany signed a contract with a British satellite company and a Russian space vehicle manufacturing company on the transformation of the Russian-made SS19 missile into a small satellite launch site.
When Nande did market research and development of the satellite plan under Mu Zhong's plan, the contradiction between him and his wife Xia Zongqiong also intensified.
In this year, Xia Zongqiong resolutely chose to divorce Mou Zhong, and the child returned to Xia Zongqiong.
The following year, Nande Group was sued by the Hubei Branch of the Bank of China for reasons such as the advance of the letter of credit.
Learning that Mu Zhongzhong was in trouble, Xia Zongqiong was not moved, and even went to Germany with his children in order to break off relations with him.
Although Xia Zongqiong was gone, her sister Xia Zongwei insisted on staying with Mu Zhong.
As an older sister, when Xia Zongqiong was the vice chairman of nande group, he arranged his sister Xia Zongwei into the group. But now she and Mu Zhong's ideas are not compatible, and her sister Xia Zongwei is on the side of Mou Zhong.
At first, Mu Zhong did not have a good feeling for this 28-year-old sister-in-law, and even openly expressed opposition to her being his secretary.
But now the Nande Group is in prison, and it is this little sister-in-law Xia Zongwei who he once looked down on.
On January 7, 1999, Mou Zhongzhong was criminally detained for letter of credit fraud, and Xia Zongwei, who was with him, was also implicated.
On May 30, 2000, the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court pronounced a verdict sentencing Mou Zhongzhong to life imprisonment, while Xia Zongwei was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.
It is reasonable to say that Xia Zongwei, who was involved, should hate Mou Zhong to the bone, but after she was released from prison, she began to run around for Mu Zhong's case.
For the verdict, Mou Zhong has always considered himself innocent and has even insisted on appealing. However, Xia Zongwei learned that if he wanted to change the verdict, he must first confess his guilt, so that he could get out of prison early.
In order to persuade Mu Zhong, Xia Zongwei visited Hongshan Prison again and again, looking at this little sister-in-law he had not wanted to see, Mu Zhongzhong could not say anything in his heart.
In the end, thanks to the efforts of many parties, Mou Zhongzhong changed his sentence from life imprisonment to 18 years in prison, and because of his good performance in prison, he was released from prison early on September 27, 2016.
At about 6:15 a.m. that morning, the 75-year-old Mu Zhong walked out of Hongshan Prison, and it was still Xia Zongwei who picked him up.
A reporter once interviewed Xia Zongwei, and when asked why she did not abandon Mu Zhong, she said: "He is a very thoughtful person, very good. He was also extremely self-disciplined in prison, insisting on running and exercising every day, reading books and newspapers and writing materials. But he's in his seventies, so what if I don't care about him? Besides, if you don't care if he doesn't care, you don't have to wait until now..."
Epilogue:
After his release from prison, the 75-year-old Mou Zhong did not start a pension life. He and Xia Zongwei set up their own new company in an office converted from an activity center for the elderly on the outskirts of Beijing.
Mu Zhongzhong looked energetic, not at all like he was in his 70s. When it comes to planning for their future, the old man is still passionate.
"I have two plans. One is the development of Manchuria, and the other is the ten thousand tail shark fry. ”
"If the transport project from Siberia in Russia to China is successful, and we import resources from Siberia in the future, we can shorten the schedule from 50 days to 5 to 10 days."
Speaking of this, there was still a light in Mu Zhong's eyes. And his "10,000-tailed shark fry" is not a fish farming plan.
Mu Zhong explained that "shark fry" here is a metaphor, referring to those entrepreneurs of the right age, those "genius ideas" in their hearts.
For this plot similar to the plot in the movie "The Richest Man in Xihong", Mu Zhong said with a smile: "Now many entrepreneurs are doing it and asking for financing everywhere, wanting to get the protection of 'capital', if this business environment is changed to 'wisdom' as the center, then the life and production efficiency of human society will be greatly improved." ”
For these thoughts of Mou, some people still laugh at him as a "fool's dream". But Xia Zongwei didn't think so, and for so many years, she had been unswervingly supporting Mu Zhong.
"He (Mou Zhong) said that to be a good poor person, as long as you have a backbone. And to be a good rich man, you need to have great wisdom and a benevolent soul. I think he's that kind of person. ”