Why are there so many businessmen in Shanxi?

We must know that businessmen from all ages are the lowest in the world, all for the benefit; The world is bustling for profit. The king of thousands of people, the king of thousands of households and the king of hundreds of rooms are still suffering from poverty, but the situation of the people who form a family is almost the same. Make it clear from the beginning. This sentence in Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi is the core meaning of Shanxi merchants and even all so-called business gangs and businessmen running. When we look back on the glory of Shanxi merchants in the past hundred years, we should always remember and chew this sentence, because it is the core of studying the behavior of business and business gangs, and everything will happen and operate accordingly. Just because a person is extremely successful in the end, we can't think or claim that he was born with bright eyes and bright singing, and he has great ambition to save the world and benefit mankind. In fact, if so, it must be a freak, either a demon or a demon. Unfortunately, there are no real monsters in this world, only people are playing tricks. As long as you and I are mentally sound, we know that the first priority in life is to live, and then we will pursue a better life. The rest are all fantasies or whitewashes of future generations. Ok, let's talk about Shanxi merchants. It is said that Shanxi merchants are fierce. To what extent? "Where there are sparrows, there are Shanxi people. Where there are crows and dogs barking, there are Shanxi people. " This is the mantra of Shanxi people and is often quoted proudly. What do Shanxi people do where there are sparrows and dogs bark? Business! Profit! The glory of Shanxi merchants shines on China. Let's open the historical atlas and look at the vast territory of Shanxi merchants with the strongest capital, the largest number of business projects, the widest activity area and the longest activity time in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ranking first among the "Top Ten Business Groups": Ningxia. Most of the famous big businessmen are operated by Shanxi businessmen in Wanrong, Pingyao, Yuci and Linyi, and they are one of the "red, yellow, blue, white and black" in Ningxia. Shanxi merchants in Qinghai, based in Xining, are active in various counties. In Beijing, the livelihood of every household in Shi Jing at the foot of the Emperor of Heaven is almost entirely in the hands of Shanxi people. Grain rice noodles-mostly run by Qixian people, oil and salt restaurants-mostly run by Xiangling people, paper shops-mostly run by Linfen and Xiangling people, and cloth shops-mostly run by Yicheng people. There is a cloth lane to the west of Fish Mouth, which is run by Yicheng people ... Most of the folk trade in China is monopolized by Shanxi merchants. Up to now, famous firms in Beijing, such as Liubiju, Duyichang and Lerentang, have been founded and operated by Shanxi businessmen in Fushan and Linfen. In addition, Shanxi businessmen are also busy in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Guangdong. In the heyday of Shanxi merchants, from camel caravan in Mongolian grassland to merchant ships moored in Yangzhou, from vinegar workshop in Hulunbeier grassland to Maotai Distillery in Guizhou, Shanxi people were brewing and operating; From Hong Kong and Kolkata in the south, to Irkutsk, Siberia, Moscow and Petersburg in the north, and then to Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Incheon, Talbahatai, Shigatse and Arab countries in the east, Shanxi merchants have left their footprints. Many of them can use Mongolian, Uyghur and Russian to conduct trade negotiations with northern minorities and Russians. In Pan Hao Street, Guangzhou, most of the houses were built by Shanxi merchants. The tea that Chaobang merchants transported from Guangzhou to Nanyang was actually bought by Shanxi merchants at the place of origin and transported to Guangzhou, and then bought by Chaobang merchants. As for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, salt merchants in Yangzhou, tea merchants in Jiangxi and Fujian, and trade with Japan from the Yangtze River estuary are also the most active. Shanxi Jiexiu Jia Fan almost monopolized the import of crude copper to Japan and the export of department stores. In addition, there are Li's in Pingyao, Qiao's in Qixian, Qu's, Chang's in Yuci, Nie's, Cao Shi in Taigu, Hou Shi in Jiexiu, Ji's in Linfen, Kang's in Linfen, Pan Shi in Wanrong, Yang's in Yangcheng, etc ... Today, the ruins of Shanxi merchants are all over China, and ancient streets named after Shanxi merchants can be found all over Kyushu. In a piece of brick and tile rubble, the glory of Shanxi merchants in the past 100 years looms: Gansu Laoxi Temple, Xinjiang Ancient City Tower, Kunming Jindian Copper Ding, Jiangsu Yangzhou Kangyuan, Anhui Bozhou Flower Theatre. City streets and lanes named after Shanxi merchants still exist today: Rishengchang Lane in Zhangjiakou, Fusheng West Lane in Baotou, Dashengkui Street in Cobudo, Outer Mongolia, Dingxiang Lane, Ningwu Lane in Hohhot, Dashengkui Street in Cobudo, Outer Mongolia and so on. The painstaking efforts and sweat of Shanxi businessmen from the Loess Plateau are condensed here: the Shanxi Guild Hall in Anhui Luohe Collection (Yang Guo) was once the birthplace of the Nian Army Uprising; The famous Kweichow Moutai was initiated by Shanxi salt merchants on 1704 by hiring workers and local brewers from Xinghua Village Fenjiu Factory. Proverbs circulated among the people in China explain that Shanxi merchants once swallowed up the glory and glory at home and abroad: "Cao Jiahao came first, then Chaoyang County" circulated in the northeast, "Fusheng xi came first, then Baotou City" circulated in Inner Mongolia, and "Jin Yi Lao came first, then Xining City" circulated in the northwest ... Shanxi merchants have a wide operating area and a large number of people, which is indeed considerable. The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is bustling for profit. /kloc-for 0/00 years, money has been rolling in and flowing into the gates of some families in this land of Shanxi. As a result, some families and businesses have become extremely rich. For example, Dashengkui's family has six or seven thousand employees, and the camels of the South Team can reach 16,000 to 20,000 peaks. It is said that all the assets owned can be spread from Kulun (the old name of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) to Beijing with 520 silver ingots. "Our ancestors used to be rich" is not empty. The past glory has amazed us in the 2 1 century. Why did Shanxi people once cross China with such a huge team in the form of business? In other words, why do Shanxi people do more business? In Shanxi Merchants and Merchants in Modern History, Mr. Kong Xiangyi analyzed what caused the prosperity of Shanxi's businesses and merchants, and put forward various social legends and written descriptions, as well as his own views and opinions. The reason why he extracts his arguments and viewpoints here is that his arguments comprehensively sum up "why Shanxi people do more business" to some extent. First, in the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan and Li Shimin went to Taiyuan, and many of their friends and partners took part in the uprising in Taiyuan and the struggle to establish a unified country. After the Lee father and son seized power, these friends also became officials. Later, some people were frustrated in the officialdom and embarked on the Silk Road. "At that time, Suzhou and Hangzhou silks and satins had not yet developed. Most of the silk sold to Central Asia comes from Shangdang Lu 'an area in Shanxi, as well as Lushan in Henan and wei county in Shandong, among which Lu silk is the most. "However, if politicians are frustrated with officialdom and start businesses, will it be the reason why Shanxi people do more business? There are far more businessmen than politicians. From the politicians in Shanxi in the early Tang Dynasty, there is no causal relationship with Shanxi merchants, and there is no historical data to prove it. On the contrary, there are some examples of businessmen's capital development, and their children enter school and embark on their careers, so I won't go into details. Second, Li Zicheng's legacy in the late Ming Dynasty was the original capital of Shanxi merchants. Juxian Wei said in the book History of Shanxi Banks: "When Li Zicheng went to Beijing, more than 800 Ming civil servants competed for gold and silver, and Li Zicheng was defeated by Shanhaiguan. The silverware stolen from the palace was melted into cakes, each weighing about 2,000 yuan, and mules took tens of thousands of cakes. When the Qing soldiers entered Dingzhou, Li Zicheng was defeated ... When they passed Shanxi Avenue ... when they walked along Nanshan to Sun Jiahe, 20 miles south of Qixian County, they still discarded some cash. Now Sun Zhi, the shareholder of Qixian Chuanyuanfeng Jiuhang, is from Sun Jiahe, and his ancestors once picked up Li Zicheng's waste gold. " According to Juxian Wei's investigation, the tombstone of Sun Gaoshan, Sun Zhi's great-great grandfather, reads, "The family wealth has fallen, and there is no rich property ... but he went to Kanto to run an industry and gradually accumulated thousands of dollars. "Sun Gaoshan was born in 1676 (15th year of Kangxi) to 1758 (23rd year of Qianlong), and his father or grandfather must be well-off," and it is possible to inherit Li Zicheng's legacy ". Panjia, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province, was also a famous industrial and commercial household in the Qing Dynasty. According to folklore, "the Pan family made a fortune because some raw gold was found in Lingqingshan outside the east gate of Laihe Old Town. "According to the Records of Ronghe County," in the late Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng crossed the river westward through Ronghe City ",and Panjia's business capital came from Li Zicheng. China Economic Encyclopedia said that Li Zicheng's army passed through Shanxi and stored the gold brought from Beijing in Kang's yard. Later, the Kang family picked up 800,000 taels of gold, which became the source of funds for the bank. When Li Zicheng was defeated, there was no evidence. Even if there is a legacy, it is not the source of Shanxi merchants and commercial capital. Because Shanxi merchants and commercial capital had developed considerably in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was no Li Zicheng Uprising at this time. What is the reason? Moreover, people who have the opportunity to collect inheritance money are individuals after all. Can he become the original capital of Shanxi merchants? I'm afraid it's all postscript. The third is the view of Mr. Fu Yiling, a famous expert in economic history. In his book Merchants and Commercial Capital in Ming and Qing Dynasties, he said: "The development of commercial capital in the mainland, such as Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants, is based on huge agricultural areas and rich local resources. From agricultural savings, a huge local businessman has gradually formed. "There are many areas in the country with better agricultural conditions than Shanxi, and their agricultural accumulation is naturally more than Shanxi, but there is no merchant power like Shanxi merchants. Fourthly, salt monopoly was the main source of financial revenue in all previous dynasties, and Yuncheng Yanchi was the main reason why Shanxi merchants became rich. Luchang salt and Huaiyin salt are much superior to Yuncheng bittern in quantity, quality and sales. Why didn't the famous merchant power appear there? On the contrary, Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants monopolized the Huai salt trade? The fifth view is that Pingyang, Anyi and Jinyang in Shanxi have established their capitals several times, which is the political center and economic center of the whole country, which is the reason why Shanxi people do more business. In fact, all this happened five generations ago. After the Song Dynasty, Shanxi did not have a capital, but the development of Shanxi merchants was after the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. How do you explain this? Some people say that Shanxi people are poor, greedy for small profits and easy to save ... We can see that many arguments and viewpoints do not seem to be fully established, and there is no argument that Mr. Kong and other gentlemen can understand in a unified way. So, what makes Shanxi people do business on such a large scale? From ancient times to the present, the status of businessmen in all social strata in China is relatively low. Businessmen of all ages always rank last. " The imperial court valued agriculture and was unwilling to plow the fields; The court is cheap for businessmen, and more and more people enter the market, thinking that the benefits of businessmen are better than agriculture. "As early as the Warring States period, the State of Qin stipulated that people who did small businesses privately should be punished as slaves." Those who are poor and lazy will be rewarded. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, it was stipulated that businessmen could not be officials, ride horses, ride cars or wear silk clothes. Even the descendants of businessmen are not immune. At that time, it was clearly stipulated that "the descendants of ordinary people should not be officials or officials." In addition to political repression, economic extortion of businessmen is also very severe. "Heavy taxes embarrass them. "Businessmen and houses with city registration are prohibited from occupying famous fields, and offenders will be confiscated of their land slaves. Another example is the poll tax, which says, "If one person counts, it will be 120 yuan, and only Jia people and handmaiden can double it. ".The Tang Dynasty stipulated that" industrial and commercial miscellaneous items shall not be pre-examined ". In addition, the state's management of commercial activities is also very strict. The pawn tax and grain transaction tax collected by the Tang government are as high as 25%. Business property tax in 20 yuan. Even the dead and vegetables and fruits have to pay taxes. In the Ming Dynasty, the government set up "tax departments" of commercial tax authorities in various states, prefectures, counties and cities, and set up new "tax departments" in various places to step up extortion of citizens and businessmen. Until the Qing dynasty, the rulers of the Qing dynasty also said: "... the industry of four people, except scholars, agriculture is the most expensive." Businessmen and businessmen all depend on agriculture, so agriculture is the industry of the world, and industrial and commercial people are at the end. " In China's 5,000-year history, people don't have to do business. Doing business outside, "be sure to suit your parents, don't get married, leave your hometown, drown in the years and come back." "Fortunately, you get more money and go home by cart, but unfortunately, you are often trapped outside." What China people do, they like to be related to culture. In fact, the reason why China didn't advocate business for thousands of years is actually cultural factors. In China in the past, the hierarchy of scholars, peasants, workers and businessmen was essentially the embodiment of Confucian moral supremacy in social order. Confucianism attaches importance to morality, so in Confucianism's view, a person's social status should depend on his moral level. The ideal state is that the higher the moral level, the higher your social status, and those with high moral level lead or discipline those with low moral level. Zhu said: "A gentleman is hungry without a villain, and a villain is chaotic without a gentleman." Ideally, a scholar is a sage who can read, and of course he has the highest moral level. Businessmen's pursuit of maximizing their own interests ran counter to the mainstream values of valuing righteousness over profit at that time. The moral level of businessmen is criticized by the whole society, that is, the so-called unscrupulous businessmen are mercenary. Of course, their morality is the lowest. Agriculture and industry are caught in the middle. Among them, farmers are honest and dutiful, so they are above the workers. In addition to this factor, on the other hand, emperors of past dynasties learned from their ruling experience that when commerce was prosperous and cities were developed, land annexation and usury were rampant and dynasties were overthrown. Therefore, the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business has been adopted. Then, under this profound social background, what are the reasons for the rise of Shanxi merchants? Kong Xiangyi did not give an answer. Teacher Kong just listed and summarized the relevant viewpoints and raised his own doubts. In fact, he denied the above view.