The story in the historical record "Tao Zhu Gong Fan Li"

At first, King Gou of Yue was besieged on Huiji Mountain, and reused Fan Li and Ji Ran. Ji Ran said, "Knowing that there will be a war, we should be prepared in advance, and when we understand when the goods will be purchased for people's needs, we will understand what is the goods, and if these two laws are mastered, then the circulation of various goods can be clearly seen." Therefore, when the years are golden, there will be a good harvest; Years in the water, there will be poor harvests; When you are old in wood, you will famine; Years in the fire, there will be a thousand droughts. It is necessary to prepare ships to prevent floods when there is a drought, and to prepare vehicles to wait for a thousand droughts when there is a flood disaster. Every six years there will be a bumper harvest, every six years there will be a drought, and every twelve years there will be a great famine. Selling grain for twenty dollars per bucket will damage the peasants' interests; The price of each bucket is ninety dollars, and the interests of engaged merchants will be damaged. If the interests of engaging merchants are damaged, then the wealth will not circulate; If the interests of the peasants are damaged, then the fields will be deserted. Grain per bucket cannot be higher than eighty dollars, and it cannot be less than thirty dollars, so that both peasants and merchants can benefit. Grain is sold at average prices, prices are adjusted, checkpoint taxes and market supply are not lacking, this is the principle of governing the country. The principle of hoarding goods, so as to ensure that the goods are in good condition, do not have a currency that is not in circulation. Trade with each other with goods, and do not keep goods that are prone to corruption, and do not dare to accumulate cases and wait for price increases. Discuss the surplus or abundance of goods to know whether it is expensive or cheap. Commodities that are extremely expensive will in turn tend to be cheap, and cheap to the extreme will in turn tend to be expensive. When it's expensive, take advantage of the opportunity to sell, just like throwing away the dung; When it is cheap, you have to take the opportunity to buy it, just like cherishing pearls. Let the turnover of goods and money be like flowing water. "After ten years of ruling the country, the country was rich, and it used rich money to bribe the soldiers to serve themselves, so that the warriors did not avoid arrows and stones to rush to the battlefield, just as eager to drink water when they were thirsty, and finally took revenge on the snow and hatred to destroy the powerful State of Wu, and then marched north, showing off their strength to the princes of the Central Plains, becoming one of the "Five Hegemons".

Fan Li had already helped the Yue King to practice the shame of YiXue, and sighed and said, "There are seven strategies for Ji Ran, and the Yue Kingdom can use five of them to achieve its wishes." Now that it has been applied to governing the country, I want to apply it to the rule of the family. So he floated on the rivers and lakes on a flat leaf boat, changed his name and surname, arrived in the State of Qi and changed his name to Yizipi, and arrived at Taoyi and changed his name to Zhu Gong. Zhu Gong believed that Taoyi was in the center of the world, with convenient transportation with various princely states, and its location was very convenient, and the circulation and trading of goods were very convenient. Therefore, it is here to operate industries, to gather goods, to monopolize curiosity, to chase profits at any time, and to adapt to changes without having to ask for others. Therefore, those who are good at managing production and trade can choose the wise men and grasp the statute of limitations, and in the course of nineteen years, they have earned thousands of dollars three times, and distributed them twice to poor friends and distant brothers. This is what it means that a gentleman is rich and likes to practice kindness. Later, Fan Li was old and weak and resigned to his descendants, who inherited his estate and continued to develop, eventually accumulating a huge amount of family property. Therefore, when talking about rich people, they all praise Tao Zhugong.