Chapter 536 Coffin House?

According to the description in travel magazines, Hu Xueyan's former residence is located in Hefang Street, HZ City. It was built in the eleventh year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1872), with a construction area of ​​more than 5,800 square meters.

Hu Xueyan's former residence is known as the first residence of a Chinese giant in the late Qing Dynasty because of the exquisite materials used in its architecture and interior furnishings.

There are pavilions and pavilions such as Zhiyuan and Thirteenth Floor in the ancient house. Among them is a small building, all built of golden nanmu, but the person living in this building is not his wife, but his concubine.

Polygamy was practiced in ancient China, and Hu Xueyan married more than 30 concubines after his fortune. The house built by the golden nanmu was lived by his favorite woman. The golden nanmu was used exclusively by the emperor from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. In the Qin Dynasty, it was used to build the Afang Palace. Monopolized by the royal family, it is used as a royal material.

In the feudal era, businessmen were always looked down upon. Hu Xueyan was able to afford a house built with golden nanmu, which shows how prominent he was at that time.

Hu Xueyan was a young cattle herder. After his father died, he had to go out to make a living at the age of 13.

Hu Xueyan is smart, diligent, and down-to-earth. Therefore, when he was 19 years old, he was appreciated and trusted by the boss of Hangzhou Fukang Bank. The boss of Fukang Bank accepted him as an apprentice and entrusted him to take care of many things in the bank. Hu Xueyan started running on the street at the "Rende Bank" in Hangzhou City

At this time, Hu Xueyan met Wang Youling, the "alternate Zhejiang Salt Ambassador".

Wang Youling was born in a family of officials and eunuchs, but in his generation, the family has already fallen. Because he has no money to manage up and down, he is very unsatisfactory in his official career.

Hu Xueyan believed that Wang Youling would make a lot of achievements in the future, so he privately embezzled 500 taels of silver from the bank to him, and let him go for a great future. However, he himself was kicked out of the bank because of embezzlement of public funds, and went to Huzhou to sell grain.

There is money to clear the way, and Wang Youling is indeed very talented, so he was quickly promoted to governor of Zhejiang. Wang Youling reciprocated, using his power to open the door for Hu Xueyan.

Hu Xueyan started from a small bank with Wang Youling's power, and the business grew bigger and bigger. Not only opened a bank branch, but also set foot in many other industries. There are also more and more business names, and soon they become well-known businessmen in Zhejiang.

However, in 1861, Zeng Guofan was ordered to wipe out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. When he finally conquered Anqing, an important military town, Zeng Guofan wanted to go straight to Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Army. But at this moment, Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang who was guarding Hangzhou, was besieged by the Taiping Army and begged for help. Zeng Guofan was in a dilemma, because his vitality had not yet recovered, and he did not want to miss this great opportunity to attack Tianjing, so he thought of Zuo Zongtang.

Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zhang Zhidong were also known as the four famous ministers of ZTE in the late Qing Dynasty. In January 1850, Lin Zexu, who was assigned XJ for selling cigarettes in Humen, returned to his hometown and asked Zuo Zongtang to meet in a boat in Changsha; Talked all night long, involving ancient and modern situations, character evaluations, and "political affairs in the Western Regions."

In 1867, the Qing Dynasty was already in turmoil. There were foreign powers vying to bully each other, and internal civil uprisings continued. With the support of Tsarist Russia, Aquba broke into XJ and established a khanate named Zedsar. Trying to separate the southern part of China from the territory of the Qing Dynasty in China, the situation on the frontier is urgent. To make matters worse, Japan is invading Taiwan again at this time, and the problem of coastal defense is exposed, so there is a dispute over Hesse.

The Qing Dynasty faced enemies on both sides. Li Hongzhang and others advocated temporarily abandoning the fortified defense and using the silver of the fortified defense for coastal defense, while Wang Wenshao, the governor of Hunan, advocated the fortified defense. Whether Taiwan or Taiwan is China's territory, it should not be given up just like that.

Once XJ is lost and the northwest portal is opened, the throat of the Hexi Corridor may not be able to defend the rebels and Tsarist Russia.

If XJ is not taken back sooner or later, the Russians will occupy Mongolia, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi sooner or later.

Even if the war continues, the Shaanxi-Gansu army will be pinned there for a long time. Not only will it cost money and food, but it will also not be able to provide any help to the coastal defense. Zong Tang carried the coffin to recover XJ.

Although the court agreed, in the end the court only allocated 2 million taels, and Zuo Zongtang needed to raise money by himself.

When Hangzhou was besieged in 1861, Zuo Zongtang did not immediately rescue Wang Youling. After the Taiping army broke through Hangzhou, Wang Youling, who failed to keep Hangzhou, committed suicide in shame. Zuo Zongtang only entered the city at this time.

Zuo Zongtang did not have the ability to prophesy. He knew that in the Hesse dispute a few years later, he mainly focused on Hangzhou. If Wang Youling was alive, the new governor of Fujian and Zhejiang would not be Zuo Zongtang.

After Wang Youling's death, Hu Xueyan lost his backing, so he had to rely on Zuo Zongtang. It is precisely because of this that when Zuo Zongtang conquered XJ in 1867, he borrowed 13.75 million taels from foreign businessmen through Hu Xueyan, and another 8.46 million taels from Chinese businessmen. Just raised enough military expenses.

The reason why foreign businessmen lent money to Hu Xueyan was not because he was moved by his "patriotic enthusiasm", but because he could not sit back and watch Tsarist Russia become stronger after occupying XJ.

Hu Xueyan's family used a total of 20 tons of copper, and many of the door bolts were copper bolts made in Germany.

At that time, the smelting technology in the Qing Dynasty was very backward, with many pores and bubbles, and clay molds were still used in the casting process. Germany had entered the era of industrialization.

Two thousand years ago, Qin, like Germany, used to manufacture weapons with extremely high dimensional accuracy under strict laws. After two thousand years, there is no such technology, and the copper smelting skills have also been lost. If Japan is in the bubble economy After disappearing for 20 years, China's basic processing industry stopped or even went backwards for 2,000 years.

Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang are known as a faction because of their joint experience in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. During the self-improvement movement, Hu Xueyan relied on Zuo Zongtang to start his career, and Sheng Xuanhuai relied on Li Hongzhang.

Sheng Xuanhuai was Li Hongzhang's important helper, not only raising money, such as dealing with foreign banks, building domestic railways, setting up education, etc., Sheng Xuanhuai would take the lead in participating.

During the Sino-French War, Zuo Zongtang went to Vietnam to fight against the French army due to war needs, and Hu Xueyan lost his political backing in a short period of time.

Although Zeng Guofan and Hu Xueyan were in the same period and both were friends with Zuo Zongtang, they did not have much communication.

Zeng Guofan is a typical Chinese-style official. His posthumous title is "Wen Zheng", and he looks down on businessmen who smell of copper.

Hu Xueyan is not an ordinary businessman. He opened Hu Qingyutang Chinese medicine store, which is based on the royal pharmacopoeia of the Song Dynasty and selected proven prescriptions from previous dynasties. He is famous for his patented medicines.

It is said in "Book of Changes Xici": "The metaphysical is called Tao, and the metaphysical is called utensils." Japanese philosopher Tetsujiro Inoue translated "metaphysics" when translating ancient Greek philosophy classics.

Marx believed that metaphysics refers to the way of thinking that is opposed to dialectics and observes the world from an isolated, static, and one-sided point of view. It regards things as isolated from each other, absolutely static, and fixed, and does not see the interrelationships of things, forgets its relative tendency of production, disappearance, movement and jog, and attributes changes only to positional movement and simple movement. The increase or decrease in quantity is regarded as the result of external forces.

Metaphysics is prone to dogmatism, looking at the world from an isolated, static, and one-sided perspective, and thinking that everything is isolated and eternal.

Zeng Guofan looked at Hu Xueyan with a generalized vision, thinking that he was as mercenary as all businessmen, and he had no ink. If he went to the pharmacy of Hu Xueyan, he would know that the rich and unique culture accumulated by Hu Qingyutang can be said to be Chinese. The essence of traditional business culture not only inherits proven prescriptions and traditional pharmaceutical technology from ancestors, but also retains a large number of traditional famous brand products, among which the culture of "abstinence from bullying" is the most popular.

People are like this, hoping to get the attention of others. The social atmosphere of advocating literature and loathing business in ancient China made businessmen have a low status, and people looked down on them for their hard work.

Hu Xueyan’s former residence is not big, except for the golden nanmu yard, other rooms are also made of wood, but compared with the magnificent Palace of Versailles and Buckingham Palace, it looks very low-key. After the wood is painted, it is no different from ordinary wood. only people know how precious it is.

After Zuo Zongtang left, Hu Xueyan had no backer, and Zeng Guofan didn't help to remind him. At this time, Hu Xueyan collected silk in the south of the Yangtze River again, forming a monopoly, thinking about making a fortune the next year.

So Sheng Xuanhuai ordered his subordinates to control these silk merchants and sell them to Hu Xueyan at a lower price.

Originally, Hu Xueyan wanted to buy it with seven to eight million taels of silver, but seeing that the price was profitable, he spent 20 million taels of silver to buy it. Hu Xueyan didn't know that he had slipped into Sheng Xuanhuai's trap.

When Hu Xueyan was ready to sell silk in the second year, Sheng Xuanhuai told those foreign businessmen doing business in China not to accept Hu Xueyan's silk. He would supply the merchants in other ways, or he would be an enemy of the government.

As a result, none of these foreign merchants took Hu Xueyan's silk, and Hu Xueyan paid 10 million silver.

There was a problem with Hu Xueyan's cash, and Sheng Xuanhuai saw that the time had come, so he came again more ruthlessly. Let those officials and friends who deposited money in Hu Xueyan Bukang Bank ask for cash, and the result was a run on the bank.

In addition, Hu Xueyan lost money in silk, and there was a cash problem for a while, and ordinary people came to ask for money, and now Hu Xueyan's business completely closed down.

Many people think that Sheng Xuanhuai's contribution to modern China far exceeds that of Hu Xueyan. Because Sheng Xuanhuai created eleven "firsts" in modern Chinese business:

Founded and participated in China's first civil shipping enterprise China Shipping Merchants Bureau; proposed the first private enterprise charter "Steaming Merchants Bureau Charter"; founded China's first telecommunications company Tianjin Telegraph; founded China's first inland river shipping company Shandong Neihe Small Steamboat Shipping Company; founded China's first modern bank, China Bank of Communications; founded China's first commercial iron and steel joint enterprise, Hanzhiping Coal and Iron Factory and Mine Company; supervised the construction of China's first north-south trunk line Luhan Railway; founded China's first An engineering university, North Western Academy and Nanyang Public School; established the first formal normal school in China, Nanyang Public School Teacher Training Class;

Proposed the establishment of the Red Cross Society of China; founded the first private library in China, the Shanghai Library.

But these are all obtained after he tripped Hu Xueyan by means of "fraud". Businessmen must speak "integrity". Although his untrustworthy behavior won for a while, it ruined his reputation. The railway in China was changed from a government-run joint-stock company to a commercial company, and local private companies were in charge. However, when Sheng Xuanhuai took up the position of Postal Shangpin, he nationalized the railway, which angered local interests. Subsequently, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and other places took the opportunity to launch revolutions, which became the last straw that crushed the Qing Dynasty.

Hu Xueyan is already very rich, why should he engage in a monopoly, making it impossible for others to survive, the family wins alone, and the businessman must give everyone a way to survive, so that the business can continue.

Similarly, Sheng Xuanhuai's trip over Hu Xueyan was not all about business disputes. Behind him was Li Hongzhang, as well as the Hesse dispute. After Hu Xueyan fell, Li Hongzhang became the main person in charge of the self-improvement movement. I think it is better to imitate than to make, and to buy as if.

At the beginning of building something, it must be a defective product. It needs trial production and iterative improvement to become better. It is almost impossible to create a perfect thing at once, especially in the field of industry and weapons.

This time reflects the importance of talent.

During the self-improvement movement, Li Hongzhang also allocated funds to the tea industry company. This was not because of narrow-mindedness, accepting bribes and embezzling public funds. The tea industry was a pillar industry in China at that time. Once the tea industry collapsed, many people would lose their jobs. In 1890, India Founded Lipton Black Tea Company, his advertising slogan is "good tea directly from the tea garden to the teapot".

The taste of black tea produced in India is very different from that of Wuyi Mountain black tea from the place of origin. India is in a tropical region, and the black tea produced in India has a strong taste. Chinese people may not be able to bear it directly. It is suitable for adding milk and sugar, which is suitable for European tastes.

Only when the customers are satisfied can the products be sold, but the cultural value cannot be changed. Lipton black tea is sold in broken tea, which needs to be brewed with tea bags. Chinese people will not drink this kind of tea at all. Who would drink this kind of tea? What about the scum?

The leaves of authentic black tea can be seen clearly after brewing. Who can guarantee that Lipton black tea does not use leftovers to entrap consumers?

In a broad sense, Zengwen said that kindness does not lead soldiers, righteousness does not do business, benevolence does not engage in politics, kindness does not serve as an official, and love does not stand for things. A businessman can not be loyal, but he must not be honest. What you earn is word of mouth, and word of mouth is your brand. , the value of a brand is inestimable.

On the eve of World War II, there was a very humble trust company in Germany called Babina Trust, which specially kept valuables for customers.

After the war broke out, people took away their belongings and fled in all directions. The boss also managed to run away, and only the employee, Sia, was still there to check the accounts.

Bombs exploded near the trust bank, but Xia didn't seem to hear them. After she cleared the accounts, she found that a customer named Legg hadn't taken the things away.

It was a ruby ​​worth 5 billion marks, and Sia put the gem and all the custody documents in a small box, and then left the trust bank with all the accounts.

A few days later, the flames of war razed the area of ​​Babina Trust Bank to the ground, and West Asia also ran around to escape the war. But wherever she went, Sia carried the accounts of the trust bank and the jewel with her.

She felt that she was still an employee of the Babinar Trust, and that she would return the accounts and gems to the Trust when the war was over.

The war is finally over, and West Asia returns to Berlin with the three children. However, the owner of the Babina Trust Bank has died in the war, and the Trust Bank no longer exists.

But Westia still kept the accounts and gems. Because the gem is entrusted by the customer for safekeeping, if the customer does not take the gem away, she has to keep it for the customer all the time to keep the reputation of the trust bank.

How many years have passed, Xi Ya has not found a job, and she has been living an extremely poor life with her three children.

In fact, Legg, who entrusted the trust bank to keep the gems, also died in the war. The priceless ruby ​​has long been unclaimed, and West Asia can sell it quietly and live a life of luxury. But she didn't, she thought it was the customer's property, she could only keep it, and she couldn't have any extravagant thoughts!

In 1978, the local government established a war museum to collect relics of World War II from the public, and West Asia took out the trust account and the ruby ​​she kept.

The government made various efforts to help West Asia find Legg's grandson Doyle.

Doyle got the gem and promised to sell half of the gem to Xia, but Xia politely declined, saying that he would only charge the storage fee for these years.

The story of West Asia was published in the newspaper, and people were moved by her sincerity. Someone proposed that she be the general counsel of the chamber of commerce, but she rejected it on the grounds of her age. Later, several large trust companies approached her and asked her to be the honorary president, but she also declined.

Soon after, Sia passed away. Several companies approached her son, Chris, and demanded to buy out Thea's naming trust.

Chris couldn't make a choice, so he asked several companies to bid. In the end, Plato Trust Company won the naming rights of West Asia at a sky-high price of 8 billion marks.

The president of Plato said that "West Asia" is not just the name of a person, it represents a kind of enterprise spirit, a kind of integrity that is more expensive than precious stones, and it is worth buying this honor for 8 billion!

Soon, Plato Trust Company changed its name to West Asia Trust Company, and the transaction volume really increased all the way.

However, this touching-sounding story is highly likely to be false.

In order to gain profits, capitalists can even sell the rope used to hang themselves, so there are no lies they can't make up.

Shopping malls are like battlefields. Hu Xueyan rose from the bottom, and he has a "human touch".

After the establishment of the Beiyang Navy, it purchased foreign ironclad ships, guns and ammunition in large quantities, consuming hundreds of millions of taels of silver, and developed comprador defense to the extreme. Later, the treasury was almost spent to equip the largest Beiyang navy in Asia.

In 1890, Li Hongzhang bought the Austrian Mann's Lisha rifle and the British Xinli rifle to imitate, and the Kuaili rifle was born. Because the quality of the gun was surprisingly poor and the failure rate was high, the armies of the provinces were reluctant to use it, and it was quickly eliminated.

Zhang Zhidong, who was at the same time as Li Hongzhang, also made Hanyang-made rifles. Zhang Zhidong was one of the few military and political officials who adhered to the independent national defense line after Zuo Zongtang's death.

The "Made in Hanyang" drawing comes from the German 1988 rifle. After the successful manufacture, it was used from Yuan Shikai's new army to the Wuchang Uprising, from the Beiyang warlords to the Anti-Japanese War, and it was not discontinued until 1944.

Therefore, the key to the failure of the Self-Strengthening Movement lies with Sheng Huaixuan and Hu Xueyan. Why can't the two businessmen persuade the people behind them to let go of their prejudices, but obey the orders of the officials behind them to fight among themselves?

Unite when it is time to be united. The greatest benefit of a united country is to work together.

After the war in Japan, there was also constant infighting between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan. The governor of the central bank has always been airborne by the Ministry of Finance and the direct line of the central bank took turns.

The reason why the Japanese bubble burst in the 1990s was the result of the struggle between "Prince Yen" Mie Yasuno and Sumita Satoshi.

Americans say they want to raise interest rates, which is not good for Japan. Politicians voluntarily agree to it in order to please the United States. In the past, the Meiji Restoration shouted so vigorously that "respecting the king and fighting barbarians" became like this in the Heisei era. If you can't win, you will succumb Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?

The failure of the Self-Strengthening Movement was more like a cultural failure. The once splendid oriental civilization was shattered, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which maintained the core of its own civilization, lost to Japan, which was full of Western learning. Those books about Zheye were put in the library and no one cared about them, and everyone read them with Western books.

Human happiness and joy are like a forest, which looks beautiful from a distance, but you can’t feel the beauty when you walk into it.

I heard that Empress Dowager Cixi's coffin was made of golden nanmu. Is it comfortable for a living woman to live in a house made of the wood used to make the coffin?

Anyway, Pomona was uncomfortable living, and she would never share her husband with other women, let alone 30.

"You want to go to China?" Severus couldn't help asking when she saw her staring at the travel magazine.

Pomona looked at him and smiled.

"Where do you think Lily would like to go on vacation?"

"How do I know?" He said vigilantly, then took the water glass and went back to the studio to work in silence.

After he closed the door, Pomona slammed the door with a book.

"I hate you, Severus!" she whispered through gritted teeth, not in the mood for magazines anymore.