"Shifan" Shifan Volume 1 (9)

Brothers and nephews are both rich and poor.

Original text: Brothers, nephews, rich and poor are different in thickness. The rich have a kind heart and are more proud, while the poor have no self-encouragement and are more proud. Jealousy, the reason for disharmony. If the rich benefit the others every now and then but do not show mercy to them and are ungrateful; if the poor know that they have their own destiny and do not expect that they will share the benefits, then there is no point in fighting!

Translation: The actual situations of brothers and nephews are different, rich and poor. Rich people not only have a self-centered "solitary" heart, but are also very arrogant and arrogant. Poor people don't want to encourage themselves. Oneself, thus self-reliance, and also likes to be jealous, so disharmony will arise. If a wealthy person from time to time distributes a little extra to his poor relatives without expecting to repay his kindness. A poor person understands that being rich or poor is his fate, and he does not expect others to give him some money. So what is there to argue about?

Commentary: Liang Wang and Zhao Wang were close relatives of the emperor, and they were very noble. Zhongshu ordered Pei Kai to ask the two feudal states to allocate millions of tax dollars every year to help the poor among the emperor's relatives. Someone accused him and said, "Why do you ask for money from others to do good deeds?" Pei Kai said, "It is natural law to use those who have more money to subsidize those who are in need."

Grandma Liu was a poor relative of the Jia family. , a simple meal in the Jia family may eat up the farmers' harvest for several years. In the eyes of the Jia family, the small crab feast was just for fun, not a real banquet. Grandma Liu actually made a calculation: "The crabs are worth five cents per catty this year, and ten catties are worth five cents." Five, five, two, five, three, five, fifteen, plus wine and food, it’s more than twenty taels of silver per day. Amitabha! This meal is enough for us farmers to live for a year." The family did not dislike this poor village grandmother, and allowed her to stay at the house for two or three days. She ate what she had not eaten and saw what she had not seen before. Before leaving, she took many things back with her. Ping'er counted them one by one: "This is the piece of green yarn you asked for yesterday, and grandma also gave you a solid piece of white yarn for the lining. These are two pieces of cocoon silk, which are good for coats and skirts. In this baggage It's two pieces of silk, to make some clothes for the new year. It's a box of various homemade snacks, some of which you've eaten, some of which you haven't eaten. They're better than the two you bought. You brought the fruit in the bag yesterday, and now this one contains two buckets of rice, which is rare for making porridge; this bag contains fruits from the garden and various dried fruits, which are worth eight taels of silver. They belong to our grandma.

Each of these two packages contains fifty taels and one hundred taels. They were given by my wife and I asked you to take them to start a small business or buy a few acres of land. . Don’t ask for relatives or friends anymore. "This is just the luggage that Sister Wang Feng packed for the village grandmother. Mrs. Wang also thought of a longer-term way to make a living for her. When parting, Jia Mu, Yuanyang, Baoyu, etc. all gave gifts. The trip to the Grand View Garden really made a village grandma return home with a full load. The rich did not look down on the poor arrogantly, and the poor did not feel jealous. The two sides got along so harmoniously. If one party has more than enough money, he or she can show kindness to help the other party's shortcomings. Then the other party will feel some kind of true love from this candid help. If there was no such courtesy exchange, when the Jia family fell, Grandma Liu would not have come to pick up Sister Qiao and help her escape from the tiger's mouth. The most important thing in a family is the word "harmony". Living in harmony and treating each other honestly are indispensable principles for every modern family.

The distribution of property is valuable and fair

The original text of the imperial court legislation was very detailed in the analysis. However, it turned out that it was stolen from others for personal gain, but in the pawn sale deed, it was stated that it was the wife's property. It is impossible for the officials to fully investigate whether the property is purchased or the property is purchased under a false name. Another reason is that he was born in poverty and could not rely on his grandfather's assets to establish himself and build a fortune. Or even though you have ancestral property, if you don't share it with others, don't create private wealth by yourself, people of the same ancestry must seek analysis. As for Jingxian, Jingzhou, and the government offices where Jing is located, they have been in ruins for more than ten years.

When the family was separated, Xu Wu took the spacious house and said: "I am a court official and my dignity must not be ignored. You two have to work in the fields and get a bamboo hut and a thatched house." Browse again As for the land, all the fertile land belonged to himself, and the barren land was given to his second brother, saying: "I have many guests and a wide range of friends. Otherwise, it is not enough for me. If you work hard, you can cultivate it." , and there will be no danger of coldness and exhaustion." He also selected the strong and smart ones among the slaves and said, "I need someone to follow me when I go out. Otherwise, I will not be able to use it. You work together to cultivate, and this stupid person is needed." "Companion, there is no need for more people to waste your food and clothing." When the fathers saw that his share of wealth was more than the two brothers combined, they wanted to bully the two younger brothers, but they were outsiders after all, so no one said anything. Since the two younger brothers have been taught by their elder brother, they have learned to be knowledgeable and courteous, and they have always attached great importance to filial piety and brotherhood. Seeing that their elder brother divides the wealth like this, they think it is natural. No sense of injustice was revealed. The elders and elders in the village all pitied Xu Wu for his actions and pitied his two brothers. Xu Yan and Xu Pu, on the other hand, led their servants to farm in the fields every day. In their free time, they read some books to entertain themselves. From time to time, they would knock on the door with questions to ask their brother for advice. The sisters-in-law also get along well with each other. People privately discussed that Xu Wu was acting as a fake filial piety and incorruptibility, while Xu Yan and Xu Pu were the real ones. For the sake of their parents, they get along harmoniously with their elder brothers, listen to their elder brother's teachings, value justice over wealth, and never argue no matter how much or how little they share. In this way, the two brothers became famous. Emperor Ming came to the throne and issued an edict to seek talents, so he summoned the two brothers, received the emperor's favor and entrusted them with important tasks. Finally, they discovered that their brother was doing this to make them famous and have a chance to be summoned by the court.

If Xu Yan and Xu Pu had gone to the state and county to file a complaint with their brother for money, or even fought for their own interests, not only would they not have gained the good reputation given by the village, but they would also have lost their reputation. He was not summoned by the imperial court, and at the same time he was humiliated by his brother's hard work.

The accumulation of wealth is earned through hard work. It is impossible to make a fortune just by sharing other people's property. Therefore, fighting for money and material goods is an extremely unwise choice. In the process of fighting, not only will you suffer material losses, but your reputation will also be bad. Based on this point of view, self-reliance and hard work are the best choices.

There is no need to hide gold and treasure at home

The original author has brothers, nephews and nephews living together, but they have a lot of private wealth. For patients with analysis, they put gold and silver belongings and hide them deep. This is For a great fool. If it were calculated as a hundred thousand gold and silver and used to buy property, the annual income would be ten thousand. More than ten years later, I have taken the so-called hundreds and thousands, and those who have distributed them are all dying out, how can hundreds and thousands still die! It is used for mortgage operations. If the interest is doubled after three years, then I have taken the so-called hundreds and thousands, and those who have distributed it have their interest. What's more, it will be doubled again in two years. I don't know how much it is, and why it is hidden in the box. Hey, you don’t collect interest just to benefit everyone! I have seen people in the world who pass their private wealth on to others so that they can run a family for a long time without taking the real money. The family is rich and rich, including brothers, children and nephews. This is the reward of a good heart. There are also people who steal all the property and send it to their wives' homes or to the homes of in-laws at home and abroad. In the end, they are used by other people, but they dare not ask for it, and there are many people who don't get it after asking for it. There are also wives and in-laws who buy properties, and many of them are hidden by others. There are also many people who buy property in the name of their wives, and when they die and their wives remarry, they follow them. All gentlemen are lucky enough to have studied this carefully and only have to be mindful.

Translation: My brother, nephew, and *** live together, but I own a lot of property privately. Considering the worries of dividing the property, I purchase gold and silver and other things and keep them privately. This is actually It's an extremely stupid approach. If we use hundreds or even thousands of gold and silver to purchase land, the annual income will definitely reach ten thousand. After more than ten years, I have already obtained hundreds of thousands of property, which means that I have recovered it. cost. What is distributed to the family is the interest on the purchased land. What's more, the land purchased with hundreds of thousands of gold and silver still still has interest.

If I use thousands of gold and silver to operate the pawn business, the profit will double after three years. It can be said that I have obtained hundreds of thousands of property again, and all I can share with my family is the interest. Moreover, after three years, The profits are huge. Why hide the gold and silver in the box and not take this opportunity to collect interest and benefit everyone? I once saw someone lending his personal belongings to his family members, who used the money to run their business. Business, but only the principal but no interest, gradually makes the family rich, extending to brothers, nephews, and endless. This is the reward for those who are good at dealing with things. There are also cases where property is stolen from home privately or stored in the wife's natal family, or in the home of relatives who have in-laws inside and outside the family. In the end, it is misappropriated by others. After the misappropriation, many of them dare not ask for it, or they cannot return it after asking for it. There are also many cases where property is purchased in the name of the wife's family or the in-laws' family, but the property is then occupied by others. There are also many cases where a person purchases land in his wife's name, and after his death, his wife remarries and takes away all his property. Any decent person should carefully examine this matter, be wary, and not make the same mistake again.

Analysis Wang Xifeng is a woman who wields power and magic in the Jia family. She managed all the internal affairs of the Rongguo Mansion, and therefore also held financial power. She is smart and capable, and she has long understood that the Jia family has been unable to make ends meet and is struggling to make ends meet. "Although the empty frame on the outside has not collapsed, the internal pockets are full." The economic collapse will inevitably lead to the collapse of the entire family. Although Wang Xifeng does not understand so much, she seems to have had a premonition that the situation is not good.

Gathering wealth has almost become her biggest hobby. She made private loans at high interest rates and exploited them at high profits, and the court seized a large number of loan bonds. At that time, Jia Zheng was helpless. He really didn't know that someone in the house actually did such a thing, and he really didn't expect that the person who did this was his smart nephew-in-law, Sister Wang Feng, whom he trusted very much.

She thought she was very smart and had accumulated a large amount of money "for a rainy day" so that she could still live her own comfortable life in the future. He engaged in loan sharking and exploited others at high interest rates. He kept a treasure of 70,000 to 80,000 gold in his home. After getting into trouble, he seemed to have some enlightenment. She said something like this: "Although they didn't come to complain about me, they will complain about me. Even though the matter was caused by outside, if I wasn't greedy for money, I wouldn't have anything to do with me now. Not only have I wasted my efforts and earned a lifetime of wealth, but now Being left behind, I just hate using people inappropriately."

There is no need to hide gold in a box, but to purchase land or start an industry. It can be seen that in the consciousness of ancient Chinese people, there are not only "junjun, ministers, fathers and sons," but also The concepts of "cultivating one's self", "organizing one's family", "governing the country" and "pacifying the world" also possess a certain degree of economic acumen. People praised Tai Shigong's pragmatism and profoundness through Sima Qian's "Historical Records? Biography of Huo Shi", "The bustling world is all for profit; the world is bustling, all is for profit." People praise Tai Shigong's pragmatism and profoundness, but they don't know that this kind of pragmatism and profoundness is not difficult to find in feudal scholar-bureaucrats. , Yuan Cai is a good example.

Grandet was a miser, but his fortune made every economist sigh. He used to be a cooper. He started by relying on his wife's dowry and the inheritance of a distant relative. He invested in the brewing industry and accumulated wealth day by day. He also issued usury loans, and a large amount of income flowed into Grandet's treasury every year.