"In 1983, Chen Dongsheng (1957-) carved the word 'beginning' on a stone at the top of Luojia Mountain on the eve of graduation from the Department of Economics of Wuhan University. Since 1993, he has successively founded three major enterprises of Guardian Auction, Taikang Life and Home Express, which are the leaders in the industry."
Not long ago, Yu Minhong and Chen Dongsheng had a conversation, Chen Dongsheng took Yu to see a stone, the front of the stone is engraved with the above passage, the side of the sky is a single golden "beginning" word, this "beginning" word is exactly the same as the one he carved in the Wuda Plum Garden forty years ago.
As a leading figure in the "92 faction" entrepreneurs, Chen Dongsheng is better known to the general public as "Jinggangshan's son-in-law" - his wife is Li Min's daughter Kong Dongmei, and his mother-in-law Li Min is the daughter of Chairman Mao and He Zizhen.
Because of this identity, there will always be people arguing about what Chen Dongsheng relied on to achieve today?
"If I don't go to the sea, at least I'm a famous economist."
Chen Dongsheng said that a story that his history teacher once told him inspired his life:
"Tsinghua English Department graduates, there are two excellent students, one Cao Yu, and one named Zhang Junxiang, two outstanding students were selected to stay in the United States, that selection left, Cao Yu did not, this is a major blow to Cao Yu's life. He closed the door for a year and did not see anyone, and wrote "Thunderstorm".
In 1977, the first time the national college entrance examination was resumed, Chen Dongsheng, a 20-year-old boy in Tianmen, Hubei Province, was admitted to the university, and he scored 209 points on the 160-point admission line.
However, he did not succeed, he was always the excellent top student who did not take 99 points but only 100 points, but in his first college entrance examination, all the students who were worse than him were gone, leaving him alone.
He felt that he was in a semi-crazy state like Fan Jinzhongju, looking through his eyes every day, until he finally went to check the score, and got a comment like a thunderbolt on a sunny day to the 20-year-old youth: the position was not firm.
In 1978, Chen Dongsheng took the college entrance examination again, because he was too proud and forgetful and 19 points were not admitted; by 1979, Chen Dongsheng, who had a heart, finally entered the Department of Economics of Wuhan University.
Wuhan University not only taught Chen Dongsheng the knowledge of economics, but also made him start to think differently about life, Wuhan University has elective courses, Chen Dongsheng and his classmates went to listen to the history of Western philosophy this course, he said that when he heard the phrase "all men are born equal", he suddenly woke up.
When it came time to graduate and assign jobs, the school hoped that Chen Dongsheng would go to Xinhua News Agency to work, although there were only two Xinhua News Agency places in the class, although the secretary said to him: "Dongsheng, how many people dream of going to Xinhua News Agency as a reporter, why don't you go?" ”
However, Chen Dongsheng still chose the Institute of International Trade of the Ministry of Economic and Trade. At that time, he wanted to go to graduate school, but he still wanted to do academic research, to realize his revolutionary ideals with learning, and to become a person like Hua Luogeng and Qian Xuesen who did learning to realize the desire to strengthen the country.
So Chen Dongsheng graduated from Wuhan University and worked in the Developed Countries Research Department of the Institute of International Trade, immersed himself in research, thinking that one day, he would also marry the mantle of his teacher Dong Fureng and become a famous economist.
Until 1988, he became the deputy editor-in-chief of Management World magazine of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the youngest deputy editor-in-chief in the history of the magazine, and enjoyed the treatment of deputy bureau.
At Management World, Chen Dongsheng wanted to make this magazine as influential as Fortune magazine, so he created a precedent for 500 large enterprises in China, causing a sensation at home and abroad.
The People's Daily front-page headlines and news feeds covered it, which made him a hit with the magazine.
When people thought that Chen Dongsheng would continue to become the editor-in-chief of "Management World", Chen Dongsheng found new opportunities in the speech of the Southern Tour, so his life turned.
"I feel that I am a typical 'book born in the sea', doing business is like writing an article, that is, composing pictures, not being influenced by others."
Many people say that Chen Dongsheng is a born entrepreneur, and it is already rare for ordinary entrepreneurs to have the ability to bury their heads in hard work, but Chen Dongsheng is a person who can be far-sighted, and he himself said:
"We must stand at a height of 10,000 meters to see the world, and observe the world uncontrollably for a hundred years, so that we can have foresight and persistence, so that there will be no deviation, and we can see earlier and farther."
In fact, compared with Wang Shi and other entrepreneurs who went to the sea early in the 1980s, Chen Dongsheng is more conservative, he did not make up his mind to resign until the 1990s, and when the entrepreneurs of the same generation led their enterprises to go public and ring the bell, Chen Dongsheng's enterprises have never been listed.
Therefore, some people commented on Chen Dongsheng and said: "Among his contemporaries, Chen Dongsheng is a person who knows how to advance and retreat."
Although he started later than others, Chen Dongsheng has the most unique vision and the strongest connections, which other entrepreneurs do not have.
When Chen Dongsheng started to do something, he had already completed everything in his mind, made a good composition, and then he started, so even if it was slow, he could still rank among the most successful.
At that time, cultural relics were still state-owned, and there was no precedent for private enterprises, so Chen Dongsheng used the connections of Wuhan University students and the Ministry of Economic and Trade to form a "dream team".
Wang Yannan, Gan Xuejun, deputy director of the Office of the Cultural Relics Bureau, and Kou Qin, an alumnus of Wuhan University who works at an institution under the Ministry of Culture, are all partners of Chen Dongsheng who founded Guardian Auctions, including, of course, his wife, Lu Ang.
Originally, they were all ready to sit on the cold bench for three or five years, after all, the development of the auction industry in China is still unknown.
However, the first auction held by Guardian exploded, Qi Baishi's "Songying Diagram" sold for 1.76 million yuan, Zhang Daqian's "Stone Beam Flying Waterfall Map" sold for 2.09 million yuan, the whole transaction value was 14.23 million yuan, and everything was sold out.
After that, Chen Dongsheng went to Japan, inadvertently he saw a lot of insurance advertisements in Japan, with a keen sense of economic smell, he felt that China would usher in the era of economic take-off like Japan.
At present, Japan's most popular life insurance has not been done in China, he is going to eat this "crab"; this is not the end, he also founded a courier company called "home express delivery", which is also inspired by Japan's "home rush".
When he was still at the Institute of International Trade, Chen Dongsheng had an in-depth study of the economic development of developed countries, and later went to "Managing the World".
Chen Dongsheng has a deeper understanding of the economic development of developed countries such as the United States and Japan, so he takes this research ability to the sea, even if he has no business experience, he can still tap the most favorable business opportunities.
In addition, Chen Dongsheng knows how much human affection occupies in the battle of the business sea, and his experience makes him have a strong network, at that time, everyone has a "dream of going to the sea" in their hearts, as long as he is willing to convene, no matter how big the person can be included in the camp.
Therefore, when founding Taikang Life, just like Guardian needed Wang Yannan, Chen Dongsheng invited Kong Dongmei for Taikang Life.
"I am jinggangshan's son-in-law."
In Chen Dongsheng's own business career, there should be two women's names, even if Chen Dongsheng is not willing to talk more about these two names, even if some people say, don't exaggerate what these two women have helped him.
It should be said that there was a woman's name before there was another woman's name, one was not so famous, one was very famous - one was called Lu Ang, and the other was called Kong Dongmei.
Lu Ang and Chen Dongsheng are college classmates who went out of the same school, Lu Ang, like Chen Dongsheng, is also a doctor of economics, and their common teacher is the famous economist Dong Fureng.
When Chen Dongsheng worked at the Institute of International Trade, Lu Ang worked at the head office of the People's Bank of China, and the two fell in love in Wuhan and then became a family in Beijing, where their son, Chen Yilun, was born in Beijing in 1988.
In 1988, this was the year Chen Dongsheng chunfeng triumphantly entered "Management World". Lu Ang once wrote in an article mourning his teacher Dong Fureng:
"Although I was the first female disciple of Teacher Dong, perhaps my classmates were too prominent, perhaps because my husband's aura was too brilliant, or perhaps because my personality was too passive, I always seemed to be habitually in a subordinate and neglectful position."
In 1993, Chen Dongsheng resigned and went to the sea to establish Guardian Auction, in fact, in Chen Dongsheng's own words, he was "a theoretical youth, not a literary and artistic youth", after all, he had a hard life since he was a child, to help people move bricks and feed pigs, where is the artistic atmosphere?
But unlike him, Lu Ang, who came from a well-off family, had a great interest and appreciation for art, and the name "Jiade" was taken out at Lu Ang's suggestion.
Chen Dongsheng relied on his excellent personal ability to find a "dream team" for Guardian, and only then did he have the first auction company with an international concept in New China.
But in the list of members of this "Dream Team", the name Lu Ang should not be erased, even if Lu Ang has always appeared as Chen Dongsheng's secretary, which sounds insignificant.
When his son, Chen Yilun, was two years old, Chen Dongsheng germinated the idea of doing insurance when he went to Japan to see a building, and when he returned, he began to apply for life insurance.
It took five years, in 1996, Chen Yilun was already in elementary school, in this year Chen Dongsheng founded Taikang Life, while Lu Ang continued to stay at Guardian Auction.
Just like when setting up Guardian to do the first private cultural relics auction, wang Yannan and Gan Xuejun were to be found, Chen Dongsheng, who "dared to be the first in the world", wanted to do this time, which is also a life insurance industry with a very high threshold and no one has ever set foot in.
So in this year, Kong Dongmei, who had just graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, entered the initial Taikang Life insurance and became a partner, who was invited by Chen Dongsheng. Kong Dongmei's most dazzling identity is Chairman Mao's granddaughter, Li Min's daughter, although grandpa only saw Kong Dongmei's photos when he was alive, but never met.
But because of this identity, it is always more convenient to do things, otherwise, with Chen Dongsheng's personality, how can I not find a female college student who has just graduated to be a partner of her own business. Kong Dongmei spent three years in Taikang Life, where, according to her own words, she started by pouring tea and smashing.
During the period when Taikang Life grew into a large enterprise with hundreds of thousands of employees, Kong Dongmei's own life also experienced many complexities that were different from her previous simple environment, so in 1999, Kong Dongmei left Taikang Life to pursue a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
A year after Kong Dongmei left Taikang Life, in 2000, Lu Ang left Guardian Auction to establish Guardian Online Auction Co., Ltd., which made the rumors of Chen Dongsheng and Lu Ang's marriage become more and more intense.
In 2001, Kong Dongmei returned to China. It is rumored that after Kong Dongmei entered Taikang Life, Kong Dongmei and Chen Dongsheng began to live together and gave birth to three children.
The marriage status of Chen Dongsheng and Lu Ang has also been confusing, sometimes Lu Ang still appears as Chen Dongsheng's wife, and sometimes it is not Lu Ang who appears next to Chen Dongsheng, but Kong Dongmei.
Many people thought that the couple of "Green Plum Bamboo Horse" had parted ways long ago, but it was not until 2011 that Lu Ang and Chen Dongsheng officially divorced.
At the end of the year, Chen Dongsheng and Kong Dongmei hosted a banquet at the State Guesthouse, after which Chen Dongsheng accompanied his wife Kong Dongmei on a red honeymoon trip, and in Jinggangshan, he publicly said: "I am the son-in-law of Jinggangshan", it is said that this sentence, Kong Dongmei waited for fifteen years.
Chen Dongsheng took Yu Minhong to see an oil painting, which is his most proud collection of paintings, Shen Yaoyi's "Revolutionary Ideals Above Heaven", which depicts Chairman Mao sitting by the fire and talking to the Soldiers of the Red Army on the way across the meadows.
Chen Dongsheng also said: "'Revolutionary Ideals Above Heaven' is a portrayal of my life, revolutionary heroism, romanticism, realism, must be realistic, without realism there will be no such ..."
"If such a person is not successful, heaven will not tolerate it", this is a comment that Chen Dongsheng gave himself after telling Yu Minhong the story of his carving "beginning" in the plum garden of Wuhan University.
He said that his life was one of two mottos, one of which was "How Steel is Made", as Paul Kochagin said:
"The most precious thing about a person is life, and life is only once for everyone. Man's life should be lived in such a way that, looking back, he will not regret his wasted years, nor will he be ashamed of his inaction; on his deathbed, he can say: 'My whole life and all my energies have been devoted to the most magnificent cause in the world, the struggle for the liberation of all mankind'".
One is Marx's saying that "there is no smooth road to walk on the road of science, and only those who climb along the rugged and steep mountain road without fear of hardships can hope to reach the glorious peak."
Chen Dongsheng said that what is called an entrepreneur is to face difficulties, so in his life, he has been using all the resources he can have to solve all the difficulties that come to him or create himself.
"Have you ever doubted the meaning of life?" Yu Minhong asked Chen Dongsheng.
"Never, never." He replied.
Text/Shi HaiGuanfu