During the Spring and Autumn Period, Fan Li’s teacher Ji Ran had a classic discussion on “buying low and selling high”: if you are extremely noble, you will become cheap; if you are humble, you will be expensive; Like pearls and jade. Ji Ran was Fan Li's teacher. His name was Xin Wenzi. He was a descendant of a fugitive prince from the Jin Kingdom. He was a great economist and a skilled "looker". Fan Li integrated his teacher's business classics and wrote "Ji Ran Pian", which is recorded in "Guoyu·Yueyuxia", but all of them have been lost.
Fan Li used the method taught by Ji Ran to do business in Dingtao, Shandong, because he believed that Dingtao was the center of the world and was connected to the vassal states in all directions, making it very convenient to trade goods. Fan Li's method is to manage the industry, but adapt to changes and pursue profits with the times, rather than demanding others. He believes that the key to being good at business and getting rich is to be able to appoint wise people and know how to seize opportunities. In 19 years, Fan Li made a fortune three times, and both times he distributed it to poor friends and distant brothers with the same surname. In his later years, Fan Li was exhausted and entrusted the business to his descendants, turning it into a family business. His descendants inherited his property and continued its snowballing development, eventually becoming rich in the millions.
Fan Li had profound economic thoughts: he believed that changes in commodity prices were due to excess and deficiency in the relationship between supply and demand. He advocated that when the grain was cheap, it should be purchased by the government, and when the grain was expensive, it should be sold at a fair price. His remarks can be found in "Guoyu·YueYuXia" and "Historical Records·Biographies of Huo Shi". His economic thoughts still have positive practical significance for modern economic construction.
Fan Li believes that Yue is good at sericulture, Qi is good at plowing, Qin is good at smelting, and Zhao is good at civil engineering. Each country has its own strengths, and doing business is to promote exchanges between countries. In a traditional society that values ??agriculture over commerce, such insights are rare. In terms of economy, he advocated that "if you know how to fight, you will make preparations; if you use them in time, you will know what you are doing"; "If you are noble at the highest level, you will be humble; if you are humble at the lowest level, you will be noble"; Viewpoints such as "If you fail to succeed at the right time, you will suffer the consequences" emphasize that people should not only respect objective laws, but also use and grasp objective laws to apply to changes in economic phenomena. Fan Li used this economic thought to govern Yue, making the people rich and the country strong, and averting national humiliation. After he retired, he used his economic ideas to engage in business and became the most famous business tycoon in the history of our country. He was known as Tao Zhugong in history, and "Tao Zhu" became synonymous with the tycoon. Fan Li became an idol worshiped by later generations of merchants and was called the "Shang Sage".
According to legend, Fan Li was also the inventor of the sixteen-liang old scale. It is said that in order to set the weight and measure unit of the scale at that time, Fan Li used the six stars of the South Dipper and the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, plus the three stars of fortune, wealth and longevity to form the "scale star" of sixteen taels. He warned businessmen that if one or two taels are missing, their fortune will be reduced, and if they are missing 2 taels, their fortune will be reduced. , missing 30% of life expectancy. This kind of sixteen-liang scale has been in use for more than two thousand years. Among the Han people, Fan Li is revered as the God of Wealth. Many people in the south worship the God of Wealth in their homes. They are both civil and military. The God of Wealth is Zhao Gongming, and the God of Wealth is Fan Li.
As a businessman, Fan Li is also the first person in my country to value consumers. He proposed that "I take when others abandon me, and when others take me, I seek for consumers." According to folklore among the Han people, Fan Li left Goujian, took Xi Shi with him, and lived in seclusion in Wuxian County, where he engaged in handicraft production. Bamboo that the villagers do not buy is purchased at a very low price, and the long ones are made into bamboo towers, and the short ones are made into bamboo brooms. The reeds that others do not buy are purchased at very low prices, and the long ones are woven into reed mats, and the short ones are woven into reed brooms. Buy stacks of trees that others don't want, and use the thick ones to make boards and the thin ones to make poles. Fan Li and Xi Shi shipped the goods to Dongqiao for sale. There was a sister-in-law in coarse cloth who insisted on buying a beautiful reed broom. Fan Li refused to sell it. Everyone was puzzled. Fan Li said: "This sister-in-law comes from a poor family and the ground at home is damp, so she is not suitable for using a reed broom." A child bought a veneer and ran away after paying. Fan Li called the child to stop him. Everyone was puzzled. Fan Li said: "Because there were so many people, in order to prevent the child from getting lost, I stopped the child." and returned the extra money to the child. There was an old man buying a broom. After Fan Li took the money, he didn't give him a broom. Everyone was puzzled. Fan Li said: "There are many people and the crowd is crowded. The old man is weak and has difficulty moving, so he refused to accept the money." It wasn't until everyone dispersed that he gave the last broom. Broom for the old man.
Fan Li is the founder of aquaculture and fishery. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in 473 BC, when Fan Li lived in seclusion in Lishu, he wrote "The Book of Fish Farming", which is the world's first monograph on fish farming. With a history of more than 2,400 years, it is recognized worldwide. my country's first agricultural encyclopedia was written in the 1930s and 1940s of the 6th century AD, more than 200 years later than the "Fish Culture Sutra", and it contains excerpts from the "Fish Culture Sutra". Dr. Joseph Needham, a famous British expert on the history of science and technology, conducted research and based on ancient records, he came to two important conclusions: First, "China is the earliest country in the world to raise fish in ponds, and fish farming began as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties." Second, Fan Li. "The Classic of Fish Farming" "is a work written 2,400 years ago. It is the earliest specialized document on fish farming in the world and the ancestor of fish farming. It is a document of important value to the history of world fish farming." In this book, Aspects such as breeding objects, fish pond construction projects, intensive breeding and rotational fishing, selection and retention of fine breeds, and egg production and hatching are all discussed. Fan Li's "Fish Farming Classic" has played a considerable role in the development of fish farming, aquaculture in my country's history or carp farming in Europe; and even today, it still has a certain influence on my country's fishery production. practical significance.
According to the Records of Sannong, after Fan Li left Goujian, King of Yue, in the Spring and Autumn Period, he crossed three rivers and entered five lakes, and became rich by raising geese in the Taihu Lake area.
To rejuvenate a country and destroy it, the "Sage of War" Sun Wu failed to do it, and the "Sage of Wisdom" Zhuge Liang failed to do it. Almost both of them "died before they left the battlefield," and only lived to be in their early fifties. But Fan Li did it. Not only did he create a glorious battle example of the weak defeating the strong, he was also good at "preserving himself" until his death in his seventies. He was promoted to prime minister, general, and high official, so he resigned resolutely. Wu Zixu didn't think about it; Wenzhong had no determination; both of them were "given death". Fan Li retreated bravely and "went away quietly", uttering the eternal famous sayings "You can only endure hardships, but not peace and happiness" and "The enemy's country is destroyed, and the advisers perish". He was the first person in Chinese history to voluntarily resign and go to sea. .
Managing industry and doing business, he became rich and wealthy, which was beyond the reach of his contemporaries, and it will be difficult for future generations to succeed. Fan Li practiced hard and raised five kinds of animals, "making three thousand pieces of gold in nineteen years." Summarizing a set of management techniques, the monograph "The Wonderful Book of Getting Rich" fills the historical gaps. He put forward the theory that "the price of goods changes with the relationship between supply and demand", which was the first to understand the law of value; later generations called the rich "Tao Zhugong", which came from Fan Li. Fan Li has made achievements in major fields such as politics, economics, philosophy, military, and diplomacy. He is a culmination of the thoughts of Laozi, Confucius, and Sun Tzu. He can be called a good minister, a military wizard, and a business saint. His strategy of emphasizing people over grain, keeping a low profile, and rejuvenating the country can still be used for reference today; he advocated commodity circulation, stabilizing prices, getting rich first and then getting rich later, and proposed that when doing business, he should "select people and choose people at the right time." The economic thought is of epoch-making and pioneering significance.